History of Sisimiut

for nearly two millennia. Unlike the following waves of migrants in the millennium following their disappearance, the Saqqaq left behind a substantial number of artifacts, with plentiful archeological finds on the coast of Davis Strait, from Disko Bay (Greenlandic: Qeqertarsuup Tunua) in the north—to the coast of Labrador Sea near Nuuk in the south.

Research at the Asummiut excavation site near the airport has uncovered the changing settlement pattern, exhibiting transition from the single-family dwellings to tiny villages of several families. The types of dwelling varied from tent rings made of the hides of hunted mammals, to stone hearths, with no evidence of communal living in larger structures. In contrast, there is evidence for reindeer hunting as a coordinated effort of either villagers or groups of more loosely related individuals, with gathering places in proximity of the hunting grounds being found. Despite recent advances in DNA research based on hair samples from the ancient Saqqaq migrants (which gives insight into their origin), the reason for the decline and subsequent disappearance of the culture are not yet known.

Dorset culture

After several hundred years of no permanent habitation, the second wave of migration arrived from Canada, bringing the Dorset people to western Greenland. The first wave of immigrants, known as Dorset I, arrived around 500 BCE, inhabiting the region for the next 700 years. The early Dorset people were followed later by the Dorset II people, although no artifacts have been discovered from the later era around Sisimiut, and few artifacts from the era of Dorset I have been uncovered in archaeological sites, with the finds often limited to harpoon heads and numerous animal bones. The largest number of Dorset culture artifacts can be found