Archeology of Alaska Glaciers and Snowfields

University Of Colorado At Boulder, Boulder CO

Investigators

Abstract

OPP-0097753 An interdisciplinary pilot study will develop a Geographic Information System (GIS) model by layering ethnographic, historic, biological, and geologic data to identify significant archaeological finds in areas holding high potential for preservation and discovery: frozen areas in Alaska's Wrangell-St. Elias Park and Preserve. The Wrangell-St. Elias Park and Preserve contains receding glaciers that historically were used on a regular basis by early people for transportation and hunting. The archaeological survey will field-test locales identified using GIS, provide data to refine the model, and obtain information essential for future, more comprehensive use of satellite imagery to identify distinctive visual and infrared signatures of ice fields most likely to contain archaeological remains.