Aquatic Plants in a Thule House at the Rising Whale site, Cape Espenberg Contribution ofCarpology Studies to the Understanding of Thule Plant Use in Northwestern Alaska

• Main Authors: Mayeux, Camille, Alix, Claire, Elliott, Michelle, Petit, Christophe, Bigelow, Nancy H.
• Other Authors: 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)-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)-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)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1), Archéologie des Amériques (ArchAm), Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - UFR Histoire de l'art et archéologie (UP1 UFR03), University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), Marine Vanlandeghem, Auréade Henry
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2018
• Subjects: Archaobotanic; Thule culture; [SHS]Humanities and Social Sciences; [SDE]Environmental Sciences; Arctic; Subarctic; Alaska
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-03960508

International audience This poster aims to present the unusual results of a preliminary carpological and archeo-entomogical analyses of a Thule house at The Rising Whale site, located at the tip of Cape Espenberg, in northwestern Alaska. The identification of macrobotanical remains revealed an unusual amount of aquatics plants, including some species of Carex, Comarum palustris, Hippuris vulgaris, Menyanthes trifoliata and Potamogeton sp., inside the floor levels of the house feature. The use of aquatic plants is not attested ethnohistorically.While paleo-entomology and macro-fossil remains are common paleoecological proxies to reconstruct past vegetation, climates, and provide precise temperatures reconstructions, carpological analyzes have been mostly ignored in the archaeological studies of arctic and subarctic hunter-gatherers. Yet, analyzing these remains can provides unique information about the use of space within the house, hygiene practices, the use and management of the locally available resources, and the impact of people on the landscape.In this paper, we discuss the presence and the potential use of aquatics plants by the early Thule inhabitants of house F-21 at The Rising Whale site.First, we summarize the carpological results of two sedimentary column samples representing 7 to 10 stratigraphical levels from two distinct areas of the house: the western burnt area, and the entrance tunnel. Within diverse plant remains the taxonomic identifications indicate a significant amount of aquatic plant species in the main occupation levels of the two areas. Secondly, our poster present preliminary identification of entomological remains as a way to explore further the presence of the aquatic plants. Our goal was to test in these levels, whether the preserved insect species are coherent with the presence of aquatic remains in the sediment. Finally, our discussion focuses on the contribution of archaeo-entomology to the undesrtanding of plant macrofossil remains and to a better interpretation to the atypical ...