We landed at Qilakitsoq for a short hike and educational talk the afternoon of July 19, 2024. Qilakitsoq made headlines after two hunters from Uummannaq, Hans and Jokum Grønvold, discovered graves containing eight mummies, in October 1972.

Thule Settlement

According to Wikipedia, the Thule were the ancestors of all modern Inuit, including Greenlandic Inuit. Thule culture developed in coastal Alaska by 1000 AD, expanded eastward across northern Canada and reached Greenland by the 13th century. The name Thule comes from the location where the archaeological remains of the people were first found in Greenland. Note – Thule was forcibly relocated in the early 1950s, to make way for the United States’ Thule Air Base. Residents moved approximately 130 km north to the new settlement of Qaanaaq.

From the time the Thule people reached Uummannaq fjord until around AD 1800, Qilakitsoq was home to about 30 residents. The region’s rich game and fishery supported the community of hunters and gatherers. They lived primarily in sod houses in the winter. Summer shelter would have been tents, as they ventured out on extended hunting trips in the surrounding fjords.

As we walked up from the landing site, we trod paths skirting the remains of winter homes. But we didn’t know that at the time we were there. I learned of these remains doing research for this post. They would have been to my left in this photo (ie on the right hand side of the photo).

Walk to Discovery Site

Many passengers opted to stay at the gravel beach, where they explored some of the rocky peninsulas jutting into the cove. That’s because the walk to the Qilakitsoq mummies discovery site was a bit challenging to reach, with very steep bits and then back down again. Having to wear muck boots upped the difficulty level. Fortunately, it was short. We walked less than a km there and back.

This next photo gives you some idea of the descent to the discovery site, which was down the narrow draw. Once at the site, one of the expedition staff gave a talk on the discovery of the Qilakitsoq mummies and the learnings from studying them.

Qilakitsoq Mummies

In October 1972, two hunters from Uummannaq, Hans and Jokum Grønvold, discovered graves containing several mummies while hunting rock ptarmigans (grouse). They re-covered the graves and alerted authorities. In 1978, the first scientific investigations of the grave sites took place. Soon afterwards, the mummies were transferred to Copenhagen, Denmark for further research.

The graves of the eight mummies differed from other Qilakitsoq grave sites in that they lay outside the settlement and each contained several corpses. The location beneath an overhanging cliff offered optimal conditions for natural mummification. Covered with stones, the bodies were in a cold, dry, and well-ventilated atmosphere, protected from animals and the weather.

The corpses were piled on top of one another in two groups, about one meter apart. One grave contained a woman over 50 years, a woman of over 30 years, a 20- to 30-year-old woman, a four-year-old boy with signs of Down’s syndrome, and a boy about six months old. The other grave contained two women of about 50 years and one woman of about 20 years. All were fully clothed.

Initially, clues such as age and location in the grave sites suggested the mummies belonged to two non-related families. Later DNA analysis proved familial links between people in both graves. Radiocarbon dating yielded a time of death around 1475 +/- 50 years.

In 1982, the mummies were returned to Greenland as part of a repatriation of Greenlandic cultural assets. The four best-preserved mummies are publicly exhibited at the Greenland National Museum in the capital city of Nuuk. Unfortunately, this was not one of our stops. But it means we have good reason to return to Greenland some day. We did see some story boards about the Qilakitsoq mummies when we visited the Uummannaq museum earlier in the day.

The Qilakitsoq mummies featured on the cover of the February 1985 issue of National Geographic magazine.

Zodiac Cruise

Before returning to Ultramarine, our zodiac pilot took us on a cruise among some of the icebergs in Uummannaq fjord. Ship operations required careful timing of the return of zodiacs because while we were ashore at Qilakitsoq, passengers who paid for a longer heli-flight were being flown to/from a landing site high above the fjord.

We enjoyed ideal conditions for a zodiac cruise among the icebergs – calm water, sunshine, and an interesting mix of icebergs. One reminded us of the Sphinx. Another of a crocodile head. We saw one with a great big arch in the middle of it. And one that reminded us of Grimlock from the Transformers TV series our kids used to watch.

Grimlock transformed while some zodiacs were on the water. A huge chunk, including the “head,” sloughed off into the sea. One of our fellow passengers happened to catch the action in a video clip, which was featured in that evening’s recap.

As we approached Ultramarine, flight operations continued. We had to hold at a distance while a helicopter landed. Mr GeoK used a long zoom lens for these photos.

Only then could we approach the expedition dock on the starboard (right) side of the ship.

SUMMARY

On reflection, a short shore excursion followed by a flexible zodiac cruise was a very good way to allow most passengers an afternoon excursion while a small subset of passengers enjoyed the helicopter excursion option. We experienced first hand the restrictions on movement around the ship when helicopters are coming and going during the flightseeing afternoon. Not something I’d want to repeat!

Thinking back on our short walk to the discovery site of the Qilakitsoq mummies, I can only try to imagine everyday life in the small Thule settlement several centuries ago. It’s one of the things I most love about travel – the opportunities to learn and to think and to imagine. 🙂

Here’s the link to Mr GeoK’s Relive video recap.