High Alpine Lakeside Villages and Associated Rock Art in the Brooks Range, Alaska

Figure 1: A stone-ringed communal house near Burial Lake.

Photograph by Eric Carlson.

Something special took place long ago at three prehistoric lakeside archeological sites in Noatak National Preserve. Archeologists found dense concentrations of house and storage features and evidence of caibou hunting activities. These are common features to the region and were likely associated with ancestral Inupiat groups. But the sites also contained large, rock-lined communal structures (qargit) and dozens of petroglyphs. Taken together, the qargit and petroglyphs represent a completely unique habitation site type for Alaska. Emerging threats from erosion, natural disturbances, vandalism or unauthorized excavation led archeologists from the University of Alaska Museum and the National Park Service to document and evaluate the sites.

Architecture

The lakeside villages share several characteristics that set them apart from other sites in interior northern Alaska. Not only are they all habitation sites with house, storage, and hunting-related features, but each contains a large communal dwelling or qargi. Historic period ethnographic accounts describe qargit as places for village residents to gather, fix tools and equipment, tell stories, feast, and conduct ceremonies. These structures are known in many Late Prehistoric age sites across northern Alaska. The three lakeside village qargit, however, are unique. Each was each built using substantial circular boulder-lined foundations, some as large as 4-5 feet in diameter and weighing a hundred pounds (Figure 1). Their construction required substantial effort and coordination. The resulting structures come closer to the category of monumental architecture than anything else known from the American Arctic.

Figure 2: Petroglyph with pecked lines and pecked cupules on a large boulder in a qargi feature footprint.

Photographs and Illustrations by Eric Carlson.

Petroglyphs

Petroglyphs are another unique characteristic at the sites. They appear on the surfaces of several foundation stones or on other boulders in and around the sites (Figure 2). At one site a total of 18 individual petroglyph panels were documented, 11 of which are incorporated into the qargi. Another site had 21 petroglyph panels, each on a separate stone within the qargi. The third site contained just two petroglyph panels, both on stones within the qargi. All of the petroglyphs are abstract and exhibit a range of designs. They were created using a variety of techniques, including incised or sawed lines, pecked lines, and pecked cupules. Often two or three of these techniques were incorporated into a single design (Figure 3).

Hundreds of examples of rock art are known from archeological sites throughout Alaska. The vast majority are found in the southeast and south-central parts of the state (Figure 4). Only a handful of examples, however, are known in the Arctic. Rock art is documented at just 5 sites across northern Alaska, and among them are a total of 43 individual panels. Three of the five sites and 41 of 43 panels are found at the lakeside villages.

Figure 3: Petroglyphs consisting of incised and pecked lines and pecked cupules.

Photographs and Illustrations by Mareca Guthrie.

The petroglyphs in northern Alaska are fundamentally different than rock art elsewhere in the sate. Alaskan rock art, whether petroglyphs or pictographs, generally consists of a realistic pictorial design (e.g. a human face or figure, an animal, etc.). The petroglyphs from northern Alaska, on the other hand, consist of abstract designs with no obvious naturalistic representation. The style is found at the three lakeside villages, as well as two separate sites in the northern foothills of the Brooks Range.

Taken together, these petroglyphs represent a distinct tradition of rock art locally developed in Arctic Alaska. The exact meaning and function of these petroglyphs is still being studied, but they clearly had significance to their makers and offer an especially tangible reminder of the rich social, spiritual, and intellectual aspects of life in the past.

Organic Material

In addition to recording the petroglyphs, archeologists conducted subsurface testing in 34 house features in the three lakeside village sites. They, in particular, sought organic samples to develop a radiocarbon chronology to answer questions about each site's occupation history and other village phenomena. For example, a radiocarbon chronology could clarify the contemporaneity of the house features within each village. The large number of house and food storage features, thick midden deposits, and consistency in house form and artifact styles lead archeologists to believe that the villages had substantial populations. It is possible, however, that relatively few houses were occupied at any given time and the substantial number of house features accumulated over a long time.

The archeologists found well-preserved faunal remains. Analysis of them shows that caribou were the most common subsistence resource. There was also limited fishing and hunting or trapping of small mammals and birds. Analyses of the collections and samples are ongoing.

Significance

These three, extraordinary lakeside villages show how people flourished under the harsh Arctic climate and its limited resources. Archeologists yielded significant information about the petroglyphs by coupling their documentation with archeological excavation. As a result, a better understanding of a unique time period in the Alaskan Arctic is known. Furthermore, such archeological work enables the sites can be better protected. Archeological sites are nonrenewable cultural resources protected by law, and they remain important to the heritage of the living Inupiat. It is of the utmost importance to treat these sites with respect and to preserve them for future generations.

By Scott Shirar, Jeff Rasic, and Eric Carlson