RAPID: Walakpa Archaeology Rapid Response Project

Portland State University, Portland OR

Investigators

Abstract

The proposed project will support student and professional volunteer travel to Barrow, Alaska, in July 2016 to participate in research and rescue efforts at the rapidly eroding Walakpa archaeological site. Walakpa, or Ualiqpaa, is a large multi-component site dating to at least 1200 years ago and encompassing a major cultural transition in the western North American Arctic - the migration and evolution of Birnirk and Thule cultures - first excavated by Dennis Stanford, American Museum of Natural History. Research at the site in the 1960s uncovered a rich and well-preserved record of past Arctic lifeways and environment. Previous research also identified a possible earlier Arctic Small Tool Tradition (ASTt) occupation at the site. If the ASTt occupation is confirmed, the record at Walakpa spans the entire occupation of the Arctic, over 4000 years. Unfortunately, after years of relative stability, the site is now in imminent danger from increased coastal erosion due to northern environmental change. Reduced sea ice cover and increased storm frequency, coupled with melting permafrost, are rapidly devastating the North Slope archaeological record and the Walakpa site. The need for an immediate and rapid effort at Walakpa is clear. The field season in northern Alaska is short, typically only 2-2.5 months and the need to recover materials from Walakpa in summer 2016 is pressing. The rapid rate of erosion at the site since 2013 suggests that total site loss is possible in the next few years, although when this may occur is difficult to predict as the extent of the site itself is not well understood. The opportunity for future research on the site and collections is immense, but this hinges on the collection of additional information about the site before it erodes away or is lost to climate warming induced decomposition.