The Evolution of Complex Hunter-Gatherers: Archaeological Evidence from the North Pacific (Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology)

In 1987, I had the good fortune to join in the excavation of a phenomenal archae­ ological site on the western coast of Kodiak Island, in Alaska. The New Karluk site (a. k. a. , "Karluk One") was perched on the edge of the small village of Karluk at the mouth of the river of the same name, once one of the most productive salmon rivers in the North Pacific. I had just completed my sophomore year of college, and under the direction of Richard Jordan, I enthusiastically joined sev­ eral other students in the Kodiak Archaeology Projects New Karluk excavation. I had participated in my father's archaeological research in Eastern Canada since early childhood, but the Karluk dig was unlike any archaeology I had experienced before. For three months, we peeled back layers of grass, wood, and earth floors separated by remnants of ancient sod roofs. Due to the unusual preservation and richness of the site, at every tum we uncovered perishable items such as bent-wood bowls, masks, dolls, puffin-beak rattles, grass baskets, fragments of fiber netting, locks of hair, and food waste. Preservation was so excellent, in fact, that we often exposed grass blades still green after hundreds of years, which once exposed to air would tum brown before our eyes. In 1987, I had the good fortune to join in the excavation of a phenomenal archaeƯ ological site on the western coast of Kodiak Island, in Alaska. The New Karluk site (a. k. a., "Karluk One") was perched on the edge of the small village of Karluk at the mouth of the river of the same name, once one of the most productive salmon rivers in the North Pacific. I had just completed my sophomore year of college, and under the direction of Richard Jordan, I enthusiastically joined sevƯ eral other students in the Kodiak Archaeology Projects New Karluk excavation. I had participated in my father's archaeological research in Eastern Canada since early childhood, but the Karluk dig was unlike any archaeology I had experienced before. For three months, we peeled back layers of grass, wood, and earth floors separated by remnants of ancient sod roofs. Due to the unusual preservation and richness of the site, at every tum we uncovered perishable items such as bent-wood bowls, masks, dolls, puffin-beak rattles, grass baskets, fragments of fiber netting, locks of hair, and food waste. Preservation was so excellent, in fact, that we often exposed grass blades still green after hundreds of years, which once exposed to air would tum brown before our eyes This book makes a contribution to the developing field of complex hunter-gatherer studies with an archaeological analysis of the development of one such group. This book examines the evolution of complex hunter-gatherers on the North Pacific coast of Alaska. It strives to account for the dynamics and processes that transformed a population from low density, disaggregated, relatively mobile, and relatively egalitarian organizations into the demographically dense, sedentary, aggregated, militaristic, and ranked/stratified populations around the North Pacific by the time of ethnographic contact. To do so, this book examines seven thousand years of archaeological history on the Kodiak Archipelago - a region that 250 years ago was part of a broader phenomenon of complex hunter-gatherers ringing the North American Pacific Northwest Coast from California to the Aleutian Islands. This is one of the first books available to examine in depth the social evolution of a specific complex hunter-gatherer tradition on the North Pacific Rim. As such, it provides readers with an intimate look at archaeological evidence integrated into a problem-oriented study of emergent complex hunter-gatherers

Examining the evolution of complex hunter-gatherers on the North Pacific coast of Alaska, Fitzhugh (U. of Washington) strives to explain the transformation of the population from low density, mobile and relatively egalitarian, into demographically dense, sedentary, and militaristic. To do so, Fitzhugh examines seven thousand years of archaeological history on the Kodiak Archipelago, a region that 250 years ago was part of a broader phenomenon of hunter-gatherer societies sweeping from California all the way to the Aleutian Islands. The study may appeal to students and practitioners of archaeology, anthropology, and general readers interested in social evolution and/or Alaska prehistory. Annotation ©2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Front Matter....Pages i-xv The Evolution of Complex Hunter-Gatherers....Pages 1-10 The Kodiak Environment....Pages 11-37 A Historical Framework....Pages 39-66 Complex Hunter-Gatherers on the Kodiak Archipelago....Pages 67-85 Colonization....Pages 87-100 Modeling Emergent Complexity on the North Pacific....Pages 101-131 The Sitkalidak Archaeological Survey Project....Pages 133-169 Site Scale Analyses....Pages 171-200 Social Inequality and Demography....Pages 201-217 Reconciliation, Extension, and Implications....Pages 219-244 Back Matter....Pages 245-332 This book makes a contribution to the developing field of complex hunter-gatherer studies with an archaeological analysis of the development of one such group. It examines the evolution of complex hunter-gatherers on the North Pacific coast of Alaska. It is one of the first books available to examine in depth the social evolution of a specific complex hunter-gatherer tradition on the North Pacific Rim and will be of interest to professional archaeologists, anthropologists, and students of archaeology and anthropology. When Russians made contact with the natives of Kodiak (Kodiak Alutiiq or Koniag) in the second half of the 18th century, they encountered one of the most densely populated and militarily impenetrable societies in the North Pacific (Burch, 1988b).