Yukon First Nation use of Copper for End-Blades on Hunting Arrows
Issued Date: 24 Apr 2020
Abstract
Copper metallurgy and bow and arrow technology are widely considered hallmark traits of the Late Prehistoric Period in the northwest of North America (Yukon and Alaska). In recent years, a number of osseous arrow points have been recovered from melting alpine ice patches in the northwest, some with evidence of copper utilization. This article reports on the construction and radiocarbon dating of three osseous arrowheads recovered from Yukon-Alaska ice patches and documents the use of handheld energy-dispersive x-ray florescence (EDXRF) technology to discriminate native copper implements, as well as detect absorbed copper residues from other osseous points. We also reference several other bladed arrow points discovered at ice patches in Yukon and neighboring Alaska to develop a tentative timeline for the use of copper end-blades with osseous arrow points in the northwest.
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DOI: 10.1558/jga.40685
References
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Andrews, Thomas D, and Glenn MacKay. 2012. "The archaeology and paleoecology of alpine ice patches: A global perspective." Arctic 65, Supplement 1: iii-vi.
Andrews, Thomas D, Glen MacKay, Leon Andrew, Wendy Stephenson, Amy Barker, Claire Alix, and Shutagot'ine Elders of Tulita. 2012. "Alpine ice patches and Shuhtagot'ine land use in the Mackenzie and Selwyn Mountains, Northwest Territories, Canada." Arctic 65, Supplement 1: 22-43.
Andrews, Thomas D, Glenn MacKay, and Leon Andrew. 2012. "Archaeological investigations of alpine ice patches in the Selwyn Mountains, Northwest Territories, Canada." Arctic 65, Supplement 1: 1-22.
Callanan, Martin. 2012. "Central Norwegian snow patch archaeology: Patterns past and present." Arctic 65 (Suppl. 1): 178-188.
Clague, John J., S. G. Evans, Vern N. Rampton, and George J. Woodsworth. 1995. "Improved age estimates for the White River and Bridge River tephras, Western Canada." Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 32: 1172-1179.
Cooper, Kory H. 2012. "Innovation and prestige among northern hunter-gatherers: Late Prehistoric native copper use in Alaska and Yukon." American Antiquity 77 (3): 565-590.
Cooper, Kory H. 2012. "Innovation and prestige among northern hunter-gatherers: Late Prehistoric native copper use in Alaska and Yukon." American Antiquity 77 (3): 565-590.
Cooper, Kory H. 2011. "The life (lives) and times of native copper in Northwest North America." World Archaeology 45 (2): 252-270.
Cooper, Kory H., and Robert J. Speakman. 2016. "Copper from Old Town, Yakutat Bay, Alaska." Paper presented at the 49th annual meeting of the Canadian Archaeological Association, Whitehorse, Yukon.
Cooper, Kory H., John M. Duke, Antonio Simonetti, and Guang Cheng Chen. 2008. "Trace element and Pb isotope provenance analyses of native copper in northwestern North America: results of a recent pilot study using INAA, ICP-MS and LA-MC-ICP-MS." Journal of Archaeological Science 35: 1732-1747.
Cooper, Kory H., Kenneth M. Ames, and Loren G. Davis. 2015. "Metal and presetige in the greater lower Columbia River region, northwestern North America." Journal of Northwest Anthropology 49 (2): 143-166.
Cruikshank, Julie. 1990. Life lived like a story: Life stories of three Yukon native elders. Vancouver: Universtiy of British Columbia Press.
Dixon, James E., Craig M. Lee, William F. Manley, Ruth A. Warden, and William D. Harrison. 2007. "The frozen past of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve." Alaska Park Science 6: 24-29.
Dixon, James E., William F. Manley, and Craig M. Lee. 2005. "The emerging archaeology of glaciers and ice patches: Examples from Alaska's Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve." American Antiquity 70 (1): 129-143.
Dove, Carla J., P. Gregory Hare, and Marcy Heacker. 2005. "Identification of ancient feather fragments found in melting alpine ice patches in Southern Yukon." Arctic 58 (1): 38-43.
