Forskningsemne
Arctic

Archaeological Surveys in Hebron Fjord, Labrador, Canada

Deltaker(e):
Bryan Hood

Introduction
Hebron Fjord is located 180 km north of Nain, the northernmost town in Labrador. Hebron is a true fjord, a narrow inlet that extends almost 50 km inland (Figure 1). The fjord is bounded by relatively low rounded hills that provide a habitation terrain with many more settlement opportunities than further north in the Torngat Mountains.

Figure 1: Hebron Fjord map (click for larger version)

Hebron is situated 20 km north of the tree-limit at Napaktok Bay and 40 km north of the Mugford chert sources between Napaktok and Okak. The fjord is 80 km south of the Ramah chert sources at Ramah Bay. Soapstone sources are known from Cape Nuvotannak near the mouth of the fjord and Johannes Point slightly inside the fjord. The outer portion of the fjord is rich in sea mammals, while the inner fjord includes prime fishing locations for arctic char as well as access to interior caribou herds. Today, large numbers of caribou summer near the coast.

The initial human settlement of Hebron dates back to the Early Maritime Archaic Indians (7000-6000 BP), but the most significant Maritime Archaic occupation of the area occurred during the Rattlers Bight Phase (4200-3500 BP) when the large settlement at Nulliak Cove, north of Hebron, was used as a staging camp for expeditions to the Ramah chert sources (Fitzhugh 1985). Maritime Archaic use of the area was probably always restricted to the warm seasons, with winter settlements being located south of the tree-limit. Between 4000-3500 BP, Maritime Archaic Indian seasonal use of the area overlapped with that of the Pre-Dorset Paleoeskimos. A major concentration of Pre-Dorset settlement is found at Harp Isthmus near the mouth of Hebron Fjord (Fitzhugh 1984). Only scant traces of Intermediate Indian occupation have been found in Hebron. Dorset occupation has been documented in the outer portion of Hebron, but important components are probably hidden under the pre- and post-contact Inuit deposits at the historic Hebron settlement and Johannes Point. A Moravian mission was established at Hebron in 1830, and this settlement continued as a village until the forced relocation of its population in 1959 (see Brice-Bennett 2000). Since then Hebron has been used as a seasonal hunting and fishing locale.

Archaeological Investigations

In 1997, limited surveys were undertaken at innermost Hebron Fjord and near the abandoned Hebron Moravian settlement. On the return trip to Nain a brief stop was also made in neighbouring Napaktok Bay.

The Moravian Mission at Hebron

In 1830 Moravian missionaries established a mission station in the outer fjord (Figure 2). The church and connected building were constructed with prefabricated components imported from Britain as well as with materials produced at the more southerly missions in Labrador. It is still standing today (Figure 3). By 1840 the resident Inuit congregation numbered 179 people, but Inuit further north resisted the Moravian call to Christianity. The Hebron settlement was closed in 1959 and Inuit were relocated in towns to the south.

Figure 2: The approach to Hebron.

Figure 3: The Hebron mission.

Inner Hebron Fjord

Innermost Hebron Fjord has excellent char fishing rivers and long valleys extending deep into the interior. Inuit fished the rivers in the late summer and fall, and also used a large inland lake for ice fishing during the winter. The valleys provide highways for caribou herds moving between their interior wintering areas and summer grazing areas on the coast (Figure 4).

Figure 4: A small caribou herd at inner Hebron ford.

Pre-Inuit people also used the inner fjord. Pre-Dorset Paleoeskimos had a camp on the sandy point Siugakuluk sometime between 2500-1800 BC(Figure 5). Interestingly, their camp remains (Figure 6) contain one or two stone tools made by the "Intermediate" Indians (1800-1200 BC); this might indicate a later Indian occupation of the same spot or some kind of contact between the two cultures.

Figure 5: The Siugakuluk site.

Figure 6: Tools from Siugakuluk. Top two are Pre-Dorset, bottom right Intermediate Indian, bottom left could be either. Clockwise: biface base (Ramah chert), harpoon endblade (black chert), notched point (green chert), biface base (black chert).

