Exploring Subsistence Dynamics on the Bering Sea Coast: Ancient Human Settlement, Walrus Hunting, and Social Complexity

University Of Alaska Southeast Juneau Campus, Juneau AK

Investigators

Abstract

PI Erica Hill will conduct a zooarchaeological analysis of vertebrate fauna recovered from St. Lawrence Island excavations in the 1960s. The proposed research is the first modern, comprehensive zooarchaeological study of fauna conducted on any St. Lawrence Island archaeological assemblage. The PI will also be testing a hypothesis about prehistoric hunting strategies and social organization based on the sexing of walrus remains. This research has the potential to generate data that could provide insights into the social organization of the prehistoric Eskimo, the development of complex societies along the Bering Sea coast, and better explain human adaptations to the arctic environment. There are no longer any intact archaeological sites on St. Lawrence Island, which means that museum materials are the sole source of information on an island adaptation that persisted for over two millennia. Data derived from this analysis will represent a contribution to our understanding of human occupation of the Arctic and may ultimately help explain the development of large, coastal aggregated sites focused on whaling.