Ruin Island is a small island off the coast of the Inglefield Land region of northwest Greenland. In the 1930s, Danish archaeologist Erik Holtved discovered the remains of human habitation on the island. The culture associated with this archaeological site became known as the Ruin Island phase of Thule Culture.Archaeology of Prehistoric Native America: An Encyclopedia. Gibbon, Guy E. and Kenneth M. Ames. 1998 Items traded by the Greenlandic Norse travelled as far as Ruin Island.Inuit-Norse contact in the Smith Sound region/Schledermann, P. McCullough, K.M.
History
The earliest known inhabitants of Ruin Island are ancestors of the Inuit known as Thule culture, named after the nearby archeologic site of Thule. These Thule culture inhabitants have been estimated to arrive at Ruin Island between 1280 and 1330.The Northern World: AD 900–1400. Edited by Herbert Maschner, Owen Mason, and Robert McGhee. 2009
References
External links Inglefield Land Archaeological Project page about Ruin Island