Using Paleoenvironmental Data to Learn about Past Inuit Societies: A Case Study from the Rising Whale (KTZ304) Site at Cape Espenberg, Northwest Alaska

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Current Research and Challenges in Arctic and Subarctic Cultural Heritage Studies" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

To precisely contextualize and date climate variations and practices related to living spaces at the onset of the Little Ice Age, archaeoenvironmental analyses were conducted within a winter dwelling (Feature 21) at the Rising Whale site, Cape Espenberg. Two high-resolution datasets were employed: tree rings and insect and plant macrofossils, both benefiting from exceptional permafrost preservation. In this tundra landscape where driftwood from interior Alaska is the main wood resource, a 1,000-year-long tree-ring 1940s legacy chronology for northwest Alaska remains the yardstick for dendrochronology and paleoclimatic inferences. Tree-ring dating of 19 white spruce architectural elements in combination with high-resolution radiocarbon wiggle-matching yielded seven precise calendrical dates, refining and confirming that the construction and occupation of F-21 fell after AD 1265. Identified seed (archaeobotany) and insect (entomology) remains from within the house established local resource use(s) and space management within this refined chronology. The accumulation of necrophagous and detritivorous insect remains indicates storage spaces or dumps areas for organic matter of animal and plant origin consumed by the inhabitants, while the presence of characteristic tundra insects and plant seeds indicates local resources collected in summer and eaten or used in the construction and maintenance of the dwelling.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Current Research and Challenges in Arctic and Subarctic Cultural Heritage Studies   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38811.0