A Zooarchaeological study at Buldir Island, Western Aleutians, Alaska
International audience During 1991, an archaeological investigation was conducted on Buldir Island, Aleutian Islands, Alaska. This paper presents quantified zooarchaeological data for that site and constitutes the first such report for the western Aleutians. Excavations of two test pits produced a s...
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ftunivnantes:oai:HAL:hal-02099279v1 2023-05-15T13:14:24+02:00 A Zooarchaeological study at Buldir Island, Western Aleutians, Alaska Lefevre, Christine Corbett, Debra West, Dixie Siegel-Causey, Douglas Archéozoologie, histoire des sociétés et des peuplements animaux (AHS) Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center University of Kansas Lawrence (KU) 1997 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02099279 en eng HAL CCSD University of Wisconsin Press hal-02099279 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02099279 ISSN: 0066-6939 Arctic Anthropology https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02099279 Arctic Anthropology, University of Wisconsin Press, 1997, 34 (2), pp.118-131 [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 1997 ftunivnantes 2022-07-13T00:20:08Z International audience During 1991, an archaeological investigation was conducted on Buldir Island, Aleutian Islands, Alaska. This paper presents quantified zooarchaeological data for that site and constitutes the first such report for the western Aleutians. Excavations of two test pits produced a sample of 8822 vertebrate elements, representing marine mammals, birds, and fish. In terms of meat yield, Steller sea lion [Eumetopias jubata) dominated the assemblage. Although the most important parameters for traditional Aleut bird hunting have been size and weight, our research suggests that smaller bird species, including the whiskered auklet, were hunted for purposes of clothing ornamentation rather than for meat yield. Presence of alcids, pelagic fish, and infant sea lions in the assemblage supports a scenario for summer occupation of Buldir by Aleut hunters; however, the ratio of adult sea lion remains provides evidence for possible year-round habitation on the island. Although sea lions provided the highest meat yield in the eastern and western Aleutians, fish played a much larger role in the eastern economies. Alcids dominate the archaeological faunal assemblages in the western Aleutians, but albatrosses, cormorants, and other Procellari dae are the most prevalent species found in the east. Preliminary archaeological evidence suggests that short-tailed albatross, black-legged kitti wakes, murrelets, and least auklets varied in importance on Buldir over time. Article in Journal/Newspaper aleut Arctic Arctic Anthropology Alaska Aleutian Islands Université de Nantes: HAL-UNIV-NANTES Buldir Island ENVELOPE(175.925,175.925,52.358,52.358) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Université de Nantes: HAL-UNIV-NANTES |
op_collection_id |
ftunivnantes |
language |
English |
topic |
[SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory |
spellingShingle |
[SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory Lefevre, Christine Corbett, Debra West, Dixie Siegel-Causey, Douglas A Zooarchaeological study at Buldir Island, Western Aleutians, Alaska |
topic_facet |
[SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory |
description |
International audience During 1991, an archaeological investigation was conducted on Buldir Island, Aleutian Islands, Alaska. This paper presents quantified zooarchaeological data for that site and constitutes the first such report for the western Aleutians. Excavations of two test pits produced a sample of 8822 vertebrate elements, representing marine mammals, birds, and fish. In terms of meat yield, Steller sea lion [Eumetopias jubata) dominated the assemblage. Although the most important parameters for traditional Aleut bird hunting have been size and weight, our research suggests that smaller bird species, including the whiskered auklet, were hunted for purposes of clothing ornamentation rather than for meat yield. Presence of alcids, pelagic fish, and infant sea lions in the assemblage supports a scenario for summer occupation of Buldir by Aleut hunters; however, the ratio of adult sea lion remains provides evidence for possible year-round habitation on the island. Although sea lions provided the highest meat yield in the eastern and western Aleutians, fish played a much larger role in the eastern economies. Alcids dominate the archaeological faunal assemblages in the western Aleutians, but albatrosses, cormorants, and other Procellari dae are the most prevalent species found in the east. Preliminary archaeological evidence suggests that short-tailed albatross, black-legged kitti wakes, murrelets, and least auklets varied in importance on Buldir over time. |
author2 |
Archéozoologie, histoire des sociétés et des peuplements animaux (AHS) Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center University of Kansas Lawrence (KU) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Lefevre, Christine Corbett, Debra West, Dixie Siegel-Causey, Douglas |
author_facet |
Lefevre, Christine Corbett, Debra West, Dixie Siegel-Causey, Douglas |
author_sort |
Lefevre, Christine |
title |
A Zooarchaeological study at Buldir Island, Western Aleutians, Alaska |
title_short |
A Zooarchaeological study at Buldir Island, Western Aleutians, Alaska |
title_full |
A Zooarchaeological study at Buldir Island, Western Aleutians, Alaska |
title_fullStr |
A Zooarchaeological study at Buldir Island, Western Aleutians, Alaska |
title_full_unstemmed |
A Zooarchaeological study at Buldir Island, Western Aleutians, Alaska |
title_sort |
zooarchaeological study at buldir island, western aleutians, alaska |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
1997 |
url |
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02099279 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(175.925,175.925,52.358,52.358) |
geographic |
Buldir Island |
geographic_facet |
Buldir Island |
genre |
aleut Arctic Arctic Anthropology Alaska Aleutian Islands |
genre_facet |
aleut Arctic Arctic Anthropology Alaska Aleutian Islands |
op_source |
ISSN: 0066-6939 Arctic Anthropology https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02099279 Arctic Anthropology, University of Wisconsin Press, 1997, 34 (2), pp.118-131 |
op_relation |
hal-02099279 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02099279 |
_version_ |
1766263509261221888 |