THE SWAN POINT SITE, ALASKA: THE CHRONOLOGY OF A MULTI-COMPONENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE IN EASTERN BERINGIA

• Published in: Radiocarbon
• Main Authors: Reuther, Joshua D, Holmes, Charles E, Smith, Gerad M, Lanoe, Francois B, Crass, Barbara A, Rowe, Audrey G, Wooller, Matthew J
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2023
• Subjects: General Earth and Planetary Sciences; Archeology; Swan Point; Athabascan; Alaska; Beringia
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/rdc.2023.30; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0033822223000309

ABSTRACT The Swan Point site in interior Alaska contains a significant multi-component archaeological record dating back to 14,200 cal BP. The site’s radiocarbon ( 14 C) chronology has been presented in scattered publications that mostly focus on specific archaeological periods in Alaska, in particular its terminal Pleistocene components associated with the East Beringian tradition. This paper synthesizes the site’s 14 C data and provides sequential Bayesian models for its cultural zones and subzones. The 14 C and archaeological record at Swan Point attests that the location was persistently used over the last 14,000 years, even though major changes are evident within regional vegetation and local faunal communities, reflecting long-term trends culminating in Dene-Athabascan history.