Claire Alix

Alaska Quaternary Center
P.O. Box 755940
University of Alaska Fairbanks, AK, 99775-5940

Tel: 907-474-6387
Email: cmalix@alaska.edu

 

DEGREES

Doctorat (Ph.D.), University of Paris 1, Panthéon - Sorbonne, France-- (Anthropology, Ethnology, Prehistory), March 2001

Diplôme d'Etudes Approfondies d'Etudes Approfondies (DEA) University of Paris 1, Panthéon--Sorbonne (Anthropology, Ethnology, Prehistory), June 1994

Degree in Basic Xylology (wood identification). University of Paris 6, Pierre et Marie Curie, France, June 1994

Maitrise (M.A.) University of Paris 1, Panthéon--Sorbonne, France-- (History of Art & Archaeology), Oct. 1993

Licence (B.A.) University of Paris 1, Panthéon Sorbonne, France-- (History of Art & Archaeology), June 1992

photo of Claire Alix

RESEARCH INTEREST AND AREA OF EXPERTISE

Ethnoarchaeology of wood use in the Arctic , past and present Inuit wood technology, driftwood transport and circulation, Archaeological wood remains, wood and charcoal identification, tree-ring research.
Primary field research: Alaska, Bering Strait and the Canadian Arctic

CURRENT RESEARCH

Driftwood in the North Project. The goal of this project is to explore 1) the "production" of driftwood in Alaska and Bering Strait, 2) the mechanisms of wood use by people inhabiting coastal Alaska. It includes: building floodplain white spruce tree-ring chronologies along the Yukon and the Kuskokwim rivers; crossdating driftwood from coastal Alaska; documenting traditional ecological and technological knowledge on driftwood in riverine and coastal areas; working with communities of Southwestern Alaska to record Yup'ik terminology of wood and wood working. Analyzing archaeological collections from western and northwestern Alaska.

in press

Wooden Artifacts from Qitchauvik, Golovin Bay. In O.K. Mason, M. L. Ganley, M Sweeney, C. Alix & V. Barber Eds., Qitchauvik: An Ipiutak Outlier in Golovnin Bay . Report to the Shared Beringian Program, National Park Service, Anchorage.

2005

Deciphering the Impact of Change on the Driftwood Cycle: Contribution to the Study of Human Use of Wood in the Arctic. Global and Planetary Change 47 (2-4): 83-98

2004

"Not all Driftwood is Created Equal" Wood Use and Value along the Yukon and Kuskokwim Rivers, Alaska. Alaska Journal of Anthropology2 (1-2): 48-65 [w/ K. Brewster]

2004

Bois flotté et archéologie de l'Arctique: contribution à la préhistoire récente du détroit de Béring. Etudes Inuit Studies,vol. 28 (1): 109-131. http://www.fss.ulaval.ca/etudes-inuit-studies/v28te06.html

2003

La Parure en dents percées ou encochées. In : La Grotte de La Vache (Ariège) I - Les occupations du Magdalénien. Under the direction of Jean Clottes and Henry Delporte, Réunion des Musées Nationaux & Comité des Travaux Historiques et Scientifiques Editions. pp.368-390

2003

Rapprochements des dents et des coquillages perforés des grottes d'Enlène et de la Vache (Ariège). In: La Grotte de La Vache (Ariège) I - Les occupations du Magdalénien. Under the direction of Jean Clottes and Henry Delporte, Réunion des Musées Nationaux & Comité des Travaux Historiques et Scientifiques Editions, pp.399-404, (w/ Y. TABORIN).

2003

Sélection du bois d'arc par les thuléens de l'Arctique nord-américain: un choix dicté par le façonnage. In: Au fil du bois: définition des critères de sélection des bois d'oeuvre (w/ H. Guiot Eds), Cahier des thèmes transversaux ArScAn III, 2001/2002: 204-213.

2003

Avant Propos. In: Au fil du bois - Définition des critères de sélection des bois d'oeuvre (Alix C. and H. Guiot Eds). Cahier des thèmes transversaux ArScAn III, 2001/2002: 161-162 (w/ H. GUIOT)

2002

Acquisition, transformation et circulation des ressources ligneuses dans l'Arctique nord-américain (culture de Thulé). Contribution des données ethnographiques et archéologiques. Cahier des thèmes transversaux ArScAn II, 2000/2001: 103-110, Nanterre

1998

Provenances et circulation des bois en milieu arctique - Quels choix pour les Thuléens? La Revue d'Archéométrie22: 11-22.

1998

De l'Alaska au Groenland : la préhistoire de l'Arctique. Archeologia345: 54-66 (mai).

1995

Inventaire préliminaire des collections arctiques dans les musées de province français. Document de travail n°10, Centre de Recherche en Archéologie Précolombienne, Paris.

2006

"Wood identifications of Artifacts from the Ice Patch sites of southern Yukon and of geological specimens from the Old Crow region" Final report to Paul Matheus, Greg Hare and Ruth Gotthardt Yukon Tourism-Heritage Branch, Whitehorse in completion of contract # SS554.3128, 15p.

2005

Charcoal Analysis of Hearth Features from Sites in the Brooks Range, Alaska. Report to National Park Services (J. Rasic). On file at National Park Services, Fairbanks. 22p

2004

The collection of Tree-Ring Samples of the University of Alaska Museum. A Report on the Re-housing and Inventory of the Collection, August 2004. on file at the University of Alaska Museum. 15p

2004

Economical and Cultural Significance of Driftwood in Coastal Communities of Southwest Alaska . Report to the Cooperative Extension Services (w/ R. Wheeler). 49p. /files/aqc/Wheeler and Alix.pdf

2003

Wood Remains from the 2002 Excavation at Uivvaq, Cape Lisburne . In Owen K. Mason Ed. Uivvaq Heritage Project Field Season 2002 Final Report. Report to Aglaq/CONAM in fulfillment of contract 2103-004, GeoArch Alaska, Anchorage, pp193-219.

2002

"Catching the Drift. Community workshops on Driftwood and Tree-ring Research along the Yukon and Kuskokwim Rivers." Preliminary report of the 2002 Field Season to the International Arctic Research Center ( IARC). >(w/ K. Brewster) 24p.

2002

"Driftwood in the North Pacific. Report of a Driftwood Sampling Project Undertaken on the Harriman Expedition Retraced" (w/ D. Koester)http://www.faculty.uaf.edu/ffdck/assets/HarrimanDriftwoodFull.pdf.