Relative Abundance of Faunal Remains by Excavation Unit

bearded seal/walrusn=98

ringed sealn=1282

whalen=9

caribou/muskoxn=21

bearn=2

birdn=75

fox/haren=37

fishn=2

3N/1E3N/1E

1N/1E

5N/2E

4N/2E

3N/2E

1N/2E

0N/2E0N/2E

5N/3E

4N/3E

3N/3E

2N/3E2N/3E

1N/3E1N/3E

0N/3E

6N/4E

5N/4E

3N/4E

2N/4E2N/4E2N/1E2N/1E 2 N/2E2 N/2E

whale mandible(probable roof support)whale mandible(probable roof support)

whalebone fragmentwhalebone fragment

TU

NN

EL

N

TunnelTunnel

AlcoveAlcove

Sleeping PlatformSleeping Platform

Flagstone FloorFlagstone Floor

NN

(NISP=1526)

Ringed Seal84%

Bearded Seal3%

Walrus3.4%

Whale0.6%

Caribou/Muskox1.3%

Fish0.1%

Bird4.9%

Hare/Fox2.6%

A Zooarchaeological Approach to the Reconstruction of a Prehistoric Inuit Winter Dwelling on Cape Grinnell, NW Greenland

Kane Basin

Smith Sound

0 50m

Kane Basin

Cape Grinnell

HOUSE 20HOUSE 20

200km

Cape Alexander

Foulke FjordIita

Refuge Bay

Cape Inglefield

Qaqaitsut

Minturn River

Glacier Bay

Inuarfissuaq

Cape Kent

Rensselaer Bay

Cape Grinnell

Qeqertaaraq

Humboldt Glacier

Inglefield Land

GREENLANDGREENLAND

Jeremy C. Foin1 and Christyann M. Darwent11: Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis

Doll made of whale baleen Fetal seal remains recovered from excavation units 2N/3E and 2N/4E

Beamer (two-handed hide scraper) made on a caribou (Rangifer tarandus) metapodial Toy sled made of whale baleen

� e faunal assemblage from House 20 is dominated by ringed seal (Pusa hispida), the remains of which comprise 84% of the total number of bones recovered.

Phocid remains were heavily concentrated in excavation unit 2N/3E, which encom-passes the area of the fl oor between the sleeping platform and the adjacent alcove.

� e remains of bearded seal (Erignathus barbatus), walrus (Odobenus rosmarus), Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus), Arctic hare (Lepus arcticus), caribou (Rangifer tarandus), and mus-kox (Ovibos moschatus) were also concentrated in the general vicinity of unit 2N/3E.

� e single exception is bird remains, which were most abundantly deposited inside the tunnel of House 20.

� e highly abundant remains of P. hispida lend support to the view that House 20 was a win-ter dwelling, as breathing-hole sealing of this species was the primary means of obtaining meat throughout the long polar winter.

� e recovery of numerous remains of fetal P. hispida remains provide further evidence of a win-ter occupation, as much of the gestational period of female ringed seal occurs during the winter months.

� e high density of phocid remains in the vicinity of the alcove and sleeping platform is consistent with ethnographic accounts regarding patterns of disposal, which frequently state that bones were cast off the sleeping platform towards the tunnel. Alternatively, the concentrated cluster of seal remains may indicate that the alcove functioned as an area for food storage and/or preparation.

� ese hypotheses will be further clarifi ed with more detailed quantitative analyses that incor-porate higher-resolution statistical indices, such as relative skeletal element abundance, MNI, and taphonomic analysis (i.e. butchery marks and carnivore gnawing).

DISCUSSION

RESULTS

INTRODUCTIONCape Grinnell is a prominent alluvial fan with an associated series of raised benches located on the coast of Inglefi eld Land in northwest Greenland. Both the fan and the benches contain over 150 prehistoric features, which include 11 winter houses from the � ule period (ca. 1100-1850 CE). � e latter were the focus of the Inglefi eld Land Ar-chaeology Project (ILAP), a UCD fi eld project headed by Dr. Christy-ann Darwent. � e goal of ILAP is to examine the impacts of climatic change and migrations of Euroamerican and Inuit peoples on the Inu-ghuit or the Polar Inuit (the traditional occupants of Inglefi eld Land) over the past 300 years. � ree of these structures were excavated in the summer of 2008. House 20, an Inuit winter dwelling from the Late Prehistoric period, was selected for excavation on the basis of its well-preserved architecture and perceived age.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

� e goal of this project is to paint a more comprehensive picture of household archaeology in the Arctic during the � ule period by utilizing the distribution of faunal remains to reconstruct discrete activity areas within the structure. Comparisons between the faunal parts recovered within the separate dwelling features (e.g. sleeping platform, kitchen area, alcove) should serve as a reliable proxy for household spatial or-ganization. Furthermore, the demographic distribution of the faunal assemblage may shed more light on when the dwelling was inhabited, as well as improving our understanding of prehistoric Inuit subsistence patterns.

OBJECTIVE

� e author wishes to greatfully acknowledge the invaluable assistance of the following individuals: Dr. Christyann Darwent, for her help with the identifi cation and cataloging of the House 20 faunal assemblage; and Dr. John Darwent, for his patient assistance with map interpretation and digitization.

While prehistoric and historic Arctic dwelling designs demonstrate broad spatiotemporal variability, the reasons for these diff erences are not well understood. While it is often assumed that the observed variation in house design is linked to functional diff erences, the phenomenon has not been subjected to much formal scrutiny. � is is primarily the result of an equally poor understanding of Inuit household archaeol-ogy in general, which has served to preclude any meaningful pan-arctic comparisons of prehistoric dwelling design.

FOCUS