Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 21 (2002) 464480

www.academicpress.com

Space syntax analysis of Central Inuit snow houses

Peter C. Dawson
Department of Archaeology, University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr., NW Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 1N4
Received 12 November 2001; revision received 29 April 2002; accepted 11 June 2002

Abstract

Space syntax is a graph-based theory used by architects to examine how the spatial layout of buildings
and cities inuences the economic, social, and environmental outcomes of human movement and social
interaction. Archaeologists have explored this concept by analyzing how social structure is reected in the
spatial conguration of public and domestic architecture. In this paper, space syntax is used to examine the
spatial morphology of snow houses built by three Central Inuit groups in the Canadian Arctic, based on
ethnohistoric and ethnographic accounts. The results of this study demonstrate that variation in family
structure and the behavioral directives present in Inuit kinship systems are reected in the spatial con-
gurations of snow house architecture. This has important implications for understanding how architec-
ture might be used to identify enduring and changing patterns of household and community organization
in the archaeological record.
2002 Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.

Keywords: Inuit; Canadian Arctic; Architecture; Snow house; Social structure; Space syntax; Thule culture

Introduction ected in snow house architecture has been largely

The snow houses used by Inuit groups in the
Canadian Arctic have long fascinated Europeans
who marveled at their ingenious construction and
thermal eciency. Ethnographic and ethnohisto-
ric sources indicate that snow houses varied in
both size and spatial complexity according to
economic, social, and environmental conditions.
In 1906, Marcel Mauss and Henri Beauchat sug-
gested that large snow houses were designed to
accommodate periods of collective social and rit-
ual intensication that occurred as Inuit groups
assembled in large numbers to hunt seals out on
the sea ice. However, the idea that specic aspects
of Central Inuit social organization might be re-
E-mail address: pcdawson@ucalgary.ca.
unexplored. This is not surprising given that the
use of snow houses had discontinued by the 1950s,
and that structures used prior to this time have
left no discernable traces in the archaeological
record. However, these unique house forms were
occasionally described and sketched by early ex-
plorers, missionaries, and ethnographers.
Three of these sketches form the corpus of this
study, and are used to explore the extent to which
social information might be present in the geo-
metric structure of their spatial layouts. The rst
illustration is of a Copper Inuit snow house built
in the vicinity of Dolphin and Union Strait and
documented by the ethnographer and archaeolo-
gist Diamond Jenness, in 1915 (Fig. 1). The sec-
ond is of a Netsilik Inuit (Netsilingmiut) snow
house built on the sea ice of Repulse Bay, and
mapped by the explorer Charles Francis Hall, in

