Denbigh Flint complex

The Denbigh Flint complex was a Paleo-Inuit material culture that was active in Alaska and northwestern Canada from 4,000 to 3300 years ago (1450 to 2450 BC). They were the first members of the wide material assemblage known as the Arctic Small Tool tradition.^[1] Sites attributed to the Denbigh Flint complex mostly inhabited northern Alaska from Cape Krusenstern to the western Yukon, but sites are also found further to the south from the Aleutian islands into mainland Alaska. They were mobile hunter-gatherers who relied on caribou herds for sustenance. The Denbigh Flint complex likely were descendants from the Syalakh and Bel’kachi cultures of Siberia. They engaged in wide-scale trade, moving pieces of obsidian over 500km.^[1] The economy of the Denbigh Flint complex was based around both maritime and terrestrial resources. They made seasonal visits to the coast to hunt seals, but their primary food was caribou, which they hunted year-round.^[1] Denbigh peoples also fished, picked berries, and hunted birds in the fall.