# Archaeological evidence of resource utilisation of walrus, Odobenus rosmarus, over the past two millennia: A systematic review protocol

## TL;DR

This paper outlines a plan to systematically review archaeological evidence of walrus use over two millennia to understand how and when they were hunted across the Arctic.

## Contribution

The study introduces a reproducible protocol for compiling circumpolar archaeological data on walrus resource use for the first time.

## Key findings

- A systematic review protocol is proposed to gather archaeological records of walrus remains and artifacts.
- The dataset will provide spatiotemporal insights into walrus hunting and population changes across the Northern Hemisphere.
- The protocol aims to identify knowledge gaps and promote systematic review methods in archaeology.

## Abstract

The walrus,
Odobenus rosmarus, is an iconic pinniped and predominant molluscivore that is well adapted to Arctic and subarctic environments. Its circumpolar distribution, large body size and ivory tusks facilitated its vital role as food, raw material (for tools and art), income, and cultural influence on many Arctic Indigenous communities for millennia. Intensification of hunting (often due to the arrival of Europeans, especially between the 16
th and 19
th centuries) to obtain ivory, hide, blubber and meat, resulted in diminished, sometimes extirpated, walrus populations. Zooarchaeological, artefactual and documentary evidence of walrus material has been collated at local and regional scales and is frequently focused on a specific culture or period of time. Systematic collation of this evidence across the Northern Hemisphere will provide insight into the chronology and circumpolar distribution of walrus hunting and provide a tool to document societal change in walrus resource use. Here, we lay out a systematic review protocol to collate records of archaeological walrus artefacts, tusks and bones that have been documented primarily within published literature to archive when and where (as feasible) walrus extractions occurred between 1 CE and 2000 CE. These data will be openly available for the scientific community. The resulting dataset will be the first to provide spatiotemporal information (including the recognition of knowledge gaps) regarding past walrus populations and extirpations on a circumpolar scale. Our protocol is published to ensure reproducibility and comparability in the future, and to encourage the adoption of systematic review methodology (including pre-published protocols) in archaeology.