Anthropology

Good morning. Today I will be presenting a Tribal perspective on Archaeological prospecting, LiDAR, and the AHRS. For the last 200 years the lands once inhabited by the Upper Inlet Dena'ina peoples have slowly been subjected to private ownership and development with resulting loss of cultural heritage. This paper outlines one method this heritage can be recorded and hopefully preserved for future generations. In discussions with OHA on this issue, it was suggested that I bring this to a wider audience, thus my presence here today.

3D modeling to document artifacts, features, and sites is commonplace in archaeology today. The use of terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) is the standard for creating 3D models. The limitation of this type of scanning is that the units are bulky and expensive, and archaeological work is often done in remote locales under limited budgets. I present information on portable, affordable, and easily implemented alternatives to TLS. Three scanning methods are assessed: photo modeling using Agisoft’s PhotoScan® software, desktop laser scanning with the NextEngine® short-range scanner, and infrared imaging using Microsoft’s Kinect® depth-mapping sensor. Each alternative works well without need for the internet or reliable electrical connections. The goal is to create a suite of field-deployable imaging equipment, procedures, and workflows. The methods were tested in well-lit and dark conditions indoors and outside. The results of the tests are that these techniques permit successful 3D information capture in a wide variety of conditions. An additional benefit is that output from each tested method is viewable in many standard file formats on conventional and tablet computers and smartphones.

We follow up on research presented at last year's meeting on techniques for the digital documentation of human skeletal remains in the field (Parsons and Harrod 2017). This poster explores different devices and methods for capturing three-dimensional (3D) models in an archaeological and forensic context. Identifying low-cost, easy-to-use techniques, the intent is to make modeling in the field more practical and accessible. Our previous research established that photo-based modeling was the most accurate, precise, and visually representative low-cost method (Kinect V1 with Skanect software). A photo model, acting as the control, was compared to four other techniques.

This thesis used a feminist archaeological theoretical framework to approach the analysis and presentation of the osseous tool collection from the Broken Mammoth site (XBD-131) in interior Alaska. The Broken Mammoth site dated to the Pleistocene/Holocene transition and has good organic preservation, which allowed for the recovery of seven formal osseous tools, which were available for physical analysis. Each tool was assessed for use and manufacture wear, and examined and photographed using a high-resolution scanner, digital micrograph, and standard digital camera. The tools were compared to a dataset of osseous tools from Western Beringia, Eastern Beringia, and North America compiled from previous research, in order to interpret the collection by function. The tools were interpreted as a combination of a projectile point or composite projectile pre-form cache, blunted projectiles, a foreshaft or projectile, and an eyed-needle. The feminist theoretical approach was used to develop a reflexive interrogation of the process of the tool analysis and to engender activity at the Broken Mammoth site.
The osseous tool collection was, in part, reflective of hunting strategies for small, fur bearing animals and of detailed or decorative sewing. I conducted a review of ethnographic literature from the Arctic and Subarctic, noting where men and/or women participated in the manufacture of clothing from raw material procurement through hunting to use of a completed garment. This analysis revealed the importance of women’s labor in this process.
The results of the ethnographic review were applied to previous research from the Broken Mammoth site, and the results of the osseous tool analysis, leading to the conclusion that women’s activities are visible at the Broken Mammoth site. 

The intentional and unintentional movement of plants and animals by humans has transformed ecosystems and landscapes globally. Assessing when and how a species was introduced are central to managing these transformed landscapes, particularly in island environments. In the Gulf of Alaska, there is considerable interest in the history of mammal introductions and rehabilitating Gulf of Alaska island environments by eradicating those mammals classified as invasive species. The Arctic ground squirrel (Urocitellus parryii) is of concern because of its effect on vegetation and seabirds on Gulf of Alaska islands. This animal is assumed to have been introduced by historic settlers, however, ground squirrel remains in the prehistoric archaeological record of Chirikof Island, Alaska challenges this timeline, suggesting that they colonized the islands long ago. This study uses three lines of evidence to address this problem: 1) direct radiocarbon dating of archaeological squirrel remains; 2) ev...

The history and geography of the arctic flora in Beringia has been complex—influenced by glacial retreats during the Quaternary, exchange via the Bering Land Bridge, in situ survival in refugia, and differing climatic regimes. Much of the details of these diversifications in Beringia are still lacking and to begin to address this issue we provide results from stochastic character mapping reconstruction to recover historical signals from occurrence data at the Herbarium, University of Alaska Fairbanks. A taxon matrix of 13 selected ecoregions in Beringia and 1549 extant vascular plant species was constructed and analyzed with RAxML and Mesquite software. The flora of Western Beringia appears younger than that of Eastern Beringia, with the ecoregions in Western Beringia derived from within those of Eastern Beringia. The Seward Peninsula ecoregion shares the most taxa with the ecoregions from Chukotka that form a clade. The Seward Peninsula is also the richest ecoregion, with 777 taxa ...