480 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1950 



of a Folsom-type projectile point (pi. 4, a, insert) and some other un- 

 related archeological specimens were recovered by one of the United 

 States Geological Survey parties on the Utukok River, stimulating 

 further speculation regarding Early Man (Thompson, 1948). The 

 Folsom-type projectile point was identified as a genuine product of 

 Paleo-Indian workmanship by Dr. Frank H. H. Roberts, Jr., the fore- 

 most authority on Early Man in America. Here, then, was concrete 

 evidence that our first Americans could have trekked across the north- 

 ern route from Asia via an unglaciated stretch to the broad belt freed 

 of glacial ice in the Mackenzie drainage. 



The finding of the Folsom projectile point in the foothills of north- 

 western Alaska sheds an interesting sidelight on the probable migra- 

 tion path of Early Man. First, however, it should be brought to 

 attention that, incident to the finding of the point, a total of 17 

 archeological sites were recorded for that same exploration party 

 (Thompson, 1948). This was a good score for scientists pressed with 

 geological duties. The writer, from his own research and experience, 

 concurs with Thompson (ibid., p. 62) in the latter's belief that "most 

 of these sites are of Eskimo origin and are probably recent." 



The Mackenzie River route, the first through route opened, is 

 thought to have been freed of ice about 25,000 to 30,000 years ago. 

 The alternate route over the divide from the Yukon drainage to the 

 Mackenzie may not have been open until considerably later, perhaps 

 10,000 or more years ago (Johnston, 1933, pp. 44^5). In any event, 

 we are assured on the basis of geological estimates that Paleo-Indians 

 lived and limited the now extinct mammals, principally herbivores, 

 in the High Plains of the American Continent at least 10,000 years ago 

 (Roberts, 1945, p. 428). 



Skarland (n. d., pp. 139-140) is convinced that a big-game hunter 

 would have a better chance of survival in the unglaciated parts of 

 Alaska during the last glacial stage than in postglacial times. In 

 presenting his viewpoint, Skarland notes that, in addition to all the 

 present mammalian species, the late Pleistocene fauna consisted of 

 mammoth, bison, horse, musk ox, and, perhaps, mastodon. The cari- 

 bou, still surviving to the present day, the horse, and particularly the 

 bison would have provided most of the food. To the writer's knowl- 

 edge, there is no evidence, so far, of human cultural remains found in 

 association with the extinct mammalian remains on the Arctic slope. 

 There were plenty of caribou bones found among the debris heaps of 

 the prehistoric Eskimos. 



In the apparent absence of Folsom-type projectile points from 

 Siberia, it might be claimed that these objects are the products of an 

 indigenous American technique derived from some as yet unknown 

 prototype. However, the Utukok River point, plus the finds of J. 



