Who Lived in this House? : A Study of Koyukuk River Semisubterranean Houses : Koyukon, Athapaskan, Athabascan, Dene, Inupiat, Eskimo

The northwestern interior of Alaska is one of the few areas where Inuit and Indian cultures interacted amicably and shared many cultural traits. Until comparatively recent times, both the Inupiat Eskimos and the Koyukon Athapaskan Indians spent the winter in wooden semisubterranean houses. For the archaeologist who excavates one of these structures, the shared traditions pose a difficult question: who lived in this house? Three such house excavations in the Koyukuk River valley provide the basis for this fascinating study of ethnic identity and ethnoarchaeology along the Inupiat-Koyukon cultural interface.