Sponsor
The new dates from the Birnirk site was supported by the Office of Polar Programs (OPP) at the National Science Foundation as a collaborative Project “Birnirk Prehistory and the Emergence of Inupiaq Culture in Northwestern Alaska” awarded to C. Alix and N.H. Bigelow at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (ARC-1523160), O.K. Mason at Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado Boulder ARC-1523205), D.H. O’Rourke at the University of Kansas (ARC-1523059) and S. Anderson at Portland State University (ARC-1523079); and by a Grant from the Archaeology Commission of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs to C. Alix at Paris 1 - Pantheon Sorbonne University.
Published In
The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-2021
Subjects
Human ecology, Land settlement patterns
Abstract
Cultural interaction and exchange across the Bering Strait of northern Alaska played a central role in the emergence of Arctic maritime adaptations. Yet poor chronological control limits our ability to explore processes of cultural change over the last 5000years. We address this problem by synthesizing the available radiocarbon record for the region, carrying out Bayesian analysis of a regional radiocarbon database, and analyzing the BAR-1 (Birnirk) site using new dates published in this paper. Our synthesis and our illustrative analysis of the BAR-1 site highlights several intriguing temporal and spatial trends with implications for interaction between cultural groups. Our analysis also underscores the uncertainty associated with dating cultural phases and identifies specific areas where additional research is needed to further our understanding of cultural interaction in this complex region.
Rights
© 2021 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC
Locate the Document
DOI
10.1080/15564894.2021.1942335
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/36496
Citation Details
Brown, T. J., Anderson, S. L., Junge, J., & Duelks, J. (2021). Bayesian assessment of northern Alaskan chronological issues: Implications for future research. The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology, 1-25.