Uivvaq: Archaeology and Paleoclimatology of an Arctic Coastal Midden

对阿拉斯加北部一个史前历史遗址的跨学科调查将开始。Uivvaq位于里斯本角附近的楚科奇海岸，是北部海岸最深的海底之一，由于特殊的环境，它一直受到保护，免受掠夺和侵蚀。该遗址在20世纪早期被因纽特人占领，似乎包含了跨越数百年或数千年的占领的考古记录。Uivvaq有望提供有关其过去居住者及其环境设置的文化，社会，技术和经济的大量信息。该研究项目的目的是在有关该遗址的占领和古气候历史的具体研究问题的框架内，以及在全新世晚期北极海洋适应发展和因纽特文化起源的更广泛背景下，收集这些信息。后者似乎代表了过去几千年来对气候和自然资源变化的社会和技术反应。特别重要的是捕鲸的出现和公元一千年末图勒人在北极的传播。该项目需要在乌夫瓦克进行探索性挖掘，然后对实地阶段收集的材料进行实验室分析。这项研究将由来自科罗拉多大学（INSTAAR）、北坡自治市和美国国防部的科学家和学生组成的跨学科团队进行，并将包括对人工制品和特征、沉积物样本、脊椎动物遗骸和化石昆虫的分析。通过对昆虫遗骸和其他材料进行放射性碳定年，将确定该遗址的绝对年表。挖掘出来的文物、地貌和脊椎动物遗骸将用于重建Uivvaq的文化历史序列，以及其居住者的经济和技术历史，沉积物样本和化石昆虫遗骸将用于重建过去的气候变化及其对当地环境的影响。对人工制品、特征、地层学和沉积物的分析也将用于了解中部沉积物的形成，这可能涉及当地气候变化背景下地质、古生代和人为过程的复杂相互作用。Uivvaq的发掘工作将于2000年7月至8月进行，由8-10人进行，其中包括来自巴罗的学生。据估计，将挖掘和取样约15平方米的中部沉积物。2000年9月至12月期间，将对人工制品、沉积物、脊椎动物遗骸、昆虫化石和放射性碳样本进行实验室分析。预计还需要一个或多个额外的挖掘阶段，以扩大人工制品、记录特征和脊椎动物遗骸的样本，以充分解决研究问题。

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.