Just before 1000 AD a warming trend occurred in the northern hemisphere. The tree line advanced about 100 miles north of its present position and winters in the arctic became milder, the pack ice was thinner, broke up earlier and refroze later. The longer periods of open water allowed the bowhead whale and other marine mammals to move freely much further north than they had in the past.
The Thule Culture people originated in Alaska where they had developed techniques for hunting large whales from open boats in the coastal waters there. These people followed the whales westward as they migrated through the now open waters of the Canadian Arctic. Over the course of only a few generations the Thule had migrated as far east as the coast of Greenland.
Their hunting technology was well suited to hunting large marine mammals. They had perfected the use of a float harpoon and could kill enough whales in the summer to provide food for the winter. They developed specialized tools for hunting seals on the ice from the winter breathing holes. They also appear to be the first group to use the dog sled for winter travel.
Land mammals, caribou in particular were hunted with bow and arrow or spears. The skins were used for clothing. The Thule had a three pronged fish spear that could be used in shallow rivers and also jigging hooks. Birds could be obtained with a Bola or special bird spear.
The abundance of food, particularly the large whales, enabled the Thule people to live in large permanent villages.Their houses were similiar to those built by their Alaskan ancestors but used stones and whalebone instead of wood. A Thule house was oval, about 5 metres across. The floor was paved with flat stones and the back half consisted of a raised sleeping platform, also built of stone. The roof was dome shaped, built of rafters of whale jaw and rib bones. The frame was covered with skins and then a layer of turf. It was probably banked with snow in the winter. Heat was supplied by seal or whale oil burned in a stone lamp.
Food caches from summer enabled the Thule to spend the winter in their villages. Most Thule sites are surrounded by the remains of many caches. The Thule must have enjoyed drum dancing and song contests as fragments of drums have been found at their sites. Their tools and implements were beautifully carved and decorated, probably during the long winters. Winter would have been a time for games too, as some game fragments have been found. Children had carved toys, miniatures of the hunting and cooking implements their parents used. In the spring the Thule probably hunted seals at their breathing holes as the Inuit do now. When the ice broke up the larger whales would be hunted and cached and in the fall land mammals such as caribou and muskox would have been hunted. The skins would be used for clothing and bedding. Fishing would have been a summer activity.
