ABSTRACT OPP 9629992 Maschner, Hoffman This dissertation grant is for support of an archaeological project on Unimak Island in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska. The goal is to illuminate the socio-economic organization of a complex hunter-gatherer village. The site consists of some nine semi-subterranean houses. Preservation at the site is excellent and this site is ideal for archaeological study in this little known region. Ethnohistorical and archaeological data suggest that early contact-period Aleut society was socially and politically complex. There were numerous ranked societies, permanent communal houses, intensive warfare and inter-regional exchange networks. The relationships between rank, economic organization, and the corporate group will be investigated through the excavation of these multi-family houses and analysis of artifacts, features and food refuse.
