This paper describes and interprets a well-preserved early Thule semi-subterranean dwelling from Cape Espenberg, Alaska. The house architecture is similar in many respects to other early Thule dwellings with a sub-rectangular main room, long sunken entrance tunnel, and associated kitchen area. However, the presence of narrow side benches and associated flooring differences adds significantly to the variability present in Thule house form. Radiocarbon dates indicate occupations spanning 1300 to 1450 cal CE. Wood analysis suggests that the house underwent at least one rebuilding episode, which seems to have extended the house occupation into the early 15th century. People acquired mostly small seals for their subsistence, but supplemented their diets in the spring and fall with migrating birds, fish, terrestrial mammals, and other marine mammals. This house represents a fairly typical early Thule coastal winter occupation, but careful excavation of a well-preserved house reveals interesting details in house form, wood use, and subsistence patterns.

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Remains of animal fuel and driftwood fires are evident in Birnirk and Thule sites of northwestern Alaska (AD 11th-14th century). To better understand these fires, a robust experimental protocol was designed to study the effects of multi-fuel fires, in particular, the addition of fat to woody fuels. In Arctic regions, permafrost and climate conditions do not allow for the development of tree vegetation. Marine mammal oil and bones served as fuel substitutes, as did locally shrubby vegetation and driftwood accumulations. The excavation of numerous thick burnt areas in many Arctic sites confirms the use of multiple fuels including wood, animal fat, and bone in large quantities. These burnt areas correspond to a wide range of fire activities-cooking, smoking, firing ceramics, and others-but the actions and effects of each fuel are still poorly known. We describe conditions necessary to achieve a reproducible and statistically representative experimental fire sample. We compared fuel combinations of driftwood or non-drifted wood, animal fat, and caribou bones over 55 combustions. Experiments were conducted under controlled conditions in a laboratory in France and on the coast of northwestern Alaska. We found that a minimum of 30 test assays was needed to obtain statistically significant results but many research avenues can be obtained from smaller series. We obtained key figures and descriptive data on the impact of different animal fuels on fire temperature and duration, as well as on the firewood spectrum, with important implications for the representation of different woody fuels and the fragmentation patterns of charcoals. We report a relatively rapid rate of formation for blackened and crusted sediments when seal oil is burned along with driftwood. This means that thick accumulations of burnt material may not be a reliable signal of long-term occupations and that the relationship between the duration of site occupation and fuel management deserves further study.

This paper presents description and interpretation of the Pembroke site, the earliest known Thule Inuit occupation in the southeastern Victoria Island region, Nunavut. The site has 11 extant dwellings, including five heavy tent rings, five light semi-subterranean dwellings, and a <em>qalgiq </em>(large communal structure). The site’s economy revolved mainly around the acquisition of caribou, Arctic char, and lake trout, with minimal consumption of sea mammals. Radiocarbon dates, reinforced by artifact analyses, indicate an occupation around AD 1400. Based on several lines of evidence, including the extremely small artifact samples, the site is interpreted as having been occupied relatively briefly. It represents the first colonization of the region by Thule people, approximately 200 years after the initial Thule migration from Alaska into the eastern Arctic. Thus, it documents a second migration wave: an expansion of Thule peoples from their initially occupied territories to other, in some ways less optimal, regions

We explore marine reservoir effects (MREs) in seal bones from the northern Bering and Chukchi Seas regions. Ringed and bearded seals have served as dietary staples in human populations along the coasts of Arctic northeast Asia and North America for several millennia. Radiocarbon (14C) dates on seal bones and terrestrial materials (caribou, plants seeds, wood, and wood charcoal) were compared from archaeological sites in the Bering Strait region of northwestern Alaska to assess MREs in these sea mammals over time. We also compared these results to 14C dates on modern seal specimens collected in AD 1932 and 1946 from the Bering Sea region. Our paired archaeological samples were recovered from late Holocene archaeological features, including floors from dwellings and cache pits, that date between 1600 and 130 cal BP. 14C dates on seal bones from the northern Bering and Chukchi Seas show differences [R(t)] of 800 ± 140 years from to their terrestrial counterparts, and deviations of 404 ± 112 years (ΔR) from the marine calibration curve.