Investigating the Antiquity of Inter-Regional Contact Between Southern Yukon and the Northern Northwest Coast Through an Ancient
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University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Graduate Studies The Vault: Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2015-08-07 Investigating the Antiquity of Inter-Regional Contact between Southern Yukon and the Northern Northwest Coast through an Ancient DNA Analysis of Cryogenic Wooden Biofacts Recovered from Alpine Archaeological Sites in the Northwestern Subarctic Murchie, Tyler James Murchie, T. J. (2015). Investigating the Antiquity of Inter-Regional Contact between Southern Yukon and the Northern Northwest Coast through an Ancient DNA Analysis of Cryogenic Wooden Biofacts Recovered from Alpine Archaeological Sites in the Northwestern Subarctic (Unpublished master's thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. doi:10.11575/PRISM/26636 http://hdl.handle.net/11023/2386 master thesis University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY Investigating the Antiquity of Inter-Regional Contact between Southern Yukon and the Northern Northwest Coast through an Ancient DNA Analysis of Cryogenic Wooden Biofacts Recovered from Alpine Archaeological Sites in the Northwestern Subarctic by Tyler James Murchie A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS GRADUATE PROGRAM IN ARCHAELOGY CALGARY, ALBERTA AUGUST, 2015 © Tyler James Murchie 2015 Abstract The antiquity of contact between Eyak-Tlingit in Southeastern Alaska and Athabaskans in Southern Yukon is poorly understood. Archaeological evidence of inter-regional interaction is currently confined to the Late Period, although there is ethnographic evidence of more ancient networks. The discovery of a cryogenically preserved stick (willow [Salix sp.]), from the Kluane Icefields may represent the region’s earliest evidence (2430 ± 20 14C BP) of glacial travel. Ancient DNA was used in an attempt to assess the specimen’s origin based on a phylogeographic analysis of modern Salix distributed on either side of the Saint Elias Range. DNA could not be amplified from the target specimen, leading to an investigation of the viability of paleogenetics for wooden artifacts using biofacts from alpine ice patches in Southern Yukon. A considerable lack of plastid variability was observed in modern Salix ssp., although three loci were identified that may be amenable to phylogeographic applications. i Preface In the early stages of this research, I had intended to analyze the willow stick from Kluane National Park foremost in order to determine whether the specimen had intact aDNA. Legal issues regarding the specimen emerged as a result of my permit application weeks before departing for field work, resulting in a change in the project’s trajectory towards investigating the viability of aDNA for cryogenic wooden artifacts and biofacts. The new focus aimed at continuing to build upon foundational investigations in aDNA with degraded wood, and facilitate new research projects targeting these important specimens, especially the marginally researched cryogenic biofacts recovered from alpine ice patches for biomolecular applications. Restrictions on the Kluane specimen lasted approximately 1.5 years—far longer than I had originally anticipated, and after most of the other laboratory work had been completed. This partially shaped the delimitations of the research project. ii Acknowledgements Foremost, I would like to thank Peter Dawson (my supervisor) for his guidance and assistance throughout my master’s degree. He further provided extremely helpful support during the first field season while sampling modern willow, and has kindly written many letters of recommendation on my behalf. Camilla Speller was integral to this study by generously sacrificing her time to train me in the Ancient DNA Facility at the University of Calgary before moving to York, but also for her continued support answering questions and providing advice on matters related to the facility through email. Brian Kooyman has been exceptionally helpful and generous throughout the project. I thank him immensely for his thoughtful comments on my interim report, thorough edits to my thesis following my defense, and his continued support over the years in a wide variety of circumstances. I wish to further acknowledge and thank the members of my defense committee (Peter Dawson, Brian Kooyman, Gerald Oetelaar, and Edward Yeung) for their time and thoughtful consideration of this work, which has improved its quality, readability, and focus. My thanks to Gerald Holdsworth for providing information