Chemical characterization of Arctic soils: activity area analysis in contemporary Yup’ik fish camps using ICP-AES

• Main Authors: Kelly J. Knudsona, Lisa Frinkb, Brian W. Hoffmanc, T. Douglas Pricea
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ethnoarchaeology; Western Alaska; Soil analysis; Seasonal camps; ICP-AES; Arctic; Yukon; Kuskokwim; Alaska
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.585.2928; http://www.kjknudson.com/publications_and_presentations/JAS_Chevak.pdf

Despite the vital role of seasonal fish camps in hunter–gatherer subsistence activities in the Arctic, little archaeological or ethnographic research on fish camps has been conducted. This ethnoarchaeological study uses the chemical composition of soil samples collected at two modern fish camps in the Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta of western Alaska to elucidate chemical soil signatures associated with seasonal subsistence fish camps and the activities performed there. Concentrations of Al, Ba, Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, P, Sr, Ti, and Zn were determined using an inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometer (ICP-AES). Both camps showed distinct anthropogenic soil signatures, even though one camp had a 30-year occupation history and one camp had only been occupied for 1 year. In addition, some activity areas within the camps have distinct anthropogenic signatures. In the future, this research can be used to identify ephemeral camps and their activities in the archaeological record. 2003 Published by Elsevier Ltd.