Chapter III: Archaeological Sites

• Published in: Memoirs of the Society for American Archaeology
• Main Author: De Laguna, Frederica
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1947
• Subjects: Yukon; eskimo*
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0081130000003968; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0081130000003968

The information about archaeological sites is presented under eight regional sections, seven of which roughly correspond to seven of the tribal subdivisions listed in the third section of Chapter II. The territories of group 5 on the upper Koyukuk and of group 9 on the upper Innoko were not included in our survey. There is, however, an eighth archaeological region, the Yukon near Holy Cross, which yielded specimens of a more pronounced Eskimo character than anything found in the areas above. These sites are, therefore, tentatively listed as “Eskimo.” In the following sections of this chapter there will be a discussion of all former village sites in the regions covered by our survey, including sites mentioned in the early literature or reported to us. For the convenience of the reader I present below a list of the sites from which specimens were obtained, grouped according to the region in which they are located; their probable age is indicated. The presence of stone adzes and the absence of trade goods of white manufacture are taken as indications that the site was prehistoric, although in most cases, especially where we did little excavating, such an assumption is based on rather inadequate information.