We can take a look at the MtDNA in their hair to see how many mommies they had ~ bet it's a bunch.
They didn't take women on a 4 year, potentially 8 year round trip journey ~ 'cause babies arrive in 9 months. They took women on a 2 month trip in winter to stay.
It is commonly the case that upper Neolithic peoples have a basic division of labor, and life. The women, children and elderly stay in a village setting year round, and perform duties associated with "gathering" or "preparing". The men are in the village as a base of operations from Mid Spring to Early Fall. Otherwise they are ON THE LONG MARCH hunting for a living. The Iroquois carried this to the extreme of selecting new brides and husbands upon their return. No divorce in their system!
The first Eskimos into Greenland were on a long march ~ hunting for things to eat, plus they may have heard from others of what could be found there. I can't imagine why the men would abandon their familys in Summer.
“There were certainly settlers, but it’s dollars to doughnuts some of them went back home ~ with good news if nothing else.”
Where is home?
“They didn’t take women on a 4 year, potentially 8 year round trip journey ~ ‘cause babies arrive in 9 months. They took women on a 2 month trip in winter to stay.”
They sure did take them along. Everyone went. Look, I’m trying to explain why you can’t sled from Alaska to Greenland. It just doesn’t work, and they would have been killed by other native tribes.
“It is commonly the case that upper Neolithic peoples have a basic division of labor, and life.”
Neolithic? This is in 1000 AD or thereabouts. The Inuit are not neolithic people.
“The Iroquois carried this to the extreme of selecting new brides and husbands upon their return. No divorce in their system!”
The Iroquois are very, very different from the Inuit. Night and day. Why would Iroquois practices have anything to do with the Inuit?
“The first Eskimos into Greenland were on a long march ~ unting for things to eat, plus they may have heard from others of what could be found there. I can’t imagine why the men would abandon their familys in Summer.”
That’s because they brought them along for the trip.
Why don’t you go to google, and count the mountain ranges between northern Alaska and Greenland along the Arctic coast. It just isn’t feasible to dog sled.