Winter Archaeology for Winter House Sites: A comparison of summer and winter archaeological site revisits - Deirdre Elliott, Reuben Flowers & Nicholas Flowers

Archaeologically, winter house sites are the richest sources of material information into the Labrador Inuit past, but they can only be excavated in the summer. This results in a very basic knowledge gap between the archaeologist (who never experiences the landscape as it would have been during the original occupation) and the archaeological record they are studying. Engaging with the landscape during the appropriate season, and learning about it from local knowledge holders who can speak to particular challenges and advantages of the locations, provides invaluable insight concerning how people might have interacted with local environments. This paper presents a comparison of methods used and knowledge gained while visiting winter house sites in both summer and winter, with a discussion of how these different set of knowledge influence archaeological interpretations of the past. In short: what is the value of doing archaeology in the snow?