What
Reconstructing the past adaptive strategies of northern societies, sustainability and colonial relations, as well as Elders’ answers to previous changes should permit to envisage interesting possible clues to face the ongoing climate and environmental change. Taking into account social and cultural factors should help natives and decision-makers in their political choices.
Why
Inuit and Ainu (North Japan) communities have experienced important climatic changes in the past and adapted to. The « Carving a Northern Identity » project aims to explore and compare the culture traditions of these maritime hunter-gatherers through time by bone technology analyses.
How
The results of the planed comparative technological studies of ancient Greenland Inuit and Japanese Ainu material cultures should reveal the adaptive strategies developed by the craftsmen in response to climate changes and trade developments, and allow determining how raw material and technical constraints relate to economic and cultural choices.