First Advisor

Shelby Anderson

Term of Graduation

Fall 2022

Date of Publication

9-6-2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (M.S.) in Anthropology

Department

Anthropology

Language

English

Subjects

Ceramics -- Arctic regions, Ceramics -- Thermal conductivity, Experimental archaeology, Arctic regions -- Antiquities, Eskimos -- Alaska -- Antiquities

DOI

10.15760/etd.8098

Physical Description

1 online resource (viii, 163 pages)

Abstract

Ceramic technology was adopted by hunter-gatherers of the Paleo-Inuit Norton tradition in the Western Arctic between 2800 and 2500 years B.P., corresponding with an increase in the use of aquatic resources. Pottery production and use continued until approximately 1,500 BP, and resumed during the Neo-Inuit Birnirk and Thule periods, approximately 1,350 years BP. The technical characteristics of Norton and Thule ceramics suggest they performed differently when used for cooking, with Norton ceramics best suited for cooking using direct or suspended heat, and Thule ceramics best suited for indirect heat. Prior experimental archaeological research has focused on Thule ceramics, with limited investigation into the characteristics and performance of Norton ceramics.

In this thesis, Butler asked how technological choices influenced the performance of ceramics for food processing, and how people in the Arctic cooked with ceramic vessels in the past. Butler addressed these questions through ceramics analysis and experimental archaeology. A sample of Norton and Thule ceramics from occupation contexts from two Northern Alaskan sites, Iyatayet (NOB-0002) and Nukleet (NOB-0001), was analyzed and the resulting data compared with existing ceramic data from other sites in Alaska to identify temporal and regional variation in ceramic characteristics. The results of this analysis provided metric data on which experimental replications are based. For Phase 1, tiles with different temper types and surface treatments linked to ceramic cooking performance were created and tested. For Phase 2, Norton and Thule vessels were replicated and used them to bring water to a boil using each of the three heating methods in order to answer questions of use by comparing heating performance of the two pottery traditions.

Analysis of Norton and Thule ceramic assemblages revealed significant temporal and regional patterns in the shape and composition of vessels, particularly in temper type and decoration. Phase 1 identified differences in strength and porosity of test tiles with specific temper and surface treatment. The experimental heating trials showed that there are significant differences in performance, measured in minutes for water to reach a boil, between vessels used for the three heating methods, with indirect (stone boiling) heating being the most effective regardless of vessel tradition. The trials did not show significant differences between the performance of Norton compared to Thule vessels. This suggests that the distinctive characteristics of Norton and Thule pottery are not necessarily the result of specific choices made by Arctic potters to meet cooking performance needs, but by other factors, potentially including constraints related to ceramic production and economic or social factors.

Rights

© 2022 Caelie Marshall Butler

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/39156

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