| Summary: | Alaska’s central gulf coast encompasses four environmentally diverse regions stretching from Prince William Sound to the Pacific coast of the Alaska Peninsula. Despite their unique geographic and biological settings, these regions have a distinct and cohesive cultural history. Here, the historic distribution of Alutiiq or Sugpiaq peoples reflects the distribution of prehistoric cultures, illustrating a broadly unified evolutionary trajectory. Archaeological data from the past 4,000 years suggest the development of prosperous, permanent villages from smaller, more fluid foraging communities through human ingenuity—the ability to harvest resources with increasing efficiency and to manage inevitable fluctuations in the availability of foods and raw materials in a productive but dynamic environment. Together, changes in climate, population growth, technological innovation, and interaction with other peoples shaped the central gulf’s ancient societies into the powerful corporate groups recorded historically.
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