The Hess Creek Site and Implications for Livengood and Yukon River Archaeology

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Archaeology of Alaska, the Gateway to the Americas" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Hess Creek Site (LIV-00001) is a multicomponent site 36 km southeast of the Yukon River within the Yukon-Tanana uplands. It was initially located in 1969, tested and partially excavated in 1970, and revisited in 1975, 2016, 2020, and 2021. Extensive excavation in 2021 shows a potential separation between two cultural zones, Cultural Zone 1 (CZ1) and Cultural Zone 2 (CZ2). CZ1 exhibits faunal processing, organic-composite tool production, informal tool utilization, and formal tool maintenance. Lithic provenance analysis from all components suggests that most material was obtained from Hess Creek, 200 m east, demonstrating that use of secondary geological sources is a long-standing feature of procurement in the region. Radiocarbon samples date CZ1 to the Late to Middle Holocene. CZ2 contains evidence of limited early stage lithic reduction and a diagnostic Chindadn type II projectile point dating CZ2 to the Late Pleistocene. Stratigraphic data from LIV-00001 indicates disturbance from cryoturbation and solifluction; however, in less altered locations, paleoenvironmental proxy data suggests potential dramatic environmental changes during the Terminal Pleistocene to Early Holocene transition, with more subtle changes occurring subsequently. LIV-00001 currently represents the northernmost example of Chindadn-Nenana Complex technology and is one of two identified Chindadn-Nenana Complex Yukon River sites.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Archaeology of Alaska, the Gateway to the Americas   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37056.0