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ZOOARCHAEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF CENTRAL ALASKAN FISH FAUNA
Holly J. McKinney, Carrin M. Halffman, Joshua D. Reuther, Charles E. Holmes, and Ben A. Potter
Department of Anthropology
OUTLINE
§ Museum project: focused on analyzing ancient fish bones in 25 existing central Alaskan archaeological collections
§ Model predictions: Long-term interactions among humans and fishes in central Alaska
§ Preservation and fish bone-specific taphonomic considerations
§ Interior Alaskan archaeological sites with fish bones
§ Fish Bone Statistics
NISP, MNI, Salmonidae Index
§ Conclusions
PREHISTORIC INTERACTIONS AMONG HUMANS AND FISHES: A MODEL
Late Pleistocene/ Early Holocene (>13,000-6000 cal BP)
Broad diet breadth
High mobility
Focus on high-ranked ungulates (e.g., bison, wapiti)
Emphasis on lowland areas
No/limited storage
Middle Holocene (6000-1000 cal BP)
Late Holocene (<1000 cal BP)
Similar diet breadth
Reduced mobility
Focus on seasonally abundant fishes (intense use of fish camps) and caribou
Intense use of lowland areas
Use of storage for fishes
Narrowing diet breadth
Seasonal mobility
Focus on caribou
Greater use of upland areas
No use of storage for fishes
TAPHONOMIC PRESERVATION PREDICTIONS
Better Preservation
Greater time depth
Deeply buried
Higher sedimentation rates
Weakly developed inceptisols
Poorer Preservation
Intermediate time depth
Lower sedimentation rates
Forest soils (acidic)
Cryoturbation
Better Preservation
Shorter time depth
Less impacted by diagenetic agents
Late Pleistocene/ Early Holocene (>13,000-6000 cal BP)
Middle Holocene (6000-1000 cal BP)
Late Holocene (<1000 cal BP)
FISH BONE SPECIFIC TAPHONOMIC CONSIDERATIONS
• Inter-taxa and inter-elemental differences in preservation potential
• Bone volume density
• Shape • Size
• Protein content
• Lipid content
www.archeduct.wordpress.com
Watersheds and Archaeological sites
Figure by Ben Potter
TAXONOMIC DIVERSITY
vwww.fwp.mt.gov www.michpics.worldpress.com www.news.wsu.edu
www.wildlife.state.nh.us www.acnl.wikia.com www.arctic.uoguelph.ca
Burbot Salmon sp. Northern Pike
Whitefish sp. Small Salmonidae
(e.g. Rainbow Trout) Small forage fish (e.g. Lake Chub)
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900
1000
Burbot Northern Pike
Salmon sp. Small forage fish
Small Salmonidae
Whitefish
NISP
Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene Middle Holocene Late Holocene
FISH NISP THROUGH TIME
FISH TAXA
Late Holocene
36%
32%
32%
0% 0% NISP
Burbot Northern Pike Salmon sp. Small forage fish Whitefish sp.
Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene
44%
1%
42%
4%
9% NISP
Burbot Northern Pike Salmon sp. Small Salmonidae Whitefish sp.
