163:. It appears that large animals, particularly bison and elk were important. It is possible inhabitants even hunted or scavenged mammoth, however they more than likely butchered any mammoth kills away from the site. No post cranial elements of mammoth remains have been found at the Broken Mammoth site however the obvious use of mammoth tusks as tools make it clear that the inhabitants of the area had access to such remains. Radiocarbon dates some of the fossilized ivory from 20,000 B.P. to 18,000 B.P. clearly indicating that it was collected for use as tools. However ivory from the oldest levels at Broken Mammoth dates to approximately 13, 525 B.P. and coincides with the dating of the hearth charcoal at the site that falls within that time period suggesting that the people of the region had contact with living mammoths.
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discovered at Broken
Mammoth suggest earlier occupation in northwest and east Alaska as evident by the presence of obsidian materials. The absence of microblades in the lower loess levels at the site suggests that occupants of the site predated microblade technology. However Holmes argues that the absence of the technology at the site does not prove it did not exist during that time period as comparable sites do suggest such technology. Until The Broken Mammoth site offers excellent preservation of remains of the animals, providing archaeologists insight into the hunting methods and food resources utilized by the early peoples in North America.
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the oldest layer being unit A. Unit A is composed of fine sand dating to approximately 12,000 B.P. Units B, C, and D are made up of
Aeolian silt or loess. Unit B contains three different palaeosol complexes with B1 dating to 11,800 B.P. to 11,200 B.P, B2 dates to 10,300 B.P. to 9,300 B.P while there is no direct dating for B3. Unit C dates to sometime after 9,000 B.P with the final unit (Unit D) being an accumulation of silt deposits over the last 8,000 to 9,000 years.
266:, suggesting occupation for an extended period of time. Two more and (possibly a third) hearths, radio carbon dated from 9,690 years ago; 10,270 years ago; and 10,790 years ago respectively, have been found at the site clearly associated with hearthstones with lithics and the remains of fauna excavated around them. This indicates the occupants stayed at this site for some time, long enough to use the hearths multiple times.
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scratches bolstering this theory. A cache was also found with ivory artifacts, two points, and a possible handle. One of the ivory fragments from this cache was radiocarbon dated to approximately 15,800 B.P. The age of the ivory suggests that it was scavenged by the occupants from a much older kill site as opposed to the inhabitants killing and processing the mammoth themselves.
171:. The people of the region were hunters of large game such as bison but there is very little evidence that suggests they hunted mammoths. It can be theorized that the technology they had could allow for the opportunistic hunting on mammoths but it is highly unlikely that mammoth was a key resource for these people. It is much more likely that the
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The discovery of the Broken
Mammoth site establishes that human occupation of central Alaska began sometime before 11,000 B.P. There is evidence to suggest that humans occupied parts of central Alaska before 13,500 B.P. with the possibility that people lived in the region even earlier. The artifacts
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at Broken
Mammoth is well preserved and is one of the primary factors that have helped establish the age of the site. The site consists of Aeolian sediments (sand and loess) overlying weathered bedrock of the Yukon-Tanana crystalline terrace. The deposits are divided in four units: A, B, C and D with
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area in east Alaska. This implies that older sites must exist because the raw materials must have been obtained and then distributed to other regions through trade and interaction. Until these sites are discovered we will not know when the occupation of the
Beringian straits began, until then Broken
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The Broken Mammon site is located on a bluff overlooking the Tanana River. Charles E. Holmes found the site in the summer of 1989 while he was conducting an archaeological survey in the area. Holmes named the site Broken
Mammoth because of a piece of broken mammoth bone Holmes found on the slope at
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Artifacts at this zone are largely incomplete but include retouched flakes, scrapers, large a quartz chopper/scraper/plane. Also found at this zone are several ivory tusk fragments with scratches that could have come from stone tools. One tusk fragment has a stone microchip embedded in one of the
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The
Chindadn complex dates to 13,500 B.P. to 13,000 B.P. The lithics from this period are small triangular or teardrop-shaped bifaces, usually made of thin flake and often poorly flaked. The Chindadn complex is inadequately seen at the Broken Mammoth site; only a few flakes and bones are directly
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As at other Tanana River Valley sites such as Swan Point, Mead and Healey Lake, artifacts and stone tools found at Broken
Mammoth are relatively infrequent. However the artifacts that have been found have provided keen insight into the history of the occupation of the Tanana River Valley.
