76 Alaskan Science Conference 



up a far larger population than in the less favored areas to the 

 north. After the necessary cultural innovations and adapta- 

 tions, such as the kayak, had been made they were able to 

 expand out into the Aleutian Islands and into other relatively 

 inaccessible zones. There were, in all likelihood, many contrac- 

 tions and expansions of the populations, depending on varia- 

 tions in the food supply, climatic oscillations, disease and social 

 disruptions. 



Archaeology 



In the early 1870's Dall while with the U. S. Coast Survey 

 conducted excavations on various islands in the Aleutian chain, 

 representing the first archaeological work in this area. Though 

 his operations were haphazard and incomplete he concluded 

 from his material that the Aleuts had left traces of three stages 

 or periods of culture. In spite of the inadequacy and failure 

 of this style of analysis to correspond to the actual sequences, 

 there is still a tendency to resort to the traditional three period 

 interpretation of these archaeological sequences. This kind 

 of analysis is enhanced by the notable lack of stratigraphically 

 excavated sites in southern Alaska. 



Though the material culture of the Aleutians is basically 

 Eskimo, essential questions concerning the actual sequences and 

 relationships to other Eskimo cultures can not yet be dealt with 

 in any satisfactory manner. On the entire island of Kodiak 

 there is not one stratigraphically excavated site, although there 

 are many large, deep and easily accessible middens. With the 

 exception of De Laguna's work at Cook Inlet, of Larsen's work 

 in Bristol Bay and Unalaska, and of Weyer's at Port Moller, 

 there have been no scientific studies east of Umnak Island. 



The significance of archaeological research in southern Alaska 

 lies partly in the fact that there is substantial evidence of great 

 antiquity and also in the suggestion that some of the essential 

 elements of Eskimo culture may have taken form here before 

 being diffused to the north. From our excavations at the 

 Nikolski Village site, Umnak Island, Dr. W. F. Libby of the 

 Institute for Nuclear Studies, University of Chicago, has de- 



