It's been over 2 weeks since we got back from our excavation at Thumb Creek by Karluk Lake, and it seems like ages ago. It is finally time to write up my impressions on what we found.
Basically we found that the 2 structure depressions we could see on the surface both dated to the Late Kachemak period - or about 800 to 1500 years ago. We know this because we found artifacts typical of that time period in the floor deposits. We had hoped that one of them would date to 4700 years old based on a radiocarbon date from a 2009 test pit. But it turns out the 2009 test pit missed the hearth of the younger house and hit an underlying, and far older fire pit feature. We had dated the older feature and not the most recent structure. We also learned a lot about the earlier inhabitants of the site. The locality was intensely used from around 5500 to about 3500 years ago. We know this from another 2009 radiocarbon date and from the style of artifacts found. The radiocarbon date and 'pencil-style' netsinkers indicate the earlier component extended into the Early Kachemak Period.
The most recent Late Kachemak component dates to about the same time as the well-built house we excavated last year (
click here for blog post). But what's cool is that it represents a totally different sort of camp. Last year's house was a late fall fish camp and we found pretty much only netsinkers and ulus. This year we found expedient structures that lacked sod roofs or well built hearths and no associated netsinkers. This year we also found a more diverse artifact assemblage that included hunting gear and even elaborate ceremonial regalia like canel coal labrets. I think it represents a different sort of camp that Alutiiq people visited earlier in the summer when they might have used wood spears to gaff the early run salmon. It's also important to remember that there is a large village from the same time period closer to the lake. So perhaps people were staying in the village and just walking upriver to gaff and process fish.
The older late Ocean Bay II period component at the site was clearly quite intense. The deposits look just like the deposits in Ocean Bay II period sites we have excavated on the coast. They are very mixed and people were digging and moving dirt sods all about the site. We even found evidence for off site sod quarrying. People were ripping up chunks of sod and dirt and bringing them to the site. I am not exactly sure why they did this, but I think they used the sods and dirt to cap numerous hearth pits and create little 'earth ovens' to process and cook fish. We found a number of these expedient pit hearths, and even a much more elaborate rock lined fire pit from the same time period. We also found the remains of a more elaborate structure that had large posts holding up a thick roof of dirt and sod. This feature burned down and the sod roof got fired a bright orange color. What's interesting is that there were practically no floor deposits associated with the feature and it also seems to have lacked built up walls or a foundation depression.
The older component at the site was full of battered slate lances - what we call bayonets. They were probably using these to gaff the salmon in the creek below the site. Expedient cobble tools were a very common find and it appears they were using the tools to split and process fish. We also found a lot of evidence for bayonet manufacture. They were grinding and making the slate tools at the site, and not all of the ground slate points were battered from striking the bottom while fishing. I think they might have also been using them for hunting - possibly for bears.
Finally, what we did not find is also interesting. I was hoping we'd find more evidence for a far older occupation like what we found near the outlet to the Karluk Lake in 2024 (
click here for blog post). There we found a feature that turned out to be about 7800 years old. This year we did not find any of the blades and older style chipped stone artifacts typical of the oldest Alutiiq sites.