0278-4165/02/$ - see front matter 2002 Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 2 7 8 - 4 1 6 5 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 0 0 9 - 0
 P.C. Dawson / Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 21 (2002) 464480
Fig. 1. Copper Inuit Snow House. The names on each
sleeping platform refer to family members occupying the
house at the time it was documented by Jenness. A
four-roomed dwelling with a dance house, from The life
of the Copper Eskimo: Report of the Canadian Arctic
Expedition 19131918, by Diamond Jenness, 1922, g.
20, p. 75. Canadian Museum of Civilization.
1866 (Fig. 2). The third is of an Iglulik Inuit (Ig-
lulingmiut) snow house constructed on the east
coast of the Melville Peninsula in the eastern part
of the Central Canadian Arctic, and documented
by the Danish ethnographer and archaeologist
Therkel Mathiassen, in 1922 (Fig. 3). While few
detailed illustrations of this type exist, other
written descriptions of snow houses reveal that all
Fig. 2. Netsilik Inuit Snow House (Hall, 1890, p. 220).
465
Fig. 3. Iglulik Inuit Snow House (Mathiassen, 1928, pp.
126127).
three can be considered as representative of the
styles of houses that were constructed by each
group.
These three snow house plans were analyzed
using the theory and methods of space syntax.
Originally developed by Bill Hillier and colleagues
at University College London, space syntax has
been used by architects to examine the inuence of
the spatial layout of buildings and cities upon the
economic, social, and environmental outcomes of
human movement and social interaction. Recur-
ring forms of spatial conguration have been
discovered among buildings of similar function
and ethnic aliation. This suggests that human
activities and social processes have unique re-
quirements that are realized in space. When the
function of a building is altered, or when the so-
cial relations of its inhabitants change, new spatial
orders are necessarily introduced. Archaeologists
have explored this concept by analyzing how
culture change is expressed in the oor plan ge-
ometry of Pueblo ruins (Van Dyke, 1999) and
Levantine Neolithic architecture (Banning, 1996).
Other researchers have examined how ethnicity is
reected in the architecture of traditional versus
urban house types in the west-central Nile Delta
(Plimpton and Hassan, 1987) and Turkish houses
from the 17th to 19th centuries (Orhun et al.,
1995). However, few studies have used space
syntax to analyze how social processes are re-
ected in the dwellings of small scale hunting and
gathering societies. This is unfortunate, as the
466 P.C. Dawson / Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 21 (2002) 464480
Fig. 4. Map showing the regions inhabited historically by Copper, Netsilik, and Iglulik Inuit groups. Adapted from
Handbook of North American Indians (Arctic) 1984, p. viii.
architectural exibility and limited duration of
occupation that characterize dwellings such as
snow houses would have likely served to capture
domestic life at a specic point in time.
While space syntax analysis is relatively
straightforward, the interpretation of results is
often not. This is because space syntax assumes
that relationships between spaces translate di-
rectly into relationships between people. As a re-
sult, ethnographic and ethnohistoric information
is used to link dierences in spatial organization
to variations observed in the social structures of
Copper, Netsilik, and Iglulik Inuit groups. The
results of this study demonstrate that variation in
social integration and the behavioral directives
present in Inuit kinship systems are revealed in the
geometric structure of snow house architecture
through dierences in scale, integration, and spa-
tial asymmetry. The Copper, Netsilik, and Iglulik
Inuit all occupy slightly dierent regions of the
Canadian Arctic, yet they are known to have in-
teracted periodically (Fig. 4). This strengthens the
argument that variations in the syntactic proper-
ties among their reported architectural forms re-
ect dierences in regional socio-political struc-
ture, and not necessarily variations based on
available raw materials or stylistic traditions.
These results have important implications for ar-
chaeologists because they suggest that it might be
possible to retrot the spatial characteristics of
social processes observed in the ethnographic re-
cord to the archaeological record, thereby pro-
viding new insights into the social structures of
prehistoric and historic societies.
Snow house architecture
The architectural properties of Inuit snow
houses represent a unique adaptation to an arctic
way of life. Ethnographic observations indicate
that two people could build a self-supporting,
thermally ecient structure large enough to shel-
ter a family in the space of only a few hours. The
use of snow as a construction material eliminated
the need to carry heavy portable shelters and al-
lowed families to stay mobile throughout the
winter months. Indirect evidence for the use of
 P.C. Dawson / Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 21 (2002) 464480
snow houses in pre-contact times has been cited
primarily from the recovery of snow knives at
Thule archaeological sites. Thule peoples arrived
in the Canadian Arctic from the area of the Bering
Strait approximately 1000 years ago. There is little
evidence for snow house use in the Bering Strait
region and this has prompted speculation that
knowledge of snow houses may have been ac-
quired through contacts with earlier remnant
Dorset populations (Bandi, 1969, p. 150; Du-
mond, 1977, p. 145; Maxwell, 1985, p. 368;
McGhee, 1984, p. 372; Morrison, 1983, p. 279;
Plumet, 1979, p. 116 but see Park, 1993, pp. 216
217 for an alternate view). The use of large
coastally situated semi-subterranean houses by
Thule peoples suggests that snow houses would
have functioned primarily as impermanent shel-
ters for use when traveling (Park, 1988, p. 71).
With the abandonment of bowhead whaling in
many regions of the eastern and central Arctic in
the 16th century, the snow house became the
principal winter house form among many Inuit
groups. Snow houses were used from October
until May (Mathiassen, 1928, p. 129) and con-
tinued to serve as an important type of winter
dwelling until the 1950s.
Numerous descriptions of the techniques used
to build snow houses exist in the accounts of ex-
plorers, missionaries, whalers, and ethnographers.
The construction of snow houses was a coopera-
tive endeavor between both sexes. Men were usu-
ally responsible for the cutting and placement of
snow blocks while the shoveling of snow over top
of the house was mostly the work of women
(Mathiassen, 1928, p. 124). A man would begin by
cutting snow blocks of a ne grain and uniform
consistency from a suitable snow drift using a su-
lung or snow knife (Kershaw et al., 1995, p. 334).
Once the initial row of blocks had been placed in a
circle, the rst block was cut down to the ground
and the top of the row inclined so as to form the
rst thread of a spiral (Boas, 1964 [1888], p. 132).
Subsequent rows were placed in a similar fashion
until the vault or dome was completed. An en-
trance tunnel comprising two or three smaller
vaults for storage was then tted to this doorway,
and a small window was cut over the entrance and
covered with either a translucent patch of sewn
seal intestine, or a piece of freshwater ice (Mathi-
assen, 1928, p. 129). Snow was then shoveled
overtop of the structure for additional insulation
(Mathiassen, 1928, p. 124). Inside the house, an
elevated platform was constructed at the rear of
the dwelling and lamp (kudlick) stands erected
467
along the side walls adjacent to the opening of the
entrance tunnel. The internal dimensions of living
and storage spaces have been documented by
Mathiassen (1928), Boas (1964 [1888]), Balikci
(1970), Jenness (1922), and others and appear to
have ranged from 3.35 m (Mathiassen, 1928, p.
125) to over 6 m in diameter for a single dome
(Mathiassen, 1928, p. 128; Balikci, 1970, p. 63).
Dead air spaces within snow blocks served to ef-
fectively insulate the interior of the dwelling from
the cold outside air. Inuit groups such as the Ig-
lulingmuit and Tunumeriut would also suspend
skin linings from the walls and roofs of their
houses. This could increase the interior tempera-
ture of the dwelling by as much as 10 C (Boas,
1964 [1888], p. 135). Sealskins sewn together to
make these linings were often derived from worn
out summer tents (Mathiassen, 1928, p. 128).
Three primary sources of energy were used to
heat snow houses: (1) the burning of sea mammal
oil in lamps, (2) body heat generated by the oc-
cupants of the dwelling (including dogs), and (3)
geothermal heat emitted from the soil below the
dwelling when constructed on land rather than sea
ice (Kershaw et al., 1995, p. 334). Restricted access
to sea mammal oil, small family sizes, and lack of
suitable snow occasionally placed limits on the size
and spatial complexity of snow houses. Eorts to
locate good snow drifts may have been consider-
able when winter conditions were less than optimal
(Kershaw et al., 1995, p. 334). Jenness (1922), for
example, reports that among the Copper Inuit
limited access to snowdrifts of a depth appropriate
for cutting snow blocks sometimes resulted in
families constructing small, single-roomed snow
houses. Regardless, many ethnographers and ex-
plorers encountered large multi-roomed snow
houses grouped into villages of 100 or more people
(Mathiassen, 1928; Maxwell, 1985).
The construction of multi-roomed or com-
posite snow houses has been documented among
the Copper, Netsilik, and Iglulik Inuit of the Ca-
nadian Arctic. Composite dwellings usually con-
sisted of two or more domes that were connected
by co-joining the walls or entrance tunnels of the
structures. In 1830, British Naval explorer Sir
John Ross observed 120 Netsilik Inuit persons
inhabiting 12 snow houses and estimated an av-
erage household unit of 10 persons (Ross, 1835,
p. 243). Among the plates included in Rosss
published narrative is one entitled Snow Cottages
of the Boothians (Fig. 5) (Ross, 1835, p. 248).
The snow houses in this illustration are clustered
close together and few entrance tunnels are
468 P.C. Dawson / Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 21 (2002) 464480
Fig. 5. Snow Cottages of the Boothians (Ross, 1835, p. 248).
depicted, suggesting that perhaps some were in-
terconnected. During his search for Sir John
Franklin, Leopold McClintock commented on 12
persons inhabiting two snow houses with con-
joining entrance tunnels (McClintock, 1868, p.
225). Likewise, Danish explorer Knud Rasmussen
described ve domed huts with communicating
passages which housed an extended family of 16
people at Cape Elizabeth, north of Lyon Inlet
(Rasmussen, 1933, p. 46).
While some composite snow houses consisted
of living areas, storage areas, and dog rooms,
others were built around special function spaces
such as festival or dance houses which were used
for communal activities such as singing, dancing,
drumming, and competitive games (Fig. 1). The
size of the dance house was often determined by
the number of residential dwellings it was required
to enclose. The more numerous the dwellings that
had to be connected, the more dicult the dance
house was to construct (Balikci, 1970, p. 62; Jen-
ness, 1922, p. 77). As a result, the usual practice
among the Copper Inuit was to build dance
houses over the entrance passages of up to three
houses, although Jenness (1922, 71) reports that
building over the entrances of four snow houses
was not unknown. Among the Netsilik Inuit,
building dance houses over the entrances of four
dwellings appears to have been more common
(Balikci, 1970, pp. 6263). While the use of dance
houses to connect family dwellings was practiced
by the Iglulik Inuit, they were also built as sepa-
rate structures (Boas, 1964 [1888], p. 192). The
greater ecological productivity of the Iglulik Inuit
area (Damas, 1975b, p. 414) may have provided
enough sea mammal oil to heat dance houses as
stand-alone structures. In contrast, more limited
access to sea mammal oil may have made it im-
practical to build dance houses as separate edices
in the Copper and Netsilik areas. It would have
therefore been necessary to heat these large spaces
using the lamps of connected family dwellings.
Social structure and residence patterns in Central
Inuit snow houses
Damas (1972, 1975b) has argued that integra-
tion and cohesion in social structure intensied
among Central Inuit cultures as one moved from
west to east in the Canadian Arctic (Fig. 4). For
example, household organization, leadership,
kinship directives, and communal living arrange-
ments all increased in formality and rigidity (Ta-
ble 1). The reasons for these dierences are
dicult to ascertain, and attempts have been
made to explain them in terms of environmental
variables and historic processes (Damas, 1969,
 P.C. Dawson / Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 21 (2002) 464480 469

