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<< Other Photo Pages >> Onion Portage Archaeological District - Ancient Village or Settlement in United States in Alaska

Submitted by AKFisher on Monday, 14 August 2023  Page Views: 499

Multi-periodSite Name: Onion Portage Archaeological District Alternative Name: Kobuk Valley National Park Onion Portage Site
Country: United States
NOTE: This site is 310.775 km away from the location you searched for.

Region: Alaska Type: Ancient Village or Settlement
Nearest Town: Ambler, AK
Latitude: 67.112294N  Longitude: 158.224523W
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:

Onion Portage Archaeological District
Onion Portage Archaeological District submitted by AKFisher : Map showing approximate location of the Onion Portage site within the Park. NPS map photo. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Ancient Village or Settlement in The West

The Onion Portage Archeological District encompasses a major archaeological site in Kobuk Valley National Park in northwestern Alaska. The site is a deeply stratified site, at which archaeologists have located nine complexes ranging dating from approximately 6500BC to AD1700. The site has been of critical benefit for the study of Arctic cultures, and is used to determine the cultural chronology of the region.[4]

The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972[5] and was declared a National Historic Landmark District in 1978.[3]

Setting:
The Onion Portage site is located on the northern banks of the Kobuk River. Above the site is a sandy knoll, from which material is washed onto the site from deeply eroded gullies.[6]

Archaeological History:
The Onion Portage site was first identified by the pioneering Arctic archaeologist J. Louis Giddings in 1940, during his first visit to the Kobuk River. He returned to the site in 1941, at which time some house pits were excavated, but the site's potential was not fully known. After World War II Giddings focused his efforts on other areas (notably the Iyatayet site and sites at Cape Krusenstern, both also National Historic Landmarks, where he began to assemble a chronology of Arctic cultures. In 1961 he visited the site again, at which time its highly stratified nature was discovered. Giddings led a major excavation at the site in 1964, the last year of his life, seeking evidence of older cultures in the many layers of deposits.[7]

The only built structure to be included in the district is the Giddings Cabin, used by J. Louis Giddings during the 1964 excavation. The National Park Service has preserved the cabin.[4]

References:
3. Onion Portage Archeological District". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on September 12, 2012. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
4. Giddings Cabin". List of Classified Structures. National Park Service. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
6. A Stone Age Campsite at the Gateway to America" (PDF). Alaska Resources Library. Retrieved January 17, 2014.
7. Pioneer Arctic Archeologist J. Louis Giddings" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved January 17, 2014.

Further reading and information:
Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onion_Portage_Archeological_District
NPS: http://www.nps.gov/places/onion-portage-archeological-district.htm

Directions:
Kobuk Valley National Park is very remote. There are no roads to provide access, so planes take care of most transportation needs.

Commercial airlines provide service from Anchorage to Kotzebue, or from Fairbanks to Bettles. Once in Kotzebue or Bettles, you must fly to the park with authorized air taxis. From Kotzebue, commercial airlines provide regularly scheduled flights to villages near the park.

Summer access may include motorized/non-motorized watercraft, aircraft, or by foot. Some visitors bring their own packable boats and have pilots drop them off to start a float through the park. Study a topographic map, then talk with a pilot to decide on a feasible backcountry landing spot. Or plan to fly the boat as cargo on a small commercial plane to the villages of Kobuk, Shungnak or Ambler to start a trip on the Kobuk River. The take out and flight home can be from the villages of Kiana or Noorvik. Hiking into the park from Kotzebue or Bettles is possible, but it's a wilderness trek over rough terrain that requires many weeks to complete.

Winter access may include aircraft, snowmobiles or by foot. Small commercial planes fly to the local villages year round, weather permitting. Chartered aircraft may be able to land at backcountry sites on skis when the weather is clear. There are no local equipment rental services in Kotzebue. With advance planning, visitors can bring their own skis, snowshoes, dogteam or snowmobiles to travel into the park. Any winter trip requires advanced knowledge of cold weather survival.
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Onion Portage Archaeological District
Onion Portage Archaeological District submitted by AKFisher : The “stratified occupational layers” identified by Dr. J. Lewis Giddings’ excavations. Doug Anderson photo from the NPS website. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Onion Portage Archaeological District
Onion Portage Archaeological District submitted by AKFisher : Kobuk National Park map. NPS map photo. (Vote or comment on this photo)

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

Nearby Images from Flickr
Kobuk Valley National Park - Landing on the Kubuk River
Kobuk Valley National Park - Letty scrambling up the bank of the Kobuk River

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.


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