The Earliest Americans National Historic Landmark Theme Study for Alaska project was introduced to the professional community at this year's Alaska Anthropological Association Annual Meeting in Fairbanks, Alaska. Project organizers Richard VanderHoek (Alaska Office of History & Archaeology), Rhea Hood (National Park Service), and Tom Gillispie (theme study author) hosted a presentation with four panelists reviewing the early archaeology of different regions of the state.
The panelists were Dr. Risa Carlson for southeastern Alaska, Dr. Mike Yarborough for the Aleutian Islands, Dr. Charles Mobley for interior Alaska, and Dr. Jeff Rasic for arctic Alaska. The presentation organizers invited everyone in attendence to participate in developing the theme study. Discussion between the audience and panelists was recorded and taken into consideration by the project organizers.
Presentation Abstract: The National Park Service, Alaska Regional Office, in partnership with the Alaska State Office of History and Archaeology, has commissioned a new National Historic Landmark (NHL) theme study as part of its Earliest Americans in Alaska project. This study will identify elements of past and present research about the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene in Alaska as they relate to specific sites vital to the nation’s cultural heritage. Themes will include the place of Alaskan sites in research about human migrations into the New World, and subsequent adaptation of early Alaskans to changing paleoenvironments. The study will incorporate emerging research on paleogeography and paleogenetics, and scholarly debate surrounding the routes and timing of population movements. This project will include an NHL nomination for the Upward Sun River site, an early archaeological site of great national importance. Comments by discussants and attendees will help guide formulation of this project.
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Tags: earliest americans nhl theme study for alaska
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
