News Release

Draft Outline Release for the Earliest Americans NHL Theme Study for Alaska

Date: March 31, 2020

A draft outline for the Earliest Americans National Historic Landmark Theme Study for Alaska is ready for your review!

Author Tom Gillispie completed the new draft outline in February 2020. Contact us to submit your comments. Your thoughts on the earliest archaeological sites in Alaska are important to developing a theme study that acknowledges Alaska's prominance in the history of the Earliest Americans.

Outline Draft by T.E. Gillispie

Title: The Earliest Americans National Historic Landmark Theme Study for Alaska

(Narrative sections as finalized during writing, comment and review)

(To be finalized during comment and review)

Figure 1. The Study Area
Figure 2. Northeast Asia, Interior Beringia, and the North Pacific Rim: Migration Routes and Key Sites
Figure 3. Chronostratigraphy of the Late Pleistocene
Figure 4. Geographic Subdivisions of Alaska
Figure 5. Branching Diagram Showing the Genetic Origins of the Earliest Alaskans (With age estimates for branches)
Figure 6. Paleogeography of Beringia from the Pre-LGM through the Early Holocene (Maps arranged in multiple panels)
Figure 7. Typical Plant Communities in Alaska during the Earliest Alaskans Era (Photos of modern analogues arranged in multiple panels)
Figure 8. Earliest Alaskan Archaeological Sites by Region (Maps arranged in multiple panels)
Figure 9. Earliest Alaskan Cultural Sequences by Region (Summary Diagram)
Figure 10. Earliest Alaskan Artifact Assemblages in Interior Beringia (Photographs and drawings arranged in multiple panels)
Figure 11. Earliest Alaskan Cultural Features in Interior Beringia (Photographs and drawings arranged in multiple panels)
Figure 12. Earliest Alaskan Artifact Assemblages in the Brooks Range and Arctic Alaska (Photographs and drawings arranged in multiple panels)
Figure 13. Earliest Alaskan Cultural Features in the Brooks Range and Arctic Alaska (Photographs and drawings arranged in multiple panels)
Figure 14. Earliest Alaskan Artifact Assemblages in South-Central Alaska (Photographs and drawings arranged in multiple panels)
Figure 15. Earliest Alaskan Cultural Features in the South-Central Alaska (Photographs and drawings arranged in multiple panels)
Figure 16. Earliest Alaskan Artifact Assemblages in Southeast Alaska (Photographs and drawings arranged in multiple panels)
Figure 17. Earliest Alaskan Cultural Features in the Southeast Alaska (Photographs and drawings arranged in multiple panels)
Figure 18. Earliest Alaskan Artifact Assemblages in the Aleutians and North Pacific Rim (Photographs and drawings arranged in multiple panels)
Figure 19. Earliest Alaskan Cultural Features on the Aleutians and North Pacific Rim (Photographs and drawings arranged in multiple panels)
Figure 20. Earliest Alaskan Artifact Assemblages – Isolates and Horizon Styles (Photographs and drawings arranged in multiple panels)
Figure 21. Earliest Alaskan Cultural Features – Isolates and Horizon Styles (Photographs and drawings arranged in multiple panels)

(To be finalized during comment and review)

Table 1. National Historic Themes
Table 2. The Earliest American Historic Themes - National
Table 3. The Earliest Americans – Eastern United States Historic Themes
Table 4. The Earliest Alaskans Historic Themes
Table 5. Radiocarbon Dated Sites in Northeast Asia, Interior Beringia, North Pacific Rim and North America - Pre-Last Glacial Maximum
Table 6. Radiocarbon Dated Sites in Northeast Asia, Interior Beringia, North Pacific Rim and North America - Last Glacial Maximum
Table 7. Radiocarbon Dated Sites in Far Northeast Asia, Interior Beringia, North Pacific Rim and North America - Post Last Glacial Maximum
Table 8. Radiocarbon Dated Sites in Far Northeast Asia, Interior Beringia, North Pacific Rim and North America (Key sites only for North America) - Late Glacial Interval
Table 9.  Key Radiocarbon Dated Sites in Alaska during the Early Holocene
Table 10. All Earliest Alaskans Radiocarbon Dated Sites by Region
Table 11. Selected Undated Sites Grouped by Tradition through Technology, Artifact Styles and Teleconnection to Dated Sites
Table 12. Matrix of Site Types by Region

