Functional Analysis of Three Unusual Assemblages from the Cape Dorset Area, Baffin Island

A brief survey of the Cape Dorset area, Baffin Island recovered surface collections from three very similar, but unusual quartz assemblages. This paper hypothe- sizes that these assemblages represent a consistent set of activities. In testing this hypoth- esis, the author uses an approach to functional analysis that has several important advantages over other methods. This approach can help solve problems in eastern arctic prehistory involving a relationship between environmental change and cultural change.