Exploring Subsistence Dynamics on the Bering Sea Coast: Ancient Human Settlement, Walrus Hunting, and Social Complexity

PI Erica Hill将对20世纪60年代在圣劳伦斯岛发掘的脊椎动物进行动物考古学分析。这项拟议的研究是对圣劳伦斯岛考古组合进行的第一次现代、全面的动物考古学研究。PI还将根据海象遗骸的性别来测试史前狩猎策略和社会组织的假设。这项研究有可能产生数据，为了解史前爱斯基摩人的社会组织、白令海沿岸复杂社会的发展提供见解，并更好地解释人类对北极环境的适应。圣劳伦斯岛上已经没有任何完整的考古遗址了，这意味着博物馆的材料是关于这个持续了两千多年的岛屿适应的唯一信息来源。从这项分析中获得的数据将有助于我们了解人类在北极的活动，并可能最终有助于解释以捕鲸为重点的大型沿海聚集地的发展。

PI Erica Hill will conduct a zooarchaeological analysis of vertebrate fauna recovered from St. Lawrence Island excavations in the 1960s. The proposed research is the first modern, comprehensive zooarchaeological study of fauna conducted on any St. Lawrence Island archaeological assemblage. The PI will also be testing a hypothesis about prehistoric hunting strategies and social organization based on the sexing of walrus remains. This research has the potential to generate data that could provide insights into the social organization of the prehistoric Eskimo, the development of complex societies along the Bering Sea coast, and better explain human adaptations to the arctic environment. There are no longer any intact archaeological sites on St. Lawrence Island, which means that museum materials are the sole source of information on an island adaptation that persisted for over two millennia. Data derived from this analysis will represent a contribution to our understanding of human occupation of the Arctic and may ultimately help explain the development of large, coastal aggregated sites focused on whaling.