A Smaller Pack

Thursday, August 25, 2022

Bugs, Rain, Mud, and Smiles

The weather and bugs were pretty bad on our recent dig at Karluk Lake. We had like 2 sunny days, and most days it was misty with occasional rain. A couple of days it rained hard. So we spent a lot of time in head nets and rain gear. And a lot of time in the muck. On the last day we backfilled in the rain and it was about as bad as I can ever remember. I don't use head nets and the bugs would bite my ears and I'd wipe them off with muddy hands. Once a bug crawled in my bear and got stuck next to my eardrum.

Still, despite the adversity, morale was quite high. There was always smiles and chatter. I even came to think misty and cloudy is the best digging weather. On the sunny day it got too hot and I think that tired us out more than anything.

Patrick

Tuesday, August 23, 2022

Back from Karluk Lake

I just got back from a 2 week archaeological excavation at Karluk Lake. The work is funded by the landowner, Koniag Inc., and this was our third such excavation at the outlet to the lake (click here for 2019, here for 2021, and here for 2022 plans for some past posts). We got back late Saturday night and it has been rain, fog and wind ever since we got back. If we had not made it out when we did I am pretty sure that we would still be there at the lake, hanging out in the rain, watching the waves, and waiting for a plane.

It was a successful trip. We excavated a house right next to the qasgiq (ceremonial house) that we excavated last year. We had wanted to excavate a 'normal' house from the same time period as the qasgiq to emphasize its uniqueness. And the two structures are built completely differently. The biggest difference is size, and that the qasgig had built up walls while the house was simply dug into the ground and capped with a sod roof. But more on the archaeology in a later post.

While we were there it rained a lot and the bugs were worse than they have been in years past. But the fishing was great, the scenery spectacular, and group moral high. We had a good time and learned a lot. More to come in posts over the next few days.

Patrick

Excavated 1000-year-old house - we are standing at the back of what would have been the main room

The cabin where we stayed

A big dolly varden trout that we caught and ate for dinner

Angus and an oil lamp used for light

The fireweed turned while we were there

First day fireweed

The field crew

lunch in the teepee

Sunday, August 7, 2022

Odds and Ends

Today I am off to Karluk Lake, and there will not be any blog posts for a while. So before I left I thought I'd post all the pictures from the last couple of weeks that never made it onto the blog.

Lately, I've been doing lots of slow therapy hikes for my hamstring, and one of my favorite spots has been the Buskin beach loop with Bode. We hike down the beach and then come back to the car inland on the old WWII roads through the woods. The inland route is a little hilly but not too hilly for my hamstring. Perfect loop for working my hamstring back up for climbing mountains.

Lately I've also noticed that we are past 'peak green'. The fireweed is still at peak bloom, but the Pushki is already dying and turning yellow. The hills are even turning a little yellow, or are a sort of 'dusty' green. The vibrant and saturated light green of late June and early July is now long gone.

Also in the past week I have been eating the new potatoes out of my garden. I do not dig up the plants but 'steal' a few potatoes from each plant. I sort of root around the base of the plants and grab the ones near the surface. New potatoes are so sweet and delicious, and only like this for a few weeks in August.

Of course when I get back, it'll all be different. It'll be time to harvest garlic and beets.

Patrick

Close up of a melting jellyfish on the beach

Bear and kid fossilized tracks

Saturday, August 6, 2022

Inland Herring

Herring vertebrae

On Sunday I am off to Karluk Lake for an archaeological excavation. I've done a lot of archaeology on Karluk Lake. Between 2008 and 2012 we surveyed the Lake and River (click here 2011, and here 2012 , and here for 2009 for a few of the survey posts), and the last few years the landowner, Koniag Inc., and the Kodiak Brown Bear Center has been supporting archaeological excavations. Basically, we have been testing the theories we came up with during our surveys, and learning how Alutiiq people used the area through time.

In 2019 we excavated a late prehistoric house (ca 250 years old) right at the outlet to the lake (click here for 2019 archaeology post). Last year we excavated what we think is a ceremonial 'Qasgiq' or 'mens house' from around 1000 years ago. This year we hope to excavated a normal house associated with the Qasgiq. We want to compare and contrast the two structures, and strengthen our case that last year's structure is indeed a Qasgiq (click here for last year's post).

Soon after the 2019 excavation Bob K a visiting archaeologist looked at the fauna we collected from the 250 year-old house and identified what he thought was a herring bone (picture above). This was quite exciting because the site is a long ways from the sea and herring are mostly available in the spring. At the very least it told us that Alutiiq people were bringing up food from the coast and that they were there in the spring. Anyway, we were not absolutely positive that it was a herring bone, and so I have waited, and waited for confirmation that it is actually a herring vertebrae.

Erin M and Catherine W at Boston University have been analyzing the fauna (bones), and recently confirmed that it is indeed a herring bone! They are not done with their analysis - so there will be more to come, but I have been waiting for over 3 years to do a blog post on our 2019 herring bone. So here is a preliminary post. Erin and Catherine will have a lot more to say!

Anyway, since 2019 we excavated another faunal midden associated with the 2021 'Qasgiq' and rather than just post on the herring bone I thought I'd do a preliminary comparison of the two middens. The 2 structures are wildly different in age (about 800 years) but the differences between the composition of the two middens highlight the difference between how the structures were used. Below I first show pictures from the 2019 faunal midden, and then at the bottom I show images from the 2021 faunal midden.

In a nutshell, the composition of the 2 middens matches the differences between the 2 artifact assemblages. The 'house' was associated with a wide variety of artifact types and this reflects that a diverse suite of activities that took place there. At the 'Qasgiq' the artifact assemblage was very focused - there was very little in the way of tools associated with manufacturing or processing food. The 'house' midden was mostly fish bones but contained a wide variety of types and included marine mammal, birds and all sorts of saltwater species. The 'Qasgiq' midden was much more focused and contained relatively little in the way of fish bones. It was mostly clam and mussel shells.

This contrast supports my theory that the 'qasgiq' was a special purpose structure - Alutiiq people used it for ceremonies and did not do a lot of 'household' or food processing activities there. They were not processing and drying a bunch of fish in the structure like they were in the 250 year-old 'house'. Also clams are not really a high quality food - they do not provide much in the way of calories, and for the calories alone it would be hardly worth it to carry them all the way up from the coast. But they are a sort of 'prestige' item and could be considered a 'ceremonial' food.

And now in the next few weeks I hope to excavate a 1000 year-old house. I hope we find fauna, and that it is totally different from the fauna we found in the 1000 year-old 'qasgiq'. I hope everything is different between the 2 structures and that the differences support my story!

Patrick