While natural scientists track environmental change in response to global warming, less attention... more While natural scientists track environmental change in response to global warming, less attention has been directed towards human interface with long term Arctic environmental dynamics. Current research at Cape Krusenstern, Alaska, seeks to address this deficit through investigation of human-environmental interactions recorded in archeological and paleoenvironmental data spanning the last 4,000-5,000 years at the Cape, building on the pioneering work conducted at Krusenstern by J. Louis Giddings and Douglas D. Anderson. Systematic survey and use of new mapping technology to record cultural and natural features are methods central to addressing these research questions. Discovery of new archeological features indicates occupation of the Cape was more extensive over the last 1,000 years than previously thought, although additional fieldwork and analysis are needed.
This chapter develops a model to frame differences in the degree and intensity of hunter-gatherer... more This chapter develops a model to frame differences in the degree and intensity of hunter-gatherer information networking as strategic responses to differing degrees of environmental variability and interaction costs. With this model, we argue that hunter-gatherer bands (i.e., more or less egalitarian, small-scale, and mostly wild-food-producing groups) should be more connected at local, intergroup, regional, and supraregional scales when the costs of networking are low and environmental productivity and predictability are also low (probability of local failure is high). At the other extreme, high-cost landscapes with high predictability and reasonable productivity should lead to greater insularity, but with punctuated failures due to rare and unpredictable environmental perturbations. High-cost, low-predictability/low-productivity landscapes should necessitate higher levels of investment in networking, through the generation of specialized traders, subsidized to serve the essential ...
Human beings are an active component of every terrestrial ecosystem on Earth. Although our local ... more Human beings are an active component of every terrestrial ecosystem on Earth. Although our local impact on the evolution of these ecosystems has been undeniable and extensively documented, it remains unclear precisely how our activities are altering them, in part because ecosystems are dynamic systems structured by complex, non-linear feedback processes and cascading effects. We argue that it is only by studying human–environment interactions over timescales that greatly exceed the lifespan of any individual human (i.e., the deep past or longue durée), we can hope to fully understand such processes and their implications. In this article, we identify some of the key challenges faced in integrating long-term datasets with those of other areas of sustainability science, and suggest some useful ways forward. Specifically, we (a) highlight the potential of the historical sciences for sustainability science, (b) stress the need to integrate theoretical frameworks wherein humans are seen ...
EPIC3Oceans Past VII Conference "Tracing human interactions with marine ecosystems through deep time: implications for policy and management", Bremerhaven, Germany, 2018-10-21-2018-10-26, 2018
The Circumpolar North is generally recognized as a challenging environment to inhabit and yet, we... more The Circumpolar North is generally recognized as a challenging environment to inhabit and yet, we know relatively little about how people managed their welfare in these places. Here, we add to the understanding of maritime hunter-gatherers in the subarctic North Pacific through a comparative approach that synthesizes biogeographic and archaeological data from the Kuril Islands. We conclude that our faunal, ceramic and lithic evidence support biogeographical expectations as assemblages from low biodiversity and insular regions show limited diet breadth, more locally produced pottery and a conservation of lithic resources. However, we highlight that these ecological factors did not strictly determine the occupation history of the archipelago as radiocarbon data suggests all regions experienced similar demographic fluctuations regardless of their biogeography. These results imply additional pressures influenced the strategic use and settlement of the Kuril Islands and the need for increased chronological resolution to disentangle these complex historical factors. 1. Introduction Maritime hunter-gatherers can be broadly defined as those groups whose subsistence relies primarily on wild resources extracted from the sea. However, given that many northern regions have had only intermittent human presence (Hoffecker 2005; Friesen and Mason 2016) and have been less intensively studied, the archaeological record of Arctic and sub-Arctic maritime hunter-gatherers is often scant. This is unfortunate as the archaeology of northern foragers present valuable opportunities to study long-term interactions between humans and their environments. This is especially true given the challenging climates, inherent instability of highlatitude ecosystems and their reliance on local resources for survival (Damm et al. 2019). Here, our approach is to compare archaeological and radiocarbon evidence from maritime hunter-gatherers that inhabited a subarctic landscape: the Kuril Islands, an archipelago that stretches from the northernmost Japanese island of Hokkaido to the southern tip of the Kamchatka peninsula (see Fig 1). We start from the well-established premise that islands make good areas for studying historical hunter-gatherer relationships to ecological variability (Keegan
Using 14 proxy human population time series from around the North Pacific (Alaska, Hokkaido and t... more Using 14 proxy human population time series from around the North Pacific (Alaska, Hokkaido and the Kuril Islands), we evaluate the possibility that the North Pacific climate and marine ecosystem includes a millennial-scale regime shift cycle affecting subsistence and migration. We develop both visual and statistical methods for addressing questions about relative population growth and movement in the past. We introduce and explore the use of a Time Iterative Moran I (TIMI) spatial autocorrelation method to compare time series trends quantitatively – a method that could prove useful in other paleoecological analyses. Results reveal considerable population dynamism around the North Pacific in the last 5000 years and strengthen a previously reported inverse correlation between Northeast and Northwest Pacific proxy population indices. Visual and TIMI analyses suggest multiple, overlapping explanations for the variability, including the potential that oscillating ecological regime shift...
