Abstract
During the past two decades, there has been a substantial evolution in thinking about the earliest human populations in Alaska. The advent of accelerator mass spectrometry CAMS) dating, enabling the dating of small amounts of remnant collagen in ancient bones, allowed the redating of the most diagnostic human implement from the Old Crow basin in the northern Yukon Territory—the famous caribou tibia flesher—from circa 28,000 bp to circa 1,800 bp. Coupled with demonstrations that other taphonomic agents—ranging from carnivores to ice push—could have been responsible for spiral fractures and polish found on the redeposited bones of the Old Crow River gravels, this redating took away the confidence of most Arctic archaeologists that such “preprojectile point” sites did in fact represent an earlier stage in the peopling of northern North America. Thus, Old Crow joined earlier constructions such as Sedna Creek, Engigstciak, and the British Mountain Complex of the North Slope of Alaska and the adjacent Mackenzie River drainage as representative elements of a hypothetical but unproven stage of occupation of northwest North America predating circa 13,000 bp.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ager, T., 1982, Vegetational History of Western Alaska during the Wisconsin Glacial Interval and the Holocene, in: Paleoecology of Beringia (D. M. Hopkins et al., eds.), Academic Press, New York, pp. 75-93
Ager, T., 1983, Holocene Vegetational History of Alaska, in: Late Quaternary Environments of the United States, Vol. 2: The Holocene (H. E. Wright, Jr., ed.), University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, pp. 128-141
Ager, T., and Brubaker, L., 1985, Quaternary Palynology and Vegetational History of Alaska, in: Pollen Records of Late Quaternary North American Sediments (VM. Bryant, Jr. and R. G. Holloway, eds.), American Association of Stratigraphic Palynologists Foundation, Dallas, pp. 353-384
Alexander, H. L., 1987, Putu: A Fluted Point Sitein Alaska, Department of Archaeology Publication 17, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby
Anderson, D. D., 1970, Akmak: An Early Archaeology Assemblage from Onion Portage, Northwest Alaska, Arcta Arctica 16
Anderson, D. D., 1984, Prehistory of north Alaska, in: Handbook of North American Indians, vol. 5: Arctic (W L. Sturdevant and D. Dumas, eds.), Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC, pp. 80-93
Anderson, D. D., 1988, Onion Portage: The Archaeology of a Stratified Site from the Kobuk River, Northwest Alaska, Anthropological Papers of the University of Alaska 22(112)
Barnosky, C. W, Anderson, P M., and Bartlein, P J., 1987, The Northwestern US during Deglaciation: Vegetational History and Paleoclimatic Implications, in: North America and Adjacent Oceans during Deglaciation (W F Ruddiman and H. E. Wright, Jr.), Geological Society of America, Boulder, pp. 289-321
Bigelow, N. H., Beget, J. E., and Powers, W R., 1990a, Latest Pleistocene Increase in Wind Intensity Recorded in Aeolian Sediments from Central Alaska, Quaternary Research 34:160-168
Bigelow, N. H., Powers, W. R., and Beget, J. E., 1990b, Increased Sediment Size in the Nenana Valley: A Proxy Record of the Younger Dryas Cold Event? Paper presented to the 17th Annual Meeting of the Alaska Anthropological Association, Fairbanks
Bigelow, N H., Powers, W. R., and Beget, J. E., 1990c, Holocene Climates in the Nenana and Teklanika Valleys, Central Alaska, Paper presented to the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Canadian Archaeological Association, Whitehorse
Binford, L W, 1978a, Nunamiut Ethnoarchaeology, Academic Press, New York
