Caribou Hunting at the Hungry Fox Site (KIR-289) A Zooarchaeological Investigation of a Late Prehistoric Iñupiat site in the Central Brooks Range, Alaska
Scheidt KM. 2017. Caribou Hunting at the Hungry Fox Site (KIR-289) A Zooarchaeological Investigation of a Late Prehistoric Iñupiat site in the Central Brooks Range, Alaska
The Hungry Fox site is a Late Prehistoric age Iñupiat archaeological site located on the Killik River within the boundaries of Gates of the Arctic National Park. The site dates to an interval between 480 and 550 BP. This report describes the analysis of faunal material collected from controlled excavations at the site in 2004. The purpose of the research is to determine site function by identifying taxonomic richness and diversity, season of site occupation, and caribou age and sex demographics. The results of the analysis indicate that the faunal assemblage consists primarily of caribou, ptarmigan, Dall sheep, and ground squirrel. The site was occupied during the winter and spring, and caribou hunting focused on female caribou two to five years of age. The results suggest that the site was occupied at a point in the annual cycle of subsistence activities after people had exhausted caribou stores from the fall cooperative hunt and before they congregated to cooperatively hunt caribou during the spring migration.
- Type
- Academic
- Authors
- Scheidt, Kristin
- Date of Issue
- 2017-07
- Units
- GAAR
- Keywords
- Archaeology, Brooks Range, Caribou, GAAR, Gates of the Arctic, Hungry Fox, Hunting, Inupiat, KIR-289, Scheidt, thesis, Zooarchaeology