Ethnoarchaeological investigation of the Yup´ik seal poke storage

This proposal seeks funding to conduct ethnoarchaeological research of the Native Alaskan
seal poke storage system. The seal poke storage system is a highly innovative and efficient subsistence
technique and yet no scholarly research has been devoted it. The primary goal of this study is to document
how the pokes and storing facilities are manufactured and used and the health implications of changes in
the storage of traditional foods. This is important to better identify and model storage facilities in the
archaeological record as well as potential health implications of contemporary storage techniques.
Though one of the most important aspects of adaptation in the Arctic is food storage, little attention has
been paid to 1) how people store their foods 2) how and why storage techniques and materials change
over time, and 3) the health implications of changed storage practices and technology. The seal poke
system was an ingenious storage technology whole seal skins wherein dried fish were stored and seal fat
was rendered into oil. However, today coastal people often store their oil in plastic buckets. This research
will document how the pokes are made and used and the possible effects that traditional storing and
processing methods in this region may have had on the quality of foods. To address these issues, this
project uses a broad-based methodology, a proven research approach the PI has implemented in Yup´ik
communities in southwestern Alaska since 1996, which integrates the collection of field data and in this
study medical anthropology and laboratory food analysis. Data will be drawn from research in Tununak,
Alaska with Yup´ik women and men who have used this storage system in their lifetimes as a critical
subsistence strategy that will be lost after this elder generation. This project will record the building of a
seal poke storage facility, 2 seal pokes, monitor the use and contents of the pokes over a 2 year period,
and will collect qualitative interview data about the system. The quantitative nutritional evaluation of the
seal poke oil will be compared with samples from 3 families who will keep their oil in plastic buckets.

本提案申请经费，以开展针对阿拉斯加原住民海豹窖（seal poke）储藏系统的民族考古学（ethnoarchaeological）研究。海豹窖储藏系统是一项极具创新性与高效性的生计技术，但目前尚无相关学术研究对其展开专门探讨。本研究的核心目标是记录该窖穴类储藏设施的制作与使用流程，以及传统食品储藏方式变迁所带来的健康影响。这一研究对于更好地识别考古记录中的储藏设施并构建其对应模型，以及明晰当代储藏技术的潜在健康效应均具有重要意义。
尽管食品储藏是北极地区适应策略中至关重要的一环，但学界对以下三方面的关注仍极为不足：1）人类如何储藏食物；2）储藏技术与材料随时间演变的方式与动因；3）储藏实践与技术变革所带来的健康影响。海豹窖系统是一项依托完整海豹皮搭建的精巧储藏技术，既可用于存放干鱼，也可将海豹脂熬炼为油脂。然而如今沿海原住民常将油脂储存在塑料桶中。
本研究将记录该区域传统储藏与加工方式对食品品质可能产生的影响，并采用一套多维度研究方法解决上述问题——这是项目负责人（PI）自1996年起在阿拉斯加州西南部尤皮克（Yup´ik）社区推行的、经过实践验证的研究范式，整合了实地数据采集、医学人类学研究与实验室食品分析三大模块。
研究数据将取自阿拉斯加州图努纳克（Tununak）的实地调研，受访对象为终身使用该储藏系统作为核心生计策略的尤皮克族男女居民，该传统生计方式或将随这一代老年群体的逝去而消失。本项目将记录一座海豹窖储藏设施与两个海豹窖的搭建过程，在两年周期内持续监测该窖穴的使用情况与内部存储物，并收集关于该系统的质性访谈数据。此外，本研究将对海豹窖储存的油脂进行定量营养评估，并与3个使用塑料桶储存油脂的家庭所提供的油脂样本进行对比分析。