Exchange Relations in Prehistoric Northwest Alaska: Phase 2, Tracing Biological and Social Networks

Brown University, Providence RI

Investigators

Abstract

This is a RAPID award to complete the research project begun in 2010 to investigate the development of trading relationships among Alaskan Inupiat villages occupied in the late 17th/early 18th century, a time period of particular interest because it straddles the historic/prehistoric occupation boundary. The project concentrates on excavations at the village site of Igliqtiqsiugvigruaq, which was occupied when European explorers first arrived in the region. Importantly, the project will include recovery and analysis of human remains, originally uncovered in 2011 but left unexcavated pending completion of consultations with local Alaska Native communities, as agreed to in the Section 106 Memorandum of Agreement between the National Park Service, the National Science Foundation, and the region's Alaska Native traditional councils and communities and as required under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). This site is one of the only known proto-historic sites in Northwest Alaska where the preservation and access provides an opportunity to learn about the lifeways of people in the region on the eve of Western contact, a period when European trade items first appeared prior to the arrival of Europeans themselves. In addition, the fact that human remains were present in one of the houses adds additional interest for researchers and local communities. At the request of local Alaska Native communities, the analysis of the human remains will include a paleodietary study by Dr. Peter Ditchfield of the Stable Isotope Laboratory in the Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, Oxford University Oxford (England) to determine if starvation or nutritional status contributed to the causes of death. Also at the request of local Alaska Native communities, Dr. Dennis O'Rourke, University of Utah, will conduct a DNA analysis of the human remains from the house as part of his larger study of the ancient and modern genetic history of the peoples of Arctic Alaska. The project will complete the geophysical mapping of the area to determine the relationships between the various structures at the site, a study that promises to contribute new technologies and methodologies for conducting non-destructive research of buried human activities. Finally, the project will continue oral historic research on the genealogical and social history of the living descendants associated with the site, a contribution toward developing new methodologies for integrating archaeological and oral historic findings to resolve questions of local interest and historical importance. This research project is an important opportunity for a scientific team to collaborate with Alaskan Native people to investigate the genetic relationships between their ancestral and descendant families, a collaboration that is unprecedented in Northwest Alaska and has the potential to provide a model for Alaska Native-Scientist-State and Federal Agency cooperation in the future. In addition, working closely with the local communities in the Kobuk Valley region promises to provide a model for how the scientific community can assist Native Village Elders in their on-going attempts to construct local histories that can be passed on to their future generations.