486 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 195 



America (de Laguna, 1947, pp. 171-172). There is even some re- 

 semblance to the cores and flakes of Mexico and the Hopewellian 

 mound-building cultures. However, we are not sure of what such 

 relationship implies. As a matter of interest, it seems that some 

 students of prehistory suggest that the mound-building cultures of 

 the eastern United States may have stemmed from Middle America. 

 If this be true, they may have brought the core-flake technique with 

 them. At present, to attempt to trace the lamellar flakes and cores 

 outside of the immediate sphere of demonstrable geographic affinity 

 would be rather difficult. 



Significantly, the cores and flakes found by Johnson (1946) and 

 Leechman (1946) in the Kluane Lake area near the Alaska Highway 

 are roughly datable by the geology. These artifacts were found in 

 deposits that were tentatively dated by one estimate to be about 

 7,000 to 9,000 years old (Leechman, 1946, pp. 387-388). This was 

 presumably within the range of the postglacial Climatic Optimum. 

 On the other hand, Skarland (n. d., p. 175) cites Johnson and Raup, 

 who tentatively date their oldest Kluane Lake artifacts from about 

 4,000 to 5,000 years ago, or during a late phase of the postglacial 

 Climatic Optimum. Presumably, all were speaking about the same 

 oldest level of stratified archeological material. It is probable that 

 Johnson's and Raup's date may be closer to the actual, at least on 

 typological grounds. The area around Kluane Lake must have been 

 grasslands during and after the Climatic Optimum because no trees 

 occurred there until about A. D. 500 (de Laguna, 1949, p. 75). How 

 recently the "Mongolian" type cores and lamellar flakes occur in 

 northern Alaska cannot be stated definitely at present. These finds 

 represent the work of an apparently inland population of hunters 

 whose cultural affiliations are still not certain. 



A large proportion of the sites recorded represents the next phase 

 in our chronology which appears to be that of prehistoric inland 

 Eskimo cultures. With the exception of several aberrant flaked 

 artifact types, all the flint specimens appear to belong to a related 

 culture horizon. Most of the sites were hilltop chipping or lookout 

 stations (pi. 5, a) . Fortunately, one of the larger hunting camps, un- 

 doubtedly a temporary base camp, was found nestled near a sheltering 

 bluff. The cultural remains from this camp include antlers and bones 

 of caribou cut with stone implements, antler root picks, large flint 

 blades and scrapers, typical long, narrow Eskimo projectile points, 

 coarse gi'avel-tempered pottery, some rubbed slate, a perforated bear 

 (canine) tooth, hammerstones, and a jade adz set in an antler socket. 

 The cultural material, with the possible exception of some of the 

 stone blades, etc., seemed to have a lot in common with the artif actual 

 remains of the coastal Eskimos. Caribou has been an extremely im- 



