Hostname: page-component-68c7f8b79f-mk7jb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-12-23T05:10:57.580Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

THREE GENERATIONS UNDER ONE ROOF? BAYESIAN MODELING OF RADIOCARBON DATA FROM NUNALLEQ, YUKON-KUSKOKWIM DELTA, ALASKA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 May 2018

Paul M. Ledger ,
Véronique Forbes ,
Edouard Masson-Maclean ,
Charlotta Hillerdal ,
W. Derek Hamilton ,
Ellen McManus-Fry ,
Ana Jorge ,
Kate Britton  and
Richard A. Knecht
Paul M. Ledger*
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen, Elphinstone Road, Aberdeen AB24 3UF, UK
Véronique Forbes
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Queen's College, Prince Philip Drive, St. John's, Newfoundland, A1B 3R6, Canada Université de Bordeaux, PACEA, UMR 5199, Bâtiment B8, Allée Geoffroy Saint Hilaire, CS 50023, 33615 Pessac CEDEX, France
Edouard Masson-Maclean
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen, Elphinstone Road, Aberdeen AB24 3UF, UK
Charlotta Hillerdal
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen, Elphinstone Road, Aberdeen AB24 3UF, UK
W. Derek Hamilton
Affiliation:
Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, University of Glasgow, Rankine Avenue, East Kilbride, G75 0QF, Scotland, UK
Ellen McManus-Fry
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen, Elphinstone Road, Aberdeen AB24 3UF, UK
Ana Jorge
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen, Elphinstone Road, Aberdeen AB24 3UF, UK
Kate Britton
Affiliation:
Departament of Archaeology, University of Aberdeen, Elphinstone Road, Aberdeen AB24 3UF, UK Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
Richard A. Knecht
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen, Elphinstone Road, Aberdeen AB24 3UF, UK
*
(p.ledger@abdn.ac.uk, corresponding author)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article presents the results of a program of radiocarbon dating and Bayesian modeling from the precontact Yup'ik site of Nunalleq (GDN-248) in subarctic southwestern Alaska. Nunalleq is deeply stratified, presenting a robust relative chronological framework of well-defined individual house floors abundant in ecofacts suitable for radiocarbon dating. Capitalizing on this potential, we present the results of one of the first applications of Bayesian statistical modeling of radiocarbon data from an archaeological site in the North American Arctic. Using these methods, we demonstrate that it is possible to generate robust, high-resolution chronological models from Arctic archaeology. Radiocarbon dates, procured prior to the program of dating and modeling presented here, suggested an approximately three-century duration of occupation at the site. The results of Bayesian modeling nuance this interpretation. While it is possible that there may have been activity for almost three centuries (beginning in the late fourteenth century), occupation of the dwelling complex, which dominates the site, was more likely to have endured for no more than a century. The results presented here suggest that the occupation of Nunalleq likely encompassed three generations beginning cal AD 1570–1630 before being curtailed by conflict around cal AD 1645–1675.

En este artículo se presentan los resultados de un programa de datación radiocarbónica y modelización bayesiana del sitio de Nunalleq, un yacimiento Yup'ik pre-contacto en el sudoeste sub-ártico de Alaska. Nunalleq es un yacimiento fuertemente estratificado que presenta una secuencia ocupacional compleja consistente en una serie de pisos de habitación individualizados, todos ellos contenientes abundantes ecofactos susceptibles de ser datados por radiocarbono. Explotando ese potencial, presentamos los resultados de una de las primeras aplicaciones de la modelización estadística bayesiana sobre datos radiocarbónicos para un yacimiento arqueológico del Ártico norteamericano. A través del uso de estos métodos demostramos que es posible generar modelos cronológicos consistentes y de alta resolución a partir de la arqueología del Ártico. Datos radiocarbónicos anteriores sugerían una duración de aproximadamente tres siglos para la ocupación del yacimiento. Los resultados de la modelización bayesiana matizan esta interpretación. Si bien es posible que haya habido actividad durante casi tres siglos (comenzando a finales del siglo catorce), parece más probable que la ocupación del complejo habitacional, mismo que domina el yacimiento, no haya durado más de un siglo. Los resultados expuestos en este trabajo sugieren que la ocupación de Nunalleq probablemente haya abarcado tres generaciones, comenzando en 1570–1630 cal dC y siendo truncada por un episodio bélico en torno a 1645–1675 cal dC.

