The Swan Point Archeological Site is located in eastern central

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

, in the

Tanana River The Tanana River (Lower Tanana language, Lower Tanana: Tth'eetoo', Upper Tanana language, Upper Tanana: ''Tth’iitu’ Niign'') is a tributary of the Yukon River in the U.S. state of Alaska. According to linguist and anthropologist William Brig ...

watershed. It is one of a collection of sites in the area that have yielded the oldest evidence of human habitation in the state, in addition to megafauna no longer found in Alaska, such as

wapiti The elk (: ''elk'' or ''elks''; ''Cervus canadensis'') or wapiti, is the second largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. T ...

(elk),

bison A bison (: bison) is a large bovine in the genus ''Bison'' (from Greek, meaning 'wild ox') within the tribe Bovini. Two extant taxon, extant and numerous extinction, extinct species are recognised. Of the two surviving species, the American ...

, and

woolly mammoth The woolly mammoth (''Mammuthus primigenius'') is an extinct species of mammoth that lived from the Middle Pleistocene until its extinction in the Holocene epoch. It was one of the last in a line of mammoth species, beginning with the African ...

. Finds co-located with human artifacts at the site have given radiocarbon dates of 14,000 years, indicating the site was occupied around 12,000 BCE. Swan Point is the oldest archaeological site in the Americas whose age is not disputed. The site was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2008.

Occupation

Swan Point has been occupied at least six times since ca 14,500 cal yr B.P. with evidence of

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, ca ...

that has been

radiocarbon dated Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon. The method was de ...

to approximately 14,000 B.P.Holmes, Charles E., et al. "GC/MS Analysis of Fatty Acids from Ancient Hearth Residues at the Swan Point Archaeological Site." Archaeometry 51.1 (2009): 110-122. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 28 Apr. 2011. The charcoal dating makes this the oldest known site in the Tanana River Valley. The six occupation periods include:

Terminal Pleistocene

This is the oldest cultural sequence present, dating from approximately 11,660 to 10,000 RCYBP. Artifacts found at this level include worked

mammoth A mammoth is any species of the extinct elephantid genus ''Mammuthus.'' They lived from the late Miocene epoch (from around 6.2 million years ago) into the Holocene until about 4,000 years ago, with mammoth species at various times inhabi ...

tusk fragments, microblades, microblade core preparation flakes, blades, dihedral burins, red ochre, pebble hammers, and quartz hammer tools and choppers. The microblades found at this zone are significant as they are the oldest securely dated microblades in eastern

Beringia Beringia is defined today as the land and maritime area bounded on the west by the Lena River in Russia; on the east by the Mackenzie River in Canada; on the north by 70th parallel north, 72° north latitude in the Chukchi Sea; and on the south ...

Latest Pleistocene

A variety of bifacial points were found at this level, which dates to approximately 10,230 ± 80 cal yr B.P, including lanceolate points with convex to straight bases, along with graver spurs, quartz pebble choppers and hammers. The mammoth artifacts found in the Latest Pleistocene zone date to approximately 14,000 cal yr B.P. With no other mammoth remains found beyond tusk

ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and Tooth, teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mamm ...

, it is assumed that the people who lived on the site scavenged the ivory rather than hunting the mammoth themselves.Holmes, Charles E. "Tanana River Valley Archaeology Circa 14,000 to 9000 B.P." Arctic Anthropology 38.2 (2001): 154. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 27 Apr. 2011

Early Late Holocene

Artifacts found at this level (7500-8200 cal BP) include bifaces, unifaces, and microblade cores. This level is associated with high mobility behaviors.

Mid to Late Holocene

Artifacts found at this level (2500-5500 cal BP) include lanceolate points with heavy edge grinding, sub-conical microblade cores, microblades and scrapers. The upper layer of this level also has notched points, lanceolates, flake burins, microblades, a microblade core and a graver spur on a flake. The lower levels reveal artifact scatter patterns suggestive of tent rings.

Late Holocene

This level represents the period between 700 and 2100 years of the

Holocene The Holocene () is the current geologic time scale, geological epoch, beginning approximately 11,700 years ago. It follows the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene to ...

with artifacts including projectile points, pecked stone fragments, scrapers, straight-based lanceolate points and microblades. This occupation includes the remains of an early semi-subterranean house (1850-1900 cal BP). A footprint matching a pre-teen individual was recovered in association with the house remains.