Using 14 proxy human population time series from around the North Pacific (Alaska, Hokkaido and t... more Using 14 proxy human population time series from around the North Pacific (Alaska, Hokkaido and the Kuril Islands), we evaluate the possibility that the North Pacific climate and marine ecosystem includes a millennial-scale regime shift cycle affecting subsistence and migration. We develop both visual and statistical methods for addressing questions about relative population growth and movement in the past. We introduce and explore the use of a Time Iterative Moran I (TIMI) spatial autocorrelation method to compare time series trends quantitatively – a method that could prove useful in other paleoecological analyses. Results reveal considerable population dynamism around the North Pacific in the last 5000 years and strengthen a previously reported inverse correlation between Northeast and Northwest Pacific proxy population indices. Visual and TIMI analyses suggest multiple, overlapping explanations for the variability, including the potential that oscillating ecological regime shifts affect the North Pacific basin. These results provide an opening for coordinated research to unpack the interrelated social, cultural and environmental dynamics around the subarctic and arctic North Pacific at different spatial and temporal scales by international teams of archaeologists, historians, paleoecologists, paleoceanographers, paleoclimatologists, modelers and data management specialists.
The Arctic is changing rapidly, and there is much concern over what the effects of those changes ... more The Arctic is changing rapidly, and there is much concern over what the effects of those changes might be. Although changes of considerable magnitude have happened in the past, current understanding of Arctic systems is not yet sufficient to enable useful predictions. Scientific observations span a very limited period in the Arctic, and do not encompass even fairly recent (Little Ice Age, Medieval Climate Anomaly) periods of climate change. One way to address this would be to extend the period of observation, but the situation is urgent. As an alternative, various types of proxy data can serve a similar function. It is suggested that archaeological sites with good organic preservation are not only sources of data on past human behavior and cultural organization, but also valuable resources for paleoenvironmental reconstruction, with potential similar to other paleoenvironmental proxy records. The sites tend to be located at or near places that are still occupied today, thus providing locally relevant data. They also tend to incorporate the same range of species that are important for subsistence and food security today, so that one can examine how changes affected those species in the past in a fairly direct manner. Yet, just as new methods increase our ability to retrieve and study this information, global climate change poses a dire threat, both to the wealth of organic data in such sites, and to many of the sites themselves. Global change-related threats including increased coastal erosion and the warming and thawing of permafrost are major and imminent threats to the archaeological and paleoecological record.
We present new data on regional correction factor (ΔR) conducted for Chukotka, the Commander Isla... more We present new data on regional correction factor (ΔR) conducted for Chukotka, the Commander Islands, and the western Aleutian Islands and summarize data previously published for the other parts of the region. Paired radiocarbon dates of coeval marine and terrestrial materials from the archaeological site Kaniskak were obtained in Chukotka, and one such pair was analyzed from Shemya Island (western Aleutians). Three samples of sea otter (Enhydra lutris) bones of known collection date were used for the Commander Islands. In conjunction with previously published data, the new results showed that ΔR estimates conducted for the five regions of the northern Pacific do not differ statistically. ΔR assessments combined for archaeological sites resulted in probability density curves of the same shape as that of marine organisms. Comparison of ΔR estimates made with various species of marine animals showed that sea otters and small fishes residing within coastal waters throughout their life ...
This chapter explores the antiquity and evolution of Subarctic maritime traditions in the Beringi... more This chapter explores the antiquity and evolution of Subarctic maritime traditions in the Beringian North Pacific—precursors of maritime cultures that ultimately pushed north and east across the Canadian and Greenlandic Arctic. Boat-based, maritime economies and settlement show up by the Pleistocene-Holocene transition in the relatively warm Subarctic Northeast Pacific (Gulf of Alaska and Aleutians) but appear delayed by 5,000 or more years in the Northwest Pacific and Bering and Chukchi seas. Potential biases of preservation and research histories are examined and dismissed, and two environmental models are proposed to explain the delay (or disruption) of maritime settlement in the seasonally frozen Okhotsk, Bering, and Chukchi seas. Late Holocene maritime traditions intensify and converge in all regions of the Subarctic and Arctic Pacific over the past 2,000–3,000 years, forging a common ecological, economic, technological, and social orientation, where none had previously existed.
