Gerad Smith

This paper describes the historic-era (ca. 1895-1915) artifacts from the Swan Point Archaeological Site in the Middle Tanana Valley, Alaska, and provides an analysis of the artifacts and their manufactured provenance. The Tanana Valley represents one of the last regions in Alaska to be directly impacted by outsiders. Our analyses show the Swan Point historic occupation represents the behavior and activities of local Indigenous Dene and not those of Euro-American prospectors or hunters.

This study explores various testing techniques’ ability to identify activity areas across deeply stratified, open air archaeological sites. To determine the efficacy of different site testing techniques, a systematic ground penetrating radar and auger survey was completed at three sites in central
Alaska: Swan Point, Bachner, and Niidhaayh Na’. The results show that both ground penetrating radar and auger survey can indicate subsurface geology, important for sites without exposed vertical deposits. Additionally, systematic auger surveys can be used to identify activity areas at large sites and in components up to 4 m below surface prior to full-scale excavation. This can help archaeologists identify earlier archaeological components and target specific areas that are directly
related to their research questions while preserving the rest of the site for future investigations. Compared to traditional shovel testing, auger surveys provide a consistent, efficient, and rigorous method for assessing buried cultural remains.

The purpose of this study was to conduct a first approximation of explorations and excavations throughout the White Mountain and Steese Conservation areas during the summer field seasons of 2010 and 2011 in the Yukon Tanana Uplands, central Alaska. An analysis of the lithic artifacts from five site excavations (the Big Bend, Bachelor Creek, Bear Creek, US Creek and Cripple Creek) was then undertaken. These assemblages were then examined and modeled using risk-assessments, optimal resource use, and behavioral processes in order to explore the interdependence of environment, ecology, and material culture that drove prehistoric subsistence cycles in this area. This archaeological research will supplement ethnographies to indicate patterns of change and constants in landscape value, trade networks, and local economic strategies.

In 2017, a feature resembling a shod human footprint was excavated in buried loess directly associated with a housepit feature at the Swan Point archaeological site in central Alaska (~1850 calBP). Recovery of ancient footprints is rare as they are generally destroyed by taphonomic processes. The purpose of this study was to test if the feature’s morphometrics fell within the mean biometrics of a shod human footprint. 3D models of the impression were created in field using photogrammetric modeling and plaster casting. In the laboratory, the cast was modeled using a NextEngine desktop laser scanner, and the recovered feature was photographed in a controlled setting. The models produced by all three techniques were compared and found to be consistent. The primary literature on footprints focuses on barefoot patterns and shod prints with modern foot wear. This print appears to have been made by a foot shod in a moccasin. To test this, we photomodeled a worn-through historic moccasin. The shape and wear pattern of the moccasin matched the print and the depression pattern. A classic human foot landmark analysis suggests that the midfoot to heel was in the range of a foot this size. Recent research in the biomedical field has found that it is possible to reconstruct foot pressure using 3D models. We used differences in depth to locate the midfoot, lateral foot, and heel contact areas. Results suggest that the feature falls within the expected mean parameters of a shod prehistoric human footprint, the first described from Alaska.

This study explores the shifting anthropological constructs of identity for the Middle Tanana people through time. It first summarizes this theme through contemporary regional Native American internal and external influences. A discussion is then given on how these constructs became formed through historical processes. Next, it provides an in-depth look into how identity became shaped prior to the Euro-American influence through an ethnographic reconstruction. These are framed in a way to form relevant hypotheses to study the regional prehistoric archaeological record. The Historical Linguistics analytical approach used here confirms that there is very little, if any, evidence in the languages of the Tanana Valley from any non-Dene or other hypothetical pre-existing linguistic group. Language forms an integral unit of community identity. This study also frames the linguistic argument for deep regional cultural antiquity and identity through an extensive survey of traditional place names. A brief comparative study of the processes and effects of the incursion of the Indo-European languages into traditional Dene territory is discussed to demonstrate this argument. Next, the research explores the middle and later Holocene archaeological record of the Shaw Creek basin, located deep within the Middle Tanana homelands, using innovative approaches framing traditional Optimal Foraging theory arguments through the lens of Complexity theory. It focuses on the household archaeology and spatial artifact analysis of two archaeological sites, Swan Point (three Holocene components) and Pickupsticks (one Holocene component). In these case studies, cultural identity analogs, social structure, and agency are discussed using the material cultural record as a proxy. Finally, a dynamic, seasonal, ecological landscape-use model informed by predator/prey interactions is used to inform hypothetical human foraging movements. It models decision-making and risk-mitigation processes through resource shortfalls, predicting raw materials' movements from their source locations to their discard locations at these two archaeological sites. The conclusions support the theory that Dene presence in the Middle Tanana Valley is an ancient phenomenon that has at least early Holocene roots. Further, the period between 2,000 and 1,000 years ago appears to have been a critical period of additional cultural intensification processes. The processes leading to the development of the Athabascan archaeological tradition are considered to be the result of demographic expansion, increased territoriality, and a critical reinterpretation of the roles of kinship and non-related partnerships.

