Uivvaq: Archaeology and Paleoclimatology of an Arctic Coastal Midden

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Hoffecker9906653The interdisciplinary investigation of a prehistoric and historic midden site in northern Alaska will be initiated. Uivvaq, which is located on the Chukchi Sea shore near Cape Lisburne, represents one of the deepest middens on the northern coast, and has been protected from looting and erosion by unusual circumstances. The site was occupied by Inupiat people during the early twentieth century, and appears likely to contain an archaeological record of occupation spanning many hundreds or several thousands of years. Uivvaq may be expected to yield considerable information on the culture, society, technology, and economy of its past occupants and their environmental setting. This research project is designed to collect this information within the framework of specific research questions concerning the occupation and paleoclimatic history of the site, and within the broader context of the development of arctic maritime adaptations in the late Holocene and the origins of Inuit culture. The latter seem to represent social and technological responses to changing climates and natural resources during the past several thousand years. Of particular significance are the emergence of whaling and the spread of Thule people across the Arctic at the end of the first millennium A.D.The project entails exploratory excavations at Uivvaq, followed by laboratory analysis of materials collected during the field phase. The research will be undertaken by an interdisciplinary team of scientists and students from the University of Colorado (INSTAAR), North Slope Borough, and the U.S. Department of Defense, and will include analysis of artifacts and features, sediment samples, vertebrate remains, and fossil insects. An absolute chronology for the site will be established by radiocarbon dating of insect remains and other materials. While excavated artifacts, features, and vertebrate remains would be used to reconstruct the culture-historical sequence at Uivvaq, as well as the economic and technological history of its occupants, samples of sediments and fossil insect remains would be used to reconstruct past climate change and its effects on the local environmental setting. The analysis of the artifacts, features, stratigraphy, and sediments would also be used to understand the formation of the midden deposits, which probably involved a complex interplay of geologic, paleobiotic, and anthropogenic processes within the context of local climatic change. Excavations at Uivvaq will be conducted during July-August 2000 by 8-10 persons, including students from Barrow. It is estimated that approximately 15 square meters of midden deposits would be excavated and sampled. Laboratory analyses of artifacts, sediments, vertebrate remains, fossil insects, and radiocarbon samples would be conducted during September-December 2000. It is anticipated that one or more additional phases of excavation would be needed to expand the samples of artifacts, recorded features, and vertebrate remains in order to fully address the research questions.