Terminal Pleistocene Human Occupations in the North Pacific Basin of Alaska: Results and Implications of Test Excavation at Nataeł Na’

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.

Nataeł Na’ is an ancient buried multicomponent site located in the northern Copper River Basin. During the 2017–2018 field seasons NPS Archaeologist Lee Reininghaus led test excavations at Nataeł Na’ revealing a combustion feature dating to ~12,200–11,400 cal BP. In 2019 a team from the Center for the Study of the First Americans at Texas A&M University conducted expanded test excavations to gain a better understanding of the site. We excavated 4.75 m2, stratigraphically identifying multiple cultural components. Here we present the results of our analyses, reporting additional radiocarbon ages, details on site-formation processes, and lithic-technological activities carried out during the ~12,000 cal BP occupation. Moreover, we present an earlier, though presently ephemeral, cultural component dating to the Allerød interstadial, the earliest evidence of humans south of the Alaska Range in the Pacific basin. This site is located in close proximity to the reconstructed shores of Glacial Lake Ahtna. Data from this site may elucidate the strategies and settlement patterns employed by ancient human populations during the initial peopling of Alaska, and more broadly of the Americas. We present these results hoping to contribute to the ongoing debate seeking to expand our understanding the earliest inhabitants of the Americas.

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): 36717.0