The Formation and Distribution of a Chindadn Component Tool Assemblage: Insights from Microwear Analysis

Summary

This is an abstract from the "The Archaeology of the Southern Yukon-Alaska Borderlands" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This paper presents the results of an extensive use-wear analysis of the lithic assemblage recovered from the Chindadn component at the Little John site (KdVo-6). Within the context of Little John, this component dates from the Late Bølling Allerød Interstadial to the Younger Dryas (14,300-11,900 RCYBP). The study population included 219 specimens from five tool classes assigned via traditional macroscopic attributes, including 1) bifacial tools; 2) cores; 3) flakes; 4) flake tools, and; 5) modified pebbles and cobbles. Results of this analysis identified a subassemblage of 60 used tools via microscopic use wear. Spatial distribution of this sub-assemblage was subsequently mapped revealing further insights into assemblage formation and intrasite distribution of Chindadn lithic technology. Regional archaeologists have been promoting detailed analyses of lithic assemblages dating to the earliest cultural occupations of Eastern Beringia, which remain elusively defined and an area of debate. The results of this study indicate that use wear analysis has potential to advance understandings of the technological organization of these early occupations.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)   •
• The Archaeology of the Southern Yukon-Alaska Borderlands

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38700.0