subject: Aspects of Aleutian Prehistory [print this page] Aspects of Aleutian Prehistory Aspects of Aleutian Prehistory
About 200 Aleutian Islands extend from the SW tip of the Alaska Peninsula to the Kamchatka Peninsula,Siberia.The later region was colonized ca 12000 BCE [all dates calibrated] by people,who hunted feral game and caught salmon.They used bifacial projectile points,which resembled Late Palaeolithic,western North American stemmed projectile points.A subsequent cultural change introduced bifacially,retouched,leaf-shaped,micro blades,stone laboratet ornaments and non-toggling,multi-barbed,harpoon technologiesThese innovations contributed to the later proto- Eskimo and Aleut traditions [R Rubicsz,2004].The modern Karyak and Itelmen inhabitants of the Kamchatka Peninsula largely harbour mtDNA haplogroups [hgs]C and G and Y chromosome haplotypes,that have minimal affinities with the Aleuts.The former are closer to eastern Siberian and Amur River populations,than to those on the north Pacific Rim.The Amur River specimens are genetically distinct from NE Siberians [M Ziojutro,2006]. On Bering Island east of Kamchatka,thePrbilofs and the western Aleutian Islands the mtDNA diversity is low and there is a high incidence of D2 [ibid].
The mainly treeless and windswept Aleutian Islands have been subjected to sporadic volcanic and tectonic activity.Local ice sheets depressed some islands.Ice sheet melt and isostatic uplift varied regionally along the island chain.Island ice caps "might" have melted ca 10000-8000 BCE."Effective sea level rise seems to have ceased early at some eastern locales [eg;Alaska Peninsula,ca 9000? BCE;Attu Island ca 3000 BCE] due to differential isostatic uplift [D Krupa,2007].The Alaskan Peninsula's original post- glacial shoreline was ca 16m above the 1979 ADE level [R Black,1980].Ca 1000 BCE sea level fell 2-5m over a large portion of the study area.Due to isostatic uplift a number of the ancient,coastal sites on the Alaska Peninsula could be located inland [ D Krupa,2007]. Ancient Aleutian sites may be drowned,eroded by wave action,destroyed by tsunamis,buried by volcanic emissions or been disturbed by seismic activity.There is a paucity of archaeological data with reliable chronology.
Anangula is a small island,which is separated from Umnak Island near the east end of the Aleutian chain by a 1.5m wide channel.During the last ice age both islands were part of a southern Beringa peninsula.They were largely covered by an ice sheet that probably began to recede ca 12000 BCE.The Mount Vsevidof,Mount Recheshnoi and Okmak volcanoes have all been active in the Umnak region.Aigner [1976] dated a small hamlet at the SE end of Anangula Island ,which yielded cores and blades,to ca 7435 BCE+/-275a.R Black [1974a] contends that the initial colonists probably journeyed to the island by water craft .The central part of the Okmak caldera collapsed during a major volcanic eruption,which may date to ca 7250 BCE+/- 250a.It deposited 10-20cm of ash over most of Anangula Island and "might" have forced the inhabitants to abandon their dwellings [speculation:R Black,1975?].There is no evidence that this initial colonization of the Aleutian Islands was permanent.There was a substantial hiatus before the next community was settled.
Ancient Aleuts were marine oriented,because strand flats,that enhanced the renewal of marine food supplies,evolved during the ca 6300-1000 BCE highstand [R Black,1976].NE of the most eastern Aleutian island the Kodiak Archipelago was frequented by sea mammal hunters/marine foragers ca 5500 BCE.Villages were well established by 1500 BCE.Thesize of salmon runs and availability of other fish can vary significantly temporally.Studies [eg;Finney et al,2002] indicate that after 250 BCE populations were often confronted with appreciable differences in marine/riverine fish supplies. Their ancestors would have been faced with the same dilemma.Fishing was the prime component of the Kodiak economy.Nets,weirs,deep sea fishing gear,smoking structures and up river settlements testify to the importance of this riverine/marine industry.However there is no definitive evidence that the residents radically altered their fishing strategies during adverse environmental conditions, when some fish species were relatively scarce.They could have increased their procurement of sea mammals during these eras. [C Foster West,2009]. The results of this case study provides some information about regional marine exploitation practices during the early Aleutian period.