Binford, L R., 1987b, Dimensional Analysis of Behavior and Site Structure: Learning from an Eskimo Hunting Stand, American Antiquity 43(3):330-361
Cinq-Mars, J., 1979, Bluefish Cave I: A Late Pleistocene Eastern Beringian Cave Deposit in’ the Northern Yukon, Canadian Journal of Archaeology 3:1-32
Clark, D. W, 1992, The Northern (Alaska-Yukon) Fluted Points, in: Clovis: Origins and Adaptations (R. Bonnichsen and K. L Turnmire, eds.), Center for the Study of the First Americans, Oregon State University, Corvallis, pp. 35-48
Colinvaux, P, and West, F. H., 1984, The Beringian Ecosystem, Quarterly Review of Archaeology 5:10-16
Cook, J. P, 1969, The Early Prehistory of Healy Lake, Alaska, University Microfilms, Ann Arbor
Cook, J. R., 1975, Archaeology of Interior Alaska, Western Canadian Journal of Anthropology 5:125-133
Crossen, K. J., Yesner, D. R., and Holmes, C. E., 1991, Stratigraphy and Fossil Assemblages from Broken Mammoth, an 11,500-yr BP Archaeological Site in Interior Alaska, Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 23(5):A235
Crossen, K. J., Dilley, T. R., Yesner, D. R., and Holmes, C. E., 1992, Late Quaternary Environmental Change and Human Occupation of the Broken Mammoth Site, Delta Junction, East-Central Alaska, American Quaternary Association Program and Abstracts 12:37
Cwynar, LC., and Ritchie, J. C., 1980, Arctic Steppe-Tundra: A Yukon Perspective, Science 208:1375-1377
Dixon, E. J., Jr., 1993, Quest for the Origins of the First Americans, University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque
Elias, S. A., Short, S. K., and Phillips, R, L, 1992, Paleoecology of Late-Glacial Peats from the Bering Land Bridge, Chuckchi Sea Shelf Region, Northwestern Alaska, Quaternary Research 38:371-378
Frison, G. C., 1982, Paleoindian Winter Subsistence Strategies on the High Plains, in: Plains Indian Studies (D. H. Ubelaker and H. J. Viola, eds.), Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology, No. 30, Washington, DC, pp. 193-201
Frison, G. C., 1987, Prehistoric, Plains-Mountain, Large-Mammal, Communal Hunting Strategies, in: The Evolution of Human Hunting (M. H. Nitecki and D. V. Nitecki, eds.), Plenum Press, New York, pp. 177-223
Frison, G. C., 1991, Hunting strategies, Prey Behavior, and Mortality Data, in: Human Predators and Prey Mortality (M. C. Stiner, ed.), West view Press, Boulder, pp. 15-30
Frison, G. C., 1992, The Goshen Paleoindian Complex: New Data for Paleoindian Research, in: Clovis: Origins and Adaptations (R. Bonnichsen and K. L. Turnmire, eds.), Center for the Study of the First Americans, Oregon State University, Corvallis, pp. 133-151
Frison, G. C., 1993, The North American Paleoindian: A Wealth of New Data but Still So Much to Learn, Plains Anthropologist 38:5-16
Goebel, F. E., Powers, W R., and Bigelow, N. H., 1991, The Nenana Complex of Alaska and Clovis Origins, in: Clovis: Origins and Adaptations (R. Bonnichsen and K. L. Turnmire, eds.), Center for the Study of the First Americans, Oregon State University, Corvallis, pp. 49-79
Guthrie, R. D., 1966, The Extinct Wapiti of Alaska and the Yukon Territory, Canadian Journal of Zoology 44:45-57
Guthrie, R. D., 1968, Paleoecology of the Large Mammal Community in Interior Alaska during the Late Pleistocene, American Midland Naturalist 79:346-363
Guthrie, R. D., 1970, Bison Evolution and Zoogeography in North America during the Pleistocene, Quarterly Review of Biology 45:1-15
Guthrie, R. D., 1980, Bison and Man in North America, Canadian Journal of Anthropology 1:55-73
Guthrie, R. D., 1982, Mammals of the Mammoth Steppe as Paleoenvironmental Indicators, in: Palaeoecology of Beringia (D. M. Hopkins, J. V Matthews, Jr., C. E. Schweger, and S. B. Young, eds.), Academic Press, New York, pp. 307-326
