Dissertation
Paleoalaskan adaptive strategies viewed from northwestern Alaska
Washington State University
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
05/2008
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000005671
Abstract
Alaska has held a special place in research surrounding the initial settlement of the Americas as a likely gateway for Paleoamericans. It is, however, increasingly seen as peripheral to understanding the larger settlement process. One reason is that the building blocks for understanding continental scale processes of hunter-gatherer adaptation are multi-site studies from specific regions, and few such studies have been conducted for Late Pleistocene Alaska. As a result there is no compelling model describing Paleoalaskan adaptations that can be integrated with the larger picture of New World settlement. This study aims to fill this gap by presenting a model of land use, technology and subsistence behaviors specific to the foragers inhabiting northwestern interior Alaska between approximately 10,000-11,200 radiocarbon years B.P. The research is based on a set of 35 stone tool assemblages and isolated projectile point finds that are referred to as the Sluiceway Complex and proposed to reflect the operation of a coherent behavioral pattern. The model is grounded in premises of human behavioral ecology and proposes Sluiceway foragers were specialized large game hunters who targeted bison and caribou. They engaged in a structured seasonal round: during the summer hunters ranged extensively north of the Brooks Range divide in the course of small group bison hunting, in the spring and fall groups aggregated near mountain passes in the Brooks Range to intercept migrating caribou herds; and winters were spent nearby in the main tributaries of the Noatak River close to fall meat stores and sources of fuel and shelter. Bifacial tools and cores were a central feature of Sluiceway lithic technology, but an array of specialized tools and tool production strategies were also employed and may have included microblade inset tools. Tool production and lithic raw material procurement strategies varied throughout this cycle to accommodate changing travel modes, tool used requirements, and scheduling concerns. Results of this study add to the emerging picture of regional diversity among Late Pleistocene foraging groups throughout the New World.
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Details
- Title
- Paleoalaskan adaptive strategies viewed from northwestern Alaska
- Creators
- Jeffrey Thomas Rasic
- Contributors
- William Andrefsky (Chair)Robert E Ackerman (Committee Member) - Washington State University, Department of AnthropologyKaren Denise Lupo (Committee Member) - Washington State University, Department of Anthropology
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Department of Anthropology
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 380
- Identifiers
- 99901054740601842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Dissertation