ARTIFACTS 



By Frederica de Laguna, Francis A. Riduell, and Donald F. McGeein 

 INTRODUCTION 



In the following sections, the archeological material from the 

 Yakutat area is described and compared with types of artifacts from 

 neighboring regions and tribes in an attempt to show the cultural 

 relationships of the prehistoric inhabitants of Yakutat. Since 

 relatively little information was obtained from sites other than Old 

 Town on Knight Island, our inquiries will chiefly be concerned with 

 the cultural position of that site. Here a total of 987 specimens was 

 obtained, consisting of finished artifacts, unfinished pieces, and 

 worked materials. Of the total, 548 are of stone, 45 of native copper, 

 3 of native copper and of wood or bone, 19 of drift iron, 78 of cannel 

 coal (or oil shale?), 199 of bone, and 95 of wood, roots, bark, or skin. 



On the basis of the distribution of the various types of artifacts, 

 as weU as on the character of the middens, we have attempted to 

 determine the relative ages of the different parts of the site at Old 

 Town. Thus, the youngest part of the site, "Old Town III," ap- 

 parently consists of Mound A, the upper levels of Mound B, House 9, 

 and House Pit 1. An older part of the site, "Old Town II," consists 

 of the lower layers of Mound B, and of House 8 and the Storage House 

 which lies within those layers. Mounds C and D and the fill of House 

 Pit 7 seem to be slightly older and are designated as "Old Town I," 

 although they may represent the same period as the lower part of 

 Mound B. 



Some 38 specimens (24 of stone, 8 of bone, 2 of copper, and 4 of 

 coal) came from Mound A or B, from unknown levels within Mound 

 B, or from a test pit between Mounds B and C, and so are of undeter- 

 mined age. 



Table 4 gives the distribution of these artifacts. 



Since copper and stone are relatively imperishable, the numbers 

 of artifacts of these materials found in different parts of the site 

 probably represent true samples. Thus, of the stone specimens 

 with known provenience, 53.4 percent came from Old Town III, 

 19.3 percent from Old Town II, and 27.3 percent from Old Town I. 

 The youngest section. Old Town III, yielded 67.4 percent of the copper; 

 26.1 percent came from Old Town II; while only 6.5 percent came 

 from Old Town I, Coal can be considered as relatively lasting. 



85 



C93-81&— 64 7 



