Early discoveries indicate that the cache was used to preserve moose and caribou meat in the harsh climate of Southeast Alaska.
On a hill of birch and spruce trees overlooking the Knik Arm River, a narrow stretch of the Gulf of Alaska that extends northwest of Anchorage, archaeologists have discovered a food storage pit used by the region's indigenous Dene people. The discovery offers new insights into the long human history of the region and how to preserve and protect its heritage for future generations.
According to Elizabeth Ortiz, archaeologist and cultural resources manager for Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER), the military complex where the discovery was made, the caches resemble root cellars.
The pit, just over a meter deep, is located along a known Dene tribal trail that led north from present-day Anchorage. It was dug in well-drained soil and lined with birch bark and grass that preserved fish, meat, and berries in the harsh seasonal conditions of southeastern
Alaska. The cache is dug in a scenic location ideal for beluga whale watching.
The Dene, also known as Athabascans, include the Denaina and Ahtna peoples. According to recent research data, they stayed in the area during the summer to catch and preserve salmon and dry-land meat, with houses and smokehouses on the bluffs above Cook Inlet.
Photo: smithsonianmag.com
Archaeologists assumed that the food storage pit was a few hundred years old. However, radiocarbon analysis showed that it was actually much older.
"When we got the results saying it was 960 years old, give or take 30 years, we were shocked," Ortiz says. "We were jumping for joy next to the find with tears in our eyes. It was very, very exciting."
The new analysis "further confirms the oral traditions of the Denain and Ahtna tribes that the military complex and surrounding area were used a very long time ago," Margan Grover, an archaeologist at JBER, said in a statement.
The team conducted additional radiocarbon and stable isotope analyses to determine if the food in the food storage pit was from land or sea. Initial results suggest the presence of moose or caribou, although the researchers plan to test the surrounding soil to confirm whether these animals were stored in the pit or just passing through.
Archaeologists occasionally find similar caches in areas of Alaska such as the Matanuska-Susitna Valley and the Kenai Peninsula. Other Alaskan archaeological sites such as Swan Point, which contains evidence of human hunting of mammoths, may date back 14,000 years.
In this case, much of the area around the cache was demolished by the military in the 1940s when the JBER was being built. Finding such an ancient and well-preserved site in the Anchorage Bowl, as the developed area around Alaska's largest city is called, is rare and has "special significance" to the region's indigenous peoples, the statement said.
"We know we can't stop development," says Aaron Leggett, president of the Eklutna Native Village and curator of the Anchorage Museum. "But can we use these opportunities to complete the picture?""
In a statement, Leggett expresses hope that tribal and U.S. governments will use the cache site as an incentive to work toward "common goals and the co-production of knowledge about our past."
Photo: smithsonianmag.com
Today, half of Alaska's population lives on traditional Dene tribal lands. Archaeologists are working with local tribes and stakeholders to gain additional context and understanding of the surrounding area.
"There are things that we know from what has been passed down from generation to generation about life in a particular place, but there are other things that these archaeological sites tell us about the past," said Angela Wade, historic preservationist for Chickaloon Village.
"It seems to me that every object that we learn about, every object that we can explore further, is a part of our history that was potentially lost," Wade adds. "So it's a kind of reclaiming of a part of history that we've been separated from."