Inuit have travelled to and settled in the coastal landscapes of Northeast
Greenland for several longer periods during the latest ca. 4500
years. Most recently the Thule culture Inuit lived in the region from
around 1400 until 1850 AD. The access to partly and periodically
ice covered near coastal waters has been crucial to the primarily
marine based subsistence strategy of the Thule Inuit culture, and their
settlements are therefore found immediately at the coast. Changing
geological and geomorphologic settings strongly influence the
coastal morphodynamics, and only specific locations offer stable
and protected conditions needed for proper winter settlements. The
comprehensive study of coastal environments and Thule culture
winter settlements in the Young Sound region show an accumulation
of winter settlements, nearly all located either in protected pocket
beaches or on stable basalt capes. The Thule culture abandoned
Northeast Greenland about 1850 AD, and apart from settlements
on basalt capes, most of the winter settlement sites in pocket beach
areas have been affected by erosion of local character and in some
cases also affected by increasing wave erosion during recent periods
of less ice in near coastal waters.