Animals as Raw Material in Beringia

Insights from the Site of Swan Point CZ4B, Alaska

Bibliographic Data

ID2655801
AuthorsFrançois B Lanoë, François Lanoë (0000-0002-4627-140X, University of Arizona, corresponding author), Charles E Holmes (0000-0003-4422-2310, University of Alaska Fairbanks)
Year2016
Volume81
Issue4
Pages682-696
Publication date2016-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Antiquity (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-7316 • E-ISSN: 2325-5064
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.7183/0002-7316.81.4.682
OpenAlexW4243281851
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited44

We document the use of organic raw material in late Pleistocene eastern Beringia through the study of the site of Swan Point CZ4b, in central Alaska. CZ4b is attributed to the Dyuktai culture and dates to about 14,000 cal B.P. We interpret the occupation as a specialized workshop dedicated to the production and maintenance of organic-based tools following three lines of evidence: (1) limited on-site consumption of megafauna, (2) diversity of organic raw materials and techniques used in processing them, and (3) spatial demarcation of specialized activity areas. Specialized workshops are located in the vicinity of naturally occurring accumulations of mammoth bones in both western and eastern Beringia and suggest similarities in animal resource use across Beringia for the Dyuktai culture. Organic technology was a major portion of Dyuktai technology in eastern Beringia, and its lack of visibility in archaeological assemblages is probably due to taphonomic reasons. Changes in the availability of organic raw material throughout the Late Pleistocene offer some implications for the evolution of lithic technology and material culture

Archaeology · Beringia · Culture of the United States · Geography · Mammoth · Megafauna · Pleistocene · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Geology · Indigenous Studies and Ecology · Law · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology