Early and Middle Holocene Traditions Sample Clauses

Early and Middle Holocene Traditions. Archaeological evidence for the earliest human occupation in the Cook Inlet region has been found along Turnagain Arm at the Beluga Point site (ANC-000545), near the confluence of the Russian and Kenai rivers at the Round Mountain site (XXX-00094), and at the Quartz Creek site (SEW-00187) in the Quartz Creek drainage (Xxxxxx 1985; Xxxxxx 1985; Xxxxx 1985, 1998; Xxxxxx 1989; Xxxxx and Xxxxxx 1996). All three of these sites have core and blade technology present, the form and manufacture of which are stylistically contemporaneous with the form and manufacture of the Denali complex of interior Alaska. The possible age of these sites is between 8,000 and 10,000 years Before Present6 (BP; Xxxxx and Xxxxxx 1996). Archaeologists infer that this technology reflects a dependence on large mammal hunting for sustenance, though little faunal evidence has been recovered to date. Xxxxx (1984:140) suggests a focus on marine and riverine resources based on the site locations, while Xxxxxxx (1996:42) suggests that Turnagain Arm is a “dangerous body of water” and posits that the Beluga Point location may relate to ungulate hunting in the adjacent uplands. The Round Mountain II site (SEW-00214) is the next-oldest site known on the central Kenai Peninsula. Two side-notched projectile points, often associated with the Northern Archaic Tradition, were found at the Round Mountain II site (SEW-00214). These projectile points, along with a projectile point from Component III at the Beluga Point site (ANC-00054), show morphological similarities to projectile points found on the Alaska Peninsula that date from 4,500 to 4,000 BP (Xxxxx 1998; Xxxxxxx 1996). The two side-notched projectile points at SEW-00214 were found above soil horizons that were radiocarbon dated to 4,500–4,900 BP (XxXxxxx 1985). The Beluga Point site (ANC-00054) projectile point was located stratigraphically above materials radiocarbon dated to approximately 4,100–4,200 BP (Xxxxx 1981). Changes in artifact assemblages in the region can be seen from approximately 5,000 BP. These changes include changes in flaked stone tool manufacture, the use of ground stone tools, and a prevalence of notched pebbles likely used as fishing weights (Xxxxx 1998). The first use of slate tools in association with chipped stone technology was found at Beluga Point components South I and II (ANC-00054). These components include stemmed projectile points of ground slate with rounded shoulders (Xxxxx 1998). Xxxxx (1998) wrote that these m...