Cree Dueker

Professor Cameron Smith

Anthropology 364U
24 November 2015
Summary of A Bioarchaeological Study of Prehistoric Human, Faunal, and Cultural Remains
from Wilson Cove, Admiralty Island, Alaska
This study was based at Wilson Cove which is on the Admiralty Island of Alaska.
Admiralty island was the home of the Tlingit peoples and this site specifically was the territory
of the Angoon Tlingit. The main area of this study were the three habitation areas/rockshelters
found from which they were able to excavate bone and stone artifacts, marine and terrestrial
faunal remains, as well as human remains (burned and unburned) which made up about 13
individuals including an infant, children, and adults. Radiocarbon analysis gave dates of over
2000 years B.P. both for the rockshelter sites as well as the human remains.
Within Rockshelter 1 they first inspected the floor in which they found remains of shells,
fish, mammal bones, as well as a human femur and vertebra. Subsurface testing of the shelter
consisted of three 1x1m excavation units, excavated in arbitrary 10cm levels. Within the first of
these three units they uncovered burned and unburned faunal remains, charcoal a burned human
tooth root and a basalt adze fragment, underneath this was a sterile clay level followed by a layer
consisting of crushed shell. Unit two contained very similar stratigraphy, albeit with a higher
concentration of human remains and midden and culturally modified material this consisted of
unburned human remains and culturally modified material made up of a polished bone awl
fragment and a canid mandible that displayed cut marks. Unit three had less charcoal, fire altered
rock, and faunal remains than the previous units but did contain an unburned human pelvis
fragment, several burned human skull fragments, a phalange, and a worked bone fragment.
Within Rockshelter 2 three more unburned human bones were found as well as marine shell and
deer bones. No cultural evidence was noted and the site was unable to be well excavated due to
bedrock just underneath the surface material. Within Rockshelter 3 the surface had a large
amount of human bones, several artifacts, and a variety of faunal remains. The material from this
shelter was eroding out onto the beach below t but what they were able to recover were over 200
unburned human bones and bone fragments, a bone tool, four culturally modified wood planks,
as well as mammal and shellfish remains.

To determine the different time frames in which these rockshelters may have been
inhabited radiocarbon dating was utilized from the cultural levels within two of the shelters.
From these different samples one accelerator mass spectrometry and five standard radiocarbon
dates were obtained. From Unit one within rockshelter one the marine shell found was dated at
about 3450 B.P. and all of the human remains were dated to roughly 2000 B.P. Within this site
eight artifacts were uncovered which included the bone awl, adze fragment, an unidentified
worked bone fragment, a bone tool, and four wood planks. These wood planks were structured to
create a bentwood box which when constructed would have measured roughly 46 x 32 cm. This
type of manufacture, along with the historic date, indicate and ethnographic Tlingit style of
construction. Of the shells many edible species were found including the Washington clam,
Pacific littleneck, Nutalls cockle, and the black katy chiton as well as smaller amounts of other
edible shellfish. It is interesting that these same species were also found at the Baranof Island
Hidden Falls site.
The vast amount of shells found within this site suggest that these species were a food
source for the habitants. The species found also tell us about the environments the inhabitants of
Wilson Cove used to access food which would be through, low energy sedimentary strandflats
which are composed of muddy gravels, and the relatively low energy rock outcrops that surround
the peninsula. Other food and non-food animals were found within these rockshelters such as
salmon (a traditional pacific northwest coast food source), a Sitka black tailed deer, a mink,
beaver, bear, eagle, raven, and a whale as well as a domesticated dog. The bones of these animals
displayed tooth marks consistent with scavenger activity which may be attributed to the
domesticated dog gnawing on these bones since the marks found were similar to another
prehistoric site. Cut marks found were connected to the skinning of animals as well as burn
marks which further prove these animals to be sources of food.
The human remains found within these rockshelters are what truly make the case for
inhabitants who spent long amounts of time within these spaces. Partial reconstruction was done
for an adult female and they found evidence based off of bone wear that would suggest that she
spent extended amounts of time in a squatting position. This is then connected to Native women
of Southeast Alaska who commonly squatted around the family hearth on Coffman Cove, a
similar site this same type of remains and wear on a females bones were found. Many of the
burned bones that were found shared features of Native cremation and burial ceremonies within
Alaska. Older adult remains were found which showed bone wear suggesting activity within the
realm of spear/harpoon throwing which could then collaborate the larger animals whose remains

were found within the rockshelter such as whales, bears, and deer which would require more
than small traps. Bone stresses from an 11-15 year old would is consistent with the repetitive
motions of canoe paddling.
With the data presented it seems that these rockshelters were used as a burial site for
those who were partially cremated as well as a camp perhaps to aid in their burial ceremony or to
make use of a nearby resource patch within a certain season. This partial cremation would be
consistent with the Tlingit burial practice when people could not afford the expense of a regular
burial ceremony were taken to a remote location by their families to be cremated. Because the
date of the site is older than the date of the remains that were found it is thought that this was an
inhabited camp before, during, and after remains were transported here. It is clear that this was
not the site of a sedentary community but within this report there was not a clear consensus on
how these remains got into this place and why there were many partial skeletons if it was in fact
the site for burial ceremonies. Some of the bones were displaced from their original locations by
animals which could then be proven by the markage on the bone however it is still unclear why
this was their original resting place.

Works Cited
Irish, Joel D. "A Bioarchaeological Study of Prehistoric Human, Faunal, and Cultural Remains
from Wilson Cove, Admiralty Island, Alaska." Arctic Anthropology 30.2 (1993): 103-19. American
Antiquity JSTOR. Web. 22 Nov. 2015.