Hun$ng Seals with Nets 5000 Years Ago. Patrick Saltonstall Alu$iq Museum Kodiak Marine Science Symposium April 18-22, 2017

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1 Hun$ng Seals with Nets 5000 Years Ago Patrick Saltonstall Alu$iq Museum Kodiak Marine Science Symposium April 18-22, 2017

2 Alu$iq Prehistory in a Nutshell Three general $me periods BP Marine Mammal Hunters BP Fishing Villagers 800 BP to AD 1784 Ranked Society with Chiefs

3 Complex Hun$ng Gear Three types of bow, throwing board, and hand thrown lances gear changes through $me

4 Alu$iq Seasonal Round at Russian Contact February - Fur Seals off the south end Move from summer sevlements (near to fish and whales) April/May - Sea OVers April thru June Fish (halibut), Seals,Sea lions Early Summer - Whales Porpoises - Summer (mostly north end) July - Sarana bulbs and berries Summer/Fall Fishing October move to winter sevlement Winter - Shellfish Seals all the $me! The seasonal round also has changed through $me

5 Community Archaeology and the Use of Chiniak Bay Through Time Much of the last decade spent excava$ng a variety of sites at the head of Womens Bay

6 The Head of the Bay Years Ago Large lake with beach berm between it and bay A lot like Lake Rose Tead out at Pasagshak Seals chase fish up into lake Rela$vely large number of sites da$ng to before 4000 BP Variety of site types hun$ng and processing, fish processing, sevled camps Lake filled with ash around 3800 BP aeer Katmai like erup$on

7 The Kashevaroff Site At least 4 Occupa$ons 7000 BP to Present BP Substan$al hun$ng camp with houses BP Hun$ng and processing camp BP Late Prehistoric fish camp or Whaler house? AD 1900 Bruhn Family cavle ranch

8 Smoke Processing Feature(s) Heat gravel and rocks cap with dirt and sod Extends firewood Low long heat to dry meat and keep bugs away Oeen contain calcined sea mammal bone In addi$on to drying meat also processing hides with smoke? (People do this today in the Interior)

9 Calcined Marine Mammal Bone Fired bone most bone dissolves in Kodiak s acidic soils

10 Hun$ng and processing tools Only hun$ng and processing tools No household ar$facts No manufacturing debris Clearly only visi$ng the locality to hunt and process

11 Unusually high number of perfect lances WOW! Serra$ons on edges probably helped reduce suc$on making lance easier to insert and remove and perhaps promote blood loss

12 Evidence for young hunters Learning from their dads!

13 Hun$ng with Nets Typical netsinkers for fishing invented 3800 BP These weights notched on short axis Look like line weights but no ocean nearby! Anchor stone clinches it

14 Alu$iq caught seals in nets un$l recently Stretchy nets of sinew used to catch seals Sinew reportedly too stretchy for fish nets (used nevle fibers) Seal nets around 60 feet long and 6 feet deep with floats and sinkers Set net up just off-shore and drive seals off beach and into net Net used for catching seals Kugyasiq - net

15 What we did not find 5000 BP fish camp at the outlet to Buskin Lake No processing features at 5000 BP fish camp thin occupa$on layer BaVered bayonets with blunt $ps from gaffing fish in shallows

16 Gaffing Salmon = BaVered Bayonets

17 Other Early Marine Mammal Smoking sites 5000 BP Woody Island Shelter to keep meat dry 5500 BP Amak Site 7200 BP Old Harbor

18 Significance Marine Mammals far more important to Alu$iq than salmon prior to 4000 BP Today smoked salmon is ubiquitous in the villages but back in the day it was smoked seal meat! Earliest evidence for use of nets on Kodiak and not for fish!