"Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve Scenery" by U.S. National Park Service , public domain
![]() | Gates of the ArcticPaleo-Eskimo Culture at Matcharak Lake |
featured in
![]() | National Parks Pocket Maps | ![]() |
![]() | Alaska Pocket Maps | ![]() |
covered parks
National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior
Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve
Paleo-Eskimo Culture at Matcharak Lake
Thousands of bones and
artifacts, well-preserved
within the permafrost layer,
were found at Matcharak
Lake. The 2008 excavations
have already confirmed many
assumptions about Denbigh
people 4000 years ago—the
extensive use of bone and
antler as tools, and that these
earliest of Paleo-Eskimos were
skilled artisans.
As archaeologists,
we realize that the
record will always be
incomplete; therefore,
we must work with
the information we
have.
Paleo-Eskimos are the ancient ancestors of modern
Eskimos, as recognized through archaeological
studies throughout Alaska, Canada, and Greenland.
In Alaska, the earliest members of this group are
known from a distinctive stone tool technology
known as the Denbigh Flint Complex (say DEN-bee).
When archaeologists talk about Denbigh, they are not
only referring to their material culture, i.e. the stone
tools, but also to the people who made them. More
broadly, Denbigh people are part of the Arctic Small
Tool tradition, who were the first humans to colonize
most of Arctic North America 5000 years ago.
The importance of bone
It is believed that Denbigh Paleo-Eskimos, after
processing animals for consumption, would often
discard the unusable remains in camp, away from
where people were working and sleeping. Rarely are
the bones of this type of midden (prehistoric trash
dump) discovered at ancient archaeology sites in the
Arctic.
Although 75 to 100 Denbigh sites are known in
Alaska, only a handful (literally) of bone fragments
are known from all of these sites. Without bones,
questions about diet, seasonal mobility, and hunting
strategies are unanswerable, although archaeologists
have proposed numerous hypotheses about Denbigh
life-ways.
However, at a recently-discovered site near
Matcharak Lake, in Gates of the Arctic National Park
and Preserve, the conditions of shallow permafrost
and the ongoing formation of peat were just right
to preserve the discarded remains of numerous
Denbigh meals—perfectly preserved until excavation
in 2008. With the discovery of a frozen bone midden
at Matcharak Lake, archaeologists can now begin to
reconstruct the behavior of these Native Alaskans.
Archeological discovery
The Matcharak Lake site perches on a 15-meter (45
foot) terrace between Matcharak Lake (see photo)
and the Noatak River. It was discovered through
routine archaeological survey of the upper Noatak
River drainage in 2007 by Andrew Tremayne and
Cody Strathe, both student archaeologists for the
National Park Service. Prior to this discovery, no
prehistoric sites were known in the area.
Recognizing the potential for recovering organics
(e.g., bone, antler, teeth, and plants) associated
with Denbigh Flint Complex tools, National Park
Service archeologist Jeff Rasic arranged for a team
of archeologists, including Tremayne, to excavate a
portion of the site in 2008.
Excavation at Matcharak Lake
To access this site, a crew consisting of Tremayne
and four other archeologists were flown by float
plane directly to the area of excavation. Technical
equipment was flown in,
including a total station
(surveying instrument) for
recording the exact location of
artifacts and bone, and screens for
sifting dirt to capture very small
artifacts. For three weeks, the
crew worked patiently and slowly,
waiting for the permafrost to melt
enough to actually dig in the soil.
Learning about Denbigh
At the Matcharak site, Tremayne
and the others recovered
thousands of bones of various
kinds (caribou, fish, and
migratory birds), along with tools
and incised-bone art work. Now,
the work of archeologists can
unfold further as they begin to
address some of the questions
that have puzzled them for years.
For his part, Tremayne has
chosen (for his Master’s thesis at
the University of Wyoming), to
analyze the site’s animal remains,
focusing on what the bones
reveal about the diet and hunting
strategies of site occupants.
However, as Tremayne explains,
because Matcharak Lake is a
localized, small-scale mountain
camp, he can only really talk
about how these Paleo-Eskimos
behaved while at that camp.
The discovery of unrivaled
preservation of bone,
including the articulated
caribou thorax (top), at
Matcharak Lake, makes this a
very important Denbigh site.
Incised bone artwork (middle)
and designed bone tools (L &
R, lower). The tool at right
is associated with a caribou
mandible and bone fragments.
Testing hypotheses about Paleo-Eskimo life-ways
Some researchers have suggested there is evidence
that Denbigh people spent their winters in the
mountains and the summer on the coast, but the
presence of at least one caribou fetal bone, fish, and
migratory birds at Matcharak Lake supports the
hypothesis that, at some point, Denbigh occupied
Matcharak Lake in early summer or spring.
If Denbigh hunters were specialized caribou hunters,
the expectation would be to find mostly caribou
bones. So, what explains the fish, birds and other
mammals represented in the midden?
Archeologists
dig for bone
and artifacts in
the permafrost
(left).
The Matcharak
Lake site is in
western Gates
of the Arctic
(location as
dot and circle
on maps).
EXPERIENCE YOUR AMERICA™
Tremayne plans to analyze the bone samples in
greater detail to determine exactly what species of
animals were exploited and how frequently each is
represented in the bone midden. A spatial analysis of
the bone and artifacts will attempt to demonstrate a
timeline of activities and food procured by Denbigh
as they waited for the annual caribou migration to
occur. Once the caribou arrived in their massive
numbers—representing massive numbers of
calories—all subsistence activities would have been
geared towards taking as many caribou as possible.
But how is it possible to test this hypothesis?
Tremayne will look for differences in radiocarbon
ages of the bone and charcoal, and also use stable
isotopes recovered from the teeth of caribou
found in different levels of the deposit, in order to
determine if the camp was only occupied once, or
numerous times over generations. If there were
separate times that Paleo-Eskimos occupied the site,
it will be important to determine if there are different
animals represented during the separate occupations.
Solving the puzzle of whether Denbigh were caribou
hunting specialists, or if their diet was broader
and more generalized, will have to wait until the
radiocarbon and isotope analyses are complete.
Future directions
Having finally recovered animal bones associated
with a Denbigh site, it is certain that any future site
discoveries will be compared with the Matcharak
Lake assemblage. Only a larger sample of Denbigh
sites with preserved bones will help answer the
questions: How did Denbigh diets differ from coast
to mountains? What other foods and animals were
used by Denbigh and why? How have diet and
subsistence strategies changed over the past 4000
years? Did Denbigh people travel to the coast for part
of the year?
Additionally, knowing the geological conditions that
led to the excellent preservation of this ancient camp,
archaeologists can design more efficient survey and
testing strategies that should help future expeditions
locate other important Denbigh camps.
Archaeologists realize that the record will always be
incomplete, and the best theories must be proposed
with the information at hand. For the time being,
Matcharak Lake has expanded the archeology
database about Paleo-Eskimo culture in Alaska.
Future excavations at this site should provide even
greater detail on camp organization and activities.
Until then, Tremayne will work with what he has.
Acknowledgments
This research was partially funded through a Murie
Science and Learning Center Fellowship from Alaska
Geographic through the MSLC to A. Tremayne.
For more information
Andrew Tremayne
Anthropology Department, University of Wyoming
Laramie, WY 82070
atremayn@uwyo.edu