A three-year interdisciplinary research program will be undertaken at Cape Espenberg, located on the northern coast of the Seward Peninsula (Alaska), with a focus on the history of human settlement and response to climate change between AD 800 and 1400. During this interval, a major cultural transition took place in the greater Bering Strait region that underlay the development and subsequent dispersal of the Iñupiat or Inuit peoples across much of the circumpolar world. The beach ridges of Cape Espenberg contain a sequence of occupations between AD 800 and 1400 and offer a wealth of paleoclimate data for the Kotzebue Sound region.
The research program will entail mapping, sampling, and limited excavation of former settlements on the beach ridges of Cape Espenberg by an international team of researchers (American, Canadian, and Russian) and student participants from local Alaska native communities. During Year 1 (2009), senior personnel will collect paleoenvironmental data and excavate several features on selected beach ridges. During Years 2-3 (2010-2011), senior personnel will work with student participants to expand the excavation of former houses and other features. Additional paleoenvironmental data will be gathered, and a comprehensive map of the Cape Espenberg settlements (initiated during a 2007 reconnaissance) will be completed.
The collection and analysis of archaeological and paleoclimatic data will be pursued within the framework of questions concerning the transition and subsequent development of human settlement at Cape Espenberg. The results should provide a high-resolution record of environmental and cultural change for a representative place and critical time period for Iñupiat origins, and they will help researchers address fundamental questions about the emergence of the Iñupiaq-speaking peoples of northwest Alaska in the context of population movements, conflict & competition, and cultural innovation during an interval of major climate change. The project results will be communicated to local communities and the general public through outreach and education efforts. In addition to student participation from Northwest Alaskan communities, undergraduate and graduate students will receive substantial training and experience and post-doctoral research will be supported.
This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
