ajatnuvuk

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A recent cartoon for New Scientist

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If anyone knows the real name of this place, please let me know.

I’ve been thinking about a site I located over 20 years ago, on a survey for a project that was never built. It is on high ground next to a lake, with a really good view of about 270° around. I first saw it from a helicopter about 5 miles out and it stood out like a sore thumb. I can’t imagine there isn’t a name for that place, since it has clearly been used for hundreds of years (at least). The…

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#Archaeology31--Day 12--Friendship

#Archaeology31–Day 12–Friendship

I’ve been doing archaeology for quite a while, and have made lots of friends. Here are just a few pictures. I notice we seem to be doing a lot of eating…

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#Archaeology31–Day 18–Caturday

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#Archaeology31--Day 16--Shape

#Archaeology31–Day 16–Shape

The shape of artifacts and structures can be very important in determining not only what they are (obviously) but also when they were likely to have been made.

Sicco harpoon head from Nuvuk burial Nuvuk-01

Jennie Brower and I found this harpoon head (along with a number of other artifacts) while excavating the burial that first indicated that the site was not just a recent settlement. The…

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#Archaeology31--Day 11--Shelfie

#Archaeology31–Day 11–Shelfie

I have books all over. My husband also has a PhD in Arctic archaeology (although he now manages the Community Health Aid program for the North Slope Borough) so we have a fair number of duplicates, both in Arctic stuff and the sort of things you wind up with in grad school. Some of our duplicates, plus a bunch more books are on shelves in my office.

Living room bookshelves

Office…

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#Archaeology31--Day 10--It's Ritual?

#Archaeology31–Day 10–It's Ritual?

The term “ritual object” has become an archaeological cliche for items of unknown use. That’s not to say that people in the past did not have rituals, some of which involved objects. In some cases, objects had no clear practical purpose where they were found, yet had deliberately been placed there.

Unworked rocks from Nuvuk burial 07O54

I would say that the rocks we found in burials at…

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AJA Recent Research Notes--last call for next issue

AJA Recent Research Notes–last call for next issue

The deadline is fast approaching for contributions to the Recent Research Notes column in the Alaska Journal of Anthropology.  These would be brief (1-3 paragraphs maximum) reports on up-coming, on-going or recently completed projects, new C-14 dates or laboratory findings that might be of interest to the Arctic/subarctic research community.  Individuals can submit multiple notes if they have…

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#Archaeology31--Day 8--Mineral

#Archaeology31–Day 8–Mineral

Clay! The ceramics on the North Slope, especially the more recent ones, are not high quality, but that seems to be because they were not fully fired, perhaps to conserve fuel.

Raw clay eroding in beach near Utqiaġvik

Cord-marked sherd from Walakpa

Close-up portrait of the sherd

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#Archaeology31--Day 7--Vegetable

#Archaeology31–Day 7–Vegetable

Salmonberries! It’s always a good day when you find patches of ripe berries.

Tikiġaq aqpiuqqaqtuq. Point Hope has a lot of salmonberries.

Patch of ripe berries in a road ROW we were surveying near Wainwright.

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#Archaeology31–Day 6–Animal Polar bears, of course. They hang out around Nuvuk a lot, which is why we always had bear guards. Some days we could see eight at once out on the ice.

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#Archaeology31–Day 5–Rest During the short Arctic field season, one rests when one can.

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#Archaeology31--Day 4--Place

#Archaeology31–Day 4–Place

Place is hard, since there are several sites, so I’m going with North Slope of Alaska.

A sunny day at Nuvuk

Walakapa (Ualiqpaa) at 2:30 AM on July 29.

Piŋusugruk from the air.

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#Archaeology31--Day 3--#ToolsOfTheTrade

#Archaeology31–Day 3–#ToolsOfTheTrade

My trusty trowel, since 1997. Marshalltown 4 1/2 in.

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#Archaeology31–Day 2–Throwback Thursday Well, I'm catching up, so this should have been posted Thursday...

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#Archaeology31–Day 1–Who Am I? I am an Arctic archaeologist/anthropologist. I have lived in Utqiaġvik (formerly Barrow), Alaska since 1996. I mostly work on Arctic Alaskan coastal sites and sustainability, and spend a lot of time dealing with erosion, although I am a zooarchaeologist at heart. I chair the SAA Committee on Climate Change Strategies and Archaeological Resources.