Guthrie, R. D., 1983, Paleoecology of the Site and Its Implications for Early Hunters, in: Dry Creek (W. R. Powers, R. D. Guthrie, and J. F Hoffecker, eds.), National Park Service, Washington, DC, pp. 209-287
Guthrie, R. D., 1985, Woolly Arguments against the Mammoth Steppe: A New Look at the Palynological Data, Quarterly Review of Archaeology 6:9-16
Guthrie, R. D., 1990, Frozen Fauna of the Mammoth Steppe, Columbia University Press, New York
Guthrie, R. D., and Guthrie, M. L., 1990, On the Mammoth Dusty Trail, Natural History 90(7):34-41
Hamilton, T. D., 1970, Geologic Relations of the Akmak Assemblage, Onion Portage Area, ActaArctica 16:71-80
Hamilton, T. D., 1996, Late Pleistocene Peopling of Alaska, in: Peopling of the Americas (R. Bonnichsen, ed.), Center for the Study of the First Americans, Oregon State University, Corvallis
Harington, C. R., 1978, Quaternary Vertebrate Faunas of Canada and Alaska and Their Suggested Chronological Sequence, Syllogeus No. 15, Canadian National Museum of Natural Sciences, Ottawa
Harington, C. R., 1980, Pleistocene Mammals from Lost Chicken Creek, Alaska, Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 17:168-198
Haynes, C. V, 1990, Contributions of Radiocarbon Dating to the Geochronology of the Peopling of the New World, in: Radiocarbon Dating After Four Decades (R. E. Taylor et al., eds.), Springer, New York pp. 355-374
Hoffecker, J. F, 1985, The Moose Creek Site, National Geographic Society Research Reports 19:33-48
Hoffecker, J. F, 1988, Applied Geomorphology and Archaeological Survey for Sites of Pleistocene Age: An Example from Central Alaska, Journal of Archaeological Science 15:683-713
Hoffecker, J. F, Powers, W. R., and Goebel, F. E., 1993, The Colonization of Beringia and the Peopling of the New World, Science 259:46-53
Holmes, C. E., 1974, New Evidence for a Late Pleistocene Culture in Central Alaska: Preliminary Investigations at Dry Creek, Paper presented to the 7th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Archaeological Association, Whitehorse
Holmes, C. E., 1991, The Broken Mammoth Archaeological Project, Heritage, No. 48, Anchorage: Alaska Office of History and Archaeology
Holmes, C. E., and Yesner, D. R., 1992, Investigating the Earliest Alaskans: The Broken Mammoth Archaeological Project, Arctic Research of the United States 6:6-9
Hopkins, D. M., Matthews, J. V, Jr., Schweger, C. E., and Young, S. B., 1982, Palaeocoelogy of Beringia-A Synthesis, in: Palaeoecology of Beringia (D. M. Hopkins, J. V, Matthews, Jr., C. E. Schweger, and S. B. Young), Academic Press, New York, pp. 425-444
Jodry, M. A., and Stanford, D. J.,1992, Stewart’s Cattle Guard Site: An Analysis of Bison Remains in a Folsom Kill Butchery Campsite, in: Ice Age Hunters of the Rockies (D. J. Stanford and J. S. Day, eds.), University of Colorado Press and Denver Museum of Natural History, Niwot, pp. 101-168
Kelly, R., and Todd, L., 1988, Coming into the Country: Early Paleoindian Hunting and Mobility, American Antiquity 53:231-244
Kunz, M. L., and Reanier, R. E., 1994, Paleoindians in Beringia: Evidence from Arctic Alaska, Science 263:660-662
Matthews, J. V, Jr., 1982, East Beringia during Late Wisconsin Time: A Review of the Biotic Evidence, in: Paleoecology of Beringia (D. M. Hopkins, J. V Matthews, Jr., C. E. Schweger, and S. B. Young, eds.), Academic Press, New York, 127-150
Mobley, C. M., 1991, The Campus Site: A Prehistoric Camp at Fairbanks, Alaska, University of Alaska Press, Fairbanks
Morlan, R., and Cinq-Mars, J., 1982, Ancient Beringians: Human Occupation in the Late Pleistocene of Alaska and the Yukon Territory, in: The Palaeoecology of Beringia (D. M. Hopkins, J. V Matthews, Jr., C. E. Schweger, and S. B. Young, eds.), Academic Press, New York, pp. 353-381
