North America - NW Coast/Alaska (Geographic Keyword)
126-150 (301 Records)
Righting the balance between Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations is the defining challenge of 21st century nationhood in Canada. Archaeology, as a discipline and an industry, has specific responsibilities and opportunities in this reconciliation. Despite recent attention brought to the social injustices of colonization, reconciliation is still scantily considered and spottily applied by heritage practitioners, governments and businesses. I discuss how we can and must enact reconciliation...
How Were Pacific Cod at Tse-whit-zen Affected by Climate Change? (2017)
In 2011, U.S. federal agencies listed Pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus) in the Salish Sea as a species of concern. Fishery managers typically use historical data from the past ~ 50 years to create baselines to manage reduced fisheries, which does not take into account long term environmental change or how human populations have affected the ecosystem in the past. Archaeological data extends these baselines much further back in time. The Tse-whit-zen faunal project provides a ~ 2200 yr history...
Human and Environmental Histories of the Rat Islands, Western Aleutians, Alaska: The 2014-2015 Research Season (2015)
Our multidisciplinary research team is beginning to model the role of humans in shaping the characteristics of existing southern Bering Sea and North Pacific terrestrial and marine ecologies in the Western Aleutians. During this past research season, we defined new cultural loci, acquired on and off-site pollen/tephra cores, and surveyed the coastal zone on areas of Kiska, Segula, and Little Sitkin Islands. The cultural occupations span Aleut prehistory and the World War II Japanese occupation....
A Hunter-Gatherer-Fisher Urban Landscape in Prince Harbor, British, Columbia? (2016)
Urbanism is almost exclusively associated with agriculture, although hunter-gatherers sometimes have seasonal aggregations numbering in the thousands. This paper considers the evidence for an urban-like settlement on the northern Northwest Coast. By AD 1787, the villages of nine tribes of the Northern Tsimshian were concentrated a small area in Prince Rupert Harbour (PRH), British Columbia and had been so for centuries. Prior to ca. 1500 cal BP the Northern Tsimshian lived in villages of varying...
Implementing Indigenous Frameworks towards the Archaeological Record: Issues, Instances, and Directions (2017)
While archaeology concerns a Western-derived discipline, the scope of its perspective is broadening. Here, we highlight Indigenous frameworks for the analysis and interpretation of archaeological data wherever there is direct historical and cultural continuity of people and place. To this end, we attempt to map out the contours for analyses using models and theory derived from oral traditions, language, and other schema from indigenous sources to explain patterning of artifacts and features of...
In Twos and Threes: Dating Multiple Samples and Materials to Address the Marine Reservoir Effect (2015)
Shell and other marine-derived materials are common in Northwest Coast archaeological sites, particularly shell middens. Yet, uncertainties in the marine reservoir offset have produced a hesitation among some researchers to generate or utilize chronological information derived from marine samples. Clearly. marine-derived dates introduce significant complexities into chronology building that need to be addressed. Here, we present radiocarbon results generated through dating two or three samples...
An Inadvertent Endowment: Giddings’ contribution to resource preservation in northwest Alaska (2016)
James Louis Giddings was not only a pioneer in Arctic archaeology but he also contributed significantly to the protection of areas of archaeological importance, enabling the continued research of subsequent generations. I explore his direct and indirect roles in establishing federal protection for Alaskan archaeological sites and related lands during and after his life. His research and writings contributed to the establishment of four National Historic Landmarks (NHL), one National Monument,...
The Institution of Archaeology (2015)
Archaeology is perhaps now, more than ever before, a viable career choice for university students. Although academic positions seem to be dwindling, opportunities in contract, commercial, or compliance archaeology are skyrocketing as the development ethic of North American capitalism continues to expand. Armed with a field school and a handful of undergraduate courses, these new graduates represent the dominant practice of archaeology today. The question is, what are they practising? Who has...
