PLEISTOCENE WALRUS (ODOBENUS-ROSMARUS) FROM FORTEAU, LABRADOR

A partial skeleton of an adult male walrus (Odobenus rosmarus) was exc avated from a raised beach on the Labrador coast, near the present com munity of Forteau. Bone collagen from the specimen has been radiocarbo n dated at about 11 500 yr BP. Fossil pollen, dinoflagellates, diatoms , sponges, echinoderms, barnacles, foraminifers and ostracodes from sa ndy clay surrounding the specimen are considered in terms of their pal eoenvironmental implications. Presuming the bone date is correct, paly nological and molluscan data suggest that the walrus skeleton was rewo rked and redeposited by a receding sea some 10 300 to 10 400 years ago , when sparse tundra vegetation evidently bordered on a glaciomarine e nvironment.