  1. Statement of purpose

  2. Administrative History

  3. Governing Authorities for Historic Landmarks

    1. Federal Law

    2. Federal Regulations

    3. NPS Guidance

  1. Criteria for Development and General Topic Areas as Defined by Law and Regulation

  2. Example National Themes

  3. The Earliest Americans National Theme

    1. Overview

    2. The Eastern United States Accepted Theme Study

    3. The Alaska Draft Theme Study – The 1990s Initiative and New Considerations

      1. Overview

      2. Elements of the Draft Theme Study Incorporated in this Document

      3. Early Alaskan Prehistory Unique in the United States

      4. Progress in Research Since the Previous Theme Studies

      5. Applicable National Themes

      6. Thematic Elements Added or Modified for Alaska

Introduction to Part 1: The Alaska Prehistoric Record During Human Migration into the New World

  1. Alaska in the Earliest Prehistory of North America – Overview

    1. The Peopling of the New World from Far Northeast Asia via Alaska during the Late Pleistocene

    2. Migration and adaptation by Native Alaskans during the Early Holocene

    3. Enduring Research Questions of Alaskan and National Importance

      1. Routes and Timing of Human Migration into the New World

      2. Prehistory and Adaptation to Late Pleistocene Environments

      3. Prehistory and Adaptation to Early Holocene Environments

      4. Human Migration Within the North America and Native Alaskan Ethnogenesis

      5. The Archaic Cultural Transformation and the end of the Early Holocene

  2. Advances in the Study of Alaskan Prehistory during the 21st Century – Overview

    1. Expansion of the Regional Sub-discipline and Dramatic Increase in the Sample of Early Sites

    2. Integration with Multidisciplinary Research in the Quaternary Sciences

    3. The Paleogeography of Beringia as an Organizing Theory

    4. Geochronology and Paleoenvironments – Contemporary Alaska Research and Relationships with the Global Framework

    5. The Paleogenetics Revolution in Human Migration Studies

    6. Chemical Analysis of Human and Faunal Remains – Diet and Habitat Studies

    7. The Emergence of Early Regional Prehistories in Alaska

    8. Advances in Earliest Alaskans Foraging and Land Use Studies (Inter-Site Studies)

    9. Advances in Lithic and Spatial Analysis (Intra-site Studies)

    10. Early Alaskan Archaeology and Processual Analysis – Do Prehistoric Cultures Matter?

(Part I, continued)

