Wooden Houses from the Western Nort American Arctic 15th-18th c. : methodology for a restitution of building techniques

• Main Author: Méreuze, Rémi
• Other Authors: Archéologie des Amériques (ArchAm), Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - Paris I, Dominique Legoupil
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: French
• Published: HAL CCSD 2020
• Subjects: Archaeology; American Arctic; Architecture; Virtual reality; Canada; Iñupiat; Inuvialuit; Alaska; Archéologie; Arctique américain; Réalité virtuelle; [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory; [SHS.ART]Humanities and Social Sciences/Art and art history; Arctic; Arctique*; inuit; Mackenzie Delta; Northwest Territories
• Online Access: https://theses.hal.science/tel-03295590; https://theses.hal.science/tel-03295590/document; https://theses.hal.science/tel-03295590/file/MEREUZE_THESE_DIFFUSION.pdf

In the western North American Arctic, architectural remains of frozen sites are often extremely well preserved. Layers closer to the present surface are often in a lesser state of preservation than lower levels, sometimes difficult to define. These remains are those of winter houses occupied by the ancestors of the Inuit, more specifically the Iñupiat of northern Alaska (United States of America) and the Inuvialuit of the Northwest Territories (Canada). Believing that consistent and systematic data management provides essential assistance in interpreting these complex wooden features, the challenge of this research was to design and implement a robust recording and processing methodology. We have mainly used computer resources applied in archaeology and developed an interrelated tool from the technical design of a database to statistical processing, 3D recording and modeling, and spatial visualization. As a framework, we studied four habitat structures dated between the 15th and 18th centuries A.D., located at two sites at Cape Espenberg on the northwest coast of Alaska and Kuukpak in the Mackenzie Delta, northwestern Northwest Territories. One thousand four hundred and forty-seven wooden structural elements were described and sampled in the field, and their species were identified in the laboratory. After statistical processing and spatial analysis, we propose elevation reconstructions - using a combination of photogrammetric record and 3D modeling - and an overall construction workflow for these habitat features. It provides us with interpretive leads to understand how these semi-subterranean houses were built in the western North American Arctic. Dans l’Arctique nord-américain occidental, les vestiges architecturaux des sites gelés sont souvent extrêmement bien préservés, mais les niveaux plus proches de la surface actuelle sont souvent moins bien conservés et difficiles à définir. Ces vestiges sont ceux de maisons d’hiver occupées par les ancêtres des Inuit , ici les Iñupiat du nord de l’Alaska (États-Unis ...