A Current Synthesis of the Northern Archaic

Esdale, Julie

doi:10.1353/arc.0.0006

Cited by 28 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Northern Archaic peoples rarely occupied the coast, although there is evidence from seven sites that indicate occasional use of coastal habitats. Based on associated faunal remains it has been argued they were engaged in caribou hunting at these sites, although it is feasible they were actively experimenting with a maritime adaptation new to them (Esdale, 2008). The early Ocean Bay and descendent Kachemak traditions are found almost exclusively along the Gulf of Alaska and Kodiak Island (Table 4).…”

Section: Site Frequency and Density Per Ecoregionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many have drawn on environmental and ecological variables to reconstruct settlement and subsistence patterns for prehistoric cultures of Alaska (Clark, 1984;Dumond, 1987a;Mason and Gerlach, 1995;Potter, 2008a;Yesner, 1981) and archaeological traditions have been linked to particular habitats (e.g., Dixon, 2013;Dumond, 1987b;Esdale, 2008). This work has demonstrated an uneven distribution of populations through time and delayed settlement of some ecological niches, including the arctic coast.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Large mammal biomass predicts the changing distribution of hunter-gatherer settlements in mid-late Holocene Alaska

Tremayne

Winterhalder

2017

Journal of Anthropological Archaeology

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a b s t r a c tThis study provides an ecological explanation for the distribution of Arctic Small Tool tradition (ASTt) settlements in Alaska and the origin of their arctic maritime adaptation. Theoretically grounded in the ideal free distribution (IFD) model, which predicts that higher ranked habitats will be occupied first and most continuously, we contend that the location of large mammals was a major factor influencing human dispersal and settlement decisions in the arctic and subarctic ecosystems of Alaska. We rank habitat suitability based on historic mammal population densities from wildlife ecology reports across predefined ecological zones in Alaska; we multiply densities by average animal weights per species to determine suitability rankings. Coastal habitats in Alaska are higher ranked than adjacent tundra habitats, but the interior boreal forest may have been the highest ranked, considering technological constraints of hunting aquatic species. The ASTt migration into Alaska created population pressure that promoted the colonization of the unoccupied Arctic coast and development of the dual, terrestrial-maritime economy. When pan-Alaska human populations declined around 3200-2500 years ago low ranked tundra ecoregions were abandoned. As human populations recovered Alaska coasts became the most densely populated habitats. The adaptive logic entailed in the IFD provides a consistent evolutionary interpretation for settlement patterns documented in this region.Published by Elsevier Inc.

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Section: Site Frequency and Density Per Ecoregionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Large mammal biomass predicts the changing distribution of hunter-gatherer settlements in mid-late Holocene Alaska

Tremayne

Winterhalder

2017

Journal of Anthropological Archaeology

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“…Charcoal from this feature yielded an AMS date of 3,740 ± 30 14 C yr B.P. Diagnostic notched projectile points associated with C2 indicate this occupation falls within the Northern Archaic tradition (Esdale, ). C1 consists of 706 lithics (LAD 35.3/50 cm 2 ) and five highly fragmented faunal remains recovered from the contact of the Oshetna and underlying paleosol formed on gravelly sand regolith sediment.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…; Coffman & Potter, ; Holmes, Reuther, Adams, Bowers, & Little, ; Wygal, ), and there is comparatively little evidence for sustained human use of the central Alaska Range until the early‐mid Holocene (Potter, ). At this time, there is evidence for a shift to a logistically mobile settlement system including increased use of seasonally available upland resources like caribou ( Rangifer tarandus ) and fish, possibly driven by spreading lowland boreal forest (Esdale, ; Mason & Bigelow, ; Potter, , ). The ethnographic and ethnohistoric record indicates that late prehistoric Athabascan groups in the region had a seasonal subsistence round consisting of summer/fall hunting and gathering in the central Alaska Range and more permanent winter camps in lowland valleys (de Laguna & McClellan, ; Hosley, ; McKennan, ; Reckord, ; Townsend, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Regional stratigraphy and human occupation of the upper Susitna River basin, central Alaska Range

Blong

2018

Geoarchaeology

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This study presents geomorphological, paleoenvironmental, and archaeological data from the upland upper Susitna River basin in the central Alaska Range. The goal of this study is to establish the landscape history and record of human use of the study area and test regional land‐use models. The results indicate that the upper Susitna was first occupied in the early Holocene at least 2,000 years after the end of full‐glacial conditions and 1,000 years after evidence of landscape recovery. Early Holocene land‐use consisted of short‐term task‐specific camps occupied by highly mobile groups on logistical forays. Upland land use intensified in the middle and late Holocene after modern vegetation patterns were established; during this time hunter‐gatherers occupied both residential and task‐specific camps in the study area in a logistical land‐use system. These results support a shift in land use in the early Holocene to include upland landscapes and intensification of upland landscape use in the late–middle Holocene. A shift in residential base camp location in the late Holocene may be tied to changing subsistence activities. There is evidence for a hiatus in human occupation following Holocene tephra fall, but it is unclear whether this was related to tephra deposition or broader climate instability.

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“…Furthermore, they occur just before the massive dart end‐blades that dominate the Northern Archaic Tradition, which coincide with the expansion of larger ungulates in the region between 7,000 and 4,000 years ago. There is little evidence of the bow and arrow during the period of the Northern Archaic Tradition, although Esdale has stated that microblades are found in about 30% of Northern Archaic sites, many of which date to the same period as the bow‐using Arctic Small Tool tradition. However, no arrow points of stone or bone have been identified in the more than 200 sites known from this tradition.…”

Section: Phase 1: 12000–8000 Bpmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Bow and Arrow in Northern North America

Maschner

Mason²

2013

Evolutionary Anthropology

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There were at least four waves of bow and arrow use in northern North America. These occurred at 12000, 4500, 2400, and after about 1300 years ago. But to understand the role of the bow and arrow in the north, one must begin in the eighteenth century, when the Russians first arrived in the Aleutian Islands. At that time, the Aleut were using both the atlatl and dart and the bow and arrow (Fig. ). This is significant for two particular and important reasons. First, there are few historic cases in which both technologies were used concurrently; second, the bow and arrow in the Aleutian Islands were used almost exclusively in warfare. The atlatl was a critical technology because the bow and arrow are useless for hunting sea mammals. One cannot launch an arrow from a kayak because it is too unstable and requires that both hands remain on a paddle. To use an atlatl, it is necessary only to stabilize the kayak with a paddle on one side and launch the atlatl dart with the opposite hand. The Aleut on the Alaska Peninsula did indeed use the bow and arrow to hunt caribou there. However, in the 1,400 km of the Aleutian Islands, there are no terrestrial mammals except humans and the bow was reserved almost exclusively for conflicts among them. The most significant event in the history of the bow and arrow is not its early introduction, but rather the Asian War Complex 1300 years ago, when the recurve and backed bows first entered the region, altering regional and hemispheric political dynamics forever. [Figure: see text].

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A Current Synthesis of the Northern Archaic

Cited by 28 publications

References 35 publications

Large mammal biomass predicts the changing distribution of hunter-gatherer settlements in mid-late Holocene Alaska

Large mammal biomass predicts the changing distribution of hunter-gatherer settlements in mid-late Holocene Alaska

Regional stratigraphy and human occupation of the upper Susitna River basin, central Alaska Range

The Bow and Arrow in Northern North America

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