Table 1
Comparisons of three Central Inuit regional groupsa
Features Copper Inuit Netsilik Inuit Iglulik Inuit
Household Nuclear Extended Extended
organization
Leadership Ephemeral Extended family head Local group and extended
family heads
Kinship directives Attenuated, Restricted to extended family, Broad in scope, strong
narrow in scope weak dominance hierarchy dominance hierarchy
(naalaqtuq), moderate aectional (naalaqtuq) and aectional
bonding (ungayuq) bonding (ungayuq)
Communal living Fleeting and Greater duration and stability Greatest duration and
arrangements impermanent stability
a
Adapted from Stevenson (1997) and Damas (1965, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1975a,b).

1975b). For example, it was thought that the
reason why seal meat sharing networks were
present among the Copper and Netsilik, yet ab-
sent among the Iglulik Inuit, was due to the fact
that the former occupied areas of greater ecolog-
ical uncertainty (Damas, 1969, p. 55). Likewise,
the larger winter village aggregations of the Iglulik
Inuit were linked to the greater ecological pro-
ductivity of the areas they inhabited (Damas,
1969, p. 53). However, there were certain features
of Central Inuit social organization that were not
shared among groups occupying similar environ-
mental zones. These included signicant dier-
ences in leadership roles and in family structure
among Copper and Netsilik Inuit groups (Ste-
venson, 1997, pp. 2122). Damas (1969, 1975b)
has suggested that those features of Central Inuit
social structure not linked to environmental vari-
ables likely represent the eects of historical pro-
cesses such as migration, diusion, innovation,
and cultural drift.
Space syntax theory predicts that the spatial
congurations of Copper, Netsilik, and Iglulik
Inuit snow houses should reect many of the
dierences outlined above. If true, then it might be
possible to search for similar forms of spatial
conguration in the archaeological record, and
use the social correlates of these congurations as
an armature for understanding the social struc-
tures of Thule culture and later historic Inuit
groups. In order to examine this possibility, it is
rst necessary to dene the characteristic features
of Central Inuit social organization and then
translate them into measurable properties of
spatial conguration. Features that warrant spe-
cial attention are the behavioral directives that
structured interpersonal relationships. In general
terms, these behavioral directives operated along
two axes; one based on respectobedience (na-
alaqtuq) and the other on aectional solidarity
and emotional closeness (ungayuq) (Damas,
1975a, p. 24; Stevenson, 1997, p. 9; Wenzel, 1981,
p. 86). Together, these directives structured rela-
tions between dyads or paired sets of individuals.
These dyads were usually determined by sex,
generational and relative age dierences, and
consanguinal/anal ties (Damas, 1975a, p. 24).
Rather than working in opposition to one an-
other, naalaqtuq and ungayuq directives were
mutually inuencing and complementary in na-
ture (Stevenson, 1997, p. 12). Damas (1965,
1975a) and Stevenson (1997) have examined how
these two behavioral directives functioned in
terms of kinship while Wenzel (1981) has analyzed
how naalaqtuq and ungayuq patterned ecological
activities in productive ways.
Copper Inuit
In the western Arctic, Copper Inuit winter
villages consisted of loose clusters of nuclear
families held together more by voluntary associ-
ations than by kinship (Damas, 1969). While some
sets of relatives did have mildly expressed subor-
dinate directives axed to them, the principals of
naalaqtuq and ungayuq were virtually absent. In-
stead, the autonomy of nuclear families and a
strong egalitarian ethic were stressed, and volun-
tary associations and partnerships were used to
create symmetrical ties between individuals (Ste-
venson, 1997, p. 47). Among the most important
of these were spousal exchange partnerships and
singing/dancing associations (Damas, 1969, pp.
4950). Two nuclear families engaged in such re-
lationships would normally live together in a
composite snow house with separate living and
cooking areas. Dance houses were used to connect
such structures and likely increased the stability of
470 P.C. Dawson / Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 21 (2002) 464480
alliances formed between nuclear families (Jen-
ness, 1922, p. 77). Outside of these relationships,
nuclear families occupied small unattached snow
houses that were occasionally connected to the
dwellings of other families for social purposes
using walls or entrance passages (Jenness, 1922,
pp. 6576). Co-residence within these communal
dwellings was often eeting and impermanent,
and rarely lasted more than one camp move
(Jenness, 1922, p. 74).
Netsilik Inuit
As one moved eastward into the Netsilik area,
kinship became a more important organizing
principle (Damas, 1969). Extended families, inte-
grated through kin ties, partnerships, and ungayuq
and naalaqtuq bonds, formed mutually autono-
mous and highly territorial local groups. Damas
(1972, 1975a) considered Netsilik social structure
to be more integrated than the Copper Inuit but
less integrated than the Iglulik Inuit. This as-
sumption was based on his belief that ungayuq
directives did not apply to the Netsilik. Stevenson
(1997), however, has suggested that the continu-
ation of aectional behaviors among cross-sex
cousins into adulthood and the use of terms of
endearment between wives and husbands imply
that deep bonds of aection did exist between
members of the local group. Consequently, he has
argued that ungayuq bonds were present in
Netsilik society, and that they were emphasized to
a greater extent than naalaqtuq directives (Ste-
venson, 1997, p. 285). Within the family, na-
alaqtuq bonds structured fatherson relations,
with sons submitting to their fathers authority in
all aspects of daily life (Damas, 1975a, p. 18). The
pair acquired a functional signicance for the
extended family by cooperating in a range of ac-
tivities (Balikci, 1970, p. 105). Other pairs that
incorporated naalaqtuq directives included broth-
ersister, unclenephew, and older siblingyoun-
ger sibling (Damas, 1975a, p. 16).
Balikci (1970, 62) has stated that it was the
usual pattern for two related families to share a
snow house. In this situation, resident families
would either occupy a single snow house or erect
adjoining snow houses with a common fore porch.
On occasion, four snow houses were used to form
the foundation of a large communal dance house
(Balikci, 1970, p. 62). Unlike the Copper Inuit,
who dened co-residency primarily through
partnerships, Netsilik families occupying com-
posite snow houses were usually related through
kin ties. For example, recently married sons would
frequently live with their fathers (Balikci, 1970, p.
62). As a consequence, Balikci (1970) states that
the occupants of large composite structures con-
stituted a single, close-knit social unit. While
camp moves were relatively frequent during peri-
ods of winter sealing, the greater unity of the
Netsilik family resulted in more stable patterns of
co-residence than those observed among the
Copper Inuit (Balikci, 1970, p. 112).
Iglulik Inuit
Moving further east into the Iglulingmiut area,
social structure assumed the most internally co-
herent and integrated form of all three groups
(Damas, 1965, 1975a). Strong kinship directives
and numerous kin ties dened the extended fam-
ily. Kinship factors and a diverse range of vol-
untary associations/partnerships functioned to
integrate family members into households and
local groups (Damas, 1975a, p. 19). Two features
of Iglulik Inuit social organization that stand out
are the solidarity of the extended family and the
emphasis placed on naalaqtuq behavioral direc-
tives (Stevenson, 1997, p. 273). Within Iglulik
Inuit culture, age, gender, generation, and con-
sanguinal/anal ties determined ones place in the
social hierarchy (Stevenson, 1997, p. 273). Hence,
young were subordinate to old, sisters subordinate
to brothers, children subordinate to parents, and
in-marrying males subordinate to all males born
into the kin group regardless of age or genera-
tional relationships. Outside of the kin group,
social hierarchies were established and maintained
through friendly competition designed to establish
who was the fastest, strongest, or cleverest (Ras-
mussen, 1933, p. 227). So completely did na-
alaqtuq directives structure Iglulik Inuit social life
that individuals would constantly inquire about
age, purpose, and connection as a means of g-
uring out how others t into the status hierarchy
(Damas, 1965, p. 47). The emphasis placed on
naalaqtuq directives resulted in pronounced lead-
ership within both the extended family and the
local group (Wenzel, 1981, p. 85).
Extended families occupied large composite
snow houses which were the most common form
of winter dwelling among the Iglulik Inuit (Lyon,
1824; Mathiassen, 1928). The oor plans of Iglulik
Inuit snow houses documented by Mathiassen
(1928) from the Melville Peninsula suggest that
they were among the largest and most spatially
complex of all Central Inuit groups. These
 P.C. Dawson / Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 21 (2002) 464480
structures were commonly organized around a
central system of spaces which linked together
living areas, dog rooms, and storage areas
(Mathiassen, 1928, p. 125). While dance houses
were used to connect the snow houses of co-resi-
dent families in Copper and Netsilik culture, they
existed more frequently as separate structures
among the Iglulik Inuit (Boas, 1964 [1888], p.
192). These ceremonial houses usually consisted
of a single, large dome 4.6 m in height and 6.1 m in
diameter and were used for singing, dancing, and
feasting (Boas, 1964 [1888], p. 192). Finally,
communal living arrangements within composite
snow houses appear to have been more stable and
of longer duration than among the Copper and
Netsilik Inuit. For example, Rasmussen (1933, 22)
deduced that an extended family of 16 persons he
visited at Lyon Inlet had lived in their large snow
house for some time because heat had thawed
the inner surface of the walls, forming icicles that
hung down gleaming in the soft light of the
blubber lamp.
To summarize, integration and cohesion in so-
cial structure varied among Central Inuit cultures
as one moved from west to east. The importance of
kinship as an organizing principle increased be-
tween Copper, Netsilik, and Iglulik Inuit groups,
as did the solidarity and size of the residential
family, and the number of non-kindred alliance
forming mechanisms. Behavioral directives in-
volving respectobedience (naalaqtuq) were most
strongly expressed among the Iglulingmiut. Fi-
nally, residence patterns in composite snow houses
shifted from several autonomous nuclear families
integrated through voluntary associations and
partnerships to large extended families integrated
through strongly developed kin ties. These dier-
ences appear to have been accompanied by in-
