SGER: Reconnaissance at Cape Espenberg

一个小型跨学科研究小组将在Espenberg角（位于阿拉斯加苏厄德半岛北部）的海滩山脊上绘制地图并取样，这些山脊上有公元800年至1400年间人类居住的痕迹。埃斯彭伯格角海滩山脊也为该地区提供了丰富的古气候数据。这项研究将于2007年8月进行，将代表在大白令海峡地区发生重大文化转型期间，对Espenberg角的气候变化和人类住区进行重大调查的初始阶段。这种转变奠定了阿拉斯加北部因纽特人或爱斯基摩人的出现，以及他们随后在环极世界的大部分地区的传播。这两件事都发生在气候变化期间，对该地区的栖息地和资源产生了深远的影响。研究人员将绘制考古特征图，并将对Espenberg角海滩山脊上可追溯到公元800-1400年的代用气候数据进行采样和核心。将使用便携式XRF分析仪对表面没有过去居住迹象的山脊（例如，以前的房屋洼地）进行勘探，这可能会揭示埋藏特征和其他遗迹的位置。该结果将代表初始阶段，并将用于计划2008-2010年较大研究计划的后续阶段。这项研究将有助于解决在重大气候变化期间，在人口流动、冲突和竞争以及文化创新的背景下，阿拉斯加北部说因纽皮克语的民族出现的基本问题。埃斯彭伯格角详细的环境和人类定居记录将有助于我们了解因纽特人的起源。这项研究还将为研究生提供教育和培训的机会。

A small interdisciplinary team of researchers will map and sample beach ridges at Cape Espenberg (located on the northern Seward Peninsula, Alaska) that contain traces of human occupation between AD 800 and 1400. The Cape Espenberg beach ridges also offer a wealth of paleoclimate data for the region. The research will take place during August 2007 and will represent the initial phase of a major investigation of climate change and human settlement at Cape Espenberg during a period when a major cultural transition took place in the greater Bering Strait region. This transition underlay the emergence of the Inuit or Eskimo people of northern Alaska and their subsequent spread across much of the circumpolar world. Both events occurred during an interval of changing climates that had profound effects on habitats and resources in the region. The researchers will map archaeological features, and will sample and core for proxy climate data on the beach ridges at Cape Espenberg that date to AD 800-1400. One ridge that lacks surface indications of past occupation (e.g., former house depressions) will be prospected with the use of a portable XRF analyzer, which may reveal the location of buried features and other remains. The results will represent the initial phase and will be used to plan the subsequent phases of the larger research program, which has been proposed for 2008-2010. The research will help address fundamental questions about the emergence of the Inupiaq-speaking peoples of northern Alaska in the context of population movements, conflict & competition, and cultural innovation during an interval of significant climate change. The detailed record environmental and human settlement record for Cape Espenberg will contribute to our understanding of Inuit origins. The research also will provide education and training opportunities to graduate students.