Harington, C. R., and Cinq-Mars, J., 2008, Bluefish Caves - fauna and context: .
Summary
Bluefish Caves (Figure 1), located 54 km southwest of the village of Old Crow in northern Yukon has yielded evidence of episodic human activity from about 25,000 to 12,000 BP (radiocarbon years before present). It may be the most significant of Late Pleistocene Eastern Beringian and Canadian cave faunas because the caves contain: (1) in situ evidence for the earliest people in North America; (2) a well-marked transition between Pleistocene (approximately 2 million to 10,000 years ago) and Holocene (about the last 10,000 years) sediments, flora and fauna; and (3) remains of a substantial variety of both smaller and larger mammals adapted to northern conditions, as well as migratory birds, that lived during the last 30,000 years. The [...]
Summary
Bluefish Caves (Figure 1), located 54 km southwest of the village of Old Crow in northern Yukon has yielded evidence of episodic human activity from about 25,000 to 12,000 BP (radiocarbon years before present). It may be the most significant of Late Pleistocene Eastern Beringian and Canadian cave faunas because the caves contain: (1) in situ evidence for the earliest people in North America; (2) a well-marked transition between Pleistocene (approximately 2 million to 10,000 years ago) and Holocene (about the last 10,000 years) sediments, flora and fauna; and (3) remains of a substantial variety of both smaller and larger mammals adapted to northern conditions, as well as migratory birds, that lived during the last 30,000 years. The vertebrate fossils are thought to have accumulated as a result of carnivore, raptor and human activity, as well as natural deaths occurring in the caves. The site was discovered from the air in 1975 by the University of Toronto's Northern Yukon Research Programme. Excavations at the site, carried out under the direction of Jacques Cinq-Mars with the help of student assistants, various researchers, and Old Crow Gwitchin participants, began in 1977 and lasted until 1987. Bluefish Caves is acknowledged as an Archaeological Reserve. ... Ice age vertebrates from Bluefish Caves comprise 4 fish species, 1 amphibian species, at least 23 bird species; and 35 mammal species. Evidently most of these vertebrates lived in grassy tundra surroundings. Two independent studies, one based on Yukon horse bones and the other on bird bones, support the idea that during the Last Glacial Maximum the Bluefish Caves environment was a diverse, productive ecosystem. Humans occupied the Bluefish Caves area as early as 25,000 years ago (Author)