Paleoindian Adaptations in Eastern Beringia: Prelude or Postscript to the Early Settlement of the Americas

Archaeologists will undertake a two-year program of archaeological investigations at the late Pleistocene age Raven Bluff site in interior northwestern Alaska. The site contains the oldest and best preserved collection of faunal remains from the American Arctic, and an assemblage of stone tools that includes fluted projectile points. Fluted projectile points are a type of stone weapon tip associated with the initial phase of human settlement in most regions of the New World. They have not, however, been reliably dated in eastern Beringia (Alaska and unglaciated portions of Yukon), a region of critical importance for thinking about the colonization of the Americas since it was a presumed waypoint for the initial settlers of North and South America as they expanded from their Asian homeland. In the absence of secure dating Beringian fluted points have yet to be situated in a historical or ecological context, and there is little known about the behavior of the people who used this technology or their relationship to fluted point users in the midcontinent. This project will address these issues through interdisciplinary studies at Raven Bluff and analyses of existing fluted point assemblages found in museum collections. At Raven Bluff a research team will: establish a chronological and stratigraphic framework for the archaeological deposits; reconstruct the late Pleistocene and early Holocene environmental setting; describe strategies of faunal exploitation and resource use; and characterize the stone tool production and maintenance activities conducted at the site, including methods of fluted point manufacture and repair. Building on insights from our detailed studies at Raven Bluff we also plan to reexamine existing fluted point assemblages from Alaska, as well as published data from selected fluted point assemblages from the midcontinent, in order to evaluate hypotheses about the transmission and development of fluted point technology within Beringia, and its transmission between Beringia and the midcontinent. Insights resulting from this work will help resolve longstanding questions about the timing of the fluted point occupation in Beringia, and the subsistence and technological adaptations of the people who made fluted point in an extreme, high latitude environment. It will also fill a major geographic and temporal gap in our knowledge of Paleoindian dispersals throughout the Americas. These issues are important because they are connected to the general process of first entry and adaptive radiation of people in all parts of the world, and shed light on the means by which small scale societies adapt to diverse environmental challenges. The broader impacts of this study include training and mentoring of high school, undergraduate and graduate students. Education and outreach efforts through the PolarTREC program will bring an issue of great public interest and scientific importance?the earliest period of cultural development in the New World ?into classrooms across the country.考古学家将在阿拉斯加西北部内陆的晚更新世（late Pleistocene age）雷文布拉夫（Raven Bluff）遗址开展为期两年的考古调查项目。该遗址拥有美洲北极地区最古老且保存最为完好的动物遗骸（faunal remains）组合，以及包含带凹槽投射尖状器（fluted projectile points）在内的石器组合。带凹槽投射尖状器是一类石制武器尖端，与新大陆多数地区的人类初始定居阶段密切相关。然而，这类尖状器在白令海东部地区（eastern Beringia，即阿拉斯加与育空地区未冰川覆盖区域）尚未获得可靠测年数据。该地区对于研究美洲人类定居进程具有关键意义，因为它曾被认为是北美与南美早期定居者从亚洲故土向外扩张的途经点。由于缺乏可靠测年数据，白令地区的带凹槽投射尖状器尚未能被置于历史或生态语境之中，目前对使用该技术的人群行为，以及他们与北美中部地区（midcontinent）同类尖状器使用者的关联，都所知甚少。本项目将通过在雷文布拉夫遗址开展的跨学科研究，以及对博物馆馆藏现存带凹槽投射尖状器组合的分析，来解决上述问题。在雷文布拉夫遗址，研究团队将完成以下工作：建立考古堆积的年代学与地层学框架；重建晚更新世至全新世早期（early Holocene）的环境背景；阐释动物资源开发与利用策略；并刻画遗址内的石器制作与维护活动，包括带凹槽投射尖状器的制作与修复方法。基于在雷文布拉夫遗址开展的详细研究所得出的认识，我们还计划重新检视阿拉斯加地区现存的带凹槽投射尖状器组合，以及北美中部地区部分已发表的同类尖状器组合数据，以此来评估相关假说：即白令地区内部带凹槽投射尖状器技术的传播与发展，以及该技术在白令地区与北美中部地区之间的传播。本研究所得出的认识，将有助于解决长期以来的诸多疑问：包括白令地区带凹槽投射尖状器遗存的年代，以及在极端高纬度环境下制作该尖状器的人群的生计与技术适应情况。同时，本研究还将填补我们在古印第安人（Paleoindian）向美洲各地扩散的相关认知中，存在的重大地理与时间空白。这些问题意义重大，因为它们与全球范围内人类首次迁徙及适应性辐射的普遍进程息息相关，同时也能阐明小型社会如何应对多样的环境挑战。本研究的更广泛影响包括对高中生、本科生与研究生的培训与指导。通过PolarTREC项目开展的教育与科普活动，将把兼具公众关注度与科学重要性的议题——新大陆最早的文化发展阶段——带入全美各地的课堂。