Study shows indigenous Canadian Arctic people's textiles predated European contact
Tuesday, August 21, 2018 - 09:00
in Paleontology & Archaeology
A new study by Brown University researchers shows that the Dorset and Thule people—ancestors of today's Inuit—created spun yarn some 500 to 1,000 years before Vikings arrived in North America. The finding, made possible in part by a new method for dating fiber artifacts contaminated with oil, is evidence of independent, homegrown indigenous fiber technology rather than a transfer of knowledge from Viking settlers.