Animal bones and fat within hearths: Creating insight into arctic fuel management through fire experiments

International audience In northwestern Alaska, burned activity areas with horizons of carbonized organic remains and sand layers cemented with sea mammal fat are often found outside of Birnirk and Thule semi-subterranean house features. In this paper, we address the question of using animal products...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Vanlandeghem, Marine, Alix, Claire, Norman, Lauren, Buonasera, Tammy
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 Nanterre (UPN)-Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-Université Paris Nanterre (UPN)-Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-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, Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, University of Arizona
Format: Other/Unknown Material
Language:English
Published: HAL CCSD 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01846297
Description
Summary:International audience In northwestern Alaska, burned activity areas with horizons of carbonized organic remains and sand layers cemented with sea mammal fat are often found outside of Birnirk and Thule semi-subterranean house features. In this paper, we address the question of using animal products (such as terrestrial and marine mammal fat, and bones) as supplementary fuels in wood-poor environments by reporting on a series of sixty-four experimental combustions under controlled conditions. Results assess the impact of animal fuels on wood fire temperature and duration as well as identify the effect of adding bones and fat to fires on archaeological charcoal remains. These results provide a framework to discuss why, when and for what purpose Birnirk and Thule people used fires in northwestern Alaska.