creases in the duration and stability of family
residency within the snow house. Space syntax
provides a methodology for translating these key
features into properties that can be measured in the
spatial conguration of snow house oor plans.
The theory and method of space syntax
In 1984, Hillier and Hanson published The
Social Logic of Space in which they outlined a
syntactic theory for the organization of space in
buildings and settlements. In the book they argued
that buildings, towns, and cities have particular
spatial properties that translate into sociological
rules which aect how people relate to one an-
471
other. Within this framework, the spatial cong-
uration of a dwelling or settlement is believed to
present a fairly precise map of the economic, so-
cial, and ideological relations of its inhabitants
(Hanson, 1998, p. 13). Over the past 18 years, the
theory and method of space syntax has undergone
a great deal of development. This has been due
largely to three factors; the application of space
syntax to a wider range of building and settlement
types (Hanson, 1994, 1998; Hillier, 1996; Peponis
et al., 1997, etc.), the development of sophisticated
computer software that has allowed researchers to
numerically capture dierences in the congura-
tion of spaces (Penn et al., 1998; Turner, 2001,
etc.), and the organization of three international
symposia on space syntax research (2002, 1999,
1997). Results indicate that integration and con-
nectivity are powerful predictors for how busy
or how quiet a space will be (Hanson, 1998,
p. 10). Spaces are usually connected together in
ways that vary the distribution of integration
throughout the structure, making some areas of a
dwelling more accessible than others. This se-
quencing of integration serves to regulate interac-
tions among inhabitants, and between inhabitants
and visitors. In an Ashanti palace, for example,
integration is sequenced in such a way that one
must rst pass through a series of intermediate
spaces in order to access the personal space of the
chief who occupies the deepest section of the
conguration (Hillier and Hanson, 1984, p. 167).
In this situation, the spatial conguration of the
palace serves to reinforce the social inequalities
inherent in Ashanti society (Hillier and Hanson,
1984, p. 167). Integration has emerged from em-
pirical studies as the most important way in which
houses convey culture through their spatial con-
gurations (Hanson, 1998, p. 32). If houses display
regularities in their spatial congurations, then
they are said to share similar constructions of so-
cial interfaces among family members. Conversely,
if houses display irregularities, then these social
interfaces must also dier. One of the basic strat-
egies of space syntax research, then, is to search for
invariants in spatial patterning, and translate these
into patterns of human interaction that are cul-
turally specic. This is accomplished through
congurational description.
Congurational descriptions consist of justied
graphs of lines and circles which map the perme-
ability or accessibility of a building. Three prop-
erties of spatial conguration that can be
measured from justied permeability graphs are
scale, integration, and relative asymmetry (RA).
472 P.C. Dawson / Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 21 (2002) 464480
Scale is simply the total number of nodes or
bounded spaces contained in the conguration
(Fig. 6A). Scale provides an indication of the size
and spatial requirements of the residential unit.
Integration encompasses two components: the
number of rings and the number communal
spaces. Rings occur when spaces are connected
together into circuits that allow a single space to
be accessed by more than one route (Fig. 6B).
This results in short cuts between spaces that
truncate the route of access. Communal spaces
function to integrate other types of spaces by
connecting them together in ways that create op-
portunities for social encounters and participation
in group activities (Fig. 6C). As a result, well-in-
tegrated households often utilize greater numbers
of rings and communal spaces.
Relative asymmetry maps how integration is
distributed throughout the structure, thereby im-
mediately capturing the congurational properties
of a building. This provides the researcher with a
numerical means of comparing the congura-
tional descriptions of dierent types of structures
(Hanson, 1998, p. 23; Hillier and Hanson, 1984,
pp. 108140). Relative asymmetry is determined
Fig. 6. (AC) Properties of spatial conguration com-
prising scale and integration.
by calculating the relative dierences in trip
lengths it takes to move from one space to all
other spaces in the dwelling. This principle is re-
ected in Figs. 7A and B, in which the justied
permeability graph of an Iglulik Inuit snow house
(Fig. 3) has been redrawn from the perspective of
two dierent spaces. The dierent ways in which
spaces 3 and 11 are connected to other spaces in
the conguration changes the depth and symme-
try of each graph. As a result, trips taken from
space 11 to all other spaces in the structure vary
much more in length than trips taken from space
3. This has the eect of making space 11 less ac-
cessible to a person moving through the dwelling
than space 3. Relative asymmetry can be ex-
pressed mathematically using an equation devel-
oped by Hillier and Hanson (1984, p. 108). The
mean depth (MD) of each space is calculated by
assigning every other space a depth value, based
on the trip lengths taken to move from the current
space to all others in the dwelling. These trip
lengths are then summed and divided by the total
number of spaces in the house (k) less one (the
current space). Relative asymmetry is then calcu-
lated as follows:
2MD  1
RA :
k2
Because RA values can vary considerably
across dwellings of dierent sizes, it is necessary to
convert them into a measure of real relative
asymmetry (RRA) using a table of constants
Fig. 7. (A, B) Justied permeability graphs for an
Iglulik Inuit snow house (Fig. 3) drawn from the per-
spective of two dierent spaces (3; 11).
 P.C. Dawson / Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 21 (2002) 464480
provided by Hillier and Hanson (1984, p. 112).
The resulting RRA values are either greater than
or less than 1, with higher values indicating more
asymmetry or dierences in spatial accessibility. A
computer program called Netbox has been de-
veloped specically for congurational analysis
and allows for the rapid calculation of RA and
RRA values.
It is important to note that various criticisms
have been leveled against the theory and method
of space syntax. Many assert that space syntax is
simply a nave form of architectural determinism.
It should be pointed out, however, that practi-
tioners of space syntax have made concerted ef-
forts to distance themselves from this idea by
portraying spatial organization as a means by
which societies simply reconstitute or reproduce
themselves. Critics such as Leach (1978) have
stated that the theory itself lacks sociological so-
phistication, and that the mathematical models
developed by Hillier and colleagues cannot ac-
count for the complexity of real life situations
(Leach, 1978, p. 400). Space syntax also supposes
that all cultures share similar strategies for privacy
regulation, and that the accessibility of a space is
equivalent to the power that occupants of the
space wield over others in the household (Parker-
Pearson and Richards, 1994, p. 30). Regardless, a
growing body of research indicates that the spatial
structure of any house re-enforces to some degree,
a customary pattern of integration among its oc-
cupants that is often culturally unique (e.g., Hill-
ier, 1996; Hanson, 1998). Finally, it has been
suggested that in order to use space syntax to
make valid inferences about social relations from
the ground plans of houses and settlements in the
archaeological record, one almost needs to know
the answer to the question before it is asked
(Leach, 1978, p. 338). However, through the use
of direct historic analogy and ethnoarchaeology,
archaeologists can analyze the spatial congura-
tions of historic or contemporary groups and then
look for evidence of similar syntactic principles in
the archaeological record. Thus, as Parker-Pear-
son and Richards (1994, p. 30) explain, space
syntax is still a useful tool in archaeology.
Determining the space syntax of Central Inuit
social structure
The key features of Central Inuit social orga-
nization translate into the properties of scale, in-
tegration, and real relative asymmetry in the
473
following ways. The size of the residential unit
translates into scale, with extended family house-
holds occupying dwellings of greater scale than
nuclear family households. Behavioral directives
based on aectional solidarity and emotional
closeness (ungayuq) translate into integration, with
strongly integrated families making greater use of
rings and communal spaces. Behavioral directives
based on respectobedience (naalaqtuq) translate
into higher values of real relative asymmetry with
strong subordinate relationships resulting in
highly asymmetrical spatial congurations.
Justied permeability graphs were drawn from
the maps taken of the Copper, Netsilik, and
Iglulik Inuit snow houses using Netbox, version
4.1 (Figs. 8AC). Measures of scale and integra-
tion were then taken directly from the justied
permeability graphs and RRA values were calcu-
lated for each graph also using Netbox. The re-
sults of the analysis are provided in Figs. 8DF
and Table 2, and were used in conjunction with
observations of space use in snow houses found in
ethnohistoric sources.
Results of analysis
Results indicate that the Iglulik Inuit snow
house displays higher values of scale, integration,
and real relative asymmetry than those of the
Copper and Netsilik Inuit which share a similar
spatial conguration. The measurements taken in
Figs. 8DF and summarized in Table 2 reveal that
the Iglulik Inuit snow house contains a greater
number of spaces. While both the Copper and
Netsilik Inuit snow houses used in the analysis are
of the same scale, ethnogrophic data indicate that
composite dwellings of one to three domes (living
areas) were usual among the Copper Inuit (Jen-
ness, 1922, p. 71) while structures of four domes
were more common among the Netsilik (Balikci,
1970, pp. 6263). The largest Iglulik Inuit snow
house recorded by Mathiassen (1928) contained
ve family domes. These dierences in scale likely
reect the fact that larger extended families
formed the primary residential unit in Ig-
lulingmiut society. Hence, the larger the residen-
tial unit, the greater the need for residential space,
extra storage space, and activity space.
The Iglulik Inuit snow house is also more
spatially integrated. Figs. 8C and F contain a ring
or circuit which connects spaces 2, 3, and 4,
thereby integrating the residential space 10 into
the rest of the structure. The Iglulik Inuit snow
474 P.C. Dawson / Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 21 (2002) 464480