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have been found at Broken
Mammoth with the radiocarbon dating of the charcoal providing sound evidence for the age of the site. A shallow pit hearth feature was excavated with a radiocarbon date of approximately 4524 years ago and is associated with several flakes and
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At other Tanana River Valley sites such as Swan Point and Healey Lake, microblades were also found with these sites but curiously enough not at Broken
Mammoth. The reasons for the absence of microblade technology of this time period at Broken Mammoth remain unclear.
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Artifacts found at the Broken Mammoth site in Cultural Zone 1 include retouched flakes, end and side scrapers, points and point fragments, flake burins, burin spalls, microblades and microblade cores. The materials that these artifacts were made from include
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The Transitional Period followed the Beringian Period from 13,000 B.P. to 9,500 B.P. Two types of Chindadn points are associated with this time period, Chindadn point two being triangular shaped and Chindadn point three having a concave shaped base.
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The evidence of this site suggests highly mobile groups who moved seasonally over the landscapes. The people exploited the various resources and wildlife by intercepting the various migratory routes of the herd animals (bison and elk) and
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Debris from the making of tools has been found at Cultural Zone 4. The debris is composed of rhyolite, basalt, obsidian, chert and quartzite, implying that the occupants of the site carried out some manufacturing and or repair of tools.
321:, and anvils. A small-eyed bone needle was found associated with a hearth that radiocarbon dates to approximately 10,300 B.P. The bone needle suggests that the occupants used this site to process resources, using skins to make clothing.
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The Broken Mammoth site was occupied at least three separate times in its history, the last occupation occurring approximately 2,500 years ago. The oldest occupation of the site occurred between 11,000 and 12,000 years ago according to
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the evidence points to small camps, which served as headquarters for small hunting groups to operate seasonally. Activities that would have most likely occurred here include: manufacturing of tools and maintenance as well as
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Kunz, Michael L., Michael B. Bever, and Constance Adkins. The Mesa Site: Paleoindians above the Arctic Circle. Anchorage, AK: U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Alaska State Office, 2003. 55-56
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The resources of the region were diverse and plentiful, with large mammals; birds (mostly waterfowl) and the occupants of this region exploited some fish as well. Avian fauna is extremely diverse including
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Points found at Broken Mammoth of these two type date to approximately 12,100 B.P. Radiocarbon dating of charcoal from hearths found at the site date to approximately to 10,290 B.P. and 12,270 B.P.
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In turn, the Beringian Period is subdivided into the older part, dating prior to 13,500 B.P., and the more recent part, called the Chindadn complex, falling between 13,500 B.P. and 13,000 B.P.
567:. "Stratigraphy and Chronology." Broken Mammoth Archaeological Project . Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Division of Parks and Outdoor Rec., 08/Nov/2011. Web. 13 Apr 2012. <
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microblades. This hearth demonstrates that there was some occupation near the bluff's edge at the site. A second hearth radiocarbon dated to about 7,600 years ago has evidence of
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Cultural Zone 2 has only produced a few flakes, fire-broken rocks and hearthstones though there is the possibility that microblades could be excavated closer to the bluff edge.
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West, Frederick Hadleigh., and Constance F. West. American Beginnings: the Prehistory and Palaeoecology of Beringia. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1996. 313-317 Print.
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Holmes, Charles E. "Tanana River Valley Archaeology Circa 14,000 to 9000 B.P." Arctic Anthropology 38.2 (2001): 154. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 2 Apr. 2011
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Excavations at Cultural Zone 3 at the site have yielded many tiny flakes, retouched flakes, larger biface fragments, points and point fragment, hammers made of
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dating to approximately 12,200 BP implying that some form of temporary occupation occurred which could include using the site as a temporary base. A small bone
299:(the latter providing even more evidence towards an even earlier peopling of North America.) The obsidian that comprised some of the artifacts originated from
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West, Frederick Hadleigh., and Constance F. West. American Beginnings: the Prehistory and Palaeoecology of Beringia. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1996
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date the process of forestation at slightly more than 9,500 years ago. Windier conditions reestablished at Broken Mammoth around 10,000 BP with
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Hoffecker, John F. A Prehistory of the North: Human Settlement of the Higher Latitudes. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers UP, 2005. 115-117 Print.