Historic

Site use in historic time is indicated by the presence of artifacts such as

tin cans A steel can, tin can, tin (especially in British English, Australian English, Canadian English and South African English), or can is a container made of thin metal, for distribution or storage of goods. Some cans are opened by removing the to ...

, 30-30

rifle cartridges A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting and higher stopping power, with a barrel that has a helical or spiralling pattern of grooves (rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles ar ...

, an

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

knife tang, an early-historic

glass bottle Common uses for bottles made from glass include food condiments, soda, liquor, cosmetics, pickling and preservatives; they are occasionally also notably used for the informal distribution of notes. A glass bottle can vary in size considerably, b ...

and a moose bone flesher.

Climate and Resources

Unlike the Broken Mammoth site, the remains of fauna and flora at Swan Point are comparatively few and poorly preserved. The remains that were discovered include

swan Swans are birds of the genus ''Cygnus'' within the family Anatidae. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe (biology) ...

goose A goose (: geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera '' Anser'' (grey geese and white geese) and '' Branta'' (black geese). Some members of the Tadorninae subfamily (e.g., Egy ...

and

moose The moose (: 'moose'; used in North America) or elk (: 'elk' or 'elks'; used in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is the world's tallest, largest and heaviest extant species of deer and the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is also the tal ...

recovered from the mid to late Holocene zone. Because of its close proximity to the Broken Mammoth site it can be inferred that the climate at Swan Point was similar with lowland

tundra In physical geography, a tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. There are three regions and associated types of tundra: #Arctic, Arctic, Alpine tundra, Alpine, and #Antarctic ...

and low vegetation. Charcoal remains indicate wood from

Populus ''Populus'' is a genus of 25–30 species of deciduous flowering plants in the family Salicaceae, native to most of the Northern Hemisphere. English names variously applied to different species include poplar (), aspen, and cottonwood. The we ...

and

Willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions. Most species are known ...

which are associated with the oldest artifacts found at the site. The

stratigraphy Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock layers (strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigraphy has three related subfields: lithost ...

at Swan Point is slightly different from the other sites in the Tanana River Valley; it is thinner because it is farther from the

. It consists of one meter of late

Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), as well as the current and most recent of the twelve periods of the ...

aeolian sediments overlying

bedrock In geology, bedrock is solid rock that lies under loose material ( regolith) within the crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet. Definition Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface material. An exposed portion of bed ...

. The stratigraphic sequence is firmly dated spanning the last 11,700 cal years. Grayish aeolian sand overlies the bedrock and overlying that is a

pebble A pebble is a clastic rocks, clast of rock (geology), rock with a grain size, particle size of based on the Particle size (grain size), Udden-Wentworth scale of sedimentology. Pebbles are generally considered larger than Granule (geology), gra ...

layer. Above this is a tan loess layer in which numerous cultural levels and palaeosols are found. At 50–55 cm below the surface cultural material including hearth charcoal was found dating to 10,230 ± 80 cal yr B.P. The modern soil is typically brown

sub-arctic The subarctic zone is a region in the Northern Hemisphere immediately south of the true Arctic, north of hemiboreal regions and covering much of Alaska, Canada, Iceland, the north of Fennoscandia, Northwestern Russia, Siberia, and the Cair ...

forest

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, water, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from ''soil'' by re ...

. The lateral continuity of the layers indicates that there has been no displacement of the stratigraphy since the loess accumulation, indicating the dating for the materials found within it should be fairly be precise.

Artifacts and features

The remains of several hearths were found at Swan Point. Hearths found in the Holocene period have mostly charcoal while earlier hearths at the site include charcoal and some bone. The earliest zone, dating to the Terminal Pleistocene, had no signs of a traditional hearth. Some burned residue was found at this zone, implying that before the mid to late Holocene the site was only used as a temporary occupation without repeated use of

fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a fuel in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. Flames, the most visible portion of the fire, are produced in the combustion re ...

