Birnirk and Thule Pottery: Analysis of Arctic Ceramics from Inuigniq (Cape Espenberg), Alaska

Summary

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

We are conducting a multi-year (2009-2018), multi-disciplinary research project at Inuigniq (Cape Espenberg) to explore changing patterns of human occupation, culture change, and environmental conditions in Northwest Alaska. Our current focus is on the emergence of Birnirk archaeological culture ca. AD 1000, and the question of how Birnirk culture factored into the formation of Ancestral Iñupiaq (Thule) culture around AD 1300. We undertook analysis of Inuigniq ceramics to address the question of continuity and change over this transitional period, and to further evaluate data on Birnirk spheres of influence as established by prior ceramic research. Excavation of five Thule and Birnirk semi-subterranean houses at Inuigniq (800 AD and 1400 AD) yielded over 9,100 ceramics. We compared the Inuigniq ceramic technology to ceramics from the Birnirk type site and later Thule sites. We found similarities in ceramic technology over time, and also the development of local decorative styles that are linked to previously established geochemical source groups. These new results inform our understanding of interaction and cultural change during this pivotal cultural period, and also contribute more broadly to the study of circumpolar ceramic technology and foodways.

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): 25887