  1. The Predicted Time-frame for Migration and Settlement in the New World via Alaska

    1. Constraints imposed by the Northeast Asian Archeological Record

    2. Constraints imposed by the New World Archaeological Record South of Beringia and the North Pacific Rim

  2. Formal Chronostratigraphy of the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene

    1. Relationship to Climate Stratigraphy

    2. Definitions

      1. Formal Chronostratigraphic Intervals in the Northern Hemisphere

      2. Informal Terminology in Common Scientific Usage

  3. Far East Asia, Interior Beringia and North Pacific Rim Paleogeographic and Paleoenvironmental Change

    1. Causes and Global Effects of Climate Change during the Late Pleistocene

    2. Effects of Continental and Mountain Glaciation

    3. Effects of Falling and Rising Sea-levels

    4. Exposure of the Bering Sea Platform and the Evolving Geography of Beringia

    5. The Expansion of Polar Sea Ice

    6. Ice Marginal Terrestrial Refugia Across the North Pacific Rim

      1. Former Speculation

      2. New Research

    7. Three Snapshots of Late Pleistocene Paleoenvironments

      1. Pre-Last Glacial Maximum (Latest Marine Isotope Stage 3, Early Marine Isotope Stage 2)

      2. The Last Glacial Maximum (Peak Marine Isotope Stage 2 )

      3. The Post- Last Glacial Maximum (Late Marine Isotope Stage 2)

        1. Initiation of Deglaciation

        2. The Late Glacial Interval

          1. The  Bølling–Allerød interstadial 

          2. The Younger Dryas stadial

          3. The Marine Isotope Stage 2 / Stage 1 Transition

          4. The Collapse of the Beringian Subcontinent

    8. Early Holocene Climate and Biogeography

      1. Holocene Climate Stratigraphy in Inland Alaska

      2. Stage One – Expansion of Shrub Tundra and Peatlands

      3. Stage Two – Development of the Deciduous Dominated Boreal Forests

      4. Stage Three – Development of Needle-Leaf Dominated Boreal Forests

      5. Holocene Climate and Biogeography Along the North Pacific Rim and Southeast Alaska (Subsections – TBD)

(Part I, continued)

  1. Into the New World From Northeast Asia – The Interior and Coastal Routes

    1. Pre-Last Glacial Maximum

    2. The Last Glacial Maximum

    3. Post Last Glacial Maximum

    4. The Late Glacial Interval

  2. Within the New World – The Early Holocene and Paleoindian Back Migration Theory

  3. Geographic and Temporal Gaps in the Archaeological Record

(Part I, continued)

  1. Number, Age and Geographic Distribution of Radiocarbon Dated Sites

  2. Cultural Taxonomy of the Earliest Alaskans

    1. Archaeological Theory and Naming Conventions for Prehistoric Cultures

      1. Through the Early 1960s – Development of a Consensus Nomenclature

      2. Processualism and the Decline of Culture History Studies

      3. Earliest Alaskan Cultural Nomenclature Left in an Underdeveloped State

      4. The Proliferation of Overlapping and Competing Prehistoric Cultural Units and Sequences

    2. The Theoretical Revival of Cultural Nomenclature in American Archaeology – late 1990s and Early 2000s

    3. The Approach to Prehistoric Cultural Nomenclature Taken in this Document

      1. Assemblages, Teleconnection  and “Fossil Behavior”

      2. Cultural Units Defined

        1. Sites

        2. Distinctive Technologies and Artifact Styles: Manufacturing Systems, Types, “Diagnostics” and Assemblages

        3. Absolute Dating and Seriation

        4. Traditions and Co-Traditions

        5. Complex, Phase and Co-Phase

        6. Horizon Styles

        7. Priority of Naming as Applied to Cultural Units

        8. Use of “Diagnostic” Lithic Technology to Teleconnect Dated and Undated Sites

(Part I, continued)

