Maritime Alpine Cairns in Southeast Alaska: a Multidisciplinary Exploratory Study William J
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Anthropology Faculty Publications Anthropology, Department of 2016 Maritime Alpine Cairns in Southeast Alaska: A Multidisciplinary Exploratory Study William J. Hunt Jr. University of Nebraska - Lincoln, [email protected] Ralph J. Hartley University of Nebraska - Lincoln, [email protected] Bruce McCune Oregon State University, [email protected] Nijmah Ali Oregon State University, [email protected] Thomas F. Thornton University of Oxford, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/anthropologyfacpub Part of the Archaeological Anthropology Commons, Folklore Commons, Human Geography Commons, and the Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons Hunt, William J. Jr.; Hartley, Ralph J.; McCune, Bruce; Ali, Nijmah; and Thornton, Thomas F., "Maritime Alpine Cairns in Southeast Alaska: A Multidisciplinary Exploratory Study" (2016). Anthropology Faculty Publications. 129. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/anthropologyfacpub/129 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Anthropology, Department of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Anthropology Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. MARITIME ALPINE CAIRNS IN SOUTHEAST ALASKA: A Multidisciplinary Exploratory Study by William J. Hunt, Jr. Ralph J. Hartley Bruce McCune Nijmah Ali Thomas F. Thornton 2016 Supported by the National Science Foundation (Project 1230132), Arctic Social Sciences Program, Division of Polar Programs i (This page was left intentionally blank) ii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report describes the goals, data recovery methods, data analysis, and conclusions of a pilot project “A Multidisciplinary Exploratory Study of Alpine Cairns, Baranof Island, Southeast Alaska,” funded by the National Science Foundation under Project No. 1230132. The project brought together experts in the disciplines of archaeology, lichenology, and oral history to address questions regarding artificial and presumeably prehistoric, high altitude cairns. The opinions, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not reflect the views or recommendations of the National Science Foundation. In 2011, the Principal Investigators met and consulted with the tribal governments of the Sitka Tribe of Alaska and Angoon Community Association (Kootznoowoo Tlingit) about a project proposed to take place at or near their customary tribal boundary. Project planning and background research continued in 2012 as snow cover at the project site prevented fieldwork that summer. In 2013, Principal Investigators brought together a research team incorporating experts in the fields of anthropology, oral history, and botany. Two graduate students were brought onto the team to allow their participation in project planning and development. Fieldwork was initiated in July 2013, by Oxford University cultural anthropologist and oral historian, Dr. Thomas F. Thornton. He was able to draw upon twenty years of ethnographic research in those communities to conduct interviews with Tlingit elders at numerous communities in southeast Alaska. The purpose of this effort was to develop an historical-ecological context for Tlingit cultural activities, migrations, and ethnogeography in alpine settings. Dr. Thornton’s portion of the report provides an extensive narrative of project background, research objectives, methodology, descriptive data, and research conclusions. Archaeological and lichenological fieldwork took place in August 2013 and in 2014 at Cross Peak on Baranof Island and along both coasts of Hoonah Sound. Lichen and lichenometric inventory was undertaken in 2013 collecting data of interest to the lichenology research community and to apply traditional and innovative methods of dating alpine cairns based on the lichen and moss growth on their surfaces. Archaeological investigations were conducted in a manner consistent with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards and Guidelines for Archaeological Documentation. All work was under the supervision of persons with appropriate professional qualifications. Archaeological researchers meet the professional qualifications included in “Secretary of the Interior’s Historic Preservation Professional Qualification Standards” (Federal Register Vol. 62, No. 119, pp. 33719-33723). This work initially focused on the slopes and crest of Cross Peak Mountain with goal to of identifying all cairns on the mountain as well as any other types of sites that might occur in the locality. The team recorded 50 cairns within 5 sites on Cross Peak Mountain. Archaeological data collected during this inventory includes