Ancient Inuits Seafarers Conquered the High Arctic 4000 Years Ago and Built Villages There Their travels shape the ecosy
Ancient Inuits Seafarers Conquered the High Arctic 4000 Years Ago and Built Villages There
Their travels shape the ecosystem to this day.
byTudor Tarita
February 16, 2026
A view of the crossing between Kitsissut and the shores of northwest Greenland. The minimum distance to land (Nuuliit) is 33 miles (53 kilometers). Credit: M. Walls, M. Kleist & P. Knudsen/Antiquity Publications
Kitsissut is a nightmare for modern sailors. It’s a remote cluster of islands in the High Arctic, choked by fog, battered by shifting winds, and hemmed in by lethal currents. Most people (even experienced sailors) avoid it like the plague.
But 4,000 years ago, the Paleo-Inuit went for it. They visited the place and thrived there.
New archaeological evidence published in the journal Antiquity reveals that these ancient communities were repeatedly crossing miles of open sea between 3,900 and 4,500 years ago. They left behind a trail of stone tent rings and central hearths, proving that the High Arctic’s first inhabitants weren’t just land-bound hunters. They were master seafarers.
Arctic Voyage Pioneers
Ancient nesting cliff and archaeological landscape with bird silhouettes and stone circle diagrams.
An illustration of several Early Paleo-Inuit tent rings that have been found on Isbjørne Island. Credit: M. Walls, M. Kleist & P. Knudsen/Antiquity Publications
Kitsissut sits at the heart of the Pikialasorsuaq, a rare “polynya” where the ocean stays ice-free even in the dead of winter. A polynya is an area of open water surrounded by sea ice. This open water is a magnet for life, drawing in seabirds, fish, and marine mammals.
To get there, however, you have to cross 50 kilometers of unpredictable open water from mainland Greenland.
“You’re looking at a trip that’s maybe 15 to 18 hours of difficult paddling and in this environment where things can change on you very quickly,” archaeologist Matthew Walls, the study’s lead author, according to Scientific American. “I think the people who were able to make this trip had an incredible amount of navigational skill and ability.”
More:
https://www.zmescience.com/ecology/paleo-inuit-ancient-arctic-seafarers-kitsissut/
= new reply since forum marked as read
