The Archaeology of a Severely Vandalized Site, 49-MIS-032, at Lake Kaiyak, Noatak National Preserve, Northwest Alaska

Gilbert-Young, Sabra

In 1996, the National Park Service conducted excavations at a late prehistoric village at Lake Kaiyak, in the Noatak National Preserve, in an effort to mitigate the effects of vandalism that had occurred at two housepit features. The single component nature of the site lessens the severity of archaeological data lost due to the vandalism because we are free from the confusing intermingling of artifacts from other cultural components. The site (49-MIS-032) at Lake Kaiyak is important because it represents only the third site within the entire Noatak River valley from the late prehistoric period (post A.D. 1400) with reported faunal data. Additionally, this site has the distinction of not being located along the Noatak River or one of its tributaries, unlike nearly all other recorded sites from this time period. The identification and analysis of the 7,875 (57% of the total recovered assemblage) faunal specimens determined that caribou were the major food source of the Lake Kaiyak inhabitants and the animals were processed on-site. It was this abundant source of food that facilitated the establishment of a multi-house village on a lake without a subsistence caliber fishery. The houses were likely moss covered ivruliks with very deep and short entry tunnels; a combination not recognized until now. The archaeofauna from two other late prehistoric sites in the region, Kangiguksuk and Sapun Creek, are compared against the findings from 49-MIS-032. A surprising number of caribou feet were recovered from all three assemblages and an explanation is offered for why the feet, which have limited utility, may have be selected for transportation by these late prehistoric peoples. An additional benefit derived from the faunal analysis of the 49-MIS-032 collection is the clarification of the number of bones in the caribou skeleton. This research presents for the first time all of the foot elements correctly identified and positioned. Illustrations of the clarified fore and hind feet are provided to aid other archaeologists in their identifications.

The Archaeology of a Severely Vandalized Site, 49-MIS-032, at Lake Kaiyak, Noatak National Preserve, Northwest Alaska

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