Gorlova E.N.

Key words: aboriginal hunting, age structure, hunting period, stable isotopes, bones of ringed seals.
The article discusses the results of investigating the bones of ringed seals from the kitchen waste at an ancient Eskimo settlement (2370–810 years ago) on the Chukotka with the help of the archaeozoological method and analysis of stable isotopes. The age structure shows that immature animals up to one year of age were the main target of hunting (table 2). Hunting for ringed seals was year-round, however, the time from midsummer to midwinter was the most intensive hunting period. Almost all the animals were procured in the littoral zone (Fig. 2); isotope data allowed reconstructing the average size of the settlement’s hunting area. Isotope studies showed that for fifteen centuries there had been no significant changes in the ecology of ringed seals. The habitat and feeding habits remained stable and did not depend on the age. Parallel reconstructions of the hunting strategy and of the secular dynamics of the spatial and ecological structure of the local ringed seal population showed that the aboriginal hunting strategy did not undermine the quantity of the hunted species.