FISH NISP- LATE PLEISTOCENE/EARLY HOLOCENE
Watershed Archaeological Site Taxon NISP Total NISP
Tanana
Swan Point Burbot 1
3 Whitefish sp. 2
Mead
Burbot 209
234 Northern Pike 3
Whitefish sp. 22
Bachner Northern Pike 2 2
Upward Sun River
Salmon sp. 198
226 Small Salmonidae 17
Whitefish sp. 11
Hollembaek Salmon sp. 5
15 Whitefish sp. 10
Total NISP 480
FISH NISP- LATE HOLOCENE Watershed Archaeological Site Taxon NISP Total NISP
Copper Ringling Burbot 6 679
Salmon sp. 673
VAL-216 Salmon sp. 60 66 Whitefish sp. 6
Kuskokwim Qwigiumpainukamiut
Burbot 890
922 Salmon sp. 24 Small forage fish 2 Whitefish sp. 6
Lake Minchumina Northern pike 2 2 Birches Salmon sp. 52 52
Tanana
Butte Lake Burbot 1 1 Ken Mayo Allotment Salmon sp. 2 2 Dixthada Northern pike 1 1 Gottschling Northern pike 1 1
Healy Lake Northern pike 767 771 Salmon sp. 4
Quartz Lake Burbot 1 22 Northern pike 21
XBD-318 Salmon sp. 1 1
Dock Burbot 4 11 Northern pike 7
Klein Burbot 32 43 Northern pike 11
Total NISP 2574
FISH FAUNA MNI- LATE PLEISTOCENE/EARLY HOLOCENE
Watershed Archaeological Site Taxon MNI
Tanana
Swan Point Burbot 1 Whitefish sp. 1
Mead Burbot 7 Northern Pike 1 Whitefish sp. 1
Bachner Northern Pike 1
Upward Sun River Salmon sp. 1
Small Salmonidae 1 Whitefish sp. 1
Hollembaek Salmon sp. 1 Whitefish sp. 1
Total MNI 17
FISH FAUNA MNI- LATE HOLOCENE Watershed Archaeological Site Taxon MNI
Copper Ringling Burbot 1
Salmon sp. 4
VAL-216 Salmon sp. 1 Whitefish sp. 1
Kuskokwim Qwigiumpainukamiut
Burbot 18 Salmon sp. 1 Small forage fish 1 Whitefish sp. 1
Lake Minchumina Northern pike 1 Birches Salmon sp. 1
Tanana
Butte Lake Burbot 1 Ken Mayo Allotment Salmon sp. 1 Dixthada Northern pike 1 Gottschling Northern pike 1
Healy Lake Northern pike 82 Salmon sp. 1
Quartz Lake Burbot 1 Northern pike 5
XBD-318 Salmon sp. 1
Dock Burbot 2 Northern pike 1
Klein Burbot 1 Northern pike 1
Total MNI 129
UPWARD SUN RIVER FAUNA
Salmon (Oncorhynchus sp.)Mammals
Figure by Ben Potter
UPWARD SUN RIVER CALCINED FISH BONES
Photo by Ben Potter
UPWARD SUN RIVER NISP AND MNI BY FEATURE
Context Taxon NISP MNI
Feature 2010-5 Salmon sp. 198 1 Small Salmonidae 17 1 Whitefish sp. 11 1
Feature 2013-9 Salmonidae 61 1 Feature 2011-6A Small Salmonidae 20 1 Feature 2013-20 Salmonidae 168 1
Feature 2014-6 Salmonidae 6297 2 Small Salmonidae 5 1
Feature 2013-13 Salmonidae 1 1 Total 6778 10
Photos by Ben Potter
UPWARD SUN RIVER SALMON
• Genetic analysis: Oncorhynchus keta (chum salmon)
• Stable isotope analysis: anadromous
• Near modern limit of chum distribution
• Recurrent use in the terminal Pleistocene
Figure by Ben Potter
SALMONIDAE INDEX (Ʃ NISP SALMONIDAE/Ʃ NISP ALL FISH)
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene
Middle Holocene Late Holocene
?
CONCLUSIONS
• A wide range of freshwater and anadromous fish were exploited during both periods
• Consistent with previous research, we see a greater dependence on fishes over time
• As the taphonomic model predicts, fish are absent from Middle Holocene assemblages
• Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene assemblages are dominated by burbot and salmon
• Late Holocene assemblages are dominated by burbot, salmon, and northern pike
• There is no archaeological evidence from the curated archaeological collections for resource intensification focused on Salmonidae during any time period
• If we want to better understand prehistoric interactions among humans and fishes- focus excavations along streams and lakes
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Funding
• National Science Foundation grant: Fishing through Antiquity in central Alaska: exploring the abundance and use of salmon through stable isotope, zooarchaeological, and ancient DNA analyses (NSF ID: 1521501)
• National Science Foundation grant: Exploring intrasite variability at Upward Sun River (Xaasaa Na’), a terminal Pleistocene site in central Alaska: foraging behaviors and paleoenvironmental contexts (NSF ID: 1223119)
People
• Bob Sattler- Tanana Chiefs Conference
• John Cook- Bureau of Land Management
• Diane Hanson- University of Alaska Anchorage
• Richard Vanderhoek- Office of History and Archaeology
• Scott Shirar- University of Alaska Museum of the North