• Login
    View Item 
    •   Home
    • University of Alaska Fairbanks
    • UAF Graduate School
    • Anthropology
    • View Item
    •   Home
    • University of Alaska Fairbanks
    • UAF Graduate School
    • Anthropology
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Browse

    All of Scholarworks@UACommunitiesPublication DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsTypeThis CollectionPublication DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsType

    My Account

    Login

    First Time Submitters, Register Here

    Register

    Statistics

    Display statistics

    Site Formation Processes And Environmental Reconstruction At The Mink Island Archaeological Site (Xmk-030), Katmai National Park And Preserve, Alaska

    • CSV
    • RefMan
    • EndNote
    • BibTex
    • RefWorks
    Thumbnail
    Name:
    Laybolt_A_2012.pdf
    Size:
    4.744Mb
    Format:
    PDF
    Download
    Author
    Laybolt, Alison Dawn
    Chair
    Murray, Maribeth
    Keyword
    Archaeology
    Native American studies
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/11122/9113
    Abstract
    This research was initiated to document climate and weather, as reflected in geoarchaeological data, and identify, if possible, any related changes in human behaviors at the Mink Island Site (XMK-030) on the Shelikof Strait, in Katmai National Park, Alaska. The goal was to identify local environmental changes through the analysis of sediment micromorphology, grain-size, and scanning electron microscopic (SEM) observation of sediment grain surface textures, and use the data to determine if local environmental changes were related to periods of human occupation, or associated with local or regional hiatuses. Research indicated that micromorphology, grain-size and SEM analyses are not the most appropriate analytical techniques to develop proxy climate data. This is not to say they are not applicable to archaeological analyses in general, or even in the GOA. They are however, ineffectual means by which to obtain data regarding specific environmental events, and cannot therefore, be used to extrapolate environmental drivers of human behavior. However, both micromorphology and grain size analysis are appropriate techniques to address the proposed research questions and both indicate that the two primary non-cultural formation processes on the site were aeolian and colluvial deposition. Analyses suggested that there were not widely divergent depositional regimes. Sediments within the site were likely deposited by aeolian and/or colluvial movement with secondary deposition during freezing temperatures likely during periods of winter abandonment. During occupation periods, sediments were likely derived from these same processes as well as material brought into the site by human occupants. The differences between abandonment and occupation levels are very distinct; humans clearly affected the means by which material accumulated in site deposits. Analysis suggests winter abandonment but beyond that, it is difficult to extrapolate additional seasonality data. Methods used for analysis of the Mink Island sediments were unable to provide specific information regarding environmental events at the site or within the broader GOA. However, analyses did provide an additional tool to identify the season of site abandonment. The data presented here also indicated the depositional processes that acted on the site, and allowed the identification of post-depositional processes that altered sediments after human abandonment.
    Description
    Dissertation (Ph.D.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2012
    Date
    2012
    Type
    Dissertation
    Collections
    Anthropology

    entitlement

     
    ABOUT US|HELP|BROWSE|ADVANCED SEARCH

    The University of Alaska Fairbanks is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer and educational institution and is a part of the University of Alaska system.

    ©UAF 2013 - 2023 | Questions? ua-scholarworks@alaska.edu | Last modified: September 25, 2019

    Open Repository is a service operated by 
    Atmire NV
     

    Export search results

    The export option will allow you to export the current search results of the entered query to a file. Different formats are available for download. To export the items, click on the button corresponding with the preferred download format.

    By default, clicking on the export buttons will result in a download of the allowed maximum amount of items.

    To select a subset of the search results, click "Selective Export" button and make a selection of the items you want to export. The amount of items that can be exported at once is similarly restricted as the full export.

    After making a selection, click one of the export format buttons. The amount of items that will be exported is indicated in the bubble next to export format.