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Excavated Dwelling 2, 2014

Architecture of Dwelling 2

PictureInuit qarmaq (Glenbow archives?)
Magnetometer survey and evidence from excavation suggest that there are two different kinds of dwellings at Agvik: winter houses and qarmat (singular qarmaq). Thule-Inuit winter houses (also called sod houses) were generally large semi-subterranean (partly underground) structures with a flagstone or driftwood floor and a raised sleeping platform at the rear of the structure. The walls were made of stone, whalebone, and sod, which supported a sod roof. Winter houses also had an entrance tunnel [1]. Qarmat are less substantial dwellings with skin roofs and shallower depressions [2]. They were mostly used in spring and fall, while winter houses were (obviously!) used in winter, but both were sometimes used in other seasons. The excavation of Dwelling 2 revealed a collapsed roughly circular sod wall. There was a ring of dirt floor inside the wall at ground level (1-2 m wide), around a central circular depression about 2 m across. Because in most cases the entire interior of winter-houses is semi-subterranean, with a raised stone or driftwood platform at the rear of the structure, we interpret Dwelling 2 as a qarmaq rather than a winter house. The magnetometer survey of Agvik also supports this interpretation.

Picture
Interpretation of Dwelling 2.
Picture
Plan and Sections of qarmaq. Taken from Boas, Franz (1888). "The Central Eskimo". Smithsonian Institution, Burreau of Ethnology. Washington: Washington Government Printing Office.
[1] McGhee 1978
[2] Boas 2013 [1888]; Mathiassen 1927
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  • Home
  • ABOUT
  • Projects
    • PWNHC Trip >
      • Artifact Stories >
        • The Accident
        • Nik
        • Can't I Sew
        • Some Random Bear Story
    • Replicas and Models >
      • Digital Models of Features
      • Digital Models of Artifacts
      • Artifact Replicas
    • Traditional Knowledge Map
    • 2014 Agvik Excavation >
      • Architecture of Dwelling 2
      • Artifacts from Dwelling 2
      • Community Knowledge and Archaeology
      • Faunal Remains from Dwelling 2
    • 2013 Survey
    • Isotope and Ancient DNA Research
  • Resources
  • Meet the IAP Team
  • Contact
  • Acknowledgements