The Intensification of Indigenous Sealing in Southeast Alaska: A 19th Century Camp Complex at Yakutat Bay (2015)
Late 19th century harbor seal hunting among the glacial ice floes at the head of Yakutat Bay attracted hundreds of Tlingit, Eyak, and Tsimshian participants who harvested thousands of seals, an annual congregation of indigenous peoples that exceeded any other in southeast Alaska. The extraordinary scale of this communal, clan-mediated enterprise by the 1870s derived in part from the abundance of seals at Yakutat and subsistence demand (especially for seal oil) but appears to have been increased...
The Intersection of Identity, Labor, and Racism in Washington State Company Towns (2015)
This paper will propose research to address the intersection of identity, racism/racialization, and labor as manifested in the material and documentary remains of workers and administrators in Washington State company towns. From the mid-1800s to the Great Depression, logging and mining towns formed a critical part of state and regional economies. The archaeology of labor-related sites in this state and period has been historically under-researched, and the relationship between labor, racism,...
Introduction to the Tse-whit-zen Site: Landform Evolution and Chronological Structure (2017)
Tse-whit-zen, a large ancestral village of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, located on the southern shore of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Port Angeles, WA, was excavated in 2004 as part of a transportation project. Its location on a protected bay adjacent to open marine habitats, and inland highlands gave site occupants advantages in acquiring terrestrial and marine resources. The site is situated on a series of beaches representing relict shorelines, which generally prograde seaward over time....
Invasive or endemic? Management implications of archaeological data in the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge (2015)
The Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge maintains more than 2000 islands, where invasive species management and eradication are the focus of conservation and landscape reconstruction efforts. While written records from the Russian and American eras document the introduction of many species, including red fox (Vulpes vulpes), arctic fox (Alopex lagopus), and cattle (Bos taurus), little is known about the introduction and dispersal of the arctic ground squirrel (Spermophilus paryii) in this...
Investigating a Late Holocene Subsistence Transition North of the Alaska Range: Compelling Results from Two Archaeological Sites (2017)
Geospatial analyses on dated sites across central Alaska suggest important subsistence changes occurred in the region between 4000-2000 years ago. A significant shift from a general foraging strategy to a targeted collecting strategy appears to have occurred during this time, and recent investigations at two archaeological sites dating to this period have begun to shed light on the timing and extent of this subsistence shift in a specific region of central Alaska.
Investigations of late glacial occupations at the McDonald Creek site, central Alaska (2017)
In 2013 our team began testing the recently-discovered McDonald Creek archaeological site, located in the Tanana Flats, Central Alaska. To date we have excavated a total of 15 m2. The site contains evidence of a set of living floors dating to the Middle Holocene, Younger Dryas, and early Allerød. Our tests have revealed thousands of archaeological materials, including lithics and faunal and floral remains, associated with domestic features such as hearths and possible dwellings. We are analyzing...
ITRAX XRF analysis of shell midden sediments from sites on the central coast of British Columbia (2017)
We present the results of using an ITRAX XRF core scanner on fine-fraction shell midden sediments. High-resolution multi-element analyses of central coast sites confirm patterned intra- and inter-site variability in the relative abundance of phosphorus and calcium determined on the basis of earlier low-resolution studies. Analysis of Namu site deposits dating from 11,000-2000 cal BP show the relative absence of residual calcium in early shell-free deposits (ca. 11,000-7000 cal BP) but overall...
Jade polishing techniques in NW Alaska, from the end of the 1st millennium AD to the 18th century. (2015)
The study applies a qualitative and quantitative characterization of polished jade tools from Cape Espenberg in Northwestern Alaska, dated from the Thule period. An experimental study of polishing techniques on jade was carried out in order to reproduce diagnostic use-wear traces associated with different polishing techniques, processing, and craft activities. The study was carried out at the Laboratory of Tribology and Systems Dynamics - Ecole Centrale Lyon 2 and was based on different scales...
The Jim Rock Historic Can Collection Online Database at Southern Oregon University, Ashland (2015)
Jim Rock was an historical archaeologist known for his passion for the humble ‘Tin Can.’ Prior to his death in 2010, Rock spend much of his lengthy career with the Forest Service focusing on education and outreach. Rock amassed a large comparative collection of bottles and cans, which he housed in suitcases and carted around teaching both the public and the professional archaeological community about the importance of often overlooked and undervalued artifacts, particularly cans. Rock’s 1987...
