彩神vlll争霸

A group of twelve students and volunteers participated in the 彩神vlll争霸 archaeological field school at the Carpenter Site from May 19 to June 21. The field school, led by Gerad Smith, Ph.D., assistant professor of anthropology, provided the students with a rare opportunity to take their studies of Alaska鈥檚 precolonial cultures out of the classroom and into an active archaeological dig. The Carpenter Site is located on a bluff near Shaw Creek, about a half-hour drive from Delta Junction, and is also known by its Middle Tanana Dene name of 鈥淣aayii'臋臋',鈥� meaning 鈥渋t is visible across.鈥�

The students gained hands-on experience excavating at the site, as well as identifying artifacts uncovered during the excavation. 

鈥淚鈥檝e really appreciated actually being able to hold the artifacts and see them and find them,鈥� said Connor Benson, a senior in history. 鈥淒oing it out here in the field, it becomes easier to do in the lab.鈥� 

Artifacts recovered from the site include small animal bones, charcoal and even three tin cans with an important historic connection to the area. Some of the most exciting finds were complete stone tools. Benson discovered one tool that provided a literal 鈥渉ands-on鈥� connection to the past 鈥� a potential left-handed stone scraper.

A hands-on study of the past 

Benson discovered the tool while excavating with a trowel in his assigned dig unit at the site. The tool was broken in two, and Benson initially believed that the two pieces of chert were separate artifacts before realizing the pieces fit together.

鈥淚 found it in two pieces, basically sitting in the dirt, [when] I hit the top of it with the trowel,鈥� Benson said. 鈥淭he two pieces fit together perfectly. These are clearly one thing.鈥�

Based on the shape of the artifact, Benson believes the stone tool was used for scraping or cutting, though he said 鈥渋t鈥檚 hard to tell exactly.鈥� 

While holding the two pieces of the artifact together, Benson noticed something particular about the tool. 鈥淚t holds a lot better in your left hand than in your right hand,鈥� Benson observed. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know for sure, but theoretically it could have been held by a person who was a lefty. If I try to hold it in my right hand, it鈥檚 not nearly as comfortable.鈥�

Benson discovered the artifact in one of the upper layers of his excavation unit. Based on the level that the tool was found in, Benson believes it was used 鈥渟omewhere from 500 to 3000 years ago.鈥� The upper layers at the site have connections to the recent cultural past of the region鈥檚 Middle Tanana Dene people. 

Being able to hold the artifact in his own (left) hand was a profound experience for Benson. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 like 鈥榳ow,鈥� people have been here for thousands and thousands of years before me in this exact same spot holding this exact same thing,鈥� Benson said. 鈥淵ou can read about it, but actually being able to see it is completely different.鈥� 

Ancient tools for any occasion

The potential left-handed stone scraper was not the only complete stone tool found in the Carpenter Site鈥檚 upper layers. Reagan Miller, a senior in anthropology, discovered a 鈥減retool鈥� in her excavation unit. 

鈥淭his is a biface blank, so it鈥檚 a pretool,鈥� Miller said of the artifact. 鈥淧eople would keep these around if they needed to shape it into whatever they needed at that moment. They could use it as a blade or scraper [...] people would take a rock and they would haft parts of the tool off so that it would be sharp.鈥�

Miller found the artifact in one of the upper layers that dated 800 to 1,000 years ago. She recalled hearing the artifact before seeing it while excavating: 鈥淚t was half way in the wall. I clinked it with my trowel and I thought it might be a flake and it turned out to be a tool [...] I think this is one of the first formal tools that was found [during the field school].鈥�

The field school was Miller鈥檚 first experience excavating on an archaeological site, though she has had a passion for archaeology since childhood. 

鈥淚 really liked archaeology when I was a kid. I was really into Ancient Egypt. I kinda forgot about it as I got older [until] I took a cultural anthropology class at 彩神vlll争霸,鈥� Miller said. 鈥淚鈥檓 so happy to be here. It鈥檚 definitely different than what I had pictured when I was a kid [...] this is real and I feel so much respect for this land and the people that have been here for thousands of years before me.鈥�

Sifting through 13,000 years of history

For every complete stone tool the students uncovered at the site, they discovered many more small flakes of chert. Archaeologists call these small pieces 鈥渄ebitage,鈥� and they are formed when ancient people chipped away at a piece of rock to form a tool. While seemingly insignificant, debitage can provide important clues about what was happening at the site long ago. 

During the field school, any pieces of debitage that were discovered in place (or 鈥渋n situ鈥�) in the excavation units were carefully documented and their exact locations were marked with surveying equipment. However, many of the smaller pieces of debitage on any archaeological dig will likely be missed during excavation, so the students and volunteers carefully sifted through all of the dirt removed from the site using shaker boxes, recovering additional debitage.

Altogether, stone tools, pretools and debitage are what archaeologists refer to as 鈥渓ithic artifacts,鈥� or 鈥渓ithics鈥� for short. These lithic artifacts are a major research interest for Birgit Arroyo, a master鈥檚 student in 彩神vlll争霸鈥檚 applied anthropology M.A. program and one of the excavators at the site, who hopes to 鈥渇ocus on lithics and provide more of a lithic lab expertise.鈥�

For her thesis project, Arroyo plans to recreate some of the stone tools found at the Carpenter Site in order to gain insight about how they were made and how they were used. She hopes to test replica stone scrapers by using them to scrape a real animal hide in order to understand how people survived in the region in the distant past. 鈥淎t a lot of the sites around here they鈥檝e found evidence that鈥檚 13,000 years old that people were here at that point in time and survived this environment,鈥� Arroyo said.

鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be we replicate, but also we try it out in real life. How did this work? And how did people make it work? What did they have to watch out for?鈥� Arroyo said of her thesis project. 鈥淚 want to get in their heads. It鈥檚 the thoughts that we will never find out. We have the artifacts, but we don鈥檛 have the people and their brains.鈥