Comparing fill and floor: A taphonomic framework for understanding depositional histories in a semi‐subterranean house in north‐west Alaska

• Published in: International Journal of Osteoarchaeology
• Main Author: Norman, Lauren E.Y.
• Other Authors: National Science Foundation Polar Program
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2018
• Subjects: inuit; Alaska
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/oa.2704; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Foa.2704; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/oa.2704

Abstract Collapsed semi‐subterranean dwelling features are often excellent sources for well‐preserved faunal, artefactual, and architectural material in the Arctic. However, collapsed structures may be reused after house abandonment as storage areas, hunting blinds, refuse areas, or other resource facilities. Despite their reuse and possibly different occupation period, artefacts and faunal material from the fill are often employed, uncritically, to interpret the original house occupation. Within a Thule Inuit house depression, I employ an analytical framework as a heuristic device to compare the social nature of the various faunal deposits and the processes that affected them. Analyses show that the taphonomic processes alter the fill more extensively and intensively than the underlying floor. The floor shows little post‐depositional disturbance and is evidence for a cold‐season occupation. By contrast, the fill is a palimpsest of multiple occupations, some possibly related to the house occupation. Archaeologists need to differentiate fill from floor contexts when talking about the original occupation because the taphonomy of the two contexts indicate each is a distinct set of assemblages with differing operative processes.