Individual Stylistic Variability in Independence I Stone Tool Assemblages from Port Refuge, N.W.T.

Abstract

Typological comparisons of stone tool assemblages have traditionally been seen as a means of assessing the relationships between components within the Arctic Small Tool tradition (ASTt). Excavation at Independence I components at Port Refuge, Devon Island, allows us to examine this assumption. These components consist of spatially discrete features, most of which appear to be the remains of single family dwellings occupied only once and for a short period of time. It can probably be assumed that the majority of artifacts associated with any feature were manufactured by the individuals who occupied that feature. Marked differences can be seen between feature assemblages in the proficiency with which stone tools were made, and individual stylistic preferences can be postulated on the bases of intra-feature uniformities. If the hypothesis ascribing a great deal of stylistic variability to individual ability and preference is correct, typological comparisons of Canadian ASTt stone tool assemblages may be of relatively little use in judging the relationships between components.