Abstract:
This thesis presents a settlement pattern analysis of prehistoric midden sites in the Near Islands, Alaska. It represents the only such study to date, which focuses on an entire island group inhabited by a distinct social/political entity. This is also one of the few settlement pattern studies to address maritime hunting-fishing people. Aerial photography was an important part of the analysis. Coupled with other site inventories, photographs were used to "survey" the Near Islands. A total of 106 sites, including 91 middens were located, with the middens forming the basis of the analysis. Site sizes and locations were correlated with a range of environmental and social factors, and functions and seasons of use proposed for about half the sites analyzed. Further elaboration of resource distributions could extend these predictions to more sites. <p>
