The earliest traces of human settlement in arctic and subarctic North America: Late Pleistocene sites in Alaska

Abstract

While the peopling of the Americas is still subject of debate in archaeological research, most scholars agree that its origin can be found in the arctic and subarctic regions of Northeastern Asia and Northwestern America, often referred to as Beringia. Intensive research in recent decades – especially in Alaska – has led to a growing body of evidence for the colonisation of these areas. This paper gives a representative overview of Late Pleistocene stone tool assemblages from Alaska. It appears that instead of a cultural-chronological organisation, functional variability with a diverse system of technological organisation seems a more plausible explanation for the variable composition of these assemblages. Meanwhile, the question of the migration route in the course of the peopling of the Americas must remain open. But this does not deprive the Alaskan record of its general relevance, especially regarding its significance for statements on colonisation processes of Pleistocene hunter-gatherers.