Featured: Friendly specialist tours to ancient, mystical and historical sites in the UK and beyond

Friendly specialist tours to ancient, mystical and historical sites in the UK and beyond

Random Image


Sa Divisa Nuraghe

Roads and Trackways of North Wales

Roads and Trackways of North Wales

Who's Online

There are currently, 342 guests and 1 members online.

You are a guest. To join in, please register for free by clicking here

Sponsors

<< Other Photo Pages >> Swan Point Archaeological Site - Ancient Village or Settlement in United States in Alaska

Submitted by AKFisher on Monday, 21 August 2023  Page Views: 360

Pre-ColumbianSite Name: Swan Point Archaeological Site Alternative Name: Swan Point Site
Country: United States Region: Alaska Type: Ancient Village or Settlement
Nearest Town: Delta Junction, AK
Latitude: 64.167760N  Longitude: 145.83673W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
3 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
3 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
1 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
4

Internal Links:
External Links:

Swan Point Archaeological Site
Swan Point Archaeological Site submitted by AKFisher : Alaska State Office of History and Archaeology student intern, Maureen Howard, records microblades (marked by skewers) in 1992 at the lowest level at Swan Point. The pedestalled item at left is a humanly worked section of mammoth tusk.​ Photo credit: USDA/USFS photo. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Ancient Village or Settlement in The West

The Swan Point Archeological Site is located in eastern central Alaska, in the Tanana River watershed. It is one of a collection of sites in the area that have yielded the oldest evidence of human habitation in the state, in addition to megafauna no longer found in Alaska, such as wapiti (elk), bison, and woolly mammoth. Finds co-located with human artifacts at the site have given radiocarbon dates of 14,000 years, indicating the site was occupied around 12,000 BCE.[1] Swan Point is the oldest archaeological site in the Americas whose age is certain.[2]

The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.[3]

Occupation:
Swan Point has been occupied at least six times since ca 14,500 cal yr B.P.[4] with evidence of charcoal that has been radiocarbon dated to approximately 14,000 B.P.[5] The charcoal dating makes this the oldest known site in the Tanana River Valley. The six occupation periods include:

Terminal Pleistocene:
This is the oldest cultural sequence present, dating from approximately 11,660 RCYBP to 10,000 RCYBP. Artifacts found at this level include worked mammoth tusk fragments, microblades, microblade core preparation flakes, blades, dihedral burins, red ochre, pebble hammers, and quartz hammer tools and choppers. The microblades found at this zone are significant as they are the oldest securely dated microblades in eastern Beringia.[4]

Latest Pleistocene:
A variety of bifacial points were found at this level, which dates to approximately 10,230 ± 80 cal yr B.P, including lanceolate points with convex to straight bases, along with graver spurs, quartz pebble choppers and hammers.[4] The mammoth artifacts found in the Latest Pleistocene zone date to approximately 14,000 cal yr B.P. With no other mammoth remains found beyond tusk ivory, it is assumed that the people who lived on the site scavenged the ivory rather than hunting the mammoth themselves.[6]

Early Late Holocene:
Artifacts found at this level (7500-8200 cal BP) include bifaces, unifaces, and microblade cores. This level is associated with high mobility behaviors.[7]

Mid to Late Holocene:
Artifacts found at this level (2500-5500 cal BP) include lanceolate points with heavy edge grinding, sub-conical microblade cores, microblades and scrapers. The upper layer of this level also has notched points, lanceolates, flake burins, microblades, a microblade core and a graver spur on a flake.[4] The lower levels reveal artifact scatter patterns suggestive of tent rings.[7]

Late Holocene:
This level represents the period between 700 and 2100 years of the Holocene with artifacts including projectile points, pecked stone fragments, scrapers, straight-based lanceolate points and microblades.[4] This occupation includes the remains of an early semi-subterranean house (1850-1900 cal BP). A footprint matching a pre-teen individual was recovered in association with the house remains.[8][7]

Historic:
Site use in historic time is indicated by the presence of artifacts such as tin cans, 30-30 rifle cartridges, an iron knife tang, an early-historic glass bottle and a moose bone flesher.[4]

Climate and Resources:
Unlike the Broken Mammoth site, the remains of fauna and flora at Swan Point are comparatively few and poorly preserved. The remains that were discovered include swan, goose and moose recovered from the mid to late Holocene zone.[4]

Because of its close proximity to the Broken Mammoth site it can be inferred that the climate at Swan Point was similar with lowland tundra and low vegetation. Charcoal remains indicate wood from Populus and Willow which are associated with the oldest artifacts found at the site.[4][5]

The stratigraphy at Swan Point is slightly different from the other sites in the Tanana River Valley; it is thinner because it is farther from the Tanana River. It consists of one meter of late Quaternary aeolian sediments overlying bedrock. The stratigraphic sequence is firmly dated spanning the last 11,700 cal years. Grayish aeolian sand overlies the bedrock and overlying that is a pebble layer.[4] Above this is a tan loess layer in which numerous cultural levels and palaeosols are found. At 50–55 cm below the surface cultural material including hearth charcoal was found dating to 10,230 ± 80 cal yr B.P. The modern soil is typically brown sub-arctic forest soil.[4] The lateral continuity of the layers indicates that there has been no displacement of the stratigraphy since the loess accumulation,[4] indicating the dating for the materials found within it should be fairly be precise.

