Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T07:36:15.288Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Petrographic Analysis of Basalt Artifacts from Three Aleutian Sites

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Owen K. Mason  and
Jean S. Aigner
Owen K. Mason
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK 99775
Jean S. Aigner
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK 99775
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

By comparing thin sections of basalt artifacts from three early and middle Holocene Aleutian sites with geological samples, we can infer the location of the artifactual rock source or sources. Contrary to the sources, the comparison shows that the basalt artifacts came from a single flow or closely related flows 15-30 km from all three sites. This finding suggests we should reassess the role of cultural continuity, trade, and exchange in the early and middle Holocene of the Aleutians.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 52 , Issue 3 , July 1987 , pp. 595 - 607
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1987

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References Cited

Aigner, J. S. 1970 The Unifacial Core and Blade Site on Anangula Island, Aleutians. Arctic Anthropology 7(2) : 59–88.Google Scholar
Aigner, J. S. 1976 Dating the Early Maritime Village of Anangula. Anthropological Papers of the University of Alaska 18(1) : 51–62.Google Scholar
Aigner, J. S. 1977 Anangula : An 8, 500 B. P. Coastal Occupation in the Aleutian Islands. Quartar 27/28 : 65–102.Google Scholar
Aigner, J. S. 1978 The Lithic Remains from Anangula, an 8500 Year Old Aleut Coastal Village. Urgeschtliche Materialhefte 3, Institut fur Urgeschichte der Universitat, Tubingen.Google Scholar
Aigner, J. S. 1983a Idaliuk Bay Camp, Umnak Island, Circa 4200 B. P. North American Archaeologist 4(2) : 89–125.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aigner, J. S. 1983b Sandy Beach Bay, Umnak Island, Alaska : A Mid-Holocene Aleut Village Site on the Bering Sea. Report to Alaska Historical Commission. Copies available from Alaska State Library, Juneau, and Arctic Environmental Information and Data Center (AEIDC), Anchorage, Alaska.Google Scholar
Aigner, J. S. 1983c Reconstructing Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene Maritime Exploitation in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska. Paper presented at 11th International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences, Vancouver, British Columbia.Google Scholar
Aigner, J. S., and Bene, T. Del 1982 Early Holocene Maritime Adaptation in the Aleutian Islands. In Peopling of the New World, edited by Ericson, J. E., Taylor, R. E., Berger, and R., pp. 35–68. Ballena Press, Ramona, California.Google Scholar
Aigner, J. S., Fullem, B., Veltre, D., and Veltre, M. 1976 Preliminary Report on Remains from Sandy Beach Bay, a 4300-5600 B. P. Aleut Village. Arctic Anthropology 13(2) : 83–90.Google Scholar
Ammerman, A. J., and Andrefsky, W. Jr. 1982 Reduction Sequences and the Exchange of Obsidian in Neolithic Calabria. In Contexts of Prehistoric Exchange, edited by Ericson, J. E. and Earle, T. K., pp. 149–172. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Archambault, M. F. 1981 Essai de Caracterisation de la Steatite des Sites Dorsetiens et des Carrieres de l'Ungava, Arctique Quebecois. Geographie Physique et Quaternaire 35(1) : 19–28.Google Scholar
Black, R. F. 1976 Geology of Umnak Island, Eastern Aleutians, as Related to the Aleuts. Arctic and Alpine Research 8(1) : 7–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boutray, B. 1981 Etude Petrographique Comparative de Quartzite Enfumes Utilises par les Paleoesquimaux de l'Arctique Quebecois. Geographie Physique et Quaternaire 35(1) : 29–40.Google Scholar
Byers, F. M. Jr., 1959 Geology of Umnak and Bogosl of Islands, Aleutian Islands, Alaska. (U. S.) Geological Survey Bulletin Google Scholar
Byers, F. M. Jr., 1985 Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Del Bene, T. 1982 The Anangula Lithic Technological System : An Appraisal of Eastern Aleutian Technology Circa 8250-8750 B. P. Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Connecticut, Storrs.Google Scholar
Denniston, G. L. 1966 Cultural Change at Chaluka, Umnak Island : Stone Artifacts and Features. Arctic Anthropology 3(2) : 84–124.Google Scholar
Denniston, G. L. 1972 Ashishik Point. An Economic Analysis of a Prehistoric Aleutian Community. Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin, Madison.Google Scholar
Ericson, J. E. 1984 Toward the Analysis of Lithic Production Systems. In Prehistoric Quarries and Lithic Production, edited by Ericson, J. E. and Purdy, B. A., pp. 1–10. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Hanson, D., and Aigner, J. S. 1982 Preliminary Analysis of Stone Tools from Chaluka, Umnak Island. Paper presented at 9th Alaska Anthropological Association Conference, Fairbanks, Alaska.Google Scholar
Kerr, P. F. 1977 Optical Mineralogy. McGraw Hill, New York.Google Scholar
Laughlin, W. S. 1975 Aleuts : Ecosystem, Holocene History and Siberian Origins. Science 189 : 507–515.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Laughlin, W. S. 1980 Aleuts : Survivors of the Bering Land Bridge. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York.Google Scholar
Laughlin, W. S., and Aigner, J. S. 1966 Preliminary Analysis of the Anangula Core and Blade Industry. Arctic Anthropology 3(2) : 41–56.Google Scholar
Laughlin, W. S., and Aigner, J. S. 1975 Aleut Adaptation and Evolution. In Prehistoric Marine Adaptations of the Circumpolar Region, edited by Fitzhugh, W., pp. 181–201. Mouton, The Hague.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laughlin, W. S., and Marsh, G. M. 1956 Trends in Aleutian Stone Artifacts. Anthropological Papers of the University of Alaska 5(1) : 5–22.Google Scholar
Mason, O. K. 1983 The Role of Lithology in Defining Use and Retouch at the Sandy Beach Bay Site, Umnak Island. Unpublished Master's paper, Department of Anthropology, University of Alaska, Fairbanks.Google Scholar
McLean, H., and Hein, J. R. 1984 Paleogene Geology and Chronology of Southwestern Umnak Island, Aleutian Islands, Alaska. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 21 : 171–180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muir, I. D. 1977 Microscopy. In Physical Methods in Determinative Mineralogy, edited by Zussman, J., pp. 35–108. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Plumet, P. 1981 Matieres Premieres AUochthones et Reseau Spatial Paleo-Esquimau en Ungava Occidental, Arctique Quebecois. Geographie Physique et Quaternaire 35(1) : 5–17.Google Scholar
Renfrew, C. 1975 Trade as Action at a Distance. In Ancient Civilization and Trade, edited by Sabloff, J. and Lamberg-Karlovsky, C. C., pp. 1–59. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Veniarainov, I. 1984 Notes on the Islands of the Unalashka District. Translated by Lydia, T. Black and Goeghegan., R. H. Publications in Alaska History, No. 27. Limestone Press, Kingston, Ontario. Originally published 1840.Google Scholar
Wheeler, M. E., and Clark, D. W. 1977 Elemental Characterization of Obsidian from the Koyukuk River, Alaska, by Atomic Absorption Spectrometry. Archaeometry 19(1) : 15–31.Google Scholar
Yesner, D. R. 1977 Prehistoric Subsistence and Settlement in the Aleutian Islands. Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Connecticut, Storrs.Google Scholar