The Great Journey

Prehistory of Humanity:

A long long time ago... there was a species not yet man, but may have began the evolution of humaity. The species known as homo habilis lived from about 2.3 to 1.6 million year ago. Shortly after this homo habilis lived a newer species called homo erectus which became widespread from about 2 to 0.4 million year ago. Then from 500 to 200 thousand years ago Homo Sapiens branched off from the homo erectus species and started becomming more and more evolved. About 30 years after Homo Sapiens became the neandertalensis which lived from 230 to 30 thousand years ago. The neanderthal was more evolved and had the knowledge to use mousterian tools. Last but not least was the evolution on homo sapiens sapiens also known as the modern form of "man" became around 120 thousand years ago.

Stages of settlement:

• During Eurasia time people began living in warmer climates such as Africa and Asia, and as people began to move north with development.
  
• 45-35,000 years ago: Ice covered north, Humans spread from Africa up through Europe.


• Deglaciation begins 17 kya.
  
• Ca.15 kya. Siberia and far East widely populated with peoples of several distinct cultures


• People beginning to move into North America
  
• 3 to 4 “waves” of people at different times

People of the Circumpolar World

First people in southern Siberia Altai and Sayan mountains:

• Angara region
  
• Amur River system
  Pleistocene Epoch: 1.806 mya-5,000 years to 11,430 years ago to 103 years ago


• Upper pleistonce: 130-11 kya


• Lower Palaeolithic (old stone age): ends roughly 126 kya Middle Palaeolithic 126 to 40 kya


• Upper Paleolithic: 42 to ll kya

1. early: 42-30 kya
2. middle: 26-19 kya
3. late: 17-11 kya

• Middle Palaeolithic: 130 to 70 kya: several well-dated sites establish presence of middle Palaeolithic hominids in southern Siberia
  
• Early Upper Paleolithic:42-30 kya: represents the spread of anatomically modern humans into Siberia
  
• Populations don’t go beyond 55 degrees north
  
• Tools are a lot more advanced from middle palaeolithic period
  
• Middle upper Palaeolithic: 30-19 kya: represent successful adaptation to emerging mammoth steppe


• Large base camps connected to smaller activity-specific camps and resource extraction or kill sites
  
• Possible continued ties between Siberia and Western Eurasia
  
• Successfully colonized Sub-arctic Siberia as far as 60 degrees latitude and possible further.
  
• Middle Upper Palaeolithic:
  tools: Palaeolithic style
  Semi-subterranean dwellings made of Mammoth bone walls,Caribou antler roofs, and hide coverings, mosses.
  
• Skin tents
• Skin/fur clothing
• Carved artwork
  
• Upper Palaeolithic: 17 to 11 kya
  
• Higher mobility than prevailed during earlier phases of the upper Palaeolithic
  
• Characterised by wedge-shaped core and microblade technologies
  
• Earliest microblade sites in Baikal region (18 kya)
  
• Single mammal species dominate faunal assemblages (bison, reindeer, horse)


• Small game but no fish until about 12 kya
  
• Mesolithic (middle Stone Age):
  
• More sophisticated technologies (micro blade) ca. 20,000 BCE (22kya)

Lands and Landscapes of the Circumpolar

ALASKA (U.S): Northern Alaska,Western Alaska,Interior Alaska, South-Central & Southeast Alaska

Northern Alaska:

• Arctic slope covers a sixth of Alaska area.
  
• True Arctic climate, with light snow and little precipitation, with high winds.
  
• Tundra vegetation over permafrost
  

"This area above the Arctic Circle -- without large summer runs of salmon and facing months of twilight and bitter cold every winter -- is alive in the summer with millions of migratory waterfowl."

