Davydova E. A. Food, Family and Work: the Field Work in the Amguema Settlement in Chukotka

Elena A. Davydova
Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Saint Petersburg, Russia
E-mail: elenav0202@gmail.com 

 

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ABSTRACT. This article represents a general overview of the field work in the Amguema village in Chukotka in January-February 2018 within the project supported by the Russian Science Foundation: The Changes of the Food System in Tundra and Coastal Settlements in Chukotka in the 20–21st centuries: Dynamics, Grounds, Socio-Cultural Consequences. At first, I define the theme and goals of the expedition, and the grounding for the selected place of the field site. Besides, I describe the context of the field work: the community studied and the researchers. Moving from the plans to the realization of the project, the focus of the article shifts to the methods of field work. The article examines how my methods of working with people underwent transformations. The paper concludes that the selected methods and field site in combination with archival materials have allowed to formulate promising lines for further research of the transformation processes in food practices and perceptions of food: preservation and cooking technologies, the material component of food, infrastructure and food, and the strategies for acquiring food resources.

 

KEYWORDS: methods of field work, anthropology of food, reindeer herding, Chukotka, Amguema

 

DOI 10.31250/2618-8600-2018-151-157


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