Geology of the Dry Creek Site; a Stratified Early Man Site in Interior Alaska
The Dry Creek archeologic site contains a stratified record of late Pleistocene human occupation in central Alaska. Four archeologic components occur within a sequence of multiple loess and sand layers which together form a 2-m cap above weathered glacial outwash. The two oldest components appear to...
Published in: | Quaternary Research |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
1977
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0033-5894(77)90034-5 http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:0033589477900345?httpAccept=text/xml http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:0033589477900345?httpAccept=text/plain https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0033589400031811 |
id |
crcambridgeupr:10.1016/0033-5894(77)90034-5 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crcambridgeupr:10.1016/0033-5894(77)90034-5 2024-06-09T07:37:56+00:00 Geology of the Dry Creek Site; a Stratified Early Man Site in Interior Alaska Thorson, Robert M. Hamilton, Thomas D. 1977 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0033-5894(77)90034-5 http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:0033589477900345?httpAccept=text/xml http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:0033589477900345?httpAccept=text/plain https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0033589400031811 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Quaternary Research volume 7, issue 2, page 149-176 ISSN 0033-5894 1096-0287 journal-article 1977 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1016/0033-5894(77)90034-5 2024-05-15T13:09:03Z The Dry Creek archeologic site contains a stratified record of late Pleistocene human occupation in central Alaska. Four archeologic components occur within a sequence of multiple loess and sand layers which together form a 2-m cap above weathered glacial outwash. The two oldest components appear to be of late Pleistocene age and occur with the bones of extinct game animals. Geologic mapping, stratigraphic correlations, radiocarbon dating, and sediment analyses indicate that the basal loess units formed part of a widespread blanket that was associated with an arctic steppe environment and with stream aggradation during waning phases of the last major glaciation of the Alaska Range. These basal loess beds contain artifacts for which radiocarbon dates and typologic correlations suggest a time range of perhaps 12,000–9000 yr ago. A long subsequent episode of cultural sterility was associated with waning loess deposition and development of a cryoturbated tundra soil above shallow permafrost. Sand deposition from local source areas predominated during the middle and late Holocene, and buried Subarctic Brown Soils indicate that a forest fringe developed on bluff-edge sand sheets along Dry Creek. The youngest archeologic component, which is associated with the deepest forest soil, indicates intermittent human occupation of the site between about 4700 and 3400 14 C yr BP. Article in Journal/Newspaper alaska range Arctic permafrost Subarctic Tundra Alaska Cambridge University Press Arctic Dry Creek ENVELOPE(-140.392,-140.392,62.334,62.334) Quaternary Research 7 2 149 176 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
description |
The Dry Creek archeologic site contains a stratified record of late Pleistocene human occupation in central Alaska. Four archeologic components occur within a sequence of multiple loess and sand layers which together form a 2-m cap above weathered glacial outwash. The two oldest components appear to be of late Pleistocene age and occur with the bones of extinct game animals. Geologic mapping, stratigraphic correlations, radiocarbon dating, and sediment analyses indicate that the basal loess units formed part of a widespread blanket that was associated with an arctic steppe environment and with stream aggradation during waning phases of the last major glaciation of the Alaska Range. These basal loess beds contain artifacts for which radiocarbon dates and typologic correlations suggest a time range of perhaps 12,000–9000 yr ago. A long subsequent episode of cultural sterility was associated with waning loess deposition and development of a cryoturbated tundra soil above shallow permafrost. Sand deposition from local source areas predominated during the middle and late Holocene, and buried Subarctic Brown Soils indicate that a forest fringe developed on bluff-edge sand sheets along Dry Creek. The youngest archeologic component, which is associated with the deepest forest soil, indicates intermittent human occupation of the site between about 4700 and 3400 14 C yr BP. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Thorson, Robert M. Hamilton, Thomas D. |
spellingShingle |
Thorson, Robert M. Hamilton, Thomas D. Geology of the Dry Creek Site; a Stratified Early Man Site in Interior Alaska |
author_facet |
Thorson, Robert M. Hamilton, Thomas D. |
author_sort |
Thorson, Robert M. |
title |
Geology of the Dry Creek Site; a Stratified Early Man Site in Interior Alaska |
title_short |
Geology of the Dry Creek Site; a Stratified Early Man Site in Interior Alaska |
title_full |
Geology of the Dry Creek Site; a Stratified Early Man Site in Interior Alaska |
title_fullStr |
Geology of the Dry Creek Site; a Stratified Early Man Site in Interior Alaska |
title_full_unstemmed |
Geology of the Dry Creek Site; a Stratified Early Man Site in Interior Alaska |
title_sort |
geology of the dry creek site; a stratified early man site in interior alaska |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
1977 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0033-5894(77)90034-5 http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:0033589477900345?httpAccept=text/xml http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:0033589477900345?httpAccept=text/plain https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0033589400031811 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-140.392,-140.392,62.334,62.334) |
geographic |
Arctic Dry Creek |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Dry Creek |
genre |
alaska range Arctic permafrost Subarctic Tundra Alaska |
genre_facet |
alaska range Arctic permafrost Subarctic Tundra Alaska |
op_source |
Quaternary Research volume 7, issue 2, page 149-176 ISSN 0033-5894 1096-0287 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/0033-5894(77)90034-5 |
container_title |
Quaternary Research |
container_volume |
7 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
149 |
op_container_end_page |
176 |
_version_ |
1801382041028132864 |