Chindadn Bifaces and the Archaeology of Terminal-Pleistocene Alaska

ABSTRACT

Chindadