A Spatial Analysis of Ceramics in Northwestern Alaska: Studying Pre-Contact Gendered Use of Space

Summary

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

Activities and production among ethnographic Arctic peoples were primarily divided by gender. This research examines whether or not gendered division of labor extended to use of space in Birnirk and Thule era (1300-150 BP) houses through analysis of ceramic distribution patterns. We assumed that ceramics are an appropriate proxy for women’s activities within the house, based on strong associations between women and ceramic production and use in the ethnographic period. We evaluated the spatial density of ceramics and other gender-specific artifacts using the HDBSCAN (Hierarchical Density Based Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise) algorithm in Python, a programming language. HDBSCAN identifies discrete clusters of artifacts, as well as the stability of the cluster. We did not find evidence of gender specific use of space or specific activity areas within the house. There were confounding factors, including issues of sample size, house size, and depositional processes. Ceramics mostly clustered in house entrance tunnels, which is likely the result of cleaning or storage activities. In main rooms, clustering of all artifacts was idiosyncratic; male and female artifacts were not spatially segregated. While the results were inconclusive, they still are an important contribution to addressing questions of gender in the Arctic.

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): 25050