Fig. 8. (AF) Justied permeability maps and RRA values for Copper Inuit (A, D), Netsilik Inuit (B, E), and Iglulik
Inuit (C, F) snow houses. Space 1 is the interface between the outside and inside of the dwelling. Solid black circles
denote family living areas.

Table 2
Measurements of spatial conguration taken from the oor plans of snow houses
House Scale Integration Real relative asymmetry
# Nodes # Rings # Communal spaces Average RRA
Copper Inuit 5 0 1 .9550
Netsilik Inuit 5 0 1 .9550
Iglulik Inuit 10 1 4 1.1920

house also contains a greater number of commu-
nal spaces (spaces 2, 3, 4, and 5). Many of these
communal spaces appear to have functioned as
dog rooms and storage areas for meat and com-
munal property (Mathiassen, 1928). This stands in
contrast to the single communal space used in
Copper Inuit and Netsilik snow houses which
commonly functioned as a dance house. In the
case of the Copper Inuit, the greater autonomy of
nuclear families may have required the use of
communal spaces for rituals which encouraged
cooperation and group solidarity. The strong
solidarity of the extended family in Iglulingmiut
society likely made it unnecessary to use com-
munal spaces for such functions.
Perhaps most interesting, however, are the
dierences in real relative asymmetry values dis-
played between houses. The Iglulik Inuit snow
house exhibits a greater average RRA value
(1.1920) than the Copper and Netsilik examples
(RAA .9550). As mentioned previously, higher
RRA values indicate greater asymmetry in the
spatial conguration. This greater asymmetry is
caused by the fact that trips of unequal lengths
must be made when moving between dierent
spaces within the dwelling. This has the eect of
 P.C. Dawson / Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 21 (2002) 464480 475

creating greater control over space and the di-
rection of movement. To illustrate, in Figs. 8C
and F space 6 is the most easily accessed family
living area in the structure (RAA 1.20), fol-
lowed by space 10 (RRA 1.28), and then by
spaces 7, 8, and 9 (RRA 1.43). The hierarchical
distribution of living spaces within this snow
house is intriguing, given the emphasis placed on
behavioral directives involving respectobedience
(naalaqtuq) in Iglulik Inuit society. While Mathi-
assen (1928) fails to explicitly dene the relations
held among the occupants of Fig. 8C, space syn-
tax theory predicts that the occupants of space 6
were subordinate to those of spaces 7, 8, 9, and 10.
Similarly, the occupants of space 10 would have
been superordinate to those of space 6 and sub-
ordinate to those of spaces 7, 8, and 9. This in-
terpretation is supported by Damass (1971, 61)
observation that:
There appears to have been a denite accepted
pattern of habitation of clusters or composite
snow houses. The rearmost dome was inhabited
by the father and his youngest unmarried son
while the domes to the side were the dwellings of
older married sons and the occasional son-in-law.
It therefore seems plausible that the greater
control of movement in this particular Iglulik
Inuit snow house is a spatial expression of the
respectobedience directives present in the father
son and father-in-law/son-in-law dyads discussed
earlier in this paper. This structure is somewhat
unique in this regard, as the other two snow
houses used in the analysis situate families in
spaces that would have been equally accessible.
If snow house architecture is a true reection
of social behavior, then we might also expect
spatial conguration to change as the social dy-

