LAUSR

Abstract The southern Baffin Island chert provenance project was initiated in 2007 to investigate the effects on Palaeo-Eskimo mobility and technological organization of the differential distribution of chert sources in this area of the eastern Arctic. Initial characterization of chert artifacts and sources by secondary ion mass spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) indicated exploitation of both local inland and exotic chert sources by Palaeo-Eskimo toolmakers. Subsequent reanalysis of chert artifacts by ICP-MS demonstrates that data acquired using these techniques cannot be directly compared. ICP-MS trace element data collected from two primary chert sources documented in 2013 showed promise for characterizing these sources. Subsequent reanalysis of source samples demonstrates that initial results were affected by contamination during sample preparation at an external laboratory and should not be used in future studies.