Geologic hazards associated with volcanism in the North Pacific have profound if usually temporar... more Geologic hazards associated with volcanism in the North Pacific have profound if usually temporary effects on the environment and human populations. Ash falls associated with these events are often preserved across large areas providing time specific markers. In the past century, volcanic activity and its effects in the North Pacific have been recorded, but much of the Holocene volcanic record in the Alaskan region is still being investigated. The Kodiak Archipelago, while not volcanic itself, is located near both Aleutian and Alaskan peninsula volcanoes. However, little has been published about the Holocene tephrochronology of the Kodiak region. This study focuses on the area around Tanginak Spring Site (KOD481). Located on Sitkalidak Island it is the earliest known human occupation in the Kodiak archipelago. We are documenting Holocene environmental changes on Sitkalidak Island and relating these changes to the archaeological record. As part of this work, we will establish a local...
... the Aleutians have received more investigation in the past decade, the Kurils present signifi... more ... the Aleutians have received more investigation in the past decade, the Kurils present significant la ... research in the Kurils has identified three general periods of prehistoric occupation: Jomon ... could also have contributed popula-tions to the Kurils throughout prehistory (see Chard ...
While natural scientists track environmental change in response to global warming, less attention... more While natural scientists track environmental change in response to global warming, less attention has been directed towards human interface with long term Arctic environmental dynamics. Current research at Cape Krusenstern, Alaska, seeks to address this deficit through investigation of human-environmental interactions recorded in archeological and paleoenvironmental data spanning the last 4,000-5,000 years at the Cape, building on the pioneering work conducted at Krusenstern by J. Louis Giddings and Douglas D. Anderson. Systematic survey and use of new mapping technology to record cultural and natural features are methods central to addressing these research questions. Discovery of new archeological features indicates occupation of the Cape was more extensive over the last 1,000 years than previously thought, although additional fieldwork and analysis are needed.
This chapter develops a model to frame differences in the degree and intensity of hunter-gatherer... more This chapter develops a model to frame differences in the degree and intensity of hunter-gatherer information networking as strategic responses to differing degrees of environmental variability and interaction costs. With this model, we argue that hunter-gatherer bands (i.e., more or less egalitarian, small-scale, and mostly wild-food-producing groups) should be more connected at local, intergroup, regional, and supraregional scales when the costs of networking are low and environmental productivity and predictability are also low (probability of local failure is high). At the other extreme, high-cost landscapes with high predictability and reasonable productivity should lead to greater insularity, but with punctuated failures due to rare and unpredictable environmental perturbations. High-cost, low-predictability/low-productivity landscapes should necessitate higher levels of investment in networking, through the generation of specialized traders, subsidized to serve the essential ...
Human beings are an active component of every terrestrial ecosystem on Earth. Although our local ... more Human beings are an active component of every terrestrial ecosystem on Earth. Although our local impact on the evolution of these ecosystems has been undeniable and extensively documented, it remains unclear precisely how our activities are altering them, in part because ecosystems are dynamic systems structured by complex, non-linear feedback processes and cascading effects. We argue that it is only by studying human–environment interactions over timescales that greatly exceed the lifespan of any individual human (i.e., the deep past or longue durée), we can hope to fully understand such processes and their implications. In this article, we identify some of the key challenges faced in integrating long-term datasets with those of other areas of sustainability science, and suggest some useful ways forward. Specifically, we (a) highlight the potential of the historical sciences for sustainability science, (b) stress the need to integrate theoretical frameworks wherein humans are seen ...