Fig. 9. (AD) Congurational descriptions (C, D) of two Iglulik Inuit snow houses (A, B) built one month apart, and
occupied by members of the same extended family (Mathiassen, 1928, pp. 126127). Solid black circles denote family
living areas.
476 P.C. Dawson / Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 21 (2002) 464480
namics of families were altered. A key feature of
Inuit existence was the ability to vary social group
size and composition in accordance with seasonal
variations in resource availability and distribu-
tion. Snow is a exible building material that
would have allowed for the rapid addition or de-
molition of rooms as friendships and partnerships
were formed and dissolved, or as friends and rel-
atives arrived and departed from camps. Mathi-
assen (1928) provides an illustration of a second
Iglulik Inuit snow house (Fig. 9A) occupied by
members of the same extended family as Fig. 9B,
yet built one month later, following the departure
of three families. Analysis of the smaller structure
indicates that even though it possesses a higher
average RRA value (1.2689), indicating greater
control over movement, all family living areas are
situated at the same level of integration (Fig. 9C).
In contrast, while the larger ve family house has
a lower RRA value, family living areas are hier-
archically distributed along a dierent sequence of
integration (Fig. 9D). Social dynamics would have
likely been more complex among ve families than
among three. Under such conditions, it would
have been necessary to reorganize social interfaces
between family members as a response to emerg-
ing scalar stress. The concept of scalar stress was
rst formalized by Johnston (1982) who noted
that as small groups increase in size, face to face
contact increases to the point where the amount of
information being exchanged between individuals
rapidly exceeds what they are able to process. This
leads to disputes, a decrease in the quality of de-
cision-making, and factionalism. One of the ways
that groups deal with scalar stress is by increasing
the degree of social hierarchy. Among the Iglulik
Inuit, this might have been accomplished by in-
tensifying naalaqtuq directives promoting respect
obedience (reected spatially in the dierential
accessibility of family living areas), and ungayuq
directives promoting aectional solidarity and
emotional closeness (reected spatially in the
lower RRA value). It is important to remember
that the original ve families could have con-
structed two or more smaller houses to avoid such
complications, yet they all opted to live commu-
nally within a single structure. In this way, Iglulik
Inuit snow houses can be seen as classes of
buildings that behave more like settlements than
houses, and this further distinguishes them from
other styles of Inuit architecture.
In summary, as integration and cohesion in
social structure varied among Central Inuit cul-
tures as one moved from west to east, so too did
the properties of scale, integration, and real rela-
tive asymmetry in snow house architecture. The
importance of kinship as an organizing principle
increased between groups as did the solidarity of
the extended family. This translates spatially into
larger numbers of domes, increasing use of com-
munal spaces, and the occasional use of rings or
circuits. Behavioral directives based on respect
obedience (naalaqtuq) were most strongly ex-
pressed among the Iglulik Inuit. This translates
into dierent sequences of integration within the
conguration, leading to variation in the relative
accessibility of spaces in the Iglulik Inuit snow
house. Seasonal changes in family composition
also appear to have resulted in dierent spatial
expressions of naalaqtuq and ungayuq behavioral
directives, perhaps as a means of coping with
scalar stress. These conclusions have important
implications for understanding culture change in
the Canadian Arctic.
Implications for Canadian Arctic prehistory
Contemporary Inuit are the cultural and bio-
logical descendants of Thule peoples who arrived
in the Canadian Arctic from the Bering Strait
region about 1000 years ago. The principal winter
house form used by Thule peoples was the semi-
subterranean house. Constructed from sod, stone,
and occasionally the bones of large baleen whales,
these houses took on three basic architectural
forms based on the number of family living areas:
single-lobed, bi-lobed, and tri-lobed. All three
types of houses were excavated into mounds
which were occupied separately or in conjunction
with other dwellings. Semi-subterranean dwellings
that shared mounds were sometimes co-joined;
either by connecting the entrance tunnel, or by
using a transitional or common space to integrate
the living areas of two or three families. Large tri-
lobed or clover leaf-shaped dwellings appear to
date later than single-lobed and bi-lobed forms
(Figs. 10A and B) (Schledermann, 1975, p. 276).
The adoption of these composite house forms
seems to correlate with the onset of cooler climatic
conditions in the 16th century, which eventually
resulted in the abandonment of bowhead whaling
in the Central Arctic (Maxwell, 1985; McGhee,
1983; Savelle, 1987; Savelle and McCartney, 1991;
Schledermann, 1975). Various explanations for
the development of communal houses in areas of
the Central Arctic, Labrador, and Greenland have
been suggested. The principal arguments have
 P.C. Dawson / Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 21 (2002) 464480
Fig. 10. Thule winter house with 1 sleeping platform
from Skraeling Island (A) (McCullough, 1989, p. 27);
and a later Thule winter house with three sleeping
platforms (B) (Schledermann, 1975, p. 276). SP de-
notes locations of sleeping platforms.
focused on the need to conserve building materials
and heat energy (Schledermann, 1976), an in-
crease in food sharing within the household
(Petersen, 1974), and socio-economic factors as-
sociated with European contact (Richling, 1993).
The appearance of communal dwellings at sites
such as Haa Island, at the head of Hayes Fiord,
Ellesmere Island, suggests that the term illuq
meaning related house mate of my generation
may have originated in Late Thule times, follow-
ing the adoption of tri-lobate dwellings in the 16th
477
century in areas like Ellesmere Island. Illuq reects
a merging of cousin terms (Sperry, 1952, pp. 15
16; Stevenson, 1997, p. 315; Thalbitzer, 1941, p.
721) and was used by the Angamasilik of Green-
land following the introduction of communal
houses in the 16th century (Thalbitzer, 1941).
In many ways, the construction of large tri-lo-
bed dwellings by later Thule peoples reect forms
of spatial conguration that are not dissimilar to
those discussed earlier among the Copper, Netsi-
lik, and Iglulik Inuit. Tri-lobed dwellings represent
increases in scale and integration over earlier
Thule house forms because they contain larger
numbers of bounded living spaces and utilize
communal spaces. The use of communal spaces to
connect the living areas of families diers from the
simple connection of entrance tunnels because
they provide a communal area for social encoun-
ters and group activities. Communal spaces also
aord a means of observing the actions of other
resident families. In contrast, the interconnection
of entrance tunnels tends to segregate rather than
integrate families because the living spaces of each
family are bounded and unobservable. Changes in
the scale and integration of later Thule dwellings
therefore imply increasing integration and cohe-
sion in social structure. This may have involved the
intensication of kinship ties as primary organiz-
ing principles and might explain the increased level
of architectural investment represented by Late
Thule tri-lobed dwelling. While large composite
snow houses could be constructed in the matter of
a day, tri-lobed semi-subterranean dwellings
would have required considerably greater expen-
ditures of time, labor, and raw materials (Dawson,
2001, p. 456). Rather than the opportunistic and
impermanent pattern of occupation observed by
Jenness (1922) in Copper Inuit composite snow
houses, building with greater investment may have
motivated resident families to re-occupy their
dwellings over longer periods of time. The inte-
gration of families through primary kin ties rather
than solely through partnerships and voluntary
associations would have facilitated these more
stable patterns of co-residence. This might explain
why communal spaces were used simply as fore
porches for household activities in Late Thule tri-
lobed dwellings and not as dance houses, as was
more common in Copper Inuit snow houses. In the
absence of well-developed kin ties, Copper Inuit
families may have had to rely on the communal
activities embodied in the dance house (singing/
dancing partnerships) as a means of increasing the
social cohesion necessary for co-residence.
478 P.C. Dawson / Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 21 (2002) 464480
While hierarchically distributed living spaces
are largely absent in semi-subterranean tri-lobed
dwellings, a few examples are known. These in-
clude two houses from Skraeling Island which
were joined together using a short passage
(McCullough, 1989, p. 46). A single entrance
tunnel required that individuals pass through the
living space of one family in order to gain access