Kilgii Gwaay: an Early Holocene Archaeological Wet Site in the Modern Intertidal Zone of Haida Gwaii, British Columbia (2017)
The Kilgii Gwaay site in southernmost Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, is an early maritime-focused archaeological site dating to a brief interval about 10,700 cal. B.P. The site was occupied at a time when relative sea levels were a few meters below modern and rising rapidly, ultimately drowning the site by up to 18 m of ocean waters for almost ten millennia. Tectonic uplift over the past 5000 years has gradually raised the site, which is now exposed in the intertidal zone. The overall assemblage...
Kilkich Youth Corp: Tribal Youth Taking an Active Role in Historic Preservation (2016)
Tribal Historic Preservation Officers are responsible for the preservation and management of their Tribe’s cultural resources. For the Coquille Indian Tribe, that means engaging the community in the protection, preservation, and maintenance of these traditional resources. The Coquille Tribal Historic Preservation Office connects with the community in a number of ways, the most important of which is through its Kilkich Youth Corp. The Kilkich Youth Corp is a tribal employment and enrichment...
The Kleanza Approach: The challenges of working in Tsimshian territory from a Cultural Resource Management (CRM) perspective. (2017)
Working in Tsimshian territory as consulting archaeologists can be challenging at best particularly in recent years as a growing number of proposed development projects has put the Northwest Coast in the Provincial and Federal spotlight. As a company we strive to ensure our research objectives are guided by community heritage policies however given the nature of the business we are influenced by our client’s requests, confidentiality, binding contracts, budgets, and provincial guidelines....
A Large Shell Midden Complex on the Outer Central Coast of British Columbia (2017)
Site EjTa-4 located on Calvert Island is a large midden complex capped with dozens of culturally modified cedar trees, and it has revealed older cultural material in the intertidal zones. Over the last five years the Hakai Institute has supported excavations of the large, undisturbed shell midden through the University of Northern British Columbia’s archaeology field school. The midden rises to 10 meters above the shoreline and radiocarbon dates indicate relatively continuous use of the site for...
Late Glacial Hunter-Gatherers in the Central Alaska Range (2016)
The earliest evidence for human occupation of eastern Beringia comes from the Tanana and Nenana river basin lowlands 14,000-13,000 calendar years ago, linked to the spread of shrub-tundra vegetation and associated resources as climate ameliorated during the Bølling-Allerød Interstadial. The earliest evidence for human activity in the adjacent uplands of the central Alaska Range is during the Younger Dryas interval, more than a thousand years after the initial colonization of the region....
The late Pleistocene transmission of fluted-point technology across a continent: A morphological investigation. (2015)
The Northern Fluted-Point Complex represents a paleoindian occupation in northern Alaska and the Canadian Yukon and appears to form part of an adaptive strategy similar to that of late paleoindians in the North American plains. This paper presents the results of a shape analysis that uses geometric morphometrics as a tool to identify major factors of variability in fluted projectile-point morphology across a continent by comparing artifacts from Alaska and more temperate regions in North...
Late Pleistocene-Holocene (LPH) Paleogeography of the Bear Creek Site (45KI832), Puget Lowland, Western Washington (2017)
Stratigraphic and soil horizon sequences within the boundaries of archaeological sites are remnants of formerly more extensive paleolandscapes. Since these fragments have both spatial and temporal boundaries extending beyond the site boundaries, the sedimentary and soil bodies defined within an archaeological site represent segments of past landscapes and reflect, sometimes indirectly, relationships with the broader surrounding paleoecosystem. In order to further our understanding of LPH...
Late Quaternary Landscape Change and Large Mammal Habitat Fragmentation in Interior Alaska (2016)
It has been known for sometime that interior Alaskan terrestrial mammalian species diversity and biogeography changed during the Late Glacial and Holocene (16,000 years ago to present). Here we present a synthetic view of how these changes may have been manifested. Herbivores such as bison, camel, caribou, elk, mammoth, moose, horse, and saiga antelope once had widespread biogeographic distribution across Alaska. Several interrelated drivers behind the widespread mammalian shifts in diversity...