O’Connell, J. F, Hawkes, K. R., and Blurton Jones, N. G., 1988, Hadza Hunting, Butchering, and Bone Transport and Their Archaeological Implications, Journal of Anthropological Research 44:113-161
O’Connell. J. F, Hawkes, K. R., and Blurton Jones, N. G., 1990, Reanalysis of Large Mammal Body Part Transport among the Hadza, Journal of Archaeological Science 17:301-316
Olsen, S. J., 1990, Was Early Man in North America a Big Game Hunter? in: Hunters of the Recent Past (L. B. Davis and B. O. K. Reeves, eds.), Unwin and Hyman, Winchester, pp. 103-110
Phippen, P. G., 1988, Archaeology at Owl Ridge: A Pleistocene—Holocene Boundary Age Site in Central Alaska, Unpublished M.A. Thesis, University of Alaska, Fairbanks
Polyakova, Yeo I., 1990, Stratigraphy of Late-Pleistocenel Holocene Sediments on the Bering Shelf on the Basis of Diatom Complexes, Polar Geography and Geology 14:271-278
Porter, L., 1979, Ecology of a Late Pleistocene (Wisconsin) Ungulate Community near Jack Wade, East-central Alaska, unpublished, M.S. thesis, University of Washington, Seattle
Powers, W R., and Hamilton, T. D., 1978, Dry Creek: A Late Pleistocene Human Occupation in Central Alaska, in: Early Man in America from a Circum-Pacific Perspective (A. L. Bryan, ed.),Occasional Papers No.1, Department of Anthropology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, pp. 72-77
Powers, W R., and Hoffecker, J., 1989, Late Pleistocene settlement in the Nenana Valley, central Alaska, American Antiquity 54(2):263-287
Powers, W R., and Maxwell, H. E., 1986, Lithic Remains from Panguingue Creek, an Early Holocene Site in the Northern Foothills of the Alaska Range, Alaska Historical Commission Studies, No. 189, Anchorage
Powers, W R., Guthrie, R. D., and Hoffecker, J. F., eds. 1983, Dry Creek: Archaeology and Paleoecology of a Late Pleistocene Alaskan Hunting Camp, National Park Service, Washington, DC
Powers, W R., Goebel, F. E., and Bigelow, N. H., 1990, Late Pleistocene Occupation at Walker Road: New data on the Central Alaskan Nenana Complex, Current Research in the Pleistocene 7:40-43
Reanier, R. E., 1982, An Application of Pedological and Palynological Techniques at the Mesa Site, Northern Brooks Range, Alaska, Anthropological Papers of the University of Alaska 20:123-129
Schweger, C. E., 1982, Late Pleistocene Vegetation of Eastern Beringia: Pollen Analysis of Dated Alluvium, in: Paleoecology of Beringia (D. M. Hopkins, J. V Matthews, Jr., C. E. Schweger, and S. B. Young, eds.) , Academic Press, New York, pp. 95-112
Schweger, C. E., 1985, Geoarchaeology of Northern Regions: Lessons from Cryoturbation at Onion Portage, Alaska, in: Archaeological Sediments in Context (J. K. Stein and W A. Farrand, eds.), Center for the Study of the First Americans, Orono, pp. 127-141
Schweger, C. E., and Habgood, T., 1976, The Late Pleistocene steppe-tundra in Beringia: A critique, American Quaternary Association Program and Abstracts 4:157
Thorson, R. M., 1990, Geologic Contexts of Archaeological Sites in Beringia, in: Archaeological Geology of North America (N. P Lasca and J. Donahue, eds.), Geological Society of America, Centennial Special Volume No.4, Boulder, pp. 399-420
Thorson, R. M., and Hamilton, T. D., 1977, Geology of the Dry Creek Site: A Stratified Early Man Site in Interior Alaska, Quaternary Research 7:149-176
Todd, L. C., 1987, Analysis of Kill-Butchery Bonebeds and Interpretation of Paleoindian Hunting, in: The Evolution of Human Hunting (M. H. Nitecki and D. V. Nitecki, eds.), Plenum Press, New York, pp. 225-266
