麻豆无码版

This summer, a group of 12 UAA students and volunteers participated in an archaeological excavation at the Carpenter Site as part of a field school led by Gerad Smith, Ph.D., assistant professor of anthropology. The Carpenter Site, which is located on a bluff near Shaw Creek, about a half-hour drive from Delta Junction, is also known as 鈥淣aayii'臋臋'鈥� in the Middle Tanana Dene language, meaning 鈥渋t is visible across.鈥� 

During the field school, which ran from May 19 to June 21, the team excavated through 13,000 years鈥� worth of accumulated sediment at the site. Starting at the surface and digging through progressively older stratigraphic layers until they reached bedrock, the students at the site uncovered artifacts like three tin cans with a possible connection to an early 20th century roadhouse that operated at the site and stone tools made centuries earlier by ancestral Dene people. 

The lowest layers of the site date from 13,000 to 12,000 years ago, during the late Pleistocene epoch 鈥� a time period more commonly known as the last 鈥淚ce Age.鈥� The discoveries made in these lower layers provide fascinating clues to what life was like in the area during the Ice Age, as well as valuable experience for the student archaeologists.

A 12,000-year-old bone

Caiden Mitchell, a sophomore in anthropology and history, found the bone while excavating at the site. According to Mitchell, the artifact is a 鈥渓ong bone from some sort of late Ice Age ungulate.鈥� The ungulates are a large group of related species of hooved mammals. Mitchell believes the bone is likely from an elk (or 鈥渨apiti鈥�), a species of ungulate. While the wild elk in the state today were reintroduced by humans in the 20th century, a native population of elk lived in 麻豆无码版 during the Pleistocene.

鈥淚 found this in the stratigraphic soil, estimated about 12,000 years ago,鈥� said Mitchell, explaining the context of the find. 鈥淚mmediately around this, there was evidence for fires and hearth complexes, with fire-cracked rocks and staining consistent with charcoal deposits and hearths.鈥�

鈥淔ire-cracked rocks鈥� are a special type of artifact; these artifacts are rocks that have broken apart due to heating and cooling. They are often found around ancient hearth sites, and can be evidence of cooking. The fire-cracked rocks and soil staining found around the bone may suggest that it was part of someone鈥檚 meal 12,000 years ago. 鈥淭he bone itself does not show marks of cooking, but the soil immediately surrounding it does,鈥� explained Mitchell. 

For Mitchell, who grew up in the American Southwest and visited many of the region鈥檚 archaeological sites, the discovery of a 12,000-year-old bone was a thrill. 

鈥淚t felt wonderful. We鈥檇 gone through several layers that were relatively culturally sterile, with some bone fragments here and there, but nothing very large,鈥� said Mitchell. 鈥淎fter six or so layers, going over the span of a couple thousand years of stratigraphy, I encountered the bone, and that was a very great surprise.鈥�

Even small bone fragments are important clues

While the ungulate bone was an exciting find, most bone fragments unearthed at the Carpenter Site are too small to identify as coming from any particular species of animal. Students also uncovered calcined bone 鈥� remains of bone that has been subjected to high temperatures like those of a hearth 鈥� in several areas at the site during the excavation. 

Comparing the locations of bone fragments and calcined bone to other features found at the site and the site鈥檚 stratigraphy helped the archaeologists to better understand what people on the bluff were doing thousands of years ago.

鈥淟ooking at the stratigraphy, it really does help paint a story of what happened in this area even if we were never even remotely near the time of it happening,鈥� said Bradley Loncar, a senior in biological sciences. 鈥淵ou look at the bones, how long they were there, things like that.鈥� 

The students documented each artifact they found 鈥� even small pieces of calcined bone 鈥� and recorded the exact location where the artifact was found. Keeping detailed records of the stratigraphic layers at a site and which artifacts were found in each layer allows archaeologists to compare different sites within a region. 

鈥淚鈥檓 a very visual person. To study alongside what I鈥檓 reading is very beneficial,鈥� said Brooke Hoover, a junior in anthropology. Last year, Hoover had the opportunity to work with Smith at several archaeological sites in the Tanana Valley. 鈥淚 really learned a lot about Interior 麻豆无码版, subsistence living and Ice Age time frame activities, and understood what we were looking at and why it was important.鈥�

This summer, Hoover was able to compare the artifacts and stratigraphy at the Carpenter Site to the sites she had excavated at last year. 鈥淎 lot of it is familiar colors, familiar layers, familiar story lines or familiar understandings from these other sites that are also in Interior 麻豆无码版 and applying it to here,鈥� said Hoover. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of questions here, but a lot can be answered.鈥�

A valuable field experience

Digging through the entire stratigraphy of the site, from the recent historic layers near the surface to the Ice Age layers just above bedrock, provided the students with a valuable overview of the region鈥檚 long cultural and geologic history, as well as the nature of archaeological work in 麻豆无码版鈥檚 Interior. 

鈥淚鈥檝e done a lot of site cataloging, I鈥檝e dug test pits, I鈥檝e used a total station before, but I鈥檝e never done a full-scale excavation before,鈥� said Riordan Page, a junior in anthropology, who worked for three summers as an assistant archaeologist for the Knik Tribe in Palmer before joining the field school at the Carpenter Site. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a subtly longer workday.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 all a learning experience. Touching everything. Touching the objects really connects me to the people,鈥� said Renee Nalewako, an undergraduate in anthropology and history, while reflecting on the field experience. 鈥淚鈥檓 probably the first person touching this since the person who dropped it. This object鈥檚 been in the ground for hundreds, maybe thousands of years, and I鈥檓 touching it. And I鈥檓 probably the second or third person to have ever touched this. That鈥檚 been a really cool experience for me.鈥