Ushki-1 and the Pleistocene Peopling of America

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With National Science Foundation support Dr. Ted Goebel and his collaborators will conduct one season of archaeological research at the site of Ushki-1 located in the Kamchatka Oblast, Russia. The site is important and has figured prominently in discussions of the peopling of the Americas because of its location at the Asian end of the Bering land bridge which connected the New World to Siberia at the end of the last ice age The lower deposits contain a stone tool industry which includes bifaces and blades which resemble some materials in Alaska which date to ca 11,000 years ago. It is also possible, but uncertain that there is an earlier level at the site which is dominated by large blades bearing some resemblance to materials associated with the New World Clovis tradition. The site is said to contain copious faunal and lithic remains along with house remains and burials but none of this information has been formally reported in the literature. The site has also been questioned because of uncertainties about dating and stratigraphy, especially of lower levels. Some have argued that the deposits are mixed and that radiocarbon materials were contaminated by groundwater penetration. Dr. Goebel and his colleagues will address these issues. They will excavate a small block within the site and conduct multidisciplinary laboratory analyses to determine the integrity of Ushki-1 and its multiple cultural components. They will work to: establish the age and stratigraphic separation of the lowest components; characterize associated lithic industries; determine the presence and degree of preservation of faunal and paleovegetational remains; and assess archived records relating to previous excavations as the site. These studies will further understanding and peopling of Beringia and the Americas, and determine whether additional archaeological and paleoecological studies of Ushki are warranted.