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Round Houses in the Western Arctic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

J. L. Giddings
J. L. Giddings*
Affiliation:
Brown University Providence, Rhode Island
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Extract

The Ghosts of “round” pit houses in Alaska were dispelled by Henry B. Collins 2 decades ago (Collins 1937: 282–6). They had emanated from the casual remarks of early explorers and the later hasty glances at house depressions. Up to now, 300 or more of the floors of old pit houses in Alaska have been exposed, and they overwhelmingly show that the winter house of the western American Arctic is some variation of a square plan. Even so, exceptions have just turned up — perhaps not merely to prove the rule. They are large oval pits on Choris Peninsula, the remains of early dwellings apparently without corners or entrance passages, or even the means of side entry.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 23 , Issue 2Part1 , October 1957 , pp. 121 - 135
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1957

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