Faisons parler les pierres

• Published in: Les Nouvelles de l'archéologie
• Main Author: Neffe, Angélique
• Other Authors: Archéologie des Amériques (ArchAm), Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: French
• Published: HAL CCSD 2015
• Subjects: Jade; polishing techniques; late prehistory of Alaska; Arctic; techniques de polissage; préhistoire récente de l’Alaska; Arctique; [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory; Arctique*; Bering Strait; inuits; Inupiat; Thule culture; Alaska
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-01876909; https://doi.org/10.4000/nda.3090

International audience "By the 13th century AD, Thule people - ancestors of today’s Inupiat - occupied most of Northwestern Alaska. Since then, and in a growing quantity after the 15th century and to the Contact Period in late 18th century, jade tools and objects become abundant in archaeological assemblages from northwestern Alaska. To explore the techniques that were used for the exploitation and manufacturing of jade objects, the status of this green stone and its role in the subsistence economy, since the emergence of Thule Culture (1200 AD - 1800 AD), a doctoral research on past jade economy in Alaska was developed. The objective of this study is to explore the potential socio-cultural relationship that existed within Thule communities and the social and economic relations maintained between the two sides of Bering Strait during the last millennium, as well as how these influenced (or not) the material culture of past communities in Northwest Alaska. This article is an overview of the reduction processes and manufacturing techniques of jade artifacts based on archaeological assemblages from Northwestern Alaska (Cape Espenberg), and of the status of jade tools and products such as perceived throughout the ethnographic litterature." (source éditeur) "Au xiiie siècle apr. J.-C. les Thuléens – ancêtres des Inuits actuels – se développent dans le nord-ouest de l’Alaska. Dès lors, et davantage entre le xve et la période du contact à la fin xviiie siècle apr. J.-C., les objets façonnés en jade sont très abondants dans les niveaux archéologiques des sites de cette région. Afin de comprendre les techniques qui ont été employées pour la production de ces objets, le statut social que donnaient cette pierre verte et son rôle dans l’économie de subsistance depuis le développement de la culture Thuléenne (1200- 1800 apr. J.-C.), une recherche doctorale sur l’économie du jade a été mise en place. Son objectif est d’explorer les relations socioculturelles qui existaient potentiellement au sein des communautés ...