Book contents
- Hunter-Gatherer Adaptation and Resilience
- Cambridge Studies in Biological and Evolutionary Anthropology
- Hunter-Gatherer Adaptation and Resilience
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- 1 Interrogating the Alterity of Hunter-Gatherers in Bioarchaeological Context: Adaptability, Transformability, and Resilience of Hunter-Gatherers in the Past
- 2 Regional Continuity and Local Challenges to Resilience among Holocene Hunter-Gatherers of the Greater Cape Floristic Region, South Africa
- 3 Hunter-Gatherer Persistence and Demography in Patagonia (Southern South America): The Impact of Ecological Changes during the Pleistocene and Holocene
- 4 The Success and Failure of Resilience in the European Mesolithic
- 5 Persistence of Time: Resilience and Adaptability in Prehistoric Jomon Hunter-Gatherers from the Inland Sea Region of Southwestern Honshu, Japan
- 6 Biomechanics, Habitual Activity, and Resilience among Southern African Hunter-Gatherers and Herders
- 7 Biocultural Adaptation and Resilience in the Hunter-Gatherers of Lagoa Santa, Central-Eastern Brazil
- 8 Resilience among Hunter-Gatherers in Southern California before and after European Colonization: A Bioarchaeological Perspective
- 9 Persistence or Pastoralism: The Challenges of Studying Hunter-Gatherer Resilience in Africa
- 10 Ancient Mortuary Ritual and Cultural Resilience on the Northwest Coast of North America
- 11 Bioarchaeological Evidence for Cultural Resilience at Point Hope, Alaska: Persistence and Memory in the Ontology of Personhood in Northern Hunter-Gatherers
- 12 Biocultural Perspectives on Interpersonal Violence in the Prehistoric San Francisco Bay Area
- 13 The Discovery and Rapid Demise of the Sadlermiut
- 14 When Resilience Fails: Fences, Water Control, and Aboriginal History in the Western Riverina, Australia
- 15 Models, Metaphors, and Measures
- Index
- References
13 - The Discovery and Rapid Demise of the Sadlermiut
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 November 2018
Book contents
- Hunter-Gatherer Adaptation and Resilience
- Cambridge Studies in Biological and Evolutionary Anthropology
- Hunter-Gatherer Adaptation and Resilience
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- 1 Interrogating the Alterity of Hunter-Gatherers in Bioarchaeological Context: Adaptability, Transformability, and Resilience of Hunter-Gatherers in the Past
- 2 Regional Continuity and Local Challenges to Resilience among Holocene Hunter-Gatherers of the Greater Cape Floristic Region, South Africa
- 3 Hunter-Gatherer Persistence and Demography in Patagonia (Southern South America): The Impact of Ecological Changes during the Pleistocene and Holocene
- 4 The Success and Failure of Resilience in the European Mesolithic
- 5 Persistence of Time: Resilience and Adaptability in Prehistoric Jomon Hunter-Gatherers from the Inland Sea Region of Southwestern Honshu, Japan
- 6 Biomechanics, Habitual Activity, and Resilience among Southern African Hunter-Gatherers and Herders
- 7 Biocultural Adaptation and Resilience in the Hunter-Gatherers of Lagoa Santa, Central-Eastern Brazil
- 8 Resilience among Hunter-Gatherers in Southern California before and after European Colonization: A Bioarchaeological Perspective
- 9 Persistence or Pastoralism: The Challenges of Studying Hunter-Gatherer Resilience in Africa
- 10 Ancient Mortuary Ritual and Cultural Resilience on the Northwest Coast of North America
- 11 Bioarchaeological Evidence for Cultural Resilience at Point Hope, Alaska: Persistence and Memory in the Ontology of Personhood in Northern Hunter-Gatherers
- 12 Biocultural Perspectives on Interpersonal Violence in the Prehistoric San Francisco Bay Area
- 13 The Discovery and Rapid Demise of the Sadlermiut
- 14 When Resilience Fails: Fences, Water Control, and Aboriginal History in the Western Riverina, Australia
- 15 Models, Metaphors, and Measures
- Index
- References
Summary
This chapter examines bioarchaeological evidence of resilience and specialization among the Sadlermiut, a population that existed in relative isolation from the Inuit and developed a unique variation of the Thule Culture. The Sadlermiut remained isolated from European until 1824 (unlike other Iniut). Isolation and intensification is demonstrated from the persistence of material culture including graves, lithic industries, and watercraft technology, while skeletal evidence for dental chipping and tooth wear, traumatic injuries, and degenerative joint conditions attest to the intensive lifestyle of these populations. This high degree of isolation and specialization within the the Sadlermiut socioecological and cultural system likely reduced the capacity for resilience in response to European contact. This is well demonstrated by mortuary evidence for minor epidemics and dwindling population sizes. These results suggest that population collapse during periods of contact is less a consequence of inferior technology or ability to withstand disease, but instead may reflect variation in the capacity for resilience when these instances introduce challenges to survival.
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- Hunter-Gatherer Adaptation and ResilienceA Bioarchaeological Perspective, pp. 302 - 327Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2018
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