John Darwent

Archaeological Survey of Eastern Inglefield Land, Northwest Greenland

Archaeological survey by foot, boat, and helicopter was undertaken in the eastern portion of Inglefield Land, northwestern Greenland. Although the research interests of the Inglefield Land Archaeology Project (ILAP) are focused on the late Thule-early Historic contact period, all cultural features were documented. A total of 1376 features, including winter houses, tent rings, fox traps, caches, hearths, kayak stands, and burials were recorded during pedestrian survey of three broad regions, which represent the entire culture history of the High Arctic from ca. 4200 years ago to modern use of the region by Inughuit hunters. Settlement pattern analysis suggests greater use of easternmost Inglefield Land by Paleoeskimo inhabitants compared to Thule/Historic groups and overall more short-term occupation (i.e., hunting forays) during the Paleoeskimo period. Thule winter houses are concentrated in the Glacier and Marshall Bay regions and secondarily at Cape Grinnell.

Statistical Analysis of Paradigmatic Class Richness Supports Greater Paleoindian Projectile-Point Diversity in the Southeast

Abstract Ronald Mason’s hypothesis from the 1960s that the southeastern United States possesses greater Paleoindian projectile-point diversity than other regions is regularly cited, and often assumed to be true, but in fact has never been quantitatively tested. Even if valid, however, the evolutionary meaning of this diversity is contested. Point diversity is often linked to Clovis “origins,” but point diversity could also arise from group fissioning and drift, admixture, adaptation, or multiple founding events, among other possibilities. Before archaeologists can even begin to discuss these scenarios, it is paramount to ensure that what we think we know is representative of reality. To this end, we tested Mason’s hypothesis for the first time, using a sample of 1,056 Paleoindian points from eastern North America arui employing paradigmatic classification and rigorous statistical tools used in the quantification of ecological biodiversity. Our first set of analyses, which compared the Southeast to the Northeast, showed that the Southeast did indeed possess significantly greater point-class richness. Although this result was consistent with Mason’s hypothesis, our second set of analyses, which compared the Upper Southeast to the Lower Southeast and the Northeast showed that in terms of point-class richness the Upper Southeast > Lower Southeast > Northeast. Given current chronometrie evidence, we suggest that this latter result is consistent with the suggestion that the area of the Ohio, Cumberland, and Tennessee River valleys, as well as the mid-Atlantic coastal plain, were possible initial and secondary “staging areas” for colonizing Paleoindian foragers moving from western to eastern North America.

1,000 Years of House Change at Cape Espenberg, Alaska: A Case Study in Horizontal Stratigraphy

Abstract Cape Espenberg is on the farthest southwestern extent of Kotzebue Sound, Alaska, just above the Arctic Circle, and is a peninsula composed of a series of dune-covered beach ridges. As part of a larger research initiative, extensive mapping to record all cultural features and characterize the topography of approximately 1 km2 on the southeastern terminus of the cape was undertaken in 2007 and 2010. The primary purpose of this mapping was to explore the use of the cape for the past 1,200 years using one of the unique aspects of beach-ridge archaeology: horizontal stratigraphy. There were 11 intervals of beach ridge/dune development, and with the exception of one truncated ridge and the modern ridge, Thule-Iñupiaq people built semi-subterranean winter houses on each ridge. A total of 117 house depressions along with related cache pits, artifact scatters, whale bone, and hearths were identified; distribution of house forms indicate that Cape Espenberg has had an unbroken stream of cultural continuity. However, in terms of house architecture and community patterning, it appears that there has been a reduction of certain architectural components over time. Houses also occur more frequently in isolated contexts. Both aspects are coincident with the onset of the Little Ice Age.