Information

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 83 , Issue 3 , July 2018 , pp. 505 - 524
Copyright
Copyright © 2018 by the Society for American Archaeology 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

References Cited

Bayliss, Alex 2009 Rolling Out the Revolution: Using Radiocarbon Dating in Archaeology. Radiocarbon 51:123–147.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bayliss, Alex 2015 Quality in Bayesian Chronological Models in Archaeology. World Archaeology 47:677–700.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bayliss, Alex, Ramsey, Christopher Bronk, der Plicht, Johannes van, and Whittle, Alasdair 2007 Bradshaw and Bayes: Towards a Timetable for the Neolithic. Cambridge Archaeology Journal 17:1–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Black, Lydia 1984 The Yupik of Western Alaska and Russian Impact. Études/Inuit/Studies 8:21–43.Google Scholar
Britton, Kate, McManus-Fry, Ellen, Nehlich, Olaf, Richards, Mike P., Ledger, Paul M., and Knecht, Richard A. 2016 Stable Carbon, Nitrogen and Sulphur Isotope Analysis of Permafrost Preserved Human Hair from Rescue Excavations (2009, 2010) at the Precontact Site of Nunalleq, Alaska. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. DOI:10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.04.015, accessed January 31, 2018.Google Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, Christopher 1995 Radiocarbon Calibration and Analysis of Stratigraphy: The OxCal Program. Radiocarbon 37:425–430.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, Christopher 1998 Probability and Dating. Radiocarbon 40:461–474.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, Christopher 2001 Development of the Radiocarbon Calibration Program. Radiocarbon 43:355–363.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, Christopher 2009 Bayesian Analysis of Radiocarbon Dates. Radiocarbon 51:337–360.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, Christopher 2017 OxCal Application. Electronic document, https://c14.arch.ox.ac.uk/oxcal/OxCal.html, accessed January 31, 2018.Google Scholar
Darwent, John, Darwent, Christyann, Eldridge, Kelly A., and Miszaniec, Jason I. 2017 Recent Archaeological Investigations near the Native Village of Shaktoolik, Norton Sound, Alaska. Arctic 69:1–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dumond, Don E., and Griffin, Dennis G. 2002 Measurements of the Marine Reservoir Effect on Radiocarbon Ages in the Eastern Bering Sea. Arctic 55:77–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dumond, Don E., and VanStone, James W. 1995 Paugvik: A Nineteenth-Century Native Village on Bristol Bay, Alaska. Fieldiana Anthropology New Series No. 24. Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fienup-Riordan, Ann, and Rearden, Alice 2016 Anguyiim Nalliini/Time of Warring: The History of the Bow and Arrow Wars in Southwest Alaska. University of Alaska Press, Fairbanks.Google Scholar
Fienup-Riordan, Ann, Rearden, Alice, and Knecht, Melia 2015 Irr'inarqellriit/Amazing Things: Quinhagak Elders Reflect on their Past. Alaska Journal of Anthropology 13:37–70.Google Scholar
Forbes, Véronique, Britton, Kate, and Knecht, Richard A. 2014 Preliminary Archaeoentomological Analyses of Permafrost-Preserved Cultural Layers from the Pre-contact Yup'ik Eskimo Site of Nunalleq, Alaska: Implications, Potential and Methodological Considerations. Environmental Archaeology 20:158–167.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Friesen, Max, and Mason, Owen 2016 Introduction: Archaeology of the North American Arctic. In The Oxford Handbook of the Prehistoric Arctic, edited by Friesen, Max and Mason, Owen, pp. 1–17. Oxford University Press, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamilton, W. Derek, Haselgrove, Colin, and Gosden, Chris 2015 The Impact of Bayesian Chronologies on the British Iron Age. World Archaeology 47:1–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamilton, W. Derek, and Kenney, Jane 2015 Multiple Bayesian Modelling Approaches to a Suite of Radiocarbon Dates from Ovens Excavated at Ysgol yr Hendre, Caernarfron, North Wales. Quaternary Geochronology 25:72–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamilton, W. Derek, and Krus, Anthony M. 2017 The Myths and Realities of Bayesian Chronological Modelling. American Antiquity. DOI:10.1017/aaq.2017.57, accessed January 7, 2018.Google Scholar
