The stone and bone artifacts from Asx̂aana-x̂ Cave, Islands of the Four Mountains, Alaska

• Published in: Quaternary Research
• Main Author: Johnson, Lucille Lewis
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2018
• Subjects: General Earth and Planetary Sciences; Earth-Surface Processes; Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous); Unangan; Alaska; Aleutian Islands
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/qua.2018.42; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S003358941800042X

Abstract Asx̂aana-x̂ Cave in the Islands of the Four Mountains, Alaska, was excavated in 1990. The cave contained the remains of Unangan mummies and their grave goods including textile, wood, bone and stone artifacts. These mummies were buried between AD 1250 and AD 1780-1790. The mummies were distributed in three distinct areas in the front, middle and back of the large cave. The textile and wooden artifacts and their distribution have been described in earlier publications. The stone artifacts include end blades, adzes, ulus and hammerstones plus an oil lamp and a small figurine; among the bone artifacts are whale bone planks and scapulae, rods and shafts, harpoon heads and labrets. These artifacts are typical of artifacts in the Aleutian Islands, while their distribution continues to strengthen the idea of a disjunct distribution of artifacts in the cave, which I interpret as being due to different social groups using the three areas of the cave for their burials.