The Archaeology of Shuká Káa Cave: Final Report

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Shuká Káa Cave, is located on an island in the homeland of the Tlingit and Haida people of Southeast Alaska, and records seven episodes of human activity dating between 12,170 and 1200 cal BP. Three periods of occupation (10,600–10,150, 9930–9450, and 8360–7929 cal BP) contain microblades, bifaces, and expedient tools. The discovery of 10,500 cal BP human remains led to an early application of NAGPRA to very old human remains in the United States. The Tribal, USFS, and research partnerships that developed were nationally recognized as a model for collaborative research in the early twenty-first-century. Shuká Káa (“Man Ahead of Us”) was named by a Council of Elders prior to his reburial in 2008. DNA analyses confirmed that he belonged to an ancestorial group (D4h3a) of Native Americans and related (A2) to people living along the Northwest Coast today. Isotopic analyses demonstrate his diet was based primary on sea foods, and obsidian at the site is from Mt. Edziza, BC, and Suemez Island. These data indicate lithic transport by watercraft, established trade networks, coastal navigation, and a mixed maritime/forest economy. A monograph describing this research is currently under peer review and publication is anticipated in 2022 or 2023.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37209.0