45 North America: Paleoeskimo and Inuit archaeology T. Max Friesen The Paleoeskimo and Thule migrations represented successive rapid colonizations of vast Arctic regions, in each case moving from west to east, about four thousand years apart. These migrations were made possible by complex technology aiding move- ment and survival in some of the coldest regions on earth. The North American Arctic is a vast and variable region, incorporating a range of dif- icult challenges to human existence linked to extremes of climate and biogeography. Resources are unevenly spread across space and season, and therefore existence in all but a few locations can be precarious. Furthermore, overall population densities have always been relatively low, particularly in much of the central and eastern Arctic, leading to challenges in transportation, communication, and social interaction. Against this backdrop, migration of various forms and scales was common in Arctic prehistory. This is seen, dramatically, in periodic abandonment and resettlement of a number of regions, with those episodes of resettlement, by default, involving migra- tions. However, two migration episodes stand out due to their unmistakable archaeo- logical signatures and their epic scale, spanning the entire top of North America. The Early Paleoeskimo migration For several thousands of years following terminal Pleistocene deglaciation, only the southern and western fringes of the North American Arctic saw occasional settlement by Paleoindian and other early peoples. However, some time before 2800 bce, descend- ants of the Siberian Bel’kachi tradition colonized Alaska (Powers & Jordan 1990). In North America, this new and long-lasting tradition is known as the Arctic Small Tool tradition or Paleoeskimo tradition (the latter term is preferred here), with its earliest The Encyclopedia of Global Human Migration, Edited by Immanuel Ness. © 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Published 2013 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd. DOI: 10.1002/9781444351071.wbeghm845