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囊（seal poke）储粮系统的民族考古学研究。海豹囊储粮系统是一项极具创新性与高效性的生存技术，但目前尚无学术研究对其展开专门探讨。本研究的核心目标，是记录该储粮囊及其存储设施的制作与使用方式，以及传统食物存储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粮设施并构建其相关模型，同时厘清当代储粮技术潜在的健康影响，均具有重要意义。尽管食物存储是北极地区人类适应环境的核心环节之一，但学界迄今极少关注以下三方面内容：1）当地民众的食物存储方式；2）储粮技术与耗材随时间变迁的路径及动因；3）存储实践与技术变革所带来的健康影响。海豹囊储粮系统采用整张海豹皮制作，用于存放风干鱼类并将海豹脂肪熬制成油脂。但如今沿海地区的原住民常使用塑料桶存储油脂。本研究将记录该储粮囊的制作与使用流程，并厘清该区域传统存储与加工方式对食物品质可能产生的影响。为解决上述问题，本项目采用了一套兼具广度的研究方法——该方法是首席研究员（Principal Investigator）自1996年以来在阿拉斯加西南部尤皮克（Yup´ik）社区推行的成熟研究路径，整合了野外数据采集、医学人类学调研与实验室食品分析等环节。本研究的数据将采集自阿拉斯加图努纳克（Tununak）地区的尤皮克族男女原住民，他们毕生都将该储粮系统作为核心生存策略，而这一传统将随着这一代长者的逝去而消逝。本项目将记录一处海豹囊储粮设施与两个储粮囊的搭建过程，在两年周期内持续监测储粮囊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。研究人员将对海豹囊存储的油脂进行定量营养评估，并将其与3个使用塑料桶存储油脂的家庭的油脂样本进行对比分析。