Linda’s Point and the Village Site: A New Look at the Chindadn Complex and Archaeological Record at Healy Lake, Alaska

• Main Author: Younie, Angela Marie
• Other Authors: Goebel, Ted E, Graf, Kelly E, Waters, Michael R, Carlson, David L, Filippi, Anthony M
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: Beringia; First Americans; Alaskan Prehistoric Archaeology; Lithic Technology; Chindadn; Microblade; Healy Lake; Alaska
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/156533

Interior Alaska’s Healy Lake archaeological locality contains a cultural sequence spanning 13,500 years, with some of the oldest known human occupations in Alaska. This dissertation is composed of three investigations presenting new data on the prehistoric archaeology of Linda’s Point and the Village site at Healy Lake. Analyses of curated and newly excavated lithic assemblages have allowed a reassessment of culture history, and new assessments of lithic technological organization at Healy Lake and the Alaskan interior. The first investigation presents a general report for the Linda’s Point site, excavated from 2011-2013. Detailed recording has clearly separated the lowest cultural occupations, dating to 13,000-11,000 cal B.P. and associated with a thick paleosol. They contain hearths, debitage, and small triangular points similar to those seen at the Village site. Upper silt deposits contain a variety of lithic tool types among a dense scatter of debitage and bone fragments spanning a wide time range. Linda’s Point appears to have been used as a habitation site throughout its history. The second study presents a technological analysis of toolstone selection and use at Healy Lake, assessing assemblage composition, diversity, and lithic reduction streams at each site. The earliest components show strong similarities with a few differences suggesting longer-term habitation at the Village site. Assemblages show a shift in the Holocene towards primary reduction and use of lower-quality but readily-available local material, suggesting longer occupation times and reduced overall mobility. Local reduction is most prevalent at Linda’s Point, indicating potential embedded local resource procurement. The third study presents a technological analysis and description of Chindadn bifaces from early archaeological sites of interior Alaska, dating 12,000 cal B.P. and older. Convex-based bifaces are unique for informal reduction techniques and minimal evidence of use. Triangular and subtriangular bifaces show diverse reduction ...