The most surprizing finding of the 1997 survey was a Middle Dorset (AD 0-500) semi-subterranean house perched on a small terrace on the long point we called Nuvotânaluk (Figures 7 and 8). These houses are slightly excavated into the ground, measure about 5 by 5 m in size, and were at least partially covered with sod blocks. In front of the house was the remnants of a midden that had been mostly destroyed by slope erosion. The midden was ca. 30 cm thick and contained many Ramah chert tools and flakes and a large amount of charcoal; no bone was observed. Figure 9 shows a few tools from the site.

Figure 7: The Nuvotânaluk Dorset house, view towards the inner fjord. The house is the grassy patch in the center, near the terrace edge.

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Figure 8: The Nuvotânaluk Dorset house. The house is under the grassy patch.

Figure 9: Dorset tools from Nuvotânaluk. Clockwise: tip-fluted harpoon endblade (Ramah chert), biface (lance) tip (black chert), scraper (Ramah chert), nephrite flake, microblades (Ramah chert).

These semi-subterranean features are generally believed to be winter dwellings. However, most Labrador Dorset winter houses are located on the outer coast, often within 5-10 km of the landfast ice edge, and Cox and Spiess (1980) suggested that mid-fjord Dorset houses (such as in Nachvak Fjord) were used on late summer and fall fishing and caribou hunting expeditions. In Saglek Bay, immediately north of Hebron, Dorset settlement is virtually absent from the inner fjord areas (Thomson 1986). So what does the Nuvotânaluk house represent?

It is quite possible the site was a winter settlement because during the winter a small patch of open water (polynya) is present off the long point as a result of local marine currents (Figure 10). This open water would attract seals, which could be hunted from the ice edge rather than through their breathing holes.

Figure 10. Satellite photo of Hebron in April 2004. Polynya off Nuvotânaluk indicated by the red arrow. (from NASA World Wind)

Napaktok Bay

A brief stop at Finger Point on the south side of Napaktok provided the opportunity to inspect a prominent raised beach terrace (Figure 11).
The most visible find was a large Inuit communal house from the late 18th century (Figure 12). There was also a Pre-Dorset axial (mid-passage) feature (Figure 13) and traces of Maritime Archaic occupation.

Figure 11: Raised beach at Finger Point, Napaktok Bay.

Figure 12: Late 18th century Labrador Inuit communal house, Finger Point, Napaktok Bay.

Figure 13: Pre-Dorset axial structure, Finger Point, Napaktok Bay. Note the unusually robust tent ring on the left side.

"There and Back Again"
The boat journey to and from Hebron Fjord is visually rewarding, taking the traveller past the Kaumajet Mountains--including the famous "Bishop's Mitre" (Figure 14)-- and past the occasional iceberg (Figure 15).

Figure 14: The Kaumajet Mountains, with the Bishop's Mitre on the right.

Figure 15: Iceberg, near the entrance to Port Manvers Run, Nain region.

References

Brice-Bennett, Carol
2000 Reconciling with Memories. A Record of the Reunion at Hebron 40 Years After the Relocation. Labrador Inuit Association, Nain.

Cox, Steven L. and Arthur Spiess
1980 Dorset Settlement and Subsistence in Northern Labrador. Arctic 33(3):659-669.

Fitzhugh, William
1984 Residence Pattern Development in the Maritime Archaic: Longhouse Models and 1983 Surveys. In Archaeology in Newfoundland & Labrador 1983, edited by J. Sproull Thomson and C. Thomson, pp.6-47. Historic Resources Division, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John's.

1985 The Nulliak Pendants and their Relation to Spiritual Traditions in Northeast Prehistory. Arctic Anthropology 22(2):87-109.

Thomson, Callum
1986 Caribou Trail Archaeology: 1985 Investigation of Saglek Bay and Inner Saglek Fjord. In Archaeology in Newfoundland & Labrador, 1985, edited by J. Sproull Thomson and C. Thomson, pp.9-53. Historic Resources Division, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John's.