Diet, Food Processing, and the Development of Arctic Aquatic Adaptations

This project brings together new lines of evidence (lipids, isotopes, petrographic data) to address questions about the antiquity and nature of aquatic resource use in the Arctic. We are studying the intersection of technology, processing behavior, and fuel use; our goal is to move beyond prior research focused on marine foods to include freshwater resources and their larger role in the development of Ancestral Iñupiaq culture.

Project outcomes include:

• A technological study of Paleo-Inuit pottery that employs a previously under-utilized analytic method, petrographic analysis, to better understand how pottery was made, used, and maintained over its use-life. This analysis will be directly comparable to prior work on Neo-Inuit pottery and together these data sets will provide information on the evolution of pottery technology in the Arctic.

• Experimental data on use of residues in ceramic production and maintenance, and on the formation of processing sites

• Direct evidence of past aquatic resource use through lipid and isotopic data

• Comprehensive review of unpublished grey literature on food processing activities and spatial contexts in the archaeological and ethnographic record

• A regionally specific residue database of key modern species; there currently is no regional residue data available for comparison and interpretation of archaeological residue data

• A refined chronology for important northern Alaskan archaeological sites; results of dating will likely have implications for understanding the timing of a variety of developments related to the emergence of aquatic adaptations (e.g. timing of migrations, spread of ceramic technology)