Russian Colonial-Influenced Architecture in an Alaska Creole Village, Afognak, Alaska

Summary

In 2012, at the request of the Native Village of Afognak, a multi-agency team documented Afognak Village, an Alutiiq Creole settlement abandoned following the 1964 Alaska earthquake and tsunami. Village features included pre-contact and historical period archaeological sites, cemeteries, garden plots, fencelines, trails, remnants of a Russian Orthodox church, and numerous residences and outbuildings. Nearly all the buildings had at least partially collapsed and many were in advanced states of archaeological ruin. The buildings’ deteriorated condition allowed observation of structural systems originally hidden beneath siding. Numerous buildings were constructed of hand-hewn logs with dovetail-notched corners and moss chinking, construction identical to that of the Russian-American Company Magazin, an extant ca. 1806 Russian Colonial warehouse in nearby Kodiak. Historical research confirms a strong Russian presence on Afognak Island by 1786 and in Afognak Village by 1803. Russian Colonial building traditions persisted in Afognak Village until about 1910, when the area’s first sawmill began operation.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Culture Change and Persistence among North American Indigenous Peoples in the Contact Zone   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2015

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 401