The
Thule ( or ) or
proto-Inuit were the ancestors of all modern
Inuit. They developed in coastal
Alaska by
AD 1000 and expanded eastwards across
Canada, reaching
Greenland by the 13th century. In the process, they replaced people of the earlier
Dorset culture that had previously inhabited the region. The appellation "
Thule" originates from the location of
Thule (relocated and renamed
Qaanaaq in 1953) in northwest Greenland, facing Canada, where the
archaeological remains of the people were first found at
Comer's Midden. The links between the Thule and the Inuit are
biological,
cultural, and
linguistic.