This thesis is dedicated to an archaeogenetic study of five prehistoric individuals. The sample material comes from central Yakutia, also called Sakha Republic, in the north-eastern part of Russia. The main focus of this study has been the analysis of five mitochondrial genomes, retrieved from osteological material (human bones and teeth), having an estimated age of 6845 BP to 2490 BP. The dates fall within Neolithic, Bronze Age and Early Iron Age. A brief presentation for each individual’s archaeological profile and interpretation of the burial will be provided. While a series of interpretive tests with the mitochondrial DNA material were performed and the results are presented. The neolitization of the north-eastern Eurasia will also be discussed. The correlation between the Neolithic Age, Bronze Age and Early Iron Age populations will be proposed, as well as their connections to modern populations.

Destination image is of great importance in the decision-making process when selecting a tourist destination. This thesis analyzes the approaches to the image, the possibilities of evaluation and measurement of destination image. The aim of this thesis is to measure image of selected tourist destination Republic of Sakha Yakutia based on existing knowledge and measurement models.

Depuis des décennies, l’origine du peuple Sakha interroge les chercheurs en raison de ses particularités économiques et linguistiques. L'histoire de la Iakoutie est abordée via les données historiques et les études menées par diverses écoles scientifiques. On assiste, dès la colonisation de la Iakoutie au XVIIème siècle, à une évolution culturelle, notamment sous l'influence de la culture russe et de l’orthodoxie. L'étude historique de la société iakoute au sein de l'État russe, via les données en partie inédites, nous permet d’envisager les facteurs de son évolution au cours des siècles et ses mutations sociétales. Notre étude s'appuie aussi sur les données ethnoarchéologiques qui sont issues des travaux de la mission archéologique française en Sibérie Orientale et en Mongolie.À travers l’ethnoarchéologie, j’étudie le peuplement et l’histoire de cette population. La conservation exceptionnelle de tombes fouillées, liée à la présence du pergélisol, nous permet de mener des études approfondies sur les pratiques funéraires et culturelles à travers le riche mobilier associé à ces tombes. Cette approche transversale de la culture Sakha est utilisée dans notre recherche afin de mieux cerner son évolution, ses ruptures et ses transformations ethniques et culturelles. La visée principale de cette recherche est de montrer la transformation culturelle de la société Sakha entre le XVIIème et le début de XXème siècle avec un regard posé sur les siècles précédents. / For many decades researchers have been interested in the origins of the Sakha culture because of its economic and linguistic distinctive features. The Yakutia history has been examined through historical data and studies conducted by various scientific schools. With the colonization of Yakutia in the 17th century, comes a cultural evolution due in particular to the rise of the influence of Russian culture and Orthodoxy. The historical study of the colonized Yakute society within the Russian State, via the data unedited, enables us to understand the factors of its evolution over the centuries along with its societal mutations. Our study is also based on ethnoarcheological data resulting from the work the French archeological mission in Eastern Siberia and Mongolia. Through ethnoarcheology, I study the population and the history of these people. Thanks to permafrost, the excavated graves are exceptionally well preserved, which gives us the opportunity to conduct in-depth studies on funerary and cultural practices through the rich movable property found with these graves. In our research, we use this transversal approach of the Sakha culture in order to better understand its evolution, discontinuities as well as its ethnic and cultural transformations. The main objective of this research is to highlight the cultural transformation of the Sakha society from the 17th century to the 20th century while observing the previous centuries.

Thermokarst is a typical process that indicates widespread permafrost degradation in yedoma landscapes. The Lena-Aldan interfluvial area in Central Yakutia in eastern Siberia is now facing extensive landscape changes with surface subsidence due to thermokarst development during the past few decades. To clarify the spatial extent and rate of subsidence, multiple spatial datasets, including GIS and remote sensing observations, were used to analyze the Churapcha rural locality, which has a typical yedoma landscape in Central Yakutia. Land cover classification maps for 1945 and 2009 provide basic information on anthropogenic disturbance to the natural landscape of boreal forest and dry grassland. Interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) with ALOS-2/PALSAR-2 data revealed activated surface subsidence of 2 cm/yr in the disturbed area, comprising mainly abandoned agricultural fields. Remote sensing with an unmanned aerial system also provided high-resolution information on polygonal relief formed by thermokarst development at a disused airfield where InSAR analysis exhibited extensive subsidence. It is worth noting that some historically deforested areas have likely recovered to the original landscape without further thermokarst development. Spatial information on historical land-use change is helpful because most areas with thermokarst development correspond to locations where land was used by humans in the past. Going forward, the integrated analysis of geospatial information will be essential for assessing permafrost degradation.