Collaborative Research: Fishing through antiquity in central Alaska: exploring the abundance and use of salmon through stable isotope, zooarchaeological, and ancient DNA analyses

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The primary goals of the proposed research are to reconstruct changes in salmon abundance and explore human use of salmon in central Alaska from the earliest occupations during the last Ice Age (~13,000 years ago) through the late prehistoric period. Today, salmon make up the largest proportion of wild foods harvested by rural Alaskans, but the availability of this important subsistence resource is declining in many upriver areas. Research on prehistoric salmon abundance and use can provide data critical to understanding natural variation in salmon availability and how northern riverine peoples have responded to fluctuations in this important resource in the past. By providing a long-term perspective for sustainability and food security planning, project data will benefit a variety of salmon stakeholders within Alaska and beyond. The project has a strong educational component, including the development and delivery of a project-based course for the Rural Alaska Honors Institute (a college preparatory program for rural and Alaska Native college-bound students), thus enhancing opportunities for underrepresented groups.This project will address three questions: (1) How has salmon abundance varied over time in central Alaska? (2) When did prehistoric foragers begin to use salmon, and when did they begin to intensively exploit this resource? (3) How did foragers respond to changes in salmon availability? To address these questions, a multidisciplinary team will use independent approaches: (a) stable isotope analysis of human and faunal remains will reveal the contribution of salmon to the diets of prehistoric salmon consumers (e.g., humans, dogs, bears); (b) zooarchaeological and ancient DNA analyses of fish remains from existing faunal assemblages will allow reconstruction of past fish procurement and processing strategies; and (c) stable isotope analysis of interior lake sediment cores will track natural fluctuations in salmon abundance. These data will be integrated with models of forager economy and mobility to explore cultural responses to salmon abundance through multiple prehistoric periods. This research will provide the necessary faunal isotope data to accurately reconstruct overall paleodiets of newly discovered multiple human individuals at the interior sites of Upward Sun River (~11,500 yrs old) and Tochak (~1000 yrs old), where faunal and initial isotopic data suggest significant salmon use. This project provides unprecedented time depth on natural variation in salmon abundance in the North Pacific and in understanding how northern peoples have responded to changes in this critical resource in the past. The study will produce much-needed direct data bearing on prehistoric subsistence strategies in the Alaskan interior throughout the period of human occupation.