Abstract

The construction of protohistoric or early historic winter houses is revealed by excavations at three sites on tributaries of the Koyukuk River. These semi-subterranean houses had been occupied by members of a Koyukuk branch of the Koyukon Indians of north-central Alaska. Parallel and supplementary ethnographic descriptions of this type of winter house, which generally has not been occupied since approximately 1900, were obtained at Allakaket in 1961 and 1968 by A. McFadyen and D. Clark. The nature and distribution of the contents of the houses, such as faunal remains, dog feces, and hide scrapers, also are discussed on the basis of the archaeological finds and from information supplied by native informants. It is concluded that, although the archaeological and ethnographic approaches complement each other for some elements of the complex discussed, the description of the houses would stand as reasonably accurate even if it had been obtained from informants alone.