Morphology of terrestrial dwellings in Western Chukotka: from the Mesolithic to the present

The author made an attempt to systematize the actual information about stone structures of dwelling constructions in the Western Chukotka. The article is based on a review of the published data, as well as on the results obtained by author’s field observations in expeditions of the N.A. Shilo North-East Interdisciplinary Scientific Research Institute of the Far East branch of the Russian Academy of Science during the last ten years. A light-weight mobile dwelling which construction requires stones to set a cover of skins has been an integral part of the landscape of this area from ancient to the present day. Stone constructions left after the dismounting of a dwelling are important structural elements of archaeological sites of different ages. A comparative study of the ancient dwelling stone constructions allows to conclude that the construction of frame dwellings in the region was changing over time. The earliest stone structures that have remained from dwellings are known from the Mesolithic sites. The architecture of the Mesolithic dwellings seems to differ from the circular constructions of later times. An analysis of the morphology of the studied structures and ethnographic data allow to suppose that dwellings like a chum or hemisphere type were used in Western Chukotka for a long time. Yaranga-type dwellings appeared later, and its shape was developed presumably at least 200 years ago.