cairn dimensions, GPS positions, still photographic images, and video documentation. Topographic mapping of the research locale and clustered features was i undertaken by UNAVCO using ground-based Lidar. With inventory and mapping completed, four alpine cairns were selected for excavation/dismantlement based on their morphology and lichen growth. As each feature was disassembled, archaeologists sought artifacts, faunal and floral materials, and carbon samples from inside and/or immediately under the cairn. All dismantled cairns were subsequently rebuilt within its marked footprint and within its approximate original morphology with lichen-bearing surfaces facing outward to the extent possible. No artifacts occurred within, under, or the excavated cairns. Radiocarbon (AMS) analysis of collected organic materials and lichenometrics indicate that alpine cairns on Cross Peak are prehistoric and built within the last two millennia. Physical, historical, and oral history points to construction of the cairns by ancestors of the Tlingit and, more specifically, by ancestors of Sitka and Kootznoowoo tribes. In September 2014, after retrieving a time-lapse camera left to overwinter at Cross Peak, one of the Principal Investigators and the project photographer conducted a helicopter survey over mountains along the lower reaches of Hoonah Sound. This survey identified 39 cairns at 29 sites demonstrating that alpine cairns occur in abundance on Baranof and Chichagof Islands. This innovative project has provided, for the first time, hard data on what may be the most ubiquitous prehistoric cultural feature in Southeast Alaska. The potential for coastal environments to be altered by dramatic change in climatic dynamics and regional tectonic activity influences local decision-making about resource use in various coastal landscapes throughout the world. This project contributes to the existing knowledge base of prehistoric and historic land-use in southeast Alaska, a means by which to ascertain how indigenous groups responded to the dynamics of a changing environment. The information collected about human activities on the Baranof, Chichagof, and the broader Alexander Archipelago broadens understanding of past human adaptation to this overall coastal environment. It has the potential to permit an assessment as to how this adaptation may or may not have varied from that of the land use practices of other coastal social systems in the world. In addition, data collected in this case study may be especially useful in understanding human adaptation in relation to rapid climate change due to the 1) rapid and dynamic climate and geomorphological changes in the landscape and 2) long-term habitation by peoples with strong oral tradition and ethnogeographic consciousness and adaptive capacity and resilience, etc. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This has been a long and fairly complex project, the complexity of it requiring the authors of this report to partner with a number of organizations and work closely with many people over the course of four years. First and foremost, the research team would like to recognize the Arctic Social Sciences Program, Division of Polar Programs, National Science Foundation without whose funding and guidance this project would not and could have taken place. Special thanks to Arctic Social Sciences Program Director Dr. Anna M. Kerttula de Echave for her guidance throughout the life of this pilot project. NSF-Arctic Social Sciences support includes: 2011 - NSF-Arctic Social Sciences Proposal 1145831 "Consultation Travel for A Multidisciplinary Pilot Study of Alpine Cairns, Southeast Alaska." 2012 - NSF Proposal 1230132 “Pilot Project: A Multidisciplinary Exploratory Study of Alpine Cairns, Baranof Island, Southeast Alaska.” 2013 - Supplementary funding to Award # 1230132 to conduct video, still photographic, and time-lapse photographic documentation of research. Drs. Hunt and Hartley acknowledge the assistance provided by our many partners in this project: Tongass National Forest - former Sitka District Chief Ranger Carol A. Goularte; Sitka Zone Archaeologist James “Jay” Kinsman; Ecologist Karen Dillman; Admiralty Monument Ranger Chad Van Ormer; Tongass National Forest Heritage Program Manager, Mark McCallum and Theresa Thibault; Admiralty National Monument, Juneau and Yakutat Ranger Districts Archaeologist Myra Gilliam; and Petersburg District Archeologist Jane Smith. This group of people provided important information about other cairn sites, gave us good advice as to how to proceed with this project, provided short-term housing upon occasion, and found space for us to store field equipment. Sitka Tribe of Alaska – Past and present members of the STA Tribal Council: Michael Baines,