. An analysis of the lipids and fatty acids in these hearths was conducted in 2008. The report concluded that the bones of animals not only contributed to the diet of the occupants but the marrow and grease was a fuel source. One hearth sample 19792, is believed to come from a large animal, similar to the

Red Deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or Hart (deer), hart, and a female is called a doe or hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Ir ...

. Hearth samples 19413 and 19421 also have lipids of animal origin from a

monogastric A monogastric organism defines one of the many types of digestive tracts found among different species of animals. The defining feature of a monogastric is that it has a simple single-chambered stomach (one stomach). A monogastric can be classifie ...

herbivore A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically evolved to feed on plants, especially upon vascular tissues such as foliage, fruits or seeds, as the main component of its diet. These more broadly also encompass animals that eat ...

. Sample 19529 contained lipids from a

ruminant Ruminants are herbivorous grazing or browsing artiodactyls belonging to the suborder Ruminantia that are able to acquire nutrients from plant-based food by fermenting it in a specialized stomach prior to digestion, principally through microb ...

herbivore and plant material from seeds, indicating that bones from more than one species of animal fueled the fire of early Swan Point occupation hearths. The

lithics Lithic may refer to: *Relating to stone tools ** Lithic analysis, the analysis of stone tools and other chipped stone artifacts ** Lithic core, the part of a stone which has had flakes removed from it ** Lithic flake, the portion of a rock removed ...

in the earliest levels at Swan Point yielded microblades, which were not found at nearby Broken Mammoth and Meade sites. Lithics of this time period include bifacial tools, blade and microblades, choppers and scrapers of varying size; tools made of ivory are also present. Carbon residue of a chert platform rejuvenation flake has been radiocarbon dated to 13,800 B.P. an indication over the age of the pre Terminal Pleistocene lithics. The next time period where significant lithics have been found at Swan Point was between 13,000 and 9,500 C. yr B.P. when the Chindadn point type 3 is prevalent. Microblade technology is associated with this period at Healy Lake site but not Broken Mammoth. Swan Point also yields some unique triangular bifaces with corners and broken tips reworked into graver spurs.

Obsidian Obsidian ( ) is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed when lava extrusive rock, extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimal crystal growth. It is an igneous rock. Produced from felsic lava, obsidian is rich in the lighter element ...

lithics made from material from the

Wrangell Mountains The Wrangell Mountains are a high mountain range of eastern Alaska in the United States. Much of the range is included in Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park and Preserve. The Wrangell Mountains are almost entirely volcanic in origin, and they i ...

have also been found at Swan Point in the lowest levels of the loess, comparable to the lithics found at Broken Mammoth. The obsidian microblades found at Broken Mammoth were made from the same Obsidian material as the ones found at Swan Point indicating a strong connection between the two sites.

References

Bibliography

*Holmes, Charles E. 2011
''The Beringian and Transitional Periods in Alaska: Technology of the East Beringian Tradition as Viewed from Swan Point''.
In From the Yenisei to the Yukon: Interpreting Lithic Assemblages Variability in Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene Beringia, edited by T. Goebel and Ian Buvit, pp. 179–191. Texas A&M University Press, College Station. *Kedrowski, B.L., B.A. Crass, J.A. Behm, J.C. Luetke, A.L. Nichols, A.M. Moreck, and C.E. Holmes 2009. GC/MS Analysis of Fatty Acids from Ancient Hearth Residues at the Swan Point Archaeological Site. Archaeometry 51(1):110-122. *Hirasawa, Yu and Charles Holmes 2015. Microblade Production Technology at Swan Point from the Terminal Pleistocene to the Middle Holocene. Paper presented at 42nd Annual Meeting of the Alaska Anthropology Association, March 4–7, Anchorage, Alaska. *Smith, Gerad M. 2020 Ethnoarchaeology of the Middle Tanana Valley, Alaska. PhD dissertation, Anthropology Department, University of Alaska Fairbanks

*Smith, Gerad M., Ted Parsons, Ryan P. Harrod, Charles E. Holmes, Joshua D. Reuther, and Ben A. Potter 2019. A Track in the Tanana: Forensic analysis of a Late Holocene footprint from central Alaska. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. 24:900-912.

External links

Quartz Lake - Shaw Creek Flats Multidisciplinary Project
{{National Register of Historic Places Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Alaska Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, Alaska National Register of Historic Places in Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, Alaska