Too Little, Too Late? The Radiocarbon Chronology of Alaska and the Peopling of the New World

Abstract

Alaska is commonly viewed as a gateway between the Old and New Worlds, and as such, figures prominently in most models of the peopling of the New World. With a growing number of archaeological sites dating to the terminal Pleistocene, Alaska might be expected to provide direct evidence bearing on the colonization of the Americas. Based on 27 site components with 114 radiocarbon dates, this paper discusses the archaeological record of late Pleistocene Alaska, organized around the characteristics and chronology of three complexes: the microblade-bearing Denali complex, the Nenana complex, and the Mesa complex. This paper shows that the archaeological record of late Pleistocene Alaska is quite diverse, and not lacking in controversy and conflicting interpretations. In addition, this period of archaeological diversity coincides with the Younger Dryas climatic event. However, none of the reliably dated sites is older than the earliest evidence of human occupation further south in the Americas. Despite this, evidence from DNA studies points strongly to a north-central Asian homeland for Native Americans, upholding Alaska as the point of entry into the New World. Suggestions are offered, then, as to why the Alaskan record remains silent about the initial peopling of the New World.

A Tale of Two Migrations: Reconciling Recent Biological and Archaeological Evidence for the Pleistocene Peopling of the Americas

“…B.P. range, together with blades, burins, scrapers, bifacial thinning flakes, and mammoth ivory rods (Bever 2001(Bever , 2006Dumond 2001;Hoffecker 2001;Hoffecker and Elias 2003;Holmes 2001;Yesner 2001). Human occupation dating to the latter portion of this time span has likewise been well documented in western Beringia, at Ushki Lake on the Kamchatka Peninsula in the maritime region of southwestern Beringia at 55°N latitude (Goebel et al 2003) (Fig.…”

Obsidian use at the Ushki Lake complex, Kamchatka Peninsula (Northeastern Siberia): implications for terminal Pleistocene and early Holocene human migrations in Beringia

“…Dikov's early dates, Goebel et al's (2003) research suggested that the Ushki Lake sites were in fact younger than previously reported (Dikov, 2003(Dikov, , 2004, and therefore no older than the earliest archaeological sites in Alaska (ca. 11,800 BP; e.g., Bever, 2006). Although T. Goebel et al's results serves to effectively eliminate the first inhabitants of Ushki Lake as possible Clovis progenitors, their research does not preclude the possibility that earlier sites may exist in Kamchatka and/or other nearby parts of Beringia, nor does it exclude the possibility that a close affinity may exist with the earliest inhabitants of Alaska.…”

A Revised Late Holocene Culture History for Moloka'i Island, Hawai'i

“…First, this research demonstrates the utility of large 14 C databases for detecting island-scale variation in Hawai'i (see also Kirch 1990 Finally, while the focus of this paper has been on presenting an updated 14 C list and revised culture history, this study is a good example of how archaeologists are moving beyond the novelty of GIS and other spatial technologies and using these applications to build, store, and retrieve georeferenced data. A recent study of the peopling of the New World centering on 114 dates from late Pleistocene Alaskan sites further underscores the continued value of cumulative 14 C databases, regardless of the geographic or temporal span (Bever 2006). However, as larger GIS databases representing thousands of dates are constructed and made available to the wider scientific community, it will be critical for archaeologists to find ways to continue to convey contextual information traditionally only available in reports and annotated lists.…”