Harris, Edward C. 1979 Principles of Archaeological Stratigraphy. Academic Press, London.Google Scholar
Higham, Thomas F. G., Jacobi, Roger, Basell, Laura, Ramsey, Christopher Bronk, Chiotti, Laurent, and Nespoulet, Roland 2011 Precision Dating of the Palaeolithic: A New Radiocarbon Chronology for the Abri Pataud (France), a Key Aurignacian Sequence. Journal of Human Evolution 61:549–563.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knecht, Richard A. 2014 Nunalleq: Rescuing an Eskimo Village from the Sea. British Archaeology May/June:42–49.Google Scholar
Ledger, Paul M. 2018 Are Circumpolar Hunter-Gatherers Visible in the Palaeoenvironmental Record? Pollen Analytical Evidence from Nunalleq, Southwestern Alaska. Holocene 28:415–426.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ledger, Paul M., Forbes, Véronique, Masson-Maclean, Edouard, and Knecht, Richard A. 2016 Dating and Digging Stratified Archaeology in Circumpolar North America: A View from Nunalleq, Southwestern Alaska. Arctic 69:378–390.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nelson, Edward W. 1899 The Eskimo about Bering Strait. Bureau of American Ethnology Annual Report 18. US Government Printing Office, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Oswalt, Wendell H. 1980 Kolmakovskiy Redoubt: The Ethnoarchaeology of a Russian Fort in Alaska. Monumenta Archaeologica Vol. 8. Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Postinikov, Alexey, and Falk, Marvin 2015 Exploring and Mapping Alaska: The Russian American Era, 1741–1867. Translated by Black, Lydia. University of Alaska Press, Fairbanks.Google Scholar
Pratt, Kenneth 2013 Deconstructing the Aglurmiut Migration: An Analysis of Accounts from the Russian-America Period to the Present. Alaska Journal of Anthropology 11:17–36.Google Scholar
Reimer, Paula J., Bard, Edouard, Alex Bayliss, J. Beck, Warren, Blackwell, Paul G., Ramsey, Christopher Bronk, Buck, Caitlin E., Hai Cheng, R. Edwards, Lawrence, Friedrich, Michael, Grootes, Pieter M., Guilderson, Thomas P., Haflidason, Haflidi, Hajdas, Irka, Hatté, Christine, Heaton, Timothy J., Hoffmann, Dirk L., Hogg, Alan G., Hughen, Konrad A., Kaiser, K. Felix, Kromer, Bernd, Manning, Sturt W., Niu, Mu, Reimer, Ron W., Richards, David A., Scott, E. Marian, Southon, John R., Staff, Richard A., Turney, Christian S. M., and der Plicht, Johannes van 2013 IntCal13 and Marine13 Radiocarbon Age Calibration Curves 0–50,000 Years cal BP. Radiocarbon 55:1869–1887.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roberts, Patrick, Boivin, Nicole, Petraglia, Michael, Masser, Paul, Meece, Stephanie, Weisskopf, Alison, Silva, Fabio, Korisettar, Ravi, and Fuller, Dorian Q. 2016 Local Diversity in Settlement, Demography and Subsistence across the Southern Indian Neolithic-Iron Age Transition: Site Growth and Abandonment at Sanganakallu-Kupgal. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 8:575–599.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shaw, Robert D. 1982 The Expansion and Survival of Norton Tradition on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. Arctic Anthropology 19 (2):59–74.Google Scholar
Shaw, Robert D. 1998 An Archaeology of the Central Yupik: A Regional Overview for the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Northern Bristol Bay and Nunivak Island. Arctic Anthropology 35 (1):234–246.Google Scholar
Stuiver, Minze, and Kra, Renne S. 1986 Editorial Comment. Radiocarbon 28:ii.Google Scholar
Stuiver, Minze, and Polach, Henry A. 1977 Reporting of 14C Data. Radiocarbon 19:355–363.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
VanStone, James W. 1973 V.S. Khromchenko's Coastal Explorations in Southwestern Alaska, 1822. Fieldiana: Anthropology Vol. 64. Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago.Google Scholar
VanStone, James W. 1984 Southwest Alaska Eskimo: Introduction. In Arctic, edited by Damas, David, pp. 205–208. Handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 5, William C. Sturtevant, general editor, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Ward, G. K, and Wilson, S. R. 1978 Procedures for Comparing and Combining Radiocarbon Age Determinations: A Critique. Archaeometry 20:19–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Ledger et al. supplementary material

Table S1

Download Ledger et al. supplementary material(File)
File 29.7 KB