to the other. While these types of houses appear to
have been rare at Thule sites, they nevertheless
demonstrate that building living spaces along
dierent sequences of integration in semi-subter-
ranean houses was indeed possible. The fact that
they are rare suggests that naalaqtuq-like behav-
ioral directives were either absent or only weakly
expressed in Thule households.
To summarize, increases in scale and integra-
tion observed in Late Thule architecture are sim-
ilar to those observed in Central Inuit snow house
architecture. Space syntax theory predicts that
these similarities represent the emergence of lar-
ger, more integrated, and cohesive households in
Late Thule culture. This may have involved a
greater emphasis on kinship factors as central
organizing principles in Late Thule households.
Hierarchically distributed living spaces are largely
absent in semi-subterranean dwellings, suggesting
that naalaqtuq-like directives were only weakly
expressed. Taken together, this would imply that
early Thule households were generally smaller and
less socially integrated than later Thule house-
holds.
Conclusions
In conclusion, the results of this study reveal
that dierences in Central Inuit social structure
are reected in the spatial conguration of Copper
Inuit, Netsilik Inuit, and Iglulik Inuit snow
houses. An increasing emphasis on extended
families, kinship as an organizing principle and
behavioral directives stressing respect and obedi-
ence translate into dierences in scale, integration,
and spatial asymmetry. Increases in scale and in-
tegration also distinguish early from late Thule
winter houses and suggest the emergence of close-
knit extended families with stable patterns of co-
residence that were unied through the intensi-
cation of kinship ties.
Space syntax approaches have the potential to
shed new light on the relationship between house
form and culture in both the recent and distant
past. This can be accomplished by rst determin-
ing how socio-political behavior is expressed
spatially in the ethnographic and ethnohistoric
record, and then searching for similar patterns in
the archaeological record. Future research will
focus on broadening the scope of this study to
include a wider range of Inuit house forms; in-
vestigating, for example, how seasonal variations
in Inuit social dynamics might have been ex-
pressed spatially among dwellings used at specic
points on the seasonal round. By examining the
architectural record of Inuit cultures of the past
and present, we may be able to discern whether
there are enduring patterns of household and
community behavior that can be identied in
dierent parts of the Canadian Arctic, and whe-
ther changes can be seen in these patterns across
time and space. Almost a century has passed since
Mauss and Beauchat (1979 [1906]) rst suggested
that social processes were reected in traditional
Inuit architecture. While the snow house is the
most archaeologically elusive of Inuit house
forms, space syntax may provide archaeologists
and anthropologists with an opportunity to revisit
some of these intriguing ideas.
Acknowledgments
The author would like to thank Charles
Arnold, Gerald Oetelaar, Peter Schledermann,
A. Kate Peach, and two anonymous reviewers for
their valuable comments, suggestions, and ideas
on earlier versions of this manuscript. The author
assumes all responsibility for any errors in this
paper.
References cited
Balikci, A., 1970. The Netsilik Eskimo. Natural History
Press, New York.
Bandi, H.G., 1969. Eskimo Prehistory. University of
Alaska Press, Anchorage.
Banning, E.B., 1996. Houses, compounds, and mansions
in the Prehistoric Near East. In: Coupland, G.,
Banning, E.B. (Eds.), People Who Lived in Big
Houses: Archaeological Perspectives on Large
Domestic Structures. Prehistory Press, Madison,
pp. 165185.
Boas, F., 1964 [1888]. The Central Eskimo. University of
Nebraska Press, Lincoln/London.
Damas, D., 1965. Iglulingmiut Kinship and Locational
Groupings: A Structural Approach. National Muse-
ums of Canada, Ottawa.
 P.C. Dawson / Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 21 (2002) 464480
Damas, D., 1969. Characteristics of central Eskimo
band structure. In: Damas, D. (Ed.), Contributions
to Anthropology: Band Societies. National Museums
of Canada, Ottawa, pp. 116134.
Damas, D., 1971. The problem of the Eskimo family. In:
Ishwaran, K. (Ed.), The Canadian Family. Holt,
Rinehart & Winston, Toronto.
Damas, D., 1972. The structure of central Eskimo
associations. In: Guemple, L. (Ed.), Alliance in
Eskimo Society: Proceedings of the American Eth-
nological Society (1971). University of Washington
Press, Seattle.
Damas, D., 1975a. Demographic aspects of central
Eskimo marriage practices. American Ethnologist 2,
409418.
Damas, D., 1975b. Three kinship systems from the
central Arctic. Arctic Anthropology 12, 1030.
Dawson, P., 2001. Variability in Thule Inuit architec-
ture: a case study from the Canadian high arctic.
American Antiquity 66, 453471.
Dumond, D., 1977. The Eskimos and Aleuts. Thames
and Hudson, London.
Hall, C.F., 1890. Narrative of the second expedition
made by Charles F. Hall: his voyage to Repulse Bay,
sledge journeys to the strait of Fury and Hecla and
the King Williams Land, and residence among the
Eskimos during the years 186469, edited under the
orders of the hon. secretary of the Navy by J.E.
Nourse, Washington.
Hanson, J., 1994. Deconstructing architects houses.
Environment and Planning B 21, 675705.
Hanson, J., 1998. Decoding Houses and Homes. Cam-
bridge University Press, Cambridge.
Hillier, B., 1996. Space is the Machine: A Congura-
tional Theory of Architecture. Cambridge University
Press, Cambridge.
Hillier, B., Hanson, J., 1984. The Social Logic of Space.
Cambridge University Press, New York.
Jenness, D., 1922. The Life of the Copper Eskimo.
Report of the Canadian Arctic Expedition, 191318.
National Museum of Man, Ottawa.
Johnston, G., 1982. Organizational structure and scalar
stress. In: Renfrew, C., Rowlands, M., Segraves, B.
(Eds.), Theory and Explanation in Archaeology.
Academic Press, New York, pp. 389421.
Kershaw, P., Scott, P., Welch, H.E., 1995. The shelter
characteristics of traditional-styled Inuit snow
houses. Arctic 49, 328338.
Leach, E., 1978. Does space syntax really constitute the
social? In: Green, D., Haselgrove, C., Sprigg, M.
(Eds.), Social Organization and Settlement (Part 2).
BAR International Series, Oxford, 47 (ii), pp. 343385.
Lyon, G.F., 1824. The Journal of Captain G.F Lyon.
John Murray, London.
Mathiassen, T., 1928. Material Culture of the Iglulik
Eskimos. Glydensdalske Boghandel.
Mauss, M., Beauchat, H., 1979 [1906]. Seasonal Varia-
tions of the Eskimo. Routledge and Kegan Paul,
London.
479
Maxwell, M., 1985. Prehistory of the Eastern Arctic.
Academic Press, London.
McClintock, L., 1868. The voyage of the Fox in the
Arctic seas. Ticknor and Fields, Boston.
McCullough, K., 1989. The Ruin Islanders: Early Thule
Pioneers in the Eastern High Arctic. Canadian
Museum of Civilization, Ottawa.
McGhee, R., 1983. Eastern Arctic prehistory: the reality
of a myth? Muskox 33, 2125.
McGhee, R., 1984. The Thule village at Brooman Point,
High Arctic Canada. National Museum of Man,
Ottawa.
Morrison, D., 1983. Thule culture in the Western
Coronation Gulf, N.W.T. National Museum of
Man, Ottawa.
Orhun, D., Hillier, B., Hanson, J., 1995. Spatial types in
traditional Turkish houses. Environment and Plan-
ning B: Planning and Design 22, 475498.
Park, R.W., 1988. Winter houses and Qarmat in
Thule and historic Inuit settlement patterns: some
implications for Thule studies. Canadian Journal of
Archaeology 12, 163175.
Park, R.W., 1993. The Dorset-Thule succession in Arctic
North America: assessing claims for culture contact.
American Antiquity 58, 203242.
Parker-Pearson, M., Richards, C., 1994. Ordering the
world: perceptions of architecture, space and time.
In: Parker-Pearson, M., Richards, C. (Eds.), Archi-
tecture and Order: Approaches to Social Space.
Routledge, London, pp. 137.
Penn, A., Hillier, B., Banister, D., Xu, J., 1998.
Congurational modeling of urban movement
networks. Environment and Planning B 25 (1), 59
84.
Peponis, J., Ross, C., Rashid, M., 1997. The structure of
urban space, movement and co-presence: the case for
Atlanta. Geoforum 28 (34), 341358.
Petersen, R., 1974. Some considerations concerning the
Greenland longhouse. Folk 16/17, 171188.
Plimpton, C.L., Hassan, F.A., 1987. Social space: a
determinant of house architecture. Planning and
Environment B 7, 439449.
Plumet, P. (Ed.), 1979. Thuleens et Dorsetiens dans
LUngava (Nouveau-Quebec). National Museum of
Man, Ottawa.
Rasmussen, K., 1933. Across Arctic America: Narrative
of the fth Thule Expedition. Greenwood Press, New
York.
Richling, B., 1993. Labradors communal house phase
reconsidered. Arctic Anthropology 30, 6778.
Ross, J., 1835. Narrative of a second voyage in search of
a northwest passage. A.W. Webster, London.
Savelle, J.M., 1987. Collectors and foragers: Subsis-
tence-settlement system change in the central Cana-
dian Arctic, A.D., 1000 to 1960, Oxford.
Savelle, J.M., McCartney, A.P., 1991. Thule Eskimo
subsistence and Bowhead whale procurement. In:
Boulder, M. (Ed.), Human Predators and Prey
Mortality. Westview Press, Boulder, CO.
480 P.C. Dawson / Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 21 (2002) 464480

