Driftwood, seal oil and caribou bones: interdisciplinary insight into fuel management and fire-related activities in Arctic contexts

• Main Authors: Vanlandeghem, Marine, Alix, Claire, Michelle, Elliott, Norman, Lauren, Petit, Christophe
• Other Authors: Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - UFR Histoire de l'art et archéologie (UP1 UFR03), Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1), Archéologies environnementales, Archéologies et Sciences de l'Antiquité (ArScAn), Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis (UP8)-Université Paris Nanterre (UPN)-Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives (Inrap)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis (UP8)-Université Paris Nanterre (UPN)-Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives (Inrap)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Archéologie des Amériques (ArchAm), Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), University of Kansas Kansas City
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2018
• Subjects: Thule; Birnirk; Driftwood; Fuel management; Charcoal; Fire; Experimentation; Hearth; Alaska; [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory; Arctic; caribou
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-01846273

International audience Within the Cape Espenberg sites, layers of carbonized and cemented remains are found associated with Birnirk and Thule semi-subterranean houses (11th-18th century AD). These burned areas raise a number of questions about re related outside activities, the use of multiple fuels, and the long-term processes that led to their formation. In this wood-poor arctic environment, ethnographic observations report that driftwood can be used as a fuel, often coupled with animal resources to meet re energy needs. In this paper, we present combustion areas excavated from the Rising Whale site at Cape Espenberg. We analyzed each hearth feature by sorting and identifying wood and animal fuels. We discuss the representation of rewood taxa with a statistical analysis of their frequency and fragmentation.