Eastward Expansion of the Arctic Thule Culture (c. 1301)

Timeline

1. c. 1200–1300North Slope of Alaska and the Bering Strait region · ArcticThule culture first appears in western Alaska, beginning to migrate eastward after about 1000 CE. Archaeological sites show they carried advanced marine hunting tools, semi-subterranean winter houses (qarmaq), and dog-sled technology, gradually replacing or absorbing Dorset culture peoples; by around 1300 they occupied most of the western Canadian Arctic coast.
2. 1301–1320Coasts of Devon Island and Ellesmere Island · Arctic ArchipelagoAround 1301, the Thule continued eastward into the High Arctic islands, establishing seasonal camps on Devon Island, Ellesmere Island, and elsewhere. They hunted seals, walrus, narwhal, and polar bear, using ice leads for long-distance movement. Dorset culture sites essentially disappear at this stage, indicating that population replacement or cultural assimilation had been completed.
3. c. 1300–1400Northwestern Greenland (Thule region) · ArcticThule expansion ultimately reached Greenland's northwest coast, forming a north-south standoff with the east coast of Greenland then controlled by Norse colonists. Archaeological evidence suggests indirect trade contact between Thule and Norse peoples, but no records of large-scale conflict. The Thule settlement of Greenland marks a major achievement in human adaptation to extreme Arctic environments.