ARCHEOLOGY AND ECOLOGY OF ALASKA — SOLECKI 



475 



Suffice it to say, however, we do know that the primitive populations 

 did make a vast swing through the continents well before the time 

 of Columbus' discovery. We are assured that the Pleistocene climate 

 in the unglaciated portions of northern America was not greatly 

 different from that of today; nor is there any conclusive evidence 

 that the present flora was entirely absent during any phase of the 

 late Pleistocene epoch (Skarland, n. d., pp. 72 and 74) . The presence 

 or absence of flora suitable as forage for particular groups of herbiv- 

 orous mammals very likely indirectly controlled man's movements. 



THE COUNTRY 



Physiographically, the north slope, occupying an area of about 

 70,000 square miles between the Brooks Range and the Arctic Ocean, 

 is divided into three provinces. All extend north of the 68th parallel 

 and are beyond the Arctic Circle. These provinces are the Brooks 

 Range Province, the Arctic Foothills Province, and the Arctic Coastal 

 Plain Province (fig. 3). 



Barrow, 



Figure 3. — Map showing the physiographic provinces of the north slope of 

 Alaska. Reproduced by permission of the U. S. Geological Survey. 



The Brooks Range, the northernmost mountain range in Alaska, 

 is composed of rugged, glaciated mountains. Its snow-capped peaks 

 in the eastern section rise to about 9,000 feet. Rej)resenting the 

 Alaskan counterpart of the Rocky Mountains, this range is com- 

 posed of highly indurated and strongly resistant Paleozoic rocks. 

 There are about 30 or 40 small glaciers of about 2 or 3 miles in length 

 still lingering in the mountains. Fronting the Brooks Range are 

 several large mountain-fed lakes that empty into the north-flowing 

 rivers. The whole of this province bears evidences of glaciation from 

 one end to the other of its 600 miles' length. Three good passes — 

 Howard Pass, Survey Pass, and Anaktuvuk Pass — breach the middle 

 of the range and connect the drainages on both north and south 

 sides of the divide. The divide may be crossed at other points but 

 with considerably more difficulty. 