• 
  

http://www.alaska.com/
1.http://www.nomealaska.org/vc/ 2.http://www.nps.gov/bela 3.http://www.dced.state.ak.us/cbd/commdb/CF_CIS.cfm 4.http://www.dced.state.ak.us/cbd/commdb/CF_CIS.cfm 5.http://www.nps.gov/gaar 6.http://www.ak.blm.gov/interest.html 7.http://www.r7.fws.gov/nwr/arctic/index.html 8.http://www.kingeider.net/king5.html

Western Alaska:

• Western Alaska is a crossroads of continents, where North American and Asian cultures meet and sometimes collide.
  
• Western Alaska -- from the coast of the Bering Sea and Pacific Ocean inland to a line from Kodiak Island north to the Arctic Circle -- has for millennia been the home of Inupiat, Yupik, Aleuts and Athabascans.
  
• Nome, in the northern part of Western Alaska, has a drier, colder climate, but northwest Alaska suffers each October and November as big storms wash ashore off the Bering Sea.
  

Interior Alaska:

• Denali National Park, containing North America's tallest peak, sprawls along the Alaska Range south of Fairbanks.
  
• The great Yukon River flows westward across the region from Canada toward the Bering Sea.
• The Interior is the area south of the Arctic Circle, north of the Alaska Range, west of Canada and (arbitrarily) east of 154 degrees west longitude.
  

(Photo taken by: Bob Hallinen)

South-Central Alaska

• Southcentral Alaska, the home of most of Alaska's population.
  
• This diverse region includes rugged coast with fertile bays and fjords.

• The region runs from Canada to the western shore of Cook Inlet and from the Alaska Range south to the Gulf of Alaska.

• The largest city is Anchorage, with a population of 260,000, which is about 40 percent of the state's population.
  
• South of Anchorage is the Kenai Peninsula, where the popular destinations of Homer and Seward sit. The Matanuska-Susitna Valley, including Palmer, Wasilla and Talkeetna, is to the north of Anchorage.
  
• Prince William Sound and its towns of Cordova, Valdez and Whittier are along the Gulf of Alaska coast.
  

http://www.toursaver.com/alaska-map.php.

Southeast Alaska

• Southeast Alaska is a spectacular region of glacier-cut fjords and islands covered with dense rainforest. Its primary industries are tourism, fishing, and logging.
  
• There are few roads through the region, and travel is primarily by boat and float plane.
  
• It is also the home to Tlingit and Haida native groups, famous for their totems and their marine and forest adaptations.
  

CANADA

Yukon Territories

• The Yukon is important for it's Cordillera mountain region, Arctic coastal plain, Interior Plains, Canadian Shield, Innuitian region, Arctic Lowlands.


• Canadian Ecoregions consist of: Boreal Forest landscapes and arctic northern and southern landscapes.


• There are Eight tourism regions in te Yukon: North Yukon, Klondike, silver trail, Campbell, Whitehorse, Kluane, Southern Lakes, South Alaska Highway.


• Permafrost Extends through sporadic discontinuous region

Northwest Territories

• NWT Eight Tourism regions: Arctic coast, Mackenzie, Nahanni, waterfall route, Great Slave Lake.


• 33 communities throughout the NWT


• 1.2 million sq. km of land


• Population about 41,000 people

Nunavut:

• Area:2 million sq. km
• 4 regions: high arctic, Kitikmeot, Qikiqtaaluk,kivalliq.


• 28 communities with no roads joining any communities.
• Iqaluit ca. 6,000
• Barthurst Inlet ca. 25
• Grise fjord at 78degrees north
  

Greenland: North, West, South, East

Northern Greenland:

• (Population: 17,800)
• 8 municipalities
  Avanersuaq/Qaanaaq (800)
  Upernavik (2400)
  Uummannaq (2600)
  
  Seal hunting is the most important source of income for a large part of the population, and this is why the settlements here are different from those in the rest of Greenland. There are many settlements in the region, and as a visitor you will be able to experience a different Greenland from the one you will find in the busy towns. During the winter, when the fjords freeze over, the dog sled is an indispensable means of transport for the fishermen and hunters.
  
