Human paleoecology from the late glacial to early holocene, Tangle Lakes, Alaska
Thesis (M.A.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2021 This study examines paleoenvironmental change from the Late Glacial to the Early Holocene in the Tangle Lakes region of interior Alaska to explore changes in resource distribution and impacts on prehistoric hunter-gatherer subsistence patterns in up...
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ftunivalaska:oai:scholarworks.alaska.edu:11122/12605 2023-05-15T16:20:35+02:00 Human paleoecology from the late glacial to early holocene, Tangle Lakes, Alaska Darcy, Audra J. Reuther, Joshua D. Bigelow, Nancy H. Clark, Jamie L. 2021-08 http://hdl.handle.net/11122/12605 en_US eng http://hdl.handle.net/11122/12605 Department of Anthropology Paleoecology Tangle Lakes Alaska Holocene Pleistocene Paleoanthropology Palynology Fossil Pollen Paleobotany Master of Arts in Anthropology Thesis ma 2021 ftunivalaska 2023-02-23T21:37:57Z Thesis (M.A.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2021 This study examines paleoenvironmental change from the Late Glacial to the Early Holocene in the Tangle Lakes region of interior Alaska to explore changes in resource distribution and impacts on prehistoric hunter-gatherer subsistence patterns in upland settings (>500 masl). In interior Alaska, prehistoric hunter-gatherer subsistence economies were organized around the procurement of large herbivores (bison, caribou, elk, and moose), which were primarily regulated by habitat availability. Changes in habitat availability altered the distribution of key faunal resources, necessitating shifts in land-use strategies. The palaeoecological record from Glacier Gap helps contextualize resource distribution within dynamic landscapes by identifying changes in habitat availability for grazing, mixed-feeding (bison, caribou, elk), and browsing (moose) herbivores. This study applies pollen analysis, as well as carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis, of lake and peat deposits to reconstruct paleoenvironmental change from ~14,000 to ~6,000 Cal yr. BP. Results indicate grazing habitats persisted until approximately ~13,500 Cal yr. BP, which allowed for initial expansions of bison and elk, but habitats became mixed following the appearance of birch shrubs. Existing archaeological data indicate that initial use of upland regions coincided with expansion of bison and elk habitat, which would have represented large-bodied, predictable sources of food. As shrubs continued to expand, grazing and browsing habitats became increasingly fragmented in a mixed-feeding period between ~13,000 to ~10,000 Cal yr. BP. Fragmentation of bison and elk habitats made these species less predictable on the landscape, which likely led to the abandonment of the Tangle Lakes. A shift from mixed-feeding to browsing habitats occurred following the Holocene Thermal Maximum at ~10,000 Cal yr. BP with increasing shrub growth and the expansion of peat, supporting caribou and moose populations. Settlement ... Thesis glacier Alaska University of Alaska: ScholarWorks@UA Fairbanks |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Alaska: ScholarWorks@UA |
op_collection_id |
ftunivalaska |
language |
English |
topic |
Paleoecology Tangle Lakes Alaska Holocene Pleistocene Paleoanthropology Palynology Fossil Pollen Paleobotany Master of Arts in Anthropology |
spellingShingle |
Paleoecology Tangle Lakes Alaska Holocene Pleistocene Paleoanthropology Palynology Fossil Pollen Paleobotany Master of Arts in Anthropology Darcy, Audra J. Human paleoecology from the late glacial to early holocene, Tangle Lakes, Alaska |
topic_facet |
Paleoecology Tangle Lakes Alaska Holocene Pleistocene Paleoanthropology Palynology Fossil Pollen Paleobotany Master of Arts in Anthropology |
description |
Thesis (M.A.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2021 This study examines paleoenvironmental change from the Late Glacial to the Early Holocene in the Tangle Lakes region of interior Alaska to explore changes in resource distribution and impacts on prehistoric hunter-gatherer subsistence patterns in upland settings (>500 masl). In interior Alaska, prehistoric hunter-gatherer subsistence economies were organized around the procurement of large herbivores (bison, caribou, elk, and moose), which were primarily regulated by habitat availability. Changes in habitat availability altered the distribution of key faunal resources, necessitating shifts in land-use strategies. The palaeoecological record from Glacier Gap helps contextualize resource distribution within dynamic landscapes by identifying changes in habitat availability for grazing, mixed-feeding (bison, caribou, elk), and browsing (moose) herbivores. This study applies pollen analysis, as well as carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis, of lake and peat deposits to reconstruct paleoenvironmental change from ~14,000 to ~6,000 Cal yr. BP. Results indicate grazing habitats persisted until approximately ~13,500 Cal yr. BP, which allowed for initial expansions of bison and elk, but habitats became mixed following the appearance of birch shrubs. Existing archaeological data indicate that initial use of upland regions coincided with expansion of bison and elk habitat, which would have represented large-bodied, predictable sources of food. As shrubs continued to expand, grazing and browsing habitats became increasingly fragmented in a mixed-feeding period between ~13,000 to ~10,000 Cal yr. BP. Fragmentation of bison and elk habitats made these species less predictable on the landscape, which likely led to the abandonment of the Tangle Lakes. A shift from mixed-feeding to browsing habitats occurred following the Holocene Thermal Maximum at ~10,000 Cal yr. BP with increasing shrub growth and the expansion of peat, supporting caribou and moose populations. Settlement ... |
author2 |
Reuther, Joshua D. Bigelow, Nancy H. Clark, Jamie L. |
format |
Thesis |
author |
Darcy, Audra J. |
author_facet |
Darcy, Audra J. |
author_sort |
Darcy, Audra J. |
title |
Human paleoecology from the late glacial to early holocene, Tangle Lakes, Alaska |
title_short |
Human paleoecology from the late glacial to early holocene, Tangle Lakes, Alaska |
title_full |
Human paleoecology from the late glacial to early holocene, Tangle Lakes, Alaska |
title_fullStr |
Human paleoecology from the late glacial to early holocene, Tangle Lakes, Alaska |
title_full_unstemmed |
Human paleoecology from the late glacial to early holocene, Tangle Lakes, Alaska |
title_sort |
human paleoecology from the late glacial to early holocene, tangle lakes, alaska |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/11122/12605 |
geographic |
Fairbanks |
geographic_facet |
Fairbanks |
genre |
glacier Alaska |
genre_facet |
glacier Alaska |
op_relation |
http://hdl.handle.net/11122/12605 Department of Anthropology |
_version_ |
1766008512511475712 |