Marine Foragers at the Top of the World: Zooarchaeological Analysis of a Thule Period Small Site at Uivvaq, Alaska

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Thule period is significant as a predecessor to modern Iñupiat culture, and yet understanding Thule life remains partial to the selectiveness of archaeological investigations. Much of the Alaskan Thule period research has focused on large settlements along the northwest coast (e.g. Point Hope, Walakpa, and Utqiaġvik). Smaller sites, such as the Uivvaq village site have not been extensively explored and provide deeper insights into the lifeways of early Alaskans. The predominant focus of research on Thule period sites is whaling technology, which minimizes the importance of other terrestrial and marine resources. However, initial interpretations of subsistence at the Uivvaq site indicate that seals, birds, and caribou were economically important. The tendency of arctic faunal assemblages to contain predominantly seal bones is interesting, given that subsistence research has focused on the Thule practice of whale hunting. The results of this analysis provide data to assess whether variation existed between large sites and the small, satellite settlements as well as further understanding the use of animal resources by Thule period communities. The Uivvaq site will demonstrate that the smaller, year-round Thule sites have the same types of activities and similar faunal assemblages as the larger communities.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 23989