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Alaska base camp reveals how people lived 13,800 years ago

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A stone anvil surrounded by shattered bison bones is helping archaeologists reconstruct daily life at an Alaska camp occupied about 13,800 years ago.

Researchers recovered more than 80,000 archaeological specimens at Shég’ Xdaltth’í’, according to an Oct. 14 University of Kansas research announcement.

The site overlooks the Tanana River and preserves three early occupations dating to roughly 13,800, 13,000, and 12,700 years ago.

Kelly Graf, the university anthropologist directing the excavation, and colleagues describe the findings in Science Advances.

The anvil lay inside a dwelling feature near hammerstones and an earth oven. Researchers interpret the broken bones as evidence of marrow extraction and probable grease production.

Other finds include needles fashioned from bird bones and distinctive diamond-shaped stone points.

Graf said comparable northern points from that period occur on the Russian side of the former Bering Land Bridge, suggesting connections across the region.

The remains offer evidence of people establishing themselves in an Ice Age landscape. The site’s Athabascan name means “they were there.”

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