Noted Arctic archaeologists Owen Mason of the University of Colorado and Max Friesen of the University of Toronto have authored this overview of archaeological investigations on the Arctic Rim of North America. Despite being one of the most daunting environments on the planet, the Arctic Rim has produced a complex record of human occupation that spans some 14,000 years. It includes the first Americans, who crossed the Bering Strait to Alaska, and the earliest European explorers and settlers, the Russians in the West, and the Norse in the East.
The region is divided into two distinct cultural traditions. In the West are the migrants from Siberia who developed a distinctive maritime lifestyle and artistic tradition at the end of the Pleistocene. They adapted to the harsh environment through successive cultures over thousands of years. In the East, colonization came much later, some 5,000 years ago by the Dorset culture, which was succeeded by the Inuit.
The concluding chapters address how Arctic archaeologists deal with complex issues of climate and environmental change, as well as technical issues like dating techniques and site destruction. Out of the Cold is a readable survey of a fascinating archaeological area.
