Thule Expansion Replaced Dorset Culture

The Thule people, ancestors of modern Inuit, began moving east from Alaska in the 11th century and eventually replaced the Dorset culture across the North American Arctic. Inuit oral histories call the earlier people Tuniit and describe them as taller and stronger than the Inuit but gentle, shy, and easily driven away. Scientists still do not know whether conflict caused the Dorset disappearance because other possible causes include climate change and disease, while oral accounts describe both peaceful and violent encounters.

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