What can archaeobotanical remains from exceptionally well preserved contexts tell us about past arctic life-ways?

Summary

Anthropological studies of western Alaska consistently remark upon the substantial knowledge of the regional flora by local Eskimo groups. Despite the attritional impact of Western lifestyles on traditional ecological knowledge, the indigenous peoples of the region maintain a rich appreciation of the plant resources available in their local environment. Yet, archaeobotanical analyses from the region remain scarce and there rests a general opinion that plants did not play an important role in past Eskimo subsistence. Faunal analyses and isotopic studies which indicate a predominately marine diet entrench this assumption, but they do not present the whole picture. Ethnography demonstrates that plants were not only integral to Eskimo diets, but they also served ceremonial and utilitarian functions. Using the exceptionally well-preserved botanical macro-remains from 14th to 17th century sod structures at Nunalleq in southwestern Alaska, this paper aims to establish the role of plants in past Arctic life-ways.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Human-Environment Interactions & Human Ecology in Western Arctic Prehistory

Keywords

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