EPIC3Oceans Past VII Conference "Tracing human interactions with marine ecosystems through deep time: implications for policy and management", Bremerhaven, Germany, 2018-10-21-2018-10-26, 2018
The Circumpolar North is generally recognized as a challenging environment to inhabit and yet, we... more The Circumpolar North is generally recognized as a challenging environment to inhabit and yet, we know relatively little about how people managed their welfare in these places. Here, we add to the understanding of maritime hunter-gatherers in the subarctic North Pacific through a comparative approach that synthesizes biogeographic and archaeological data from the Kuril Islands. We conclude that our faunal, ceramic and lithic evidence support biogeographical expectations as assemblages from low biodiversity and insular regions show limited diet breadth, more locally produced pottery and a conservation of lithic resources. However, we highlight that these ecological factors did not strictly determine the occupation history of the archipelago as radiocarbon data suggests all regions experienced similar demographic fluctuations regardless of their biogeography. These results imply additional pressures influenced the strategic use and settlement of the Kuril Islands and the need for increased chronological resolution to disentangle these complex historical factors. 1. Introduction Maritime hunter-gatherers can be broadly defined as those groups whose subsistence relies primarily on wild resources extracted from the sea. However, given that many northern regions have had only intermittent human presence (Hoffecker 2005; Friesen and Mason 2016) and have been less intensively studied, the archaeological record of Arctic and sub-Arctic maritime hunter-gatherers is often scant. This is unfortunate as the archaeology of northern foragers present valuable opportunities to study long-term interactions between humans and their environments. This is especially true given the challenging climates, inherent instability of highlatitude ecosystems and their reliance on local resources for survival (Damm et al. 2019). Here, our approach is to compare archaeological and radiocarbon evidence from maritime hunter-gatherers that inhabited a subarctic landscape: the Kuril Islands, an archipelago that stretches from the northernmost Japanese island of Hokkaido to the southern tip of the Kamchatka peninsula (see Fig 1). We start from the well-established premise that islands make good areas for studying historical hunter-gatherer relationships to ecological variability (Keegan
Using 14 proxy human population time series from around the North Pacific (Alaska, Hokkaido and t... more Using 14 proxy human population time series from around the North Pacific (Alaska, Hokkaido and the Kuril Islands), we evaluate the possibility that the North Pacific climate and marine ecosystem includes a millennial-scale regime shift cycle affecting subsistence and migration. We develop both visual and statistical methods for addressing questions about relative population growth and movement in the past. We introduce and explore the use of a Time Iterative Moran I (TIMI) spatial autocorrelation method to compare time series trends quantitatively – a method that could prove useful in other paleoecological analyses. Results reveal considerable population dynamism around the North Pacific in the last 5000 years and strengthen a previously reported inverse correlation between Northeast and Northwest Pacific proxy population indices. Visual and TIMI analyses suggest multiple, overlapping explanations for the variability, including the potential that oscillating ecological regime shift...
Using 14 proxy human population time series from around the North Pacific (Alaska, Hokkaido and t... more Using 14 proxy human population time series from around the North Pacific (Alaska, Hokkaido and the Kuril Islands), we evaluate the possibility that the North Pacific climate and marine ecosystem includes a millennial-scale regime shift cycle affecting subsistence and migration. We develop both visual and statistical methods for addressing questions about relative population growth and movement in the past. We introduce and explore the use of a Time Iterative Moran I (TIMI) spatial autocorrelation method to compare time series trends quantitatively – a method that could prove useful in other paleoecological analyses. Results reveal considerable population dynamism around the North Pacific in the last 5000 years and strengthen a previously reported inverse correlation between Northeast and Northwest Pacific proxy population indices. Visual and TIMI analyses suggest multiple, overlapping explanations for the variability, including the potential that oscillating ecological regime shifts affect the North Pacific basin. These results provide an opening for coordinated research to unpack the interrelated social, cultural and environmental dynamics around the subarctic and arctic North Pacific at different spatial and temporal scales by international teams of archaeologists, historians, paleoecologists, paleoceanographers, paleoclimatologists, modelers and data management specialists.
The Arctic is changing rapidly, and there is much concern over what the effects of those changes ... more The Arctic is changing rapidly, and there is much concern over what the effects of those changes might be. Although changes of considerable magnitude have happened in the past, current understanding of Arctic systems is not yet sufficient to enable useful predictions. Scientific observations span a very limited period in the Arctic, and do not encompass even fairly recent (Little Ice Age, Medieval Climate Anomaly) periods of climate change. One way to address this would be to extend the period of observation, but the situation is urgent. As an alternative, various types of proxy data can serve a similar function. It is suggested that archaeological sites with good organic preservation are not only sources of data on past human behavior and cultural organization, but also valuable resources for paleoenvironmental reconstruction, with potential similar to other paleoenvironmental proxy records. The sites tend to be located at or near places that are still occupied today, thus providing locally relevant data. They also tend to incorporate the same range of species that are important for subsistence and food security today, so that one can examine how changes affected those species in the past in a fairly direct manner. Yet, just as new methods increase our ability to retrieve and study this information, global climate change poses a dire threat, both to the wealth of organic data in such sites, and to many of the sites themselves. Global change-related threats including increased coastal erosion and the warming and thawing of permafrost are major and imminent threats to the archaeological and paleoecological record.
