Ethnoarchaeological Perspectives on an Athapaskan Moose Kill

Abstract

A recent development in anthropology involves examination of living human populations in an attempt to better understand the “for- mation processes” that create archaeological remains. An ethnologist and an archaeologist collaborated in the observation and analysis of procure- ment, butchering and distribution of moose among a group of contemporary Athapaskan (Chipewyan) Indians in northwestern Saskatchewan in 1977. Subtleties in the behavior of one particular hunting party illustrate the complexity and variability of skeletal and anatomical spatial distributions ac- companying various stages in processing, distributing and consuming a moose (Alres alces rmdersoni). Variables such as seasonality, proximity to a major settlement, transportation technology, sexual division of labor and ideational factors heavily influence the formation of archaeo-faunal remains within several components of a regional settlement system.