Ancient seafarers helped shape Arctic ecosystems
February 9, 2026
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Ancient mariners helped shape Arctic ecosystems
Humans could have navigated the sea between Greenland and Canada as long as it was not frozen, archaeological evidence suggests
Crossing more than 50 kilometers from Kitsissut to the coast of northwest Greenland is difficult today, but even ancient sailors were able to make this journey several times.
In the pristine High Arctic lies the Kitsissut island group, also known as the Carey Islands, nestled between northwest Greenland and northeast Canada. The surrounding seas are perilous and getting there is difficult even with modern boats. But new archaeological evidence suggests that ancient humans also managed to sail to the islands.
The first settlers lived on the islands between 4,500 and 2,700 years ago. Archaeologists have long assumed that they were confined to dry land, unable to cross the seas around them after the ice that once covered the area melted. But new research published Sunday in the journal Antiquity suggests that these settlers formed maritime communities that existed at least as long as the region’s polynya – a technical name for unfrozen water amid sea ice – indicating that humans have long helped shape the Arctic’s dynamic ecosystem.
“We saw a space where archeology could bring to life the deep history of the environment and learn about management through time,” says the study’s lead author, Matthew Walls, an archaeologist at the University of Calgary.
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In the past, archaeologists believed that humans made their way to the Arctic by following muskoxen and other terrestrial prey. But even though more recent evidence suggests otherwise, dispelling the old theory has been difficult, not least because the remains of boats and fishing gear, made from organic materials, were largely absent from the archaeological record.
The new study helps fill some of these gaps. Researchers analyzed 297 archaeological elements and artifacts from five localities, mainly on the island of Isbjørne in the Kitsissut island chain. The dwellings they found there indicate that humans regularly visited and inhabited the islands, traveling from one to the other and back again.
“You’re looking at a journey that’s maybe 15 to 18 hours of difficult navigation and in this environment where things can change very quickly,” Walls says. “I think the people who were able to make this trip had incredible navigational skills and abilities.”
The findings reveal the maritime nature of Arctic settlers and their deep understanding of the waters around them. They also show that humans played an important role in a dynamic ecosystem that emerged after a huge chunk of sea ice thawed around 4,500 years ago, around the same time humans began moving through it. All the species that have made the region the ecological hotspot it is today – from seabirds and polar bears to seals and toothed whales – would have had some degree of contact with these early human settlers.
The ecosystem’s intertwined history could help inform future conservation efforts, says Sofia Ribeiro, a researcher at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, who was not involved in the study.
“[The study] will be a good contribution to inform the measures to be taken in the future,” says Ribeiro. “We need to look at responsible management as something that happened and is not isolated from the evolution of this ecosystem.
Walls hopes the work will inform regional officials’ decision-making regarding environmental management and inspire further study of the region’s lesser-known historical inhabitants.
“I think we’re at a moment where an important platform for archeology is to help better represent environmental stories that also take into account cultural stories,” Walls says.
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