The earliest age estimate from the Aleutian Chaluka village is 2360 BCE +/- 100a [Aigner,1978]. Initial colonization of the western Shemya Island is estimated to have occurred ca 1935 BCE +/-60a [Seigal-Causey.1995].It has been propsed that the Aleutian Islands were colonized from east to west, but a few authors have disputed this assumption.There was a wide range of settlement sizes.From ca 400 BCE -100 ADE Adamagan was a large Aleut village by Morzhovoi Bay near the SW tip of Alasksa,with a direct conduit to the Bering Sea.It was comprised of 250 semi-subterranean winter homes that were accessed through the roof. It was abandoned ca 100ADE,when its link to the Bering Sea was severed.Settlement patterns adapted to environmental change.The Aleutian Islanders were sporadically forced to seek shelter from the elements and to escape from natural disasters. [B Fagan,2011]The ancient Aleut cultural material included carved stone lamps,stone bowls,faceted red ochre grinders and grinding pallets [J Brennar,2006].The western Aleutian Islands were probably settled ca 2000-1000 BCE.These islanders lived in semi-subterranean homes,similar to those on the Kamchatka Peninsula.The Margaret site on Amaknak Island in Unalaska Bay revealed a slow transtition from unifacial to bifacial tool manufacture [R Black,1997].
Artifacts from Hokkaido,Japan,and the Frazier River Basin,North America infer coastal interaction [eg; whaling components;R Black,1997].The remains of four or more houses [ca 1000 BCE] at the Amaknak Bridge excavations on Unalaska Island had under floor,stone lined ,channel heating systems, similar to the Korean Ondal type A.A 2-4m ditch was dug in the floor of each house.Flat rocks were placed in a V shape along the ditch walls ,which were covered with more flat rocks.Ondals were only on one side of the room and there was a chimney to release the smoke. Prior to the Aleutian discovery the oldest Ondal [ca 500 BCE] had been identified in North Okjea,Russia,ca 5000km distant [R Knecht,2007].
Hrdlicka [1945] analysed the cranial morphology of human remains from Chaluka midden on Umnak Island,and on nearby Shiprock and Kagamil Islands.He concluded that the dolicocephalic Ancient Aleuts had been gradually infiltrated by brachycephalic Neo-Aleuts from the east,who had a more complex society,ca 1000 BCE.Extant western and central Aleutian Islanders are mainly dolicocephalic,while those in the east tend to be brachcephalic.He also postulated that the Neo-Aleuts did not migrate west of the Fox Islands in significant numbers.J Brennar [2006] obtained radio carbon ages from the human bones that Hrdlicka had examined and confirmed his chronological estimates.The oldest Chaluka burial dates to ca 1815 BCE +/-42a.Most cranial studies place the Neo- Aleuts closest to Athupaskans and NW Amerindians [Ossenburg,1996].
The Aleuts have high frequencies of mtDNA hg D,which contrasts with the prevalence of hg A among the indigenous in the northern Pacific Rim [R Rubicz,2004.The Aleuts harbour ca 75% hg D and 25% hg A.The frequency of D2 [100%] on Bering Island diminishes eastward along the Aleutian Islands to Alaska.Thedistribution of mtDNA samples from eleven Aleutian Islands infers small founding populations for D2,A3 and A7,which evolved in relative isolation [M Crawford,2007]. Phlogeographic analysis of mtDNA and ancient mtDNA studies suggest that D2 "may" have evolved in Beringia .In the eastern Aleutian Islanders and lower Alaska Peninsula there are higher frequencies of mtDNA hg A and its clades,which may reflect sustained cultural exchange with Eskimo and Nadene groups [M Zlojutro,2006].
Athapaskans share some lineages with the Aleuts,such as the variants specific to A3 [16234T, 16290C,1626T].Both have three diversities appreciably greater than that of Eskimos/Chukchi.this in- fers a close genetic relationship,which might be attributed to the arrival of the Neo-Aleuts [speculation].Ca 85% of Aleut Y chromosome hgs are European and 6% of female mtDNA hgs are not Aleut.Extant hg D and A Aleut frequencies are similar to prehistoric ratios.Aleut mtDNA varies from modern day Amerindians and Asians outside of Siberia.Beringia populations seem to represent a post glacial expansion distinct from southern Amerindians [R Rubicz,2004].The genetic information does not contradict Hrdlicka's cranial morphological results.