• West Greenland:


• (population: 26,550)
• 5 municipalities
• 10 settlements


• Houses enormous fjord systems and one of the world's smallest capitals. About half of Greenland's 56,000 inhabitants live in the large towns along the country's west coast, including Nuuk the capital. Enormous fjord systems and skerries are typical of the whole region.
  
• South Greenland:


• (population: 4,503)
• 4 municipalities
  
• The field ice is a remarkable phenomenon of South Greenland. This ice is formed in the Arctic Ocean north of Greenland and carried by the current down the east coast, round Cape Farewell and up into South Greenland's bays and fjords. Unlike the icebergs, the field ice consists of enormous sheets of frozen salt water, up to three metres thick, which are in constant motion.
  
• Due to the field ice towns and settlements in South Greenland can be cut off from visiting boats for periods during the spring and summer.
  

East Greenland:


• (population:3440)
• 2 municipalities
• 8 settlements
  
• Stretched on the 2,700 kilometre long East Coast are only two towns and the world's largest national park. There are both historical and natural reasons for this very sparse settlement. People have indeed lived in East Greenland for certain periods during the last several thousand years, but the period when the area is ice-bound and the wide belt of field ice that lasts throughout the spring and summer have made this area very isolated


• Ice sheet 1, 833,900 sq. km (85% total)
• Ice free area: 350,000 sq. km (Size of France)
• High Arctic and low temperatures
  

Iceland

• 7 Regions: Capital: Reykjavik, West Iceland, West Fjords, Northern Iceland, East Iceland, South Iceland, Highlands
• Area:103,548 sq. km
• Population: 307,261
• Cool temp & ocean climate: cool in summer and fairly mid winter


• Iceland Boreal Birch forests and Alpine Tundra eco-regions, marine and permanent ice fields
• Iceland is very volcanic and there is steam everywhere (heat and power run of this free heat)
• 11% of the country is covered by glaciers
• Iceland is situated on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Faeroe Islands (DK):

• 18 Islands, 1,399 sq. km.113 km long by 75km wide
• Population: 46,345
• Capital: Torshavn
• Highest mountain: 882 m
• Maritime climate temps from 3 degrees Celsius in winter 11 degrees Celsius in summer
• Thin soils and survive on fishing and whaling.
• Jan Mayen Island: no population accept paid scientist
  873 sq. km


• 950 km west belonging to Norway and 600 km north of Iceland
• Volcanic island and glaciers
• Active volcano, Beerenberg (2277m) which last erupted in 1985
• Arctic maritime climate with frequent storms and persistent fog

Northern Norway:

North Cape is located at 71 N 10’21”N

Interior Highlands: Arctic climate in winter with snow,strong winds, and severe frosts

Coastal areas: mild conditions in winter because of the Gulf Stream

Mountains, moors, deep valleys, and sheltered fjords

Three counties: (Fylker, singular fylke(from north to south)). Nordland-cap. Bodo, Troms-cap.Tromso, Finnmark.

Northern Sweden: Lappland, Norrbotten, Vasterbotten

• Norrland is north most 2/3 of the country
• Continental climate (Jokkmokk Jan. avg. -13.7 C)
• Mosses, lichens and stunted birch and willow in arctic areas
• Sub arctic forests of firs, pines, and birches
• Two provinces (lanskape: Lapland & Norrbotten)
  

Northern Finland:

• Lapland’s is 98,937 km sq., 30% of Finland’s total land area
• 186,917 pop. 7000 Saami

Russia:

• 4 major Federal districts
• White sea region: Murmansk region encompasses the Kola Peninsula, Archangel’sk
• Nenetskiy AO: reindeer herders
  

Khanty-Mansi AO:

• Area:523,000 sq. km
• Population: 13 million
• Economy: Oil, natural gas
• Worlds second largest oil producer