This paper explores the roles that caribou played in the prehistoric cultural history of eastern Knik Arm, the western Chugach Mountains, and the Anchorage Lowlands. The Anchorage Lowlands, located between the Elmendorf Moraine and Turnagain Arm, represent a unique geographic feature that constricts the overland movement of animals and humans between the Matanuska and Susitna River drainages to the north and the Kenai Peninsula to the south. The lowlands were sparsely populated by human groups prior to the expansion of the prehistoric Dena’ina people, and the populations of past faunal species is largely unknown. The finding of a naturally shed caribou (Rangifer tarandus)
antler from a tributary of Ship Creek is presented within the context of the local prehistoric record of the area. Direct evidence of prehistoric caribou use in the Anchorage Lowlands is almost entirely absent; therefore, a review of the ethnographic and historical records is provided to present a picture of the role that large game procurement may have played for pre-Euroamerican inhabitants. Caribou were a valued and actively sought-after resource by the Dena’ina on the eastern shore of Knik Arm. Informants from these bands, who typically traveled seasonally into the Talkeetna Mountains to procure caribou, also reported their presence in the upper Ship Creek area.

This paper presents a comprehensive review of the late Pleistocene and early Holocene geoarchaeological work pertaining to Glacial Lakes Susitna and Atna located in southcentral Alaska. It describes the radiocarbon chronology of the proglacial lakes and human occupation of the region as well as a relative chronology of undated strandlines. The data suggests that a landscape of increased dynamic glacial and large lacustrine systems in the Copper River and middle Susitna River basins persisted through the terminal Pleistocene and early Holocene period, forming prior to but existing after the initial dispersal of humans south of the Alaska Range.

The purpose of this study was to conduct a first approximation of explorations and excavations throughout the White Mountain and Steese Conservation areas during the summer field seasons of 2010 and 2011 in the Yukon Tanana Uplands, central Alaska. An analysis of the lithic artifacts from five site excavations (the Big Bend, Bachelor Creek, Bear Creek, US Creek and Cripple Creek) was then undertaken. These assemblages were then examined and modeled using risk-assessments, optimal resource use, and behavioral processes in order to explore the interdependence of environment, ecology, and material culture that drove prehistoric subsistence cycles in this area. This archaeological research will supplement ethnographies to indicate patterns of change and constants in landscape value, trade networks, and local economic strategies.

The Department of Anthropology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks has offered archaeological field schools spanning almost two decades in the central Tanana River Valley. Currently, our focus is on excavating and interpreting prehistoric residential features that span the past 2,000 years. Our field school has brought together undergraduate and graduate students from all over the world to learn fundemental field methods pertaining to:
-Lithic Analysis
-Faunal Analysis
-Ethnoarchaeology
-Geoarchaeology
-Ecological Archaeology
-and much more!
    The focus of the current field school will be to explore archaeological components associated with these horizons in the surrounding Shaw Creek flats. This is a great opportunity for field school students to participate in the excavation of an important North American site and will provide experience with cutting edge archaeological equipment and methodology that will provide valuable training for their professional future. Additional field trips will be taken to other important cultural sites throughout the Interior every Sunday.
    The Tanana River Valley is a wide river basin with lush stands of spruce, birch, poplar, and willow. The sites are located in the foothills of the Yukon-Tanana Uplands, a region of low elevation hills. The Alaska Range, visible to the south, is typified by peaks rising 12-14,000 feet. The Tanana Valley in the Alaskan Interior has been the focus of northern archaeological research since the 1930s. The oldest site thus far described is the Swan Point Archaeological Site which has been almost continually excavated since its discovery in the early 1990s. The site is representative of all major archaeological traditions in the Interior. Swan Point represents four major cultural components; the earliest is over 14,200 years old, currently the oldest best-dated cultural zone in Alaska. The oldest component of this stratified site contains microblade technology similar to the ancient Diuktai cultural widespread in Siberia. This deeply buried site also represents occupations associated with the Younger Dryas, the middle Holocene, the late Prehistoric, and Historic periods. The Pickupsticks Site dates to ~1000 cal BP, representing a residence feature at a critical juncture of cultural change in the Alaskan Interior.

The purpose of this study is to compile an accessible geodatabase which brings together all the known Alaskan Athabascan (Dene) place names data research. Place name research and inventory is never complete; constraints include the ever-increasing loss of direct knowledge as more elders pass away; fading memories, and proper interpretation of geographic knowledge. Despite this, an ever-increasing body of knowledge has been, and continues to be compiled.

This website projects over 12,000 indigenous place names in the Athabascan language family on an interactive web map. Access is restricted to researchers. Please contact Smith to request access to the atlas.

https://sites.google.com/a/alaska.edu/denemapped/

In 2018, a naturally shed ~200 year old caribou antler was recovered near the headwaters of Ship Creek, east of Anchorage. This poster explores the historic, oral, and anecdotal evidence of large mammals  and their use in the Western Chugach Mountains.

This paper will summarize and advance upon the work that has been done, recognizing the prehistoric depth of the Na-Dene languages in Alaska. It is published as a white paper to allow subsequent updates as more data is added. It is intended to be responsive to any peerreviews sent to the author as well. The paper presents the Alaska Traditional Dene place name

The Middle Tanana Valley in Alaska remains one of the most important regions of the continent for archaeological research. In The Gift of the Middle Tanana: Dene Pre-Colonial History in the Alaskan Interior, Gerad Smith explores the history, ethnography, and archaeological record of the Native people in this region during the late Holocene. Smith creates an interpretive framework informed by Alaskan Native traditions, focusing on traditional place names and the deep-play rituals of reciprocity. Smith sets forth the case that the local themes and oral traditions of the potlatch are better understood not as singular ceremonial events but as a mechanism of regional social cohesion that dictated everyday life. The Gift of the Middle Tanana illustrates how the role of reciprocal deep-play shaped a traditional society that has lasted over a thousand years.