  1. Interior Eastern Beringia and the Alaska Range

    1. Geographic Boundaries

    2. Dated Sites

    3. Cultural Sequence(s) Based on Dated Assemblages

    4. Paleogenetic Groupings

    5. Relationships to the Earliest Migrants into the New World

    6. Relationships to Internal Migration in the New World

    7. Evolution of Cultural Adaptations to Changing Paleoenvironments

      1. Paleoenvironments

      2. Site Locations

      3. Assemblage Variations by Location and Site Function

      4. Cultural Features and Site Spatial Organization

    8. Major Uncertainties

  2. The Brooks Range and North Alaska

    1. Geographic Boundaries

    2. Dated Sites

    3. Cultural Sequence(s) Based on Dated Assemblages

    4. Paleogenetic Groupings

    5. Relationships to the Earliest Migrants into the New World

    6. Relationships to Internal Migration in the New World

    7. Evolution of Cultural Adaptations to Changing Paleoenvironments

      1. Paleoenvironments

      2. Site Locations

      3. Assemblage Variations by Location and Site Function

      4. Cultural Features and Site Spatial Organization

    8. Major Uncertainties

  3. South-Central Alaska

    1. Geographic Boundaries

    2. Dated Sites

    3. Cultural Sequence(s) Based on Dated Assemblages

    4. Paleogenetic Groupings

    5. Relationships to the Earliest Migrants into the New World

    6. Relationships to Internal Migration in the New World

    7. Evolution of Cultural Adaptations to Changing Paleoenvironments

      1. Paleoenvironments

      2. Site Locations

      3. Assemblage Variations by Location and Site Function

      4. Cultural Features and Site Spatial Organization

    8. Major Uncertainties

  4. Southeast Alaska

    1. Geographic Boundaries

    2. Dated Sites

    3. Cultural Sequence(s) Based on Dated Assemblages

    4. Paleogenetic Groupings

    5. Relationships to the Earliest Migrants into the New World

    6. Relationships to Internal Migration in the New World

    7. Evolution of Cultural Adaptations to Changing Paleoenvironments

      1. Paleoenvironments

      2. Site Locations

      3. Assemblage Variations by Location and Site Function

      4. Cultural Features and Site Spatial Organization

    8. Major Uncertainties

  5. The Northernmost Pacific Rim: Aleutian Islands, Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island

    1. Geographic Boundaries

    2. Dated Sites

    3. Cultural Sequence(s) Based on Dated Assemblages

    4. Paleogenetic Groupings

    5. Relationships to the Earliest Migrants into the New World

    6. Relationships to Internal Migration in the New World

    7. Evolution of Cultural Adaptations to Changing Paleoenvironments

      1. Paleoenvironments

      2. Site Locations

      3. Assemblage Variations by Location and Site Function

      4. Cultural Features and Site Spatial Organization

      5. Could a Sea Ice Marginal Culture Have Existed on the North Pacific Rim Prior to the Late Glacial?

    8. Major Uncertainties

  6. Anomalies, Outliers and Horizon Styles (TBD)

(To be expanded based on comments received)

  1. The Overall Theme

  2. Subordinate Themes

  3. Connections to Recognized National Themes

  4. Earliest Alaskans National Historic Landmark Theme Summary

  1. Introduction

    1. Criteria for Inclusion

    2. Subdivision by Geography

    3. Subdivision by Chronostratigraphy

  2. Interior Eastern Beringia and Alaska Range Property Types

    1. Late Glacial Property Types - Beringian Tradition plus Subordinate Phases

      1. Narrative

      2. Matrix of Late Glacial Property Types

    2. Early Holocene Property Types – American Paleoarctic Tradition plus Subordinate Phases

      1. Narrative

      2. Matrix of Early Holocene Property Types

  3. Brooks Range and Arctic Property Types

    1. Late Glacial Property Types - Paleoindian Tradition plus Subordinate Phases

      1. Narrative

      2. Matrix of Late Glacial Property Types

    2. Early Holocene Property Types – Paleoindian and American Paleoarctic Traditions plus Subordinate Phases

      1. Narrative

      2. Matrix of Early Holocene Property Types

  4. South-Central Alaska Property Types

    1. Late Glacial Property Types - Traditions and Subordinate Phases (TBD)

      1. Narrative

      2. Matrix of Late Glacial Property Types

    2. Early Holocene Property Types – Traditions and Subordinate Phases (TBD)

      1. Narrative

      2. Matrix of Early Holocene Property Types

  5. Southeast Alaska Property Types

    1. Late Glacial Property Types (TBD)

      1. Narrative

      2. Matrix of Late Glacial Property Types

    2. Early Holocene Property Types – Paleomarine Tradition and Subordinate Phases

      1. Narrative

      2. Matrix of Early Holocene Property Types

  6. North Pacific Rim Property Types

    1. Late Glacial Property Types (TBD)

      1. Narrative

      2. Matrix of Late Glacial Property Types

    2. Early Holocene Property Types – Anangula Tradition and Subordinate Phases (Others TBD)

      1. Narrative

      2. Matrix of Early Holocene Property Types

 

  1. Interior Eastern Beringia and the Alaska Range

  2. The Brooks Range and North Alaska

  3. South-Central Alaska

  4. Southeast Alaska

  5. The North Pacific Rim

  1. Summary Narrative

  2. Project History

  3. Acknowledgmeents

To be finalized during writing, comment, and review

Download the outline



Last updated: April 7, 2020

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