Subsistence and Seasonality at a Late Prehistoric House Pit in Northwest Alaska

Abstract

In this report, I examine a house from a Late Prehistoric village site near the confluence of Maiyumerak Creek and the Noatak River in the Noatak National Preserve, Alaska. In 2006, several thousand artifacts and over 100,000 faunal remains were excavated from this approximately 500-year-old house. Faunal remains and subsistencerelated artifacts associated with the living fl oor of the house were analyzed to assess diet and seasonal occupation. I also address how this house fits into previously proposed Late Prehistoric land- and resource-use models. The dietary reconstruction shows that both classes of data (artifacts and fauna) indicate a primary reliance upon terrestrial mammal resources, a secondary reliance upon bird and fi sh resources, and a limited reliance upon marine mammal resources. Th e seasonal analysis of the house indicates a late summer, fall, and/or winter occupation (July through February). The seasonal occupation, radiocarbon dates and evidence of coastal contact at this site illustrate current difficulties with testing hypothesized periods of coastal abandonment during this time period. Finally, this case illustrates that for any region and time period studies related to patterns of human settlement need to be comprehensive and incorporate multiple lines of evidence and large, robust region-specifi c data sets.