When Thule Inuit first arrived at Iqaluktuuq, they probably met Late Dorset people, who Inuit call Tuniit. Tuniit were very different from Inuit, and shortly after the two societies met, Tuniit disappeared from the area. However, they left several large sites, including the largest gathering site in all of Nunavut. There, they built four longhouses out of large boulders, as well as hundreds of other stone structures. The largest longhouse is 43 metres (140 feet) long and probably held about 100 people who met during the summer to trade, share information, and hunt together. During the cold season, Late Dorset people lived in houses which were not as large or solidly constructed as Thule houses, but which were dug into the surrounding earth to add warmth. Late Dorset people are famous for their artwork, and several examples of small animal carvings have been recovered from this period at Iqaluktuuq.
Early Dorset people came to Iqaluktuuq around 500 BC, probably arriving from the east.
They are the first people to build deep cold-season houses, and to take advantage of the arctic char at Iqaluktuuq. At a site near Cambridge Bay, a particularly fine example of an Early Dorset house was excavated, with a central “mid-passage” structure which would have been used for storage and cooking (see photo on page 12). One of the biggest sites at Iqaluktuuq, the Buchanan Site, was a warm-season occupation where Middle Dorset people successfully hunted caribou and fished for char. We have collected many tools from this period, including harpoon heads, sewing needles, and very small stone cutting tools known as microblades.