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According to C.E. Holmes, the Beringian Period was the oldest in the Tanana River Valley. This was the period prior to 13,000 B.P., when a
35:. The site was occupied approximately 11,000 to 12,000 years ago (10,000 - 9,000 BC) making this one of the oldest known sites in Alaska.
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with low vegetation, mostly shrubs and few trees. The regional pollen record provides evidence of shrubland with plant life including
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52:, making this one of the oldest sites in Alaska. It is possible that the site was occupied at approximately the same time as other
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Hoffecker, John F. A Prehistory of the North: Human Settlement of the Higher Latitudes. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers UP, 2005.
147:. The Broken Mammoth site boasts a well-preserved display of animal resources, most notably of large animals including
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From the Yenisei to the Yukon: Interpreting Lithic Assemblage Variability in Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene Beringia.
462:"Broken Mammoth Archaeological Project, Introduction." Alaska Department of Natural Resources. Web. 01 Apr. 2011. <
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discovered the site in 1989 and investigation of the site began in 1990 and excavations are ongoing to this day.
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The Broken Mammoth site can be considered a part of the Nenana complex of tool manufacturing and techniques.
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accumulation accelerating until about 7800 B.P. After this time modern conditions stabilized after 5700 B.P.
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Dixon, E. James. Quest for the Origins of the First Americans. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico, 1993.
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Dixon, E. James. Quest for the Origins of the First Americans. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico, 1993.
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https://web.archive.org/web/20120630010133/http://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/oha/mammoth/mammoth4.htm%3E
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the front of the site. Preliminary excavations of the site began in 1990 by Holmes and
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dated to within this time period with no microblades being found yet at this time.
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Other artifacts from Cultural Zone 1 include a nearly complete lanceolate point.
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After approximately 9,000 years this shrubland became woodland which supporter
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Peopling of the Americas Publications. Texas A&M University Press, 2011
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Early occupation of the Broken Mammoth had a setting similar to the lowland
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Mammoth establishes the earliest date between 11,000 B.P. and 12,000 B.P.
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found at one of these hearths supports this theory. According to the
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618:- dnr.alaska.gov (2016-10-26 this link is no longer working)
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site in the same area—all dating to before 13,000 cal BP.
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465:"Broken Mammoth Archaeological Project, Introduction"
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with excavations on the site continuing to this day.
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source, and it was dated as early as 13,400 cal BP.
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342:The obsidian that was used at this site came from
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59:Features found at the site include hearths with
637:Pre-Clovis archaeological sites in the Americas
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107:. The faunal remains of a
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179:Discovery and excavation
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200:connecting Alaska and
17:Broken Mammoth, Alaska
216:microblade technology
80:Climate and resources
355:Moose Creek, Alaska
351:Walker Road, Alaska
233:Transitional Period
25:Tanana River Valley
642:Tanana Athabaskans
50:radiocarbon dating
21:archeological site
56:sites in Alaska.
37:Charles E. Holmes
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361:Significance
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212:Stone tools
198:land bridge
105:alder trees
90:dwarf birch
626:Categories
558:1603443843
475:2011-04-08
370:References
353:site, and
301:Batza Tena
285:chalcedony
220:Swan Point
43:Occupation
344:Wiki Peak
113:porcupine
31:, in the
338:Obsidian
297:obsidian
281:rhyolite
260:obsidian
61:charcoal
255:hearths
202:Siberia
157:caribou
149:mammoth
133:mallard
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537:Print.
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319:quartz
293:basalt
111:and a
101:spruce
94:willow
86:tundra
65:needle
29:Alaska
19:is an
289:chert
173:ivory
161:bison
145:geese
117:loess
601:ISBN
591:ISBN
581:ISBN
560:p275
554:ISBN
480:>
393:ISBN
295:and
159:and
143:and
141:swan
137:teal
122:The
103:and
92:and
153:elk
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