back into prehistory, with significant evidence to indicate that the basic clothing structure has changed little since. The clothing systems of all indigenous Arctic peoples are structurally similar, and evidence in the form of tools and carved figurines indicates that these systems may have been in use in the Mal'ta–Buret' culture of Siberia as early as 22,000BCE, and in the Pre-Dorset and Dorset cultures in Canada and Greenland as early as 2500BCE. Occasionally, pieces of garments are found at archaeological sites, mostly dating from the Thule culture era of approximately 1000 to 1600CE. Examples include the fully dressed 15th-century mummies found at Qilakitsoq in 1972, as well as the garments found at Utqiaġvik, Alaska in the early 1980s. Structural elements of these remnants are very similar to garments from the 17th to mid-20th centuries, which confirms significant consistency in construction of Inuit clothing over centuries. Beginning in the late 1500s, contact with non-Inuit traders and explorers began to have an increased influence on the construction and appearance of Inuit clothing. Imported tools and fabrics became integrated into the traditional clothing system, and premade fabric garments sometimes replaced traditional wear. Adoption of fabric garments was often driven by external forces: missionaries found Inuit traditional garments inappropriate, and traders provided incentives for Inuit to sell the furs they hunted rather than use them themselves. Inuit also adopted fabric garments for their own convenience, especially men who took work on whaling ships. These voluntary adoptions often precluded the decline of traditional styles, as the use of manufactured clothing became associated with wealth and prestige. Increased cultural assimilation and modernization at the beginning of the 20th century led to reduced production of traditional skin garments for everyday use. The introduction of the Canadian Indian residential school system to northern Canada disrupted the cycle of elders passing down knowledge to younger generations informally. Even after the decline of the residential schools, most day schools did not include material on Inuit culture until the 1980s. Demand for skin garments shrank with lifestyle changes, including wider availability of manufactured clothing, which can be easier to maintain. Overhunting depleted many caribou herds, and opposition to seal hunting from the animal rights movement crashed the export market for seal pelts; there was a corresponding drop in hunting as a primary occupation. Reduced demand meant that fewer practitioners retained their skills, and even fewer passed them on. By the mid-1990s,