The Western Aleutians: Cultural Isolation and Environmental Change

• Main Authors: Corbett, Debra, Lefevre, Christine, Siegel-Causey, Douglas
• Other Authors: Animal, Os et Archéologie, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 1997
• Subjects: Aleutian Islands; subarctic; cultural exchange; Holocene; environmental change; maritime adaptations; [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory; aleut; Subarctic
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02088289; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02088289/document; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02088289/file/Corbett%20et%20al%201997%20The%20Western%20Aleutians%20-%20cultural%20isolation%20and%20environmental%20change%20-%20Human%20Ecology.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021875626928

International audience Recent research in the westem Aleutians addresses two primary issues: the nature and extent of cultural exchange along the Aleutian chain, and Holocene environmental change and its effects on the development of Aleut culture. Cultural isolation is a major paradigm of researchers working in the Aleutians. Review of the distribution of several cultural traits suggests the Aleuts adopted many cultural elements originating outside the chain, but the distribution of these to the westem islands was uneven.