SUMMARY OF 2015 RESEARCH OF THE SCOTTIE CREEK BORDERLANDS CULTURE HISTORY PROJECT

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "SUMMARY OF 2015 RESEARCH OF THE SCOTTIE CREEK BORDERLANDS CULTURE HISTORY PROJECT"

Suzan Nicholson
5 years ago
Views:

1 SUMMARY OF 2015 RESEARCH OF THE SCOTTIE CREEK BORDERLANDS CULTURE HISTORY PROJECT Norman Alexander Easton Field research in 2015 began in early June and continued to late August. At the projects based camp at the Little John site (KdVo-6) 4 1 m units were completed and 3 more begun with a small field crew that included UBC Masters student Jordan Handley and five undergraduate students. Finds at Little John included a further extension of a large Holocene hearth feature previously dated to c CalYBP, and flakes and faunal elements from the Late Pleistocene middle paleosol complex dated to KCalYBP. The program spent a week of collaborative survey and excavation with Dr. Julie Esdale at the Tok Terminal Site at which we determined there are intact deposits at the primary locality where eroded wedge-shaped cores have been located on the surface and identified three additional archaeological localities across this high hill overlooking the upper Tanana River valley plain. A Community Archaeology Day attracted 40 visitors from Tok and the Tetlin and Tanacross Native Villages. Additional work here is anticipated in The program also joined Tanana Chiefs Conference archaeologist Robert Sattler in at a number of sites on Northway Village Council lands. Holocene occupations at Deadman Lake were explored further and a 1.5 m profile of basal sands uncovered alternating Late Pleistocene deposits of wind blown silty sands and lacustrine sandy silts indicating a post-glacial high water stand and which include gastropods suitable for AMS dating. The program also included a two week Artist in Residence element filled by Dr. Ukjese van Kampen, a Yukon Tutchone artist whose dissertation documents traditional Athapaskan art motifs. He participated in all aspects of field research and gave two workshops to local communities in Beaver Creek and at the White River First Nation Snag Culture Camp. This fall he is developing an art show in several mediums reflecting his experience that will be presented in January 2016 at the Yukon Art Center. At end of August Joel Cubley and Mary Samolczyk of Yukon College's Geological Technology Program revisited the Little John site to collect additional electrical resistivity data across the site in support of a 3D model of sediment deposition and bedrock geology. Additional funding received from the Yukon College Faculty Research Fund this fall will support two student lab assistants and further geo-archaeological analysis of previously collected sediment samples from the Little John site. Ten new radiocarbon dates ranging from 1700 to 14,500 CalYBP were obtained with funding from Yukon College's recently established Faculty Research Fund, the details of which will be summarized in a forthcoming research brief in PaleoAmerica and explored in further detail in a manuscript in progress. Norman Alexander Easton, School of Liberal Arts, Yukon College, Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada, neaston@yukoncollege.yk.ca Robert Sattler, Tanana Chiefs Conference, AK Julie Esdale, Colorado State University - US Army Group, Fort Wainwright, AK Jordan Handley, MA student, U of British Columbia, David Pokotylo, supervisor Joel Cubley and Mary Samolczyk, Yukon College Keywords: Beringia, Yukon - Alaska, Yukon - Alaska Borderlands Permanent URI: External Links: Related Bounding coordinates (decimal degrees): Publications - West: North: East: South: Citation Example: Norman Alexander Easton (2015) Summary of 2015 Research of the Scottie Creek Borderlands Culture History Project. SAA Current Research 258, accessed (current date) Current Research Online No: 258:1

2 Late Holocene Hearth Feature, Little John site Current Research Online No: 258:2

3 East Lobe Paleosol Complex Profile, Little John site Current Research Online No: 258:3

4 Excavations at the Tok Terminal Site Current Research Online No: 258:4

5 Deadman Lake Loess and Lacustrine Sediments Current Research Online No: 258:5

6 Artist in Residence Ukjese van Kampen discussing Athapaskan artistic traditions at the White River First Nation Snag Culture Camp Current Research Online No: 258:6 Powered by TCPDF (

2015 Scottie Creek Borderlands Culture History Project Summary of Activities

2015 Scottie Creek Borderlands Culture History Project Summary of Activities Norman Alexander Easton, Principal Investigator School of Liberal Arts, Yukon College 25 August 2015 Scottie Creek Research