Artifacts and features:
The remains of several hearths were found at Swan Point. Hearths found in the Holocene period have mostly charcoal while earlier hearths at the site include charcoal and some bone.[5] The earliest zone, dating to the Terminal Pleistocene, had no signs of a traditional hearth. Some burned residue was found at this zone, implying that before the mid to late Holocene the site was only used as a temporary occupation without repeated use of fire.[5]

An analysis of the lipids and fatty acids in these hearths was conducted in 2008.[5] The report concluded that the bones of animals not only contributed to the diet of the occupants but the marrow and grease was a fuel source.[5] One hearth sample 19792, is believed to come from a large animal, similar to the Red Deer.[5] Hearth samples 19413 and 19421 also have lipids of animal origin from a monogastric herbivore.[5] Sample 19529 contained lipids from a ruminant herbivore and plant material from seeds, indicating that bones from more than one species of animal fueled the fire of early Swan Point occupation hearths.[5]

The lithics in the earliest levels at Swan Point yielded microblades, which were not found at nearby Broken Mammoth and Meade sites.[6] Lithics of this time period include bifacial tools, blade and microblades, choppers and scrapers of varying size; tools made of ivory are also present.[6] Carbon residue of a chert platform rejuvenation flake has been radiocarbon dated to 13,800 B.P. an indication over the age of the pre Terminal Pleistocene lithics.[6]

The next time period where significant lithics have been found at Swan Point was between 13,000 and 9,500 C. yr B.P. when the Chindadn point type 3 is prevalent.[6] Microblade technology is associated with this period at Healy Lake site but not Broken Mammoth.[6] Swan Point also yields some unique triangular bifaces with corners and broken tips reworked into graver spurs.[6]

Obsidian lithics made from material from the Wrangell Mountains have also been found at Swan Point in the lowest levels of the loess, comparable to the lithics found at Broken Mammoth.[6] The obsidian microblades found at Broken Mammoth were made from the same Obsidian material as the ones found at Swan Point indicating a strong connection between the two sites.[6]. Source: Wikipedia (see link below).

See also:
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, Alaska

References:
1. Holmes, Charles (2001). "Tanana River Valley Archaeology circa 14,000 to 9000 B.P.". Arctic Anthropology. 38 (2): 154–170. JSTOR 40316728.
2. Nicholas Landol's The Role of the Pleistocene in Native American Oral Traditions, pg 2.
"National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
3. American Beginnings: The Prehistory and Palaeoecology of Beringia. University of Chicago. December 1996. ISBN 9780226893990.
4. Holmes, Charles E., et al. "GC/MS Analysis of Fatty Acids from Ancient Hearth Residues at the Swan Point Archaeological Site." Archaeometry 51.1 (2009): 110-122. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 28 Apr. 2011. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4754.2008.00384.x
5. 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. 27 Apr. 2011
6. Smith, Gerad (2020). Ethnoarchaeology of the Middle Tanana Valley, Alaska.
7. Smith, Gerad (March 2019). "A track in the Tanana: Forensic analysis of a Late Holocene footprint from central Alaska". Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. 24: 900–912. doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2019.03.016. S2CID 135074919.

Bibliography:
- Holmes, Charles E. 2011. The Beringian and Transitional Periods in Alaska: Technology of the East Beringian Tradition as Viewed from Swan Point. In From the Yenisei to the Yukon: Interpreting Lithic Assemblages Variability in Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene Beringia, edited by T. Goebel and Ian Buvit, pp. 179–191. Texas A&M University Press, College Station.
- Kedrowski, B.L., B.A. Crass, J.A. Behm, J.C. Luetke, A.L. Nichols, A.M. Moreck, and C.E. Holmes 2009. GC/MS Analysis of Fatty Acids from Ancient Hearth Residues at the Swan Point Archaeological Site. Archaeometry 51(1):110-122. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4754.2008.00384.x
- Hirasawa, Yu and Charles Holmes 2015. Microblade Production Technology at Swan Point from the Terminal Pleistocene to the Middle Holocene. Paper presented at 42nd Annual Meeting of the Alaska Anthropology Association, March 4–7, Anchorage, Alaska.
- Smith, Gerad M. 2020 Ethnoarchaeology of the Middle Tanana Valley, Alaska. PhD dissertation, Anthropology Department, University of Alaska Fairbanks {{DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.17882.98247}} [1]
- Smith, Gerad M., Ted Parsons, Ryan P. Harrod, Charles E. Holmes, Joshua D. Reuther, and Ben A. Potter 2019. A Track in the Tanana: Forensic analysis of a Late Holocene footprint from central Alaska. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. 24:900-912. {{DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2019.03.016}} [2]

Further reading and information
Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swan_Point_Archaeological_Site<2>
USDA/USFS
http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/r10/learning/history-culture/?cid=fseprd504069#:~:text=Not%20only%20is%20Swan%20Point,been%20a%20mammoth%20ivory%20workshop.<4>
University of Alaska - Museum of the North
http://www.uaf.edu/museum/collections/archaeo/online-exhibits/alaskatreaty/swan-point/<6>

Directions:
From Delta Junction, AK via AK-2 W (Richardson Hwy), 8.7 mi.
You may be viewing yesterday's version of this page. To see the most up to date information please register for a free account.


Do not use the above information on other web sites or publications without permission of the contributor.

Nearby Images from Flickr
Rika's Landing Roadhouse #5
Rika's Landing Roadhouse #4
Rika's Landing Roadhouse #2
Rika's Landing Roadhouse #1
20180701_1 The Trans-Alaska Pipeline, which was thinner than I had imagined. | Big Delta, Alaska
IMG_8340

The above images may not be of the site on this page, but were taken nearby. They are loaded from Flickr so please click on them for image credits.


Click here to see more info for this site

Nearby sites

Click here to view sites on an interactive map of the area

Key: Red: member's photo, Blue: 3rd party photo, Yellow: other image, Green: no photo - please go there and take one, Grey: site destroyed

Download sites to:
KML (Google Earth)
GPX (GPS waypoints)
CSV (Garmin/Navman)
CSV (Excel)

To unlock full downloads you need to sign up as a Contributory Member. Otherwise downloads are limited to 50 sites.


Turn off the page maps and other distractions

Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 8.4km NE 47° Upward Sun River* Ancient Village or Settlement
 125.1km S 185° Tangle Lakes Archaeological District* Ancient Village or Settlement
 402.4km NNE 33° Bluefish Caves* Cave or Rock Shelter
 654.1km NW 306° Onion Portage Archaeological District* Ancient Village or Settlement
 672.5km ESE 120° Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre* Museum
 720.4km NW 315° Feniak Lake* Rock Art
 915.3km NNW 336° Birnirk National Historic Landmark* Artificial Mound
 940.6km W 281° Snake River Sandspit Pithouses Ancient Village or Settlement
 968.9km WSW 247° Nunalleq* Ancient Village or Settlement
 984.2km SE 138° Hidden Falls Ancient Village or Settlement
 1098.5km SE 137° On-Your-Knees Cave* Cave or Rock Shelter
 1125.9km SE 133° Petroglyph Beach* Rock Art
 1390.1km SE 135° Lucy Islands Ancient Village or Settlement
 1404.9km WNW 286° Un'en'en Ancient Village or Settlement
 1412.1km SE 126° 'Ksan Historical Village and Museum* Museum
 1545.7km SE 141° Gwaii Haanas Caves Cave or Rock Shelter
 1633.6km SW 235° Amaknak Bridge Ancient Village or Settlement
 1712.3km SE 131° Nuxalk Petroglyphs Rock Art
 1720.8km ESE 121° Beaverly Workshop Ancient Mine, Quarry or other Industry
 1798.1km NW 307° Petroglyphs of Pegtymel River* Rock Art
 1963.4km SE 132° Ancient clam gardens on Quadra Island* Ancient Mine, Quarry or other Industry
 1987.0km E 97° Quarry of the Ancestors Ancient Mine, Quarry or other Industry
 2030.0km SE 132° Pictographs near Powell River ferry terminal Rock Art
 2030.0km SE 133° Comox Estuary* Ancient Village or Settlement
 2031.0km SE 133° Comox Harbor Ancient Fish Trap* Ancient Mine, Quarry or other Industry
View more nearby sites and additional images

<< Copena Mound Site

Petroglyph Canyon (Cowley) >>

Please add your thoughts on this site

Earthen Long Barrows, Field

Earthen Long Barrows, Field

Sponsors

Auto-Translation (Google)

Translate from English into:

"Swan Point Archaeological Site" | Login/Create an Account | 0 News and Comments
  
Go back to top of page    Comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content.
Your Name: Anonymous [ Register Now ]
Subject:


Add your comment or contribution to this page. Spam or offensive posts are deleted immediately, don't even bother

<<< What is five plus one as a number? (Please type the answer to this question in the little box on the left)
You can also embed videos and other things. For Youtube please copy and paste the 'embed code'.
For Google Street View please include Street View in the text.
Create a web link like this: <a href="https://www.megalithic.co.uk">This is a link</a>  

Allowed HTML is:
<p> <b> <i> <a> <img> <em> <br> <strong> <blockquote> <tt> <li> <ol> <ul> <object> <param> <embed> <iframe>

We would like to know more about this location. Please feel free to add a brief description and any relevant information in your own language.
Wir möchten mehr über diese Stätte erfahren. Bitte zögern Sie nicht, eine kurze Beschreibung und relevante Informationen in Deutsch hinzuzufügen.
Nous aimerions en savoir encore un peu sur les lieux. S'il vous plaît n'hesitez pas à ajouter une courte description et tous les renseignements pertinents dans votre propre langue.
Quisieramos informarnos un poco más de las lugares. No dude en añadir una breve descripción y otros datos relevantes en su propio idioma.