Claire HOUMARD

Claire HOUMARD is a Professor at the Université de Bourgogne Franche-Comté, affiliated with the Chrono-environnement research unit (UMR 6249 CNRS). Her work focuses on Arctic prehistory, particularly the settlement dynamics of pre-Inuit cultures (Pre-Dorset, Dorset, Thule) and Yup’ik communities. She leads the YUP’IK archaeological mission (2022–2025), funded by the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, and co-directs a PCR project exploring the Upper Doubs Valley’s prehistoric occupations.

Her research emphasizes animal bone technology as a lens to study mobility, environmental adaptation, and symbolic representations. Notable projects include analyses of whale bone tools in the Bay of Biscay and caribou wood exploitation among precontact Yup’ik societies. Recent publications span 20+ years, addressing technological continuity in Arctic cultures, subsistence strategies during climatic shifts (e.g., Little Ice Age), and bone material use across millennia.

She has supervised at least one advisee, Quentin Verriez, and contributed to multidisciplinary studies combining analytical methods with ecological and historical frameworks. Her work bridges archaeology with climate science, offering insights into long-term human-environment interactions in polar regions.