Making cultural ecology relevant to Mesolithic research - III: Perspectives for economic reconstruction based on fauna refuse and subsistence equipment from two Iñupiat houses at Utqiagvik (Alaska)

Abstract

The comparative analyses of fauna assemblages and suites of subsistence equipment from the systemic context, the catastrophically terminated Mound 44 house, and the archaeological context, the normally abandoned houses of Mound 8, Utqiagvik, Alaska, indicate that both provide resolution of prehistoric economic systems. While the former is more sensitive and behaviourally reliable than the latter, an integration of both is needed for an optimal reconstruction of prehistoric economies.