CONCLUSION 



By Frederica de Laguna 

 AGE OF THE SITES 



Since Yakutat archeological materials have many striking similarities 

 to those from Prince William Sound, the criteria used to suggest a 

 relative chronology for Chugach sites (de Laguna, 1956, pp. 64 f.) 

 may be partially applicable. Chugach cultural periods were: 



(1) Older prehistoric (perhaps contemporaneous with Kachemak 

 Bay sub-Ill and III, and with most of the lower levels at Uyak Bay, 

 Kodiak Island) : Decomposed shells in middens, incised stone plaques, 

 relative abundance of planing adzes over sphtting adzes and small 

 woodworking tools, relative abundance of tanged slate blades and 

 slender slate points like awls over barbed slate blades, chipped ulo- 

 shaped scrapers, and absence of native copper. 



For the beginning of occupation at Palugvik, Prince William Sound, 

 which must have been within or possibly at the beginning of this 

 cultural stage, Rainey and Ralph (1959, p. 368) have published two 

 radiocarbon dates. These are based on one house post (P-174 and 

 P-192, cat. No. 33-37-476) found at the bottom of the midden. 

 This post had 105 rings and had been coated on the outside with 

 parafl&n. The date obtained from the outer part of the post was 

 1753 ± 105 B.P., or A.D. 100 to 310. The second date from the core 

 of the post, from which 83 years was subtracted, was 1727 ± 105 B.P., 

 or A.D. 126 to 336. A wooden shovel blade, similarly treated with 

 paraffin (P-173, 33-37-481), gave a date of 2265 ± 112 B.P., or 419 

 to 295 B.C., which was discarded because of suspicion of paraffin 

 contamination. While the dates from the same house post corroborate 

 each other, they should only be taken as suggestive of the age of the 

 older prehistoric period in Prince William Sound, since they are not 

 part of a series. The assumption of relative contemporaneity with 

 similar cultures on Kachemak Bay and Kodiak is only a guess. 



We should note that the single date obtained from five pieces of 

 caribou antler from the Period III level of the Yukon Island site in 

 Kachemak Bay (P-138) is 1369 db 102 B.P., or A.D. 487 to 691, 

 but it stands alone. It can at best only suggest that this date fell 

 somewhere within the timespan of Kachemak Bay, but can determine 

 neither its beginning nor its end. Nor is it possible to exclude the 

 suspicion of contamination from sea water or from preservatives. 

 The same hesitations should apply to the interpretation of the single 



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