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

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Watersheds and Archaeological sites

Figure by Ben Potter

TAXONOMIC DIVERSITY

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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