Anangula--A Major Pressure-Microblade Site in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska: Reevaluating Its Lithic Component

Abstract

The Anangula Core-and-Blade site (eastern Aleutians), discovered in 1938, dates between ca. 9600 and 8000 cal. BP. Anangula is a major site in the archaeology of Alaska and Beringia, and it has important implications to the peopling of the New World due to its chronology, geographic location, and material culture among others. This article focuses on the lithic industry and has two main aims: 1) presenting new research on previously unpublished lithic material, especially the pressure-microblade component, which has been largely overlooked up until now, and 2) discussing Anangula in relationship to other Beringian microblade sites in light of this reanalysis. This paper will show that the site has a definitive pressure-microblade component, argue that it thus has to be considered as a major Beringian microblade site, and discuss its technological proximity with microblade sites, especially from interior Alaska.