on the target specimen and our continued discussions on its analysis. I wish to thank Jeff Hunston and Gregory Hare for their support in Whitehorse, particularly with my permit applications related to the legal proceedings. Gregory Hare also helped immensely with modern sample collection, as well as comments on my archaeological background chapter. I also wish to acknowledge the Yukon Government: Department of Tourism and Culture, Parks Canada (particularly Carmen Wong, Sharon Thompson, and Jose Milne) for their support. I apologize for all of the legal issues my permit application caused. My thanks to Kluane First Nations, Champagne-Aishihik First iii Nations, Sheila Greer, and all other associated Yukon and Alaskan First Nations for consenting to this analysis. Thank you to Sean Rogers for allowing us to use a portion of his busy laboratory for our post-PCR analyses, as well as Dale Walde for permitting us a space in ‘the dungeon’ for storage of our post-PCR clothing. I wish to also acknowledge the support of the Department of Archaeology, University of Calgary (now Department of Anthropology and Archaeology) for their financial assistance with laboratory equipment and reagents, in addition to the Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary. My sincere thanks to the US National Parks Service: Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, particularly Miranda Terwilliger for her assistance with my permit application, and especially Michael Thompson for all of his help during my stay in Yakutat, Alaska. My thanks as well to Yak-Tat Kwaan, Inc. Thank you to M. Anne Katzenberg for allowing me to work in her Stable Isotope Laboratory, and special thanks to Kris Russell Markin for all the training, patience, and kindness while helping me use the liquid nitrogen mill. I’m glad we finally got the stupid nozzle to seal! All of the friends and colleagues I have come to know in the Archaeology Department at the University of Calgary through both my undergraduate and master’s degrees have made my time here a truly amazing experience. I am lucky to have come to know the following subset of graduate and undergraduate students during my master’s degree (in no particular order [my sincere apologies to anyone in my cohort that I missed in the following list]): Jamie Eddy, Lance Evans, Michael Moloney, Steve Simpson, Donald Butler, Robert Patalano, Courtney McConnan Borstad, Sean Pickering, Mary Lynn Tobiasz, Kim Edwards, Margie Patton, Adrianne Offenbacker, Alexa Chantel Lacroix, Ana Morales-Arce, Taylor Graham, Shawn Morton, Adam iv Benfer, Ashley Nagel, Nicki Engel, Robyn Crook, Rebecca Rainville, Tobi Krahulic, Cara Tremain, Colleen Hughes, and Sarah Bednar. Special thanks to our archaeology house “The Brewery” and all of the brewers who lived there during my time. Further thanks to Lance Evans and especially Mary Lynn Tobiasz who guided me in the enigmatic ways of ArcGIS, with Mary also being invaluable as an editor and friend. Nicola Howard, Courtney Wright, and particularly Nicole Ethier have helped me immensely over the years as amazing administrative and technical staff in the department. I wish to wholeheartedly thank Alexa Chantel Lacroix for her selfless and extensive help during the second half of this project as an amazing laboratory and field assistant, a kind and thoughtful editor, and an incredible friend. Thank you as well to my aDNA colleagues: Christian Barron-Ortiz, Ana Morales-Arce, Norma French, Brian Kooyman, Bjorn Bartholdy, and Krystyna Hacking. I have been lucky to work for the cultural resource management company Stantec Inc. during the final years of my undergrad, and first couple years of my graduate degree at the University of Calgary. I wish to thank Alan Youell, Dale Boland, Matt Moors, Jennifer Tischer, Kate Peach, and Alison Landals as well as everyone else I came to know at the company. The following agencies supported this research and its dissemination financially, for which I owe immense thanks: Social Sciences and Research Council of Canada, the Arctic Institute of North America: Northern Scientific Training Program, Faculty of Graduate Studies and Graduate Students Association (University of Calgary), the University of Calgary and University Research Grants Committee, the Canadian Archaeological Association, and the Government of Alberta. Finally, I wish to thank my family for their support over the years. v Dedication I dedicate this work to my mother and father. Thank you for always believing in me. vi Table of Contents Abstract ...............................................................................................................................