We present new data on regional correction factor (ΔR) conducted for Chukotka, the Commander Isla... more We present new data on regional correction factor (ΔR) conducted for Chukotka, the Commander Islands, and the western Aleutian Islands and summarize data previously published for the other parts of the region. Paired radiocarbon dates of coeval marine and terrestrial materials from the archaeological site Kaniskak were obtained in Chukotka, and one such pair was analyzed from Shemya Island (western Aleutians). Three samples of sea otter (Enhydra lutris) bones of known collection date were used for the Commander Islands. In conjunction with previously published data, the new results showed that ΔR estimates conducted for the five regions of the northern Pacific do not differ statistically. ΔR assessments combined for archaeological sites resulted in probability density curves of the same shape as that of marine organisms. Comparison of ΔR estimates made with various species of marine animals showed that sea otters and small fishes residing within coastal waters throughout their life ...
This chapter explores the antiquity and evolution of Subarctic maritime traditions in the Beringi... more This chapter explores the antiquity and evolution of Subarctic maritime traditions in the Beringian North Pacific—precursors of maritime cultures that ultimately pushed north and east across the Canadian and Greenlandic Arctic. Boat-based, maritime economies and settlement show up by the Pleistocene-Holocene transition in the relatively warm Subarctic Northeast Pacific (Gulf of Alaska and Aleutians) but appear delayed by 5,000 or more years in the Northwest Pacific and Bering and Chukchi seas. Potential biases of preservation and research histories are examined and dismissed, and two environmental models are proposed to explain the delay (or disruption) of maritime settlement in the seasonally frozen Okhotsk, Bering, and Chukchi seas. Late Holocene maritime traditions intensify and converge in all regions of the Subarctic and Arctic Pacific over the past 2,000–3,000 years, forging a common ecological, economic, technological, and social orientation, where none had previously existed.
Geologic hazards associated with volcanism in the North Pacific have profound if usually temporar... more Geologic hazards associated with volcanism in the North Pacific have profound if usually temporary effects on the environment and human populations. Ash falls associated with these events are often preserved across large areas providing time specific markers. In the past century, volcanic activity and its effects in the North Pacific have been recorded, but much of the Holocene volcanic record in the Alaskan region is still being investigated. The Kodiak Archipelago, while not volcanic itself, is located near both Aleutian and Alaskan peninsula volcanoes. However, little has been published about the Holocene tephrochronology of the Kodiak region. This study focuses on the area around Tanginak Spring Site (KOD481). Located on Sitkalidak Island it is the earliest known human occupation in the Kodiak archipelago. We are documenting Holocene environmental changes on Sitkalidak Island and relating these changes to the archaeological record. As part of this work, we will establish a local...
... the Aleutians have received more investigation in the past decade, the Kurils present signifi... more ... the Aleutians have received more investigation in the past decade, the Kurils present significant la ... research in the Kurils has identified three general periods of prehistoric occupation: Jomon ... could also have contributed popula-tions to the Kurils throughout prehistory (see Chard ...
This is an unpublished Honors Thesis written by Ben Fitzhugh for the University of North Carolina... more This is an unpublished Honors Thesis written by Ben Fitzhugh for the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Department of Anthropology in 1989. Dr. Joan Gero (then of University of South Carolina) invited Ben to join the Queyash Project and provided the opportunity for this thesis. The thesis explores Gero's proposal that Early Intermediate Period Quayash ridge-top site was a center for feasting as a pull mechanism in the development of state-level society. Area II (near the Eastern mound and on the mountain side of the ridge) was found by the author to have been a site of large scale food and chicha production, while other areas of the site - especially the Area I mound on the valley end of the ridge - appeared to have been used as a feasting area (Gero analysis). The thesis includes 6 chapters (Introduction; Previous Research; Excavation Background and and Method; Data and Analysis; Discussion; Conclusion). Analyses include: Soils and Stratigraphy of Area II excavations; Ceramic Analysis; Structural Analysis of arctiecture and floors; Features; Fauna; Lithics, Carbonized corn; Mortero grinding stones; and other finds. The Discussion considers the chronological changes from early EIP through mid- and late-EIP to Aquilpo (Late Intermediate or Late Horizon) reflected through the Queyash Area II excavation. The Conclusion seeks to put the Area II excavation into the site and regional context. The 1988 Area II excavation was small and larger excavations should be conducted to further explore the ideas expressed in this undergraduate thesis.
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