Dussubieux, Laure, and Heather Walder. 2015. "Identifying American native and European smelted coppers with pXRF: A case study of artifacts from the Upper Great Lakes region." Journal of Archaeological Science 59.
Ecoregions Working Group. 2004. "Yukon Southern Lakes." In Ecoregions of the Yukon Territory: Biophysical properties of Yukon landscapes, by Scott C. A. Smith, John C. Meikle and Charlie F. Roots, 207-218. Summerland, British Columbia: Agriculture and Agri-Foods Canada, PARC Technical Bulletin No. 04-01.
Farbregd, O. 2009. "Archery history from ancient snow and ice." Edited by T. Brattli. The 58th International Sachsen Symposium, 1-5 September 2007. Trondhiem, Norway: Acta Archaeologica Nidrosiensia. 157-170.
Farnell, Richard, P. Gregory Hare, Erik Blake, Vandy Bowyer, Charles Schweger, Sheila Greer, and Ruth M. Gotthardt. 2004. "Multidisciplinary investigations of alpine ice patches in southwest Yukon, Canada: Paleo-environmental and paleobiological investigations." Arctic 57 (2): 247-259.
Goddard, Pliny Earle. 1916. "The Beaver Indians." Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History 203-293.
Greer, Sheila, and Diane Strand. 2012. "Cultural landscapes, past and present, and the south Yukon ice patches." Arctic 65, Supplement 1: 136-152.
Hare, P Gregory, Christian D Thomas, Timothy N Topper, and Ruth M Gotthardt. 2012. "The archaeology of Yukon ice patches: New artifacts, observations, and insights." Arctic 65, Supplement 1: 118-135.
Hare, P. Gregory, Sheila Greer, Ruth Gotthardt, Richard Farnell, Vandy Bowyer, Charles Schweger, and Diane Strand. 2004. "Ethnographic and Archaeological Investigations of Alpine Ice Patches in Southwest Yukon, Canada." Arctic 57 (3): 260-272.
Heginbotham, A., J. Bassett, D. Bourgarit, C. Eveleigh, L. Glinsman, D. Hook, D. Smith, R. J. Speakman, A. Shugar, and R. Van Langh. 2015. "The Copper CHARM Set: A New Set of Certified Reference Materials for the Standardization of Quantitative X‐Ray Fluorescence Analysis of Heritage Copper Alloys." Archaeometry 57 (5): 856-868.
Honigmann, John J. 1964. "The Kaska indians: An ethnographic reconstruction." Yale University Publications in Anthropology (Human Relations Area Files Press) 51.
Jensen, B., S. Pyne-O'Donnell, G. Plunkett, D. G. Froese, P. D. Hughes, M. Sigl, J. R. McConnell, et al. 2014. "Tansatlantic distribution of the Alaskan White River Ash." Geology 42 (10): 875-878.
Kuzyk, Gerald W., Don E. Russell, Richard S. Farnell, Ruth M. Gotthardt, P. Gregory Hare, and Erik Blake. 1999. "In pursuit of prehistoric caribou on Thandlat, Southern Yukon." Arctic 52 (2): 214-219.
Le Blanc, Raymond J. 1984. "The Rat Indian Creek Site and the Late Prehistoric Period in the interior northern Yukon." National Museum of Man Mercury Series (National Museums of Canada).
McClellan, Catherine. 1975. "My old people say: An ethnographic survey of southern Yukon Territory Part 2." Mercury Series (Canadian Museum of Civilization) Canadian Ethnology Service Paper 137.
McClellan, Catherine. 1975. "My old people say: An ethnographic survey of southern Yukon Territory, Part 1." Mercury Series (Canadian Museum of Civilization) Canadian Ethnology Service Paper 137.
McKennan, Robert A. 1959. "The Upper Tanana Indians." Yale University Publications in Anthropology (Department of Anthropology Yale University) 55.
Morlan, Richard E. 1973. "The later prehistory of the middle Porcupine Drainage, northern Yukon Territory." National Museum of Man Mercury Series (National Museums of Canada) Archaeological Survey of Canada Paper No. 11.
