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    Prehistoric toolstone procurement and land use in the Tangle Lakes Region, central Alaska

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    Author
    Lawler, Brooks A.
    Chair
    Potter, Ben A.
    Committee
    Reuther, Joshua D.
    Newberry, Rainer
    Hemphill, Brian
    Keyword
    stone implements
    Alaska
    Tangle Lakes National Register Archaeological District
    debitage
    prehistoric tools
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/11122/10513
    Abstract
    This project explores prehistoric human mobility and landscape use in the Tangle Lakes region, central Alaska through analyses of toolstone procurement and manufacture conditioned by site function. Early Holocene Denali and middle Holocene Northern Archaic traditions are hypothesized to have different tool typologies, subsistence economies, and land use strategies. However, few large, systematic studies of toolstone procurement and use have been conducted. At a methodological level, archaeologists have struggled to quantitatively source non-igneous cryptocrystalline toolstone which often makes up the largest proportion of archaeological lithic assemblages. These problems were addressed by developing rigorous chemical methods for statistically assigning lithic from Tangle Lakes assemblages to (a) two known local toolstone quarries, (b) materials within the Tangle Lakes region, and (c) non-local materials. Lithic technological and geospatial analyses were used to evaluate toolstone procurement, manufacture, and use within sites. Lithic samples from four archaeological components located at different distances from their nearest known quarry sources were used to address the research problems. The archaeological samples were derived from a Denali complex hunting site (Whitmore Ridge Component 1) and three Northern Archaic assemblages: a residential site (XMH-35), a tool production site (Landmark Gap Trail) and a hunting camp (Whitmore Ridge Component 2). Chemical results indicate that cryptocrystalline material in Tangle Lakes assemblages can be statistically assigned to primary sources locations, and visual sourcing of this material is entirely unreliable. Lithic analytical results indicate that despite slight changes in mobility strategies for Denali and Northern Archaic populations, site function is the strongest conditioning factor for material selection and procurement strategies local to the Tangle Lakes region. Thus, this research provides (a) best practice methods for sourcing abundance cryptocrystalline material that has been precluded from most lithic sourcing studies, and (b) the data necessary to incorporate technological organization strategies of Tangle Lakes populations into the broader context of Denali and Northern Archaic behavioral patterns in Alaska.
    Description
    Thesis (M.A.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2019
    Table of Contents
    Chapter 1: Introduction -- 1.1: Introduction -- 1.2: Thesis organization -- Chapter 2: Research design and theoretical background -- 2.1: Introduction to research design and theory -- 2.2: Technological organization and behavioral concepts -- 2.3: Hunter-gatherer mobility strategies -- 2.4: Lithic procurement strategies -- 2.5: Identifying procurement and mobility strategies from archaeological patterns -- 2.6: Toolstone sourcing and goals of chemical analyses -- 2.7: Research questions and operationalization -- 2.8: WD-XRF and ED-pXRF of geological and archaeological samples -- 2.9: Developing chemical signatures of a toolstone source -- 2.10: Chemical signatures of artifacts -- 2.11: Site sampling selections -- 2.12: Debitage analysis -- Chapter 3: Site and regional background -- 3.1: Study area -- 3.2: Geology -- 3.3: Modern environment -- 3.4: Paleoenvironment -- 3.5: Regional stratigraphy -- 3.6: Cultural background -- 3.7: Ethnography of the Tangle Lakes region -- 3.8: Cultural history and lithic technology -- 3.9: Tangle Lakes archaeological district site distribution -- 3.10: Study site backgrounds and sampling -- Chapter 4: Analytical methods and materials -- 4.1: Introduction to methods -- 4.2: Archaeological assemblage sampling -- 4.3: Quarry sampling strategies -- 4.4: Chemical analysis -- 4.5: Distinguishing Tangle Lakes toolstone -- 4.6: WD-XRF identification of quarry toolstone -- 4.7: ED-XRF calibration for non-destructive analysis -- 4.8 ED-XRF artifact sourcing -- 4.9: Lithic debitage analysis -- 4.10: Local and non-local material estimations -- 4.11: Models of raw material distribution -- 4.12: Diversity indices -- 4.13: Individual flake attribute analysis -- 4.14: Statistical tests of lithic debitage -- Chapter 5: Results -- 5.1: Compositional signatures -- 5.2 Quarry material -- 5.3: Selecting a non-destructive analytical device -- 5.4: Discriminant function analysis of quarry signatures -- 5.5: Composition-based artifact assignments -- 5.6: Archaeological behavioral results -- 5.7: Establishing site type and technology strategies -- 5.8: Estimated local and non-local materials -- 5.9: Quarry attractiveness and material distribution models -- 5.10: Diversity indices -- 5.11: Intrasite raw material and technological patterns -- Chapter 6: Discussion -- 6.1: Addressing problems and research questions -- 6.2: Validity of artifact source assignments -- 6.3: Technological organization and lithic procurement -- 6.4: Availability of materials -- 6.5: Diversity indices -- 6.6: Site type influence on procurement -- 6.7: Site technological strategies and material type -- 6.8: Procurement strategies and site type in context of Denali and Northern archaic land use -- Chapter 7: Conclusion -- 7.1: Conclusion -- 7.2: Significance -- 7.3: Future directions -- References -- Appendices .
    Date
    2019-05
    Type
    Thesis
    Collections
    Anthropology

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