North American Archaeology Spring 2009Judith Habicht Mauche 1Peopling of the New World IILecture 4North American ArchaeologyUCSCSpring 2009Archaeology of Eastern Beringia –Yukon and Alaska Ice-free tundra steppe Isolated from interior ofNA by glaciers No clear evidence ofoccupation before12,000 BP (14,000 BP[cal]) People pushed intoAlaska as sea waterrose at end of Ice Age?American Paleo-Arctic Tradition a.k.a. Akmak-DenaliComplex Post-glacial occupation11,000-8500 BP Dry Creek, Component II(10,690+/-250 BP) Microcores/microblades Strong ties to Dyuktai inSiberiaAncestral to laterArctic/NWC traditions?North American Archaeology Spring 2009Judith Habicht Mauche 2Nenana Complex Dry Creek I 11,200 BP Cobble and flake tools Triangular and tear shaped bifacial knives and points No microblades Walker Road 13,400-13,100 BP [cal] Cluster of tools around two hearths Bifacial points and scrapers, no microblades Generalized H-G economyEarlier generalized bifacial technology; Ancestralto PaleoIndian?Northern PaleoIndian Tradition Fluted points found throughout Alaska, but in poorlydated contexts Result of back-migration of big game hunters northward afterretreat of glaciers? Mesa Site (Kunz and Reanier) 10,000 bp (9 dates); 11-12,000 bp(2 dates) Hunting lookout Lanceolate points w/ basal thinning Typical PaleoIndian assemblage Contemporary w/ Nenana; ClovisDid PaleoIndian technology develop in Far North??Re-cap…. Diversity of early technological traditions inAlaska, all dating to ca. 11,000-12,000 bp Are any of these precursors to PaleoIndiancultures further south?, or Do they represent separate/later migrations ofancestors of NaDene (Athapaskan) and/orEskimo-Aleut populations of the Far North If ancestors to PaleoIndians, how did they getsouth of ice sheets and into interior of NorthAmerica?North American Archaeology Spring 2009Judith Habicht Mauche 3The Ice Free Corridor Late Wisconsin Laurentide Glaciers--EAST Cordilleran Glaciers--WEST Coalesced ca. 25,000-15,000 years ago Andrew Stalker--extinctfauna--Medicine Hat,Alberta, ca. 20,000-19,000years ago But, probably not passableuntil after 12-11,000 yearsagoA Coastal Migration The Theory Coastal Refugia The Technology Skin Boats Exploiting MarineEnvironments The Evidence Queen Charlotte Islands12,000 to 10,000 bp Santa Rosa Island 13,000 BP [cal] Prince of Whales Island 10,500 BP [cal] Submerged sites???The Case for Early Sites in theAmericas South America Monte Verde 14,050-13,600 BP [cal] Wood huts Bone and stone tools More generalize H-GeconomyNorth American Archaeology Spring 2009Judith Habicht Mauche 4Pacific Northwest Fort Rock Cave, Oregon 9,000BP; 13,320+/-720BP Wilson Butte Cave, Idaho 14,500+/-500BP; 13,000+/-800BP Manis Mastodon Kill, WA 12,000BP Marmes Rockshelter, WA 10,800BP; 8,700BP Kenniwick Man 9,000 BPEastern U.S. Meadowcroft Rockshelter, PA James Advasio 14,555 to 13,955BP Small blades, delicately flakedbifaces and unifaces, unflutedlance-shaped point Cactus Hill, VA Joe McAvoy 15,000 to 18,000BP [cal] Bifacial points, blades, foundstratigraphically below ClovisDoes Clovis have origins in theEast?So what do you think…Ice Free Corridor or Coastal Migration?One migratory group or many?Some other migration pattern?North American Archaeology Spring 2009Judith Habicht Mauche 5After 13,000 BP [cal]Sneak Preview…Rapid and widespread explosion in qualityand quantity of archaeological remains inNorth America – from Maine to California.We document the appearance of theClovis Culture over broad areas of NorthAmerica. The field moves from beingbased on ephemeral, tentative dates andsites to well-dated, well-representedarchaeological culture in North