Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene Sites in the Nenana River Valley, Central Alaska
Dates
Year
2001
Citation
Hoffecker, John F., 2001, Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene Sites in the Nenana River Valley, Central Alaska: Arctic Anthropology, v. 38, no. 2, 139 p.
Summary
The Nenana River valley, located in the northern foothills of the Alaska Range, contains a group of sites that collectively spans 11,300 to 7000 B.P., and provides critical information on the settlement of Alaska during this interval. Major localities include Dry Creek, Walker Road, Panguingue Creek, and Moose Creek, all of which contain cultural remains buried in a deep aeolian sedimentary context. Three of these sites yielded assemblages comprising small bifacial points, endscrapers, scraper planes, and other tools dating to between ca. 11,300 and 11,100 B.P. (Nenana complex). Three sites contain assemblages of microblades, lanceolate points, burins, and other lithic artifacts that stratigraphically overlie the Nenana complex occupations [...]
Summary
The Nenana River valley, located in the northern foothills of the Alaska Range, contains a group of sites that collectively spans 11,300 to 7000 B.P., and provides critical information on the settlement of Alaska during this interval. Major localities include Dry Creek, Walker Road, Panguingue Creek, and Moose Creek, all of which contain cultural remains buried in a deep aeolian sedimentary context. Three of these sites yielded assemblages comprising small bifacial points, endscrapers, scraper planes, and other tools dating to between ca. 11,300 and 11,100 B.P. (Nenana complex). Three sites contain assemblages of microblades, lanceolate points, burins, and other lithic artifacts that stratigraphically overlie the Nenana complex occupations and/or date to ca. 10,600 to 7000 B.P. (Denali complex). Several sites also contain occupations that may be assigned to later industries of the Middle and Late Holocene (e.g., Northern Archaic). The archaeological record in the Nenana River valley suggests that two separate and temporally successive industries were present in central Alaska during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene, but the Tanana Basin sites indicate a more complex picture. ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]; Copyright of Arctic Anthropology is the property of University of Wisconsin Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)