Diachronic Patterns in Subsistence at Swan Point, Tanana Valley, Alaska

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Approximately 1000 years ago, the archaeological record of Southcentral and interior Alaska shows a shift toward the increased use of fish caches, semi-subterranean houses, permanent year-round villages, and the appearance of ranked societies. Ultimately, the highly mobile big game hunter-gatherer way of life was supplanted by more intensive resource procurement such as salmon processing. These innovations have caused many researchers to hypothesize a migration of Athabascan-speakers into Alaska, in part because this is when modern Athabascan cultures become archaeologically visible. Since traditional foodways tend to be conservative in cultures, material remains of past meals offer culturally specific information for identifying cultural identities in the archaeological record. A zooarchaeological analysis focused on reconstructing subsistence patterns was undertaken at the Swan Point site in the Shaw Creek Flats, Tanana Valley, to assess whether there were corresponding changes in food preparation which can be used to test whether cultural continuity is reflected in food preparation compared to a migration of new people to interior Alaska.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25923