Schledermann, P., 1975. Thule Eskimo Prehistory of
Cumberland Sound, Ban Island, Canada. National
Museum of Man, Ottawa.
Schledermann, P., 1976. The eect of climate/ecolog-
ical changes on the style of Thule culture winter
dwellings. Arctic and Alpine Research 8, 37
47.
Sperry, J., 1952. Eskimo Kinship. Unpublished Mas-
ters Thesis, Columbia University.
Stevenson, M., 1997. Inuit Whalers and Cultural
Persistence: Structure in Cumberland Sound and
Central Inuit Social Organization. Oxford University
Press, Toronto, New York.
Thalbitzer, W., 1941. The Ammassalik Eskimo: Contri-
butions to the Ethnology of East Greenland Natives.
Meddelelser om Grnland 39, 40, 43, Copenhagen.
Turner, A., 2001. Depthmap: a program to perform
visibility graph analysis. In: Proceedings 3rd Inter-
national Symposium on Space Syntax, May 2001.
Georgia Institute of Technology, GA.
Van Dyke, R., 1999. Space syntax analysis at the Chacoan
outlier site of Guadelupe. American Antiquity 64,
461473.
Wenzel, G., 1981. Clyde Inuit Adaptation and Ecology:
The Organization of Subsistence. Canadian Ethno-
logical Service.