A Winter at Akulivik: Faunal Analysis of a Thulean House at the site of Kangiakallak-1 (Nunavik, Québec)

Summary

The site of Kangiakallak-1 (JeGn-2 – AKU-10-018), located near Akulivik (Nunavik, Québec), has yielded several occupations attributed to the Dorset and Thule periods. Level A corresponds to a Thulean winter house for which collapse and preservation in permafrost provides an excellent and undisturbed record of Thulean lifeway. This paper presents the results of a faunal analysis conducted on animal remains found within the Level A house. The dominant species recovered were caribou Rangifer tarandus, ringed seal Pusa hispida, and bearded seal Erignathus barbatus. Faunal materials were extremely well preserved, enabling an accurate taphonomic reconstruction of human butchery and consumption patterns. Butchery practices particularly differ between species of terrestrial mammals (caribou), for which emphasis was put on marrow was systematically exploited, and species of marine mammals, for which soft tissues were predominantly utilized. The Level A house at Kangiakallak-1 reflects the range of economic activities conducted by Thulean people, but also how people’s mobility related with the distribution of resources across the landscape.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage