How did whaling start in the Bering Sea?

Looking out over the Bering Sea.

Cultures in the Bering Sea depended on marine mammals to survive in their Arctic environment. But how did the practice of whaling come about? How were those skills developed and passed along? Was there a catalyst that precipitated the start of whaling? Some archaeological sites around walrus haul-out sites have provided new information. Whaling likely coincided with social drivers, such as migration and interaction between Chukchi and Alaska communities, dating back to AD 650-1250.

Walrusing, whaling and the origins of the Old Bering Sea culture

Abstract

For a century, archaeologists have puzzled over the enigma of successful whaling unfolding with no predecessors prior to the last two millennia. The emergence of social complexity is linked with the appearance of the Old Bering Sea (OBS) aesthetic engraved on walrus ivory implements found in sites with large cemeteries and thick middens. Significantly, many OBS sites co-occur with major haulout locations for Pacific walrus, whose procurement engendered relationships that, along with seafaring or hunting technology, were the pivotal drivers that fostered whaling. Our revision of extant ¹⁴C assays to correct for marine carbon produces a younger ‘Low’ chronology placing the OBS florescence between AD 650–1250, with its earliest phase Okvik and allied Ipiutak communities from AD 300 to 600. The lithic technology of OBS is distinctive in its notched bifaces with affinities to 3000-year-old Chukchi Archaic assemblages. Later influences on OBS development include Ipiutak lithic technology and suggest migration, and either adversarial, or trading relationships with Alaska. The acquisition of rare commodities (driftwood, iron and obsidian) contributed to differential success and resulted in inequality recorded in burials.

Mason, O. K. and J. T. Rasic. 2020. Walrusing, whaling and the origins of the Old Bering Sea culture. World Archaeology 51(3): 454-483.