Osgood, Cornelius. 1970. "Contirbutions to the ethnography of the Kutchin." Yale University Publications in Anthropology (Human Relations Area Files Press) 14.
Osgood, Cornelius. 1971. "The Han indians: A compilation of ethnographic and historical data on the Alaska-Yukon boundary area." Yale University Publications in Anthropology (Department of Anthropology, Yale University) 74.
Pike, Matthew, Kory H. Cooper, and Garett Hunt. 2019. "Defining a 'reasonable geographic framework': Path Distance as native copper provenance in the Arctic, Subarctic and Northwest Coast." Journal of Archaeological Science Reports 26.
Pilo, Lars H., Espen Finstad, Christopher R. Bronk, Julian R. P. Martinsen, Brit Solli, Atle Nesje, Vivian Wangen, Barrett, and James H. Barrett. 2018. "The chronology of reindeer hunting on Norway's highest ice patches." Royal Society Open Science 5: 1-10.
Shinkwin, Anne D. 1979. "Dakah De'nin's Village and the Dixthada Sites: A contribution to northern Athapaskan prehistory." National Museum of Man Mercury Series (National Museums of Canada) Archaeological Survey of Canada Paper No. 91.
Slobodin, Richard. 1962. "Band organization of the Peel River Kutchin." National Museum of Canada Bulletin 55.
Speakman, Robert J., and M. Steven Shackley. 2013. "Silo science and portable XRF in archaeology: a response to Frahm." Journal of Archaeological Science 40 (2): 1435-1443.
Thomas, Christian D. 2003. Ta'Tla Mun: An archaeological examination of technology, subsistence economy and trade at Tatlmain Lake, Central Yukon. Vol. No. 13 Occasional Papers in Archaeology . Whitehorse, Yukon: Government of Yukon.
VanderHoek, Richard, James E Dixon, Nicholas L Jarman, and Randolph M Tedor. 2012. "Ice patch archaeology in Alaska: 2000-10." ARctic 65, Supplement 1: 153-164.
Wayman, Michael L., Robert R. Smith, Clifford G. Hickey, and John M. Duke. 1985. "The analysis of copper artifacts of the Copper Inuit." Journal of Archaeological Science 12: 367-375.
Workman, William B. 1978. "Prehistory of the Aishihik-Kluane area, southwest Yukon Territory." National Museum of Man Mercury Series (National Museums of Canada) Archaeological Survey of Canada Paper No. 74.
Andrews, Thomas D, and Glenn MacKay. 2012. "The archaeology and paleoecology of alpine ice patches: A global perspective." Arctic 65, Supplement 1: iii-vi.
Andrews, Thomas D, Glen MacKay, Leon Andrew, Wendy Stephenson, Amy Barker, Claire Alix, and Shutagot'ine Elders of Tulita. 2012. "Alpine ice patches and Shuhtagot'ine land use in the Mackenzie and Selwyn Mountains, Northwest Territories, Canada." Arctic 65, Supplement 1: 22-43.
Andrews, Thomas D, Glenn MacKay, and Leon Andrew. 2012. "Archaeological investigations of alpine ice patches in the Selwyn Mountains, Northwest Territories, Canada." Arctic 65, Supplement 1: 1-22.
Callanan, Martin. 2012. "Central Norwegian snow patch archaeology: Patterns past and present." Arctic 65 (Suppl. 1): 178-188.
Clague, John J., S. G. Evans, Vern N. Rampton, and George J. Woodsworth. 1995. "Improved age estimates for the White River and Bridge River tephras, Western Canada." Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 32: 1172-1179.
Cooper, Kory H. 2012. "Innovation and prestige among northern hunter-gatherers: Late Prehistoric native copper use in Alaska and Yukon." American Antiquity 77 (3): 565-590.
Cooper, Kory H. 2012. "Innovation and prestige among northern hunter-gatherers: Late Prehistoric native copper use in Alaska and Yukon." American Antiquity 77 (3): 565-590.
Cooper, Kory H. 2011. "The life (lives) and times of native copper in Northwest North America." World Archaeology 45 (2): 252-270.
Cooper, Kory H., and Robert J. Speakman. 2016. "Copper from Old Town, Yakutat Bay, Alaska." Paper presented at the 49th annual meeting of the Canadian Archaeological Association, Whitehorse, Yukon.
Cooper, Kory H., John M. Duke, Antonio Simonetti, and Guang Cheng Chen. 2008. "Trace element and Pb isotope provenance analyses of native copper in northwestern North America: results of a recent pilot study using INAA, ICP-MS and LA-MC-ICP-MS." Journal of Archaeological Science 35: 1732-1747.
Cooper, Kory H., Kenneth M. Ames, and Loren G. Davis. 2015. "Metal and presetige in the greater lower Columbia River region, northwestern North America." Journal of Northwest Anthropology 49 (2): 143-166.
Cruikshank, Julie. 1990. Life lived like a story: Life stories of three Yukon native elders. Vancouver: Universtiy of British Columbia Press.
Dixon, James E., Craig M. Lee, William F. Manley, Ruth A. Warden, and William D. Harrison. 2007. "The frozen past of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve." Alaska Park Science 6: 24-29.
Dixon, James E., William F. Manley, and Craig M. Lee. 2005. "The emerging archaeology of glaciers and ice patches: Examples from Alaska's Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve." American Antiquity 70 (1): 129-143.
Dove, Carla J., P. Gregory Hare, and Marcy Heacker. 2005. "Identification of ancient feather fragments found in melting alpine ice patches in Southern Yukon." Arctic 58 (1): 38-43.
Dussubieux, Laure, and Heather Walder. 2015. "Identifying American native and European smelted coppers with pXRF: A case study of artifacts from the Upper Great Lakes region." Journal of Archaeological Science 59.
Ecoregions Working Group. 2004. "Yukon Southern Lakes." In Ecoregions of the Yukon Territory: Biophysical properties of Yukon landscapes, by Scott C. A. Smith, John C. Meikle and Charlie F. Roots, 207-218. Summerland, British Columbia: Agriculture and Agri-Foods Canada, PARC Technical Bulletin No. 04-01.
Farbregd, O. 2009. "Archery history from ancient snow and ice." Edited by T. Brattli. The 58th International Sachsen Symposium, 1-5 September 2007. Trondhiem, Norway: Acta Archaeologica Nidrosiensia. 157-170.
Farnell, Richard, P. Gregory Hare, Erik Blake, Vandy Bowyer, Charles Schweger, Sheila Greer, and Ruth M. Gotthardt. 2004. "Multidisciplinary investigations of alpine ice patches in southwest Yukon, Canada: Paleo-environmental and paleobiological investigations." Arctic 57 (2): 247-259.
Goddard, Pliny Earle. 1916. "The Beaver Indians." Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History 203-293.
Greer, Sheila, and Diane Strand. 2012. "Cultural landscapes, past and present, and the south Yukon ice patches." Arctic 65, Supplement 1: 136-152.
Hare, P Gregory, Christian D Thomas, Timothy N Topper, and Ruth M Gotthardt. 2012. "The archaeology of Yukon ice patches: New artifacts, observations, and insights." Arctic 65, Supplement 1: 118-135.
Hare, P. Gregory, Sheila Greer, Ruth Gotthardt, Richard Farnell, Vandy Bowyer, Charles Schweger, and Diane Strand. 2004. "Ethnographic and Archaeological Investigations of Alpine Ice Patches in Southwest Yukon, Canada." Arctic 57 (3): 260-272.
Heginbotham, A., J. Bassett, D. Bourgarit, C. Eveleigh, L. Glinsman, D. Hook, D. Smith, R. J. Speakman, A. Shugar, and R. Van Langh. 2015. "The Copper CHARM Set: A New Set of Certified Reference Materials for the Standardization of Quantitative X‐Ray Fluorescence Analysis of Heritage Copper Alloys." Archaeometry 57 (5): 856-868.
Honigmann, John J. 1964. "The Kaska indians: An ethnographic reconstruction." Yale University Publications in Anthropology (Human Relations Area Files Press) 51.
Jensen, B., S. Pyne-O'Donnell, G. Plunkett, D. G. Froese, P. D. Hughes, M. Sigl, J. R. McConnell, et al. 2014. "Tansatlantic distribution of the Alaskan White River Ash." Geology 42 (10): 875-878.
Kuzyk, Gerald W., Don E. Russell, Richard S. Farnell, Ruth M. Gotthardt, P. Gregory Hare, and Erik Blake. 1999. "In pursuit of prehistoric caribou on Thandlat, Southern Yukon." Arctic 52 (2): 214-219.
Le Blanc, Raymond J. 1984. "The Rat Indian Creek Site and the Late Prehistoric Period in the interior northern Yukon." National Museum of Man Mercury Series (National Museums of Canada).
McClellan, Catherine. 1975. "My old people say: An ethnographic survey of southern Yukon Territory Part 2." Mercury Series (Canadian Museum of Civilization) Canadian Ethnology Service Paper 137.
McClellan, Catherine. 1975. "My old people say: An ethnographic survey of southern Yukon Territory, Part 1." Mercury Series (Canadian Museum of Civilization) Canadian Ethnology Service Paper 137.
McKennan, Robert A. 1959. "The Upper Tanana Indians." Yale University Publications in Anthropology (Department of Anthropology Yale University) 55.
Morlan, Richard E. 1973. "The later prehistory of the middle Porcupine Drainage, northern Yukon Territory." National Museum of Man Mercury Series (National Museums of Canada) Archaeological Survey of Canada Paper No. 11.
Osgood, Cornelius. 1970. "Contirbutions to the ethnography of the Kutchin." Yale University Publications in Anthropology (Human Relations Area Files Press) 14.
Osgood, Cornelius. 1971. "The Han indians: A compilation of ethnographic and historical data on the Alaska-Yukon boundary area." Yale University Publications in Anthropology (Department of Anthropology, Yale University) 74.
Pike, Matthew, Kory H. Cooper, and Garett Hunt. 2019. "Defining a 'reasonable geographic framework': Path Distance as native copper provenance in the Arctic, Subarctic and Northwest Coast." Journal of Archaeological Science Reports 26.
Pilo, Lars H., Espen Finstad, Christopher R. Bronk, Julian R. P. Martinsen, Brit Solli, Atle Nesje, Vivian Wangen, Barrett, and James H. Barrett. 2018. "The chronology of reindeer hunting on Norway's highest ice patches." Royal Society Open Science 5: 1-10.
Shinkwin, Anne D. 1979. "Dakah De'nin's Village and the Dixthada Sites: A contribution to northern Athapaskan prehistory." National Museum of Man Mercury Series (National Museums of Canada) Archaeological Survey of Canada Paper No. 91.
Slobodin, Richard. 1962. "Band organization of the Peel River Kutchin." National Museum of Canada Bulletin 55.
Speakman, Robert J., and M. Steven Shackley. 2013. "Silo science and portable XRF in archaeology: a response to Frahm." Journal of Archaeological Science 40 (2): 1435-1443.
Thomas, Christian D. 2003. Ta'Tla Mun: An archaeological examination of technology, subsistence economy and trade at Tatlmain Lake, Central Yukon. Vol. No. 13 Occasional Papers in Archaeology . Whitehorse, Yukon: Government of Yukon.
VanderHoek, Richard, James E Dixon, Nicholas L Jarman, and Randolph M Tedor. 2012. "Ice patch archaeology in Alaska: 2000-10." ARctic 65, Supplement 1: 153-164.
Wayman, Michael L., Robert R. Smith, Clifford G. Hickey, and John M. Duke. 1985. "The analysis of copper artifacts of the Copper Inuit." Journal of Archaeological Science 12: 367-375.
Workman, William B. 1978. "Prehistory of the Aishihik-Kluane area, southwest Yukon Territory." National Museum of Man Mercury Series (National Museums of Canada) Archaeological Survey of Canada Paper No. 74.