Todd, L. C., 1991, Seasonality Studies and Paleoindian Subsistence Strategies, in: Human Predators and Prey Mortality (M. C. Stiner, ed.), Westview Press, Boulder, pp. 217-238
Vinson, D., 1988, Preliminary Report on Faunal Identifications from Trail Creek Caves, in: The Bering Land Bridge National Preserve: An Archaeological Survey (J. Schaaf, ed.), National Park Service, CRM Report No. AR-14, Anchorage, pp. 410-436
West, F. H., 1967, The Donnelly Ridge Site and the Definition of an Early Core and Blade Complex in Central Alaska, American Antiquity 32:360-382
West, F. H., 1974, The Significance of Typologically Early Site Collections in the Tangle Lakes, Central Alaska, in: International Conference on the Prehistory and Paleoecology of the Western North American Arctic and Subarctic (S. Raymond and P. Schlederman, eds.), Chacmool, Calgary, pp. 217-238
West, F. H., 1975, Dating the Denali Complex, Arctic Anthropology 12:76-81
West, F. H., 1980, Late Palaeolithic Cultures in Alaska, in: Early Native Americans (D. L. Browman, ed.), Mouton, The Hague, pp. 161-187
West, F. H., 1981, Archaeology of Beringia, Columbia University Press, New York, pp. 161-187
Wilnsen, E. N., 1974, Lindenmeier: A Pleistocene Hunting Society, Harper and Row, New York
Wright, H. E., Jr., 1991, Environmental conditions for Paleoindian immigration, in: The First Americans: Search and Research (1. D. Dillehay and D. J. Meltzer, eds.), CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp. 113-135
Yesner, D. R., 1980, Caribou Exploitation in Interior Alaska: Evidence from Two Paxson Lake Sites, Anthropological Papers of the University of Alaska 19(2):15-32
Yesner, D. R., 1989, Moose Hunters of the Boreal Forest? A Re-examination of Subsistence Patterns in the Western Subarctic, Arctic 42(2):97-108
Yesner, D. R., 1993, Origins and Development of Maritime Adaptations in the Northwest Pacific Region of North America, Paper presented at the International Seminar on the Origins, Development, and Spread of Prehistoric North Pacific-Bering Sea Maritime Cultures, Honolulu, Hawaii
Yesner, D. R., 1994, Subsistence Diversity, Faunal Extinction, and Hunter-Gatherer Foraging Strategies in Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene Beringia, in: Beringia, special volume of Current Research in the Pleistocene (R. L. Bonnichsen, ed.), 11:154-156
Yesner, D. R., 1996, The Pleistocene/Holocene Transitionin Interior Alaska,in: Bridges ofScience CR. Meehan,ed.), University of Alaska Press, Fairbanks (in press)
Yesner, D. R.,and Crossen,K.J., 1994, PrehistoricPeopleofAlaska’s Interior, in: Prehisto1ic Alaska (P Rennick,ed.), Alaska Geographic 21(4):90-93
Yesner, D. R.,Holmes,C. E.,and Crossen,K.j., 1993,Archaeology and Palaeoecology of the BrokenMammothSite, Central Tanana Valley, Interior Alaska, USA, Current Research in the Pleistocene 9:1-12
Young, S. B., 1976, Is Steppe Tundra Alive and Well in Alaska? American Quaternary Association Program and Abstracts 4:84-88
Young, S. B.,1982, The Vegetation of land-Bridge Beringia, in: Paleoecology ofBeringia (D.M.Hopkins et al., eds.), Academic Press, New York
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1996 Plenum Press, New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Yesner, D.R. (1996). Human Adaptation at the Pleistocene—Holocene Boundary (circa 13,000 to 8,000 bp) in Eastern Beringia. In: Straus, L.G., Eriksen, B.V., Erlandson, J.M., Yesner, D.R. (eds) Humans at the End of the Ice Age. Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1145-4_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1145-4_13
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-8447-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-1145-4
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive