One of the most important problems which the Fifth Thule Expedition had set itself to solve was the immigration of the Eskimos to Greenland, where they came from and at what stage of culture they had arrived.
Here the difficulty presents itself that we cannot say definitely what was the appearance of the earliest Greenland culture; and this will not be ascertained until Greenland has been archaeologically explored. But, judging from the material at hand, we have no large find from Greenland earlier than the collection from Comer's Midden. This is not saying that in Greenland we have no objects that are earlier than this find; attention has been drawn in the foregoing to the fact that in Greenland, especially in West Greenland, specimens have been found which seem to have come from an earlier phase of the Thule culture than Comer's Midden; this especially refers to certain richly ornamented objects.
But until other finds appear which prove the opposite, we must assume that Greenland's first inhabitants were at the stage of the Thule culture. Besides the find from Comer's Midden, this is supported by the numerous Thule types known from the northern West Coast and also by the great similarity which exists between the North-east Greenland finds and the old Central Eskimo finds. It seems as if Eskimos at the Thule stage had made their way into Greenland at the Cape York district; from there they have advanced down along the west coast and, in northern West Greenland, have found new possibilities. A little later the migration north about Greenland has taken place and gradually southern West Greenland and Angmagsalik have been populated, the latter by migration south about Cape Farewell. This is how it seems to me for the time being; it is to be hoped, however, that future investigations will soon throw more light over Greenland's previous history. One important question that springs up is whether, after Greenland had become populated, there have been other immigrations from the central regions. As I have stated previously, there are features which indicate a fairly late connection between the two regions; and as a matter of fact as late