Yamalo-Nenets AO:
Capital: Salekhard
Population: 469,000
Economy: 90% of Russia’s natural gas

Krasnoyarsk Kray (Territory):

• 10% of Russia
• 3 main climates zones: Arctic sub arctic, temperate
• 2.34 million sq.km (4.5 times of france)
• Very varied climate
• 2.942 million people most in the south 6.7% in Norilsk (mining)
• Economy: industry, minin, agrigculture, forestry
  

Sakha Republic:

• Capital: Yakutsk (population: 194,000)
• Area: 3,103, 200 sq. km
• (25% of Russia)
• 2,000 km N to S, 2,500 km E to W
• 40% within the Arctic Circle
• Lena River (4,000 km long) for transportation by barges that carry supplies to ULUS
• Population: 976,400- 40% indigenous Yakut people
• Economy: Mining (84% national diamond reserves) oil/gas, forestry

Magadan:

• Capital: Magadan
• Area: 461,00 sq. km
• Population: 200,000
• Economy: mining (goolod period developed gold mining by prisoner labour), fisheries
  
• Kamchatka peninsula:
  
• Capital: Petropavlovisk-Kamchatke (population: 56,000)
• Area: 70,800 sq.km
• Climate: moderated by ocean constantly moving and in the pacific “ring of fire”
• (volcanic and earthquake prone)
• Population: 384,200

Chutkotka AO:

• Capital: Anadyr (13,000)
• Impoverished place
• Area: 737,000 sq. km
• Climate: extreme, windy, cold, cool summers
• Landscapes: mountainous, Anadyr is largest river
• Population: 75,3000
• Economy: gold and tin mining
  

Maps: Latitude/ Longitude and Coordinates

http://www.infosports.com/m/map.htm

Search for your Latitude and Longitude Coordinates

• When looking at a map, latitude lines run horizontally. Latitude lines are also known as parallels since they are parallel and are an equal distant from each other. Each degree of latitude is approximately 69 miles (111 km) apart; there is a variation due to the fact that the earth is not a perfect sphere but (slightly egg-shaped).


• Degrees latitude are numbered from 0° to 90° north and south. Zero degrees is the equator, the imaginary line which divides our planet into the northern and southern hemispheres. 90° north is the North Pole and 90° south is the South Pole.


• The vertical longitude lines are also known as meridians. They converge at the poles and are widest at the equator (about 69 miles or 111 km apart). Zero degrees longitude is located at Greenwich, England (0°). The degrees continue 180° east and 180° west where they meet and form the International Date Line in the Pacific Ocean.


• To precisely locate points on the earth's surface, degrees longitude and latitude have been divided into minutes (') and seconds ("). There are 60 minutes in each degree. Each minute is divided into 60 seconds. Seconds can be further divided into tenths, hundredths, or even thousandths.

YUKON TERRITORY Whitehorse AP (S) 60° 43' N 135° 4' W

Introduction: Social history of the Circumpolar North

• Beginning my journey through the Circumpolar North, and not having much knowledge to start with. I needed start with defining what exactly the Circumpolar North was

"Roughly speaking, this term refers to the area encompassed by the Arctic and the Subarctic
biogeographical zones. For political purposes it includes the following states:
Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, USA, Canada, Greenland [Denmark], and Iceland."

• While I began my research of the Circumpolar I began to realize how without really paying attention to the world I live in it is continously changing around me. Continental and climate changes began millions of years ago, and yet today land continues to shift, and more and more people take notice to the changing climates in the North.


• Without over exhausting the global warming issue I discovered in an article that the burning of fossil fuels have uncovered some fossils of its own. The impact of climate change was unavoidable in the Yukon as melting ice has uncovered ancient artifacts.Geologists working in the Wernecke Mountains northeast of Mayo, Yukon, have uncovered microfossils that are twice as old as the dinosaurs.


• http://www.sikunews.com/art.html?artid=2469&catid=26