Groswater culture facts for kids
The Groswater Culture was a Paleo-Eskimo culture that existed in Newfoundland and Labrador from 800 BC to 200 BC. The culture was of arctic origin that migrated south after the decline of the Maritime Archaic people following the 900 BC Iron Age Cold Epoch. It is named after Groswater Bay, a bay in central Labrador.
Archaeological Evidence
Remains of animals found in Groswater sites imply a reliance on sea mammals, especially the Harp seal. Sea birds, small game, and Caribou also being hunted. Sites were situated on headlands and their tools were focused on hunting sea mammals. They demonstrate fine craftsmanship with stone tools, creating lithic and bone tools that were small and finely chipped. They used tools made from finely cut Chert, a rock used by the Paleo-Eskimo peoples of the North Atlantic. It is unclear why the Groswater Culture declined, although historians have hypothesized changes in climate and availability of marine animals as well as gradual replacement by the Dorset culture.
Tool Construction
They demonstrate fine craftsmanship with stone tools, creating lithic and bone tools that were small and finely chipped. They used tools made from finely cut chert, a rock used by the Paleo-Eskimo peoples of the North Atlantic. Many of these tools are sourced from rock beds in Cow Head, Newfoundland.
The characteristic, or typical, Groswater tool assemblage is defined by: box-based, side-notched, plano-convex harpoon endblades; cir- cular and ovate sideblades; rectangular and triangular endscrapers, some of which are eared;2 chipped and ground burin-like tools; concave sidescrapers; large, side-notched bifaces; microblades; long, narrow, quartzite abraders; and chipped and ground axes and adzes
—Dominique Lavers and M.A.P. Renouf, page 314
