Anatomy of an Arctic Archaeobotanical Analysis: Insights about Ancestral Inuvialuit Plant Use at Agvik, Banks Island, NWT

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Arctic Pasts: Dimensions of Change" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Despite extensive Inuit knowledge of and interest in plants, archaeobotanical studies are incredibly rare in the Arctic, representing a clear bias of archaeologists. The proliferation of community-engaged research in the north is helping to open an avenue to more archaeobotanical work. While fish and mammals certainly composed the bulk of the Inuit diet, plants formed an important component of local economies and preserve extremely well in northern conditions. Plant foods eaten by Inuit throughout the circumpolar north are full of critical nutrients, and in the Western Arctic, where driftwood is abundant, this source of materials provided for building, transport, and domestic technologies. This paper presents an archaeobotanical analysis of a semi-subterranean *qarmat dwelling at the site of Agvik (OkRn-1), located on the south coast of Banks Island, NWT, and dated 1380–1450 AD (calibrated). The plant assemblage, in concert with other analyses, tells us about the resource catchment, seasonality, and dietary patterns of Agvik’s residents. We explore the continuity of plant use knowledge from ancestral Inuvialuit times to the present and consider what theoretical and methodological directions this study indicates for archaeobotany in Inuvialuit territory and beyond.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• Arctic Pasts: Dimensions of Change

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 32004