The Western Aleutians
Archaeological and Paleobiological
Project
Because
of the isolation, little archaeological exploration has been conducted in the
western Aleutian Islands. These islands remain a rich, largely untapped, resource
for the study of Aleut adaptations, land and resource use, and social relationships
on a regional basis.
Work Starts on Buldir Island
The Western
Aleutians Archaeological and Paleobiological Project (WAAPP) was launched in 1991
when two archaeologists and a biologist began archaeological fieldwork on Buldir
Island in the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. Since then, the project
expanded into an international, interdisciplinary, research program aimed at understanding
the human and environmental history of the western Aleutians.
Biological
Collections Show Changes
The project was sparked by biological research
on archaeological collections made in the 1930s of bird remains from the Aleutian
Islands and Bering Sea. Analysis lead by Doug Causey, an ornithologist, working
with Christine Lefèvre of France and Russian colleague Arkady Savinetsky,
found that bird remains from Amchitka Island revealed changes in the distribution
and relative abundance of bird species over time, but poor excavation techniques
and curation limited the usefulness of the collections.
Field Seasons
Due
to the vagaries of Aleutian travel, this has been a nomadic project with fieldwork
on Buldir in 1991, 1993, 1997 and 2001; Shemya in 1993 and 1999; Attu in 1998,
2002 and 2003. The 1999 season also led the team to Adak Island and in 2003 the
crew spent two weeks on Rat Island.
Two Primary Goals
Document
when and how the distinct Near Island Aleut culture developed We
had to define the traits making this culture distinct from its cousins to the
east. We located sites, carefully described houses and other features in the old
villages, and collected artifacts from well-dated and well-described contexts.
We can trace the development of the society from early small scattered
settlements to large complex villages. We can see the addition of new kinds of
tools to their basic toolkit to improve hunting and fishing success.
Dating
as many sites as possible, and dating different styles of houses, has enabled
us to create a timeline for Near Island prehistory and see how the culture changed.
We are also looking for information on how much, if any, contact the Near Islanders
had with their Aleut neighbors, and even with people to the west in Asia.
Document
environmental change in the western Aleutians We want to know
how environmental change affected the Aleuts and, perhaps more important, what
effect the Aleuts had on their environment.
To accomplish this we are analyzing
animal remains from the prehistoric villages. Aleut sites contain huge amounts
of well preserved bone, buffered from decay by tons of shells. We collect all
of the bird and mammal bones from our excavations. For fish and shell we collect
a sample from each unit we dig and sift out the dirt and small particles with
nested 1/4- and 1/8-inch screens. The remaining sample is sorted by type of bone
or shell.
All these remains are analyzed by experts in birds, mammals,
fish or shellfish. The remains tell us what animals were present in the past and
can be compared to modern populations to recognise changes.
What’s
Next? – Analysis
Field work for the WAAPP has ended but analysis
of most of the recovered material is just beginning. When complete, we will have
a window into the world of the prehistoric people of the far western part of America,
a unique culture in a unique environment.
Principal Investigators:
Debra
Corbett, U.S. Fish And Wildlife Service
Christine Lefevre, Muséum
National D’histoire Naturelle, Paris
Dixie West, Museum of Natural
History and Biodiversity Research Center, University of Kansas, Lawrence
