Abstract

Norton culture (ca. 740 BC–AD 1000) sites are ubiquitous across the western Arctic. Based on artifact and settlement data, it is generally agreed that Norton culture south of Seward Peninsula possessed a mixed marine-focused economy dominated by seasonally available Pacific salmon. However, the few direct studies of Norton subsistence, thus far, have suggested an emphasis on marine mammals rather than salmon. We present the results of a zooarchaeological midden analysis from the large Norton site of Difchahak (49-NOB-005) near Shaktoolik on Norton Sound, Alaska. We argue the faunal remains recovered from this site reflect its local estuarine system. Inhabitants were able to maintain year-round occupation of the region through an expansion of netting technology to non-salmon prey species. The economic focus at Difchahak was on mass capture of several seasonally available taxa, including salmon, mussels, saffron cod, ptarmigan, ducks, geese, and seal. Comparison of these faunal remains to those from Norton culture deposits at the neighboring site of Iyatayet suggests that differences between the localities are largely driven by geographically dependent prey-species distributions, and these two sites may represent complementary parts to a broad logistical foraging system.

摘要

诺顿文化（约公元前 740 年至公元 1000 年）遗址在整个北极西部无处不在。根据人工制品和定居点数据，人们普遍认为，苏厄德半岛以南的诺顿文化拥有以季节性可用的太平洋鲑鱼为主的混合海洋经济。然而，迄今为止，对诺顿生存的少数直接研究表明，重点是海洋哺乳动物而不是鲑鱼。我们展示了阿拉斯加诺顿湾沙克图利克附近迪夫查哈克 (49-NOB-005) 大型诺顿遗址的动物考古学研究结果。我们认为从该地点恢复的动物群遗骸反映了其当地的河口系统。通过将网技术扩展到非鲑鱼猎物物种，居民能够全年保持对该地区的占领。Difchahak 的经济重点是大规模捕获几种季节性可用的分类群，包括鲑鱼、贻贝、藏红花鳕鱼、雷鸟、鸭子、鹅和海豹。将这些动物遗骸与 Iyatayet 邻近地点的诺顿文化沉积物中的动物遗骸进行比较表明，地方之间的差异主要是由地理上依赖的猎物物种分布造成的，而这两个地点可能代表了广泛的后勤觅食系统的互补部分。