The metal-working technology was primitive. Arctic people did not use heat, so metal was neither purified from ore nor alloyed with other metals to increase its strength. And they worked metal cold, hammering it into shape between stones, McCartney says. The new-found abundance of metal has forced archeologists to reevaluate their views of ancient Arctic culture. Sources of copper and iron are exceptionally rare in the Arctic.
Copper seems to have come from two locations.
Most of the iron came from Cape York, Greenland, where a large, almost pure iron meteorite broke into fragments while descending through the atmosphere thousands of years ago. This analysis shows that Cape York iron was used through much of Greenland and the Canadian Arctic, indicating that it was carried by a widespread trade network. It's possible, McCartney speculates, that the metals were traded at early versions of the summer trading fairs that Arctic peoples held until recently. They were not isolated and using solely their own resources. The metal shows they were connected to everyone else.