<< Other Photo Pages >> Upward Sun River - Ancient Village or Settlement in United States in The West
Submitted by bat400 on Wednesday, 28 October 2015 Page Views: 13765
Multi-periodSite Name: Upward Sun River Alternative Name: Xaasaa Na'in, Little Delta Dune, 49XBD-298Country: United States
NOTE: This site is 326.991 km away from the location you searched for.
Region: The West Type: Ancient Village or Settlement
Nearest Town: Fairbanks Nearest Village: Delta Junction
Latitude: 64.220000N Longitude: 145.71W
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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Four different occupations, dating from 8880 to roughly 11300 (radio carbon years before the present,) are buried within a sand dune at the junction of the Tanana and Little Delta rivers in central Alaska. Two of the occupations include hearth sites, but the most intriguing may be from approximately 11,400 years ago, where a house was dug into the ground, and a hearth contains the evidence of how the people there lived and died.
University of Alaska excavations are on-going. The 9990 RCYBP (11,280-11,620 BC) occupation (Component 3) shows the dug depression of the floor of the house.
The floor was less than a foot deep, and 12 feet in diameter. Half a dozen post molds indicate uprights that supported walls and roof. Flaked stone from tool making was also found.
Animal bone remnants in a central hearth (ground squirrels, salmon, birds) indicate the house was occupied in summer.
But, the most exciting find in the hearth was the cremated remains of a child, two to four years old. The death of this child and the ritual marking its passing seems to have been the last activity in the house. The hearth and floor were covered over, without further food remains or chips from tool working.
Note: the site location given is approximate for the juncture of the Tanana and Little Delta rivers. It does not reflect the location of the site itself.
Journal Reference:
Ben A. Potter, Joel D. Irish, Joshua D. Reuther, and Holly J. McKinney. New insights into Eastern Beringian mortuary behavior: A terminal Pleistocene double infant burial at Upward Sun River. PNAS, November 10, 2014 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1413131111
Note: DNA from ancient Alaskan infants supports the human migration theory, see the comments on our page.
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