First Maritime Cultures of the Aleutians

• Main Authors: Davis, Richard, Rogers, Jason, Knecht, Richard
• Other Authors: Friesen, Max, Mason, Owen
• Format: Book
• Language: unknown
• Published: Oxford University Press 2016
• Subjects: Arctic; Alaska; Beringia
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199766956.013.18

The earliest-known settlements in the Aleutians are approximately 9,000 years old. They herald the beginning of the Anangula phase of the Eastern Aleutian archaeological sequence. These first inhabitants came from the Alaska Peninsula and probably stemmed from the Paleoarctic tradition and ultimately from western Beringia. Despite climatic changes and volcanic eruptions, it appears that the Aleutians remained inhabited from the earliest time, as witnessed by the clear evidence of technological continuity. By approximately 6,000 years ago populations developed a successful adaptation to maritime resources and expanded throughout the entire Aleutian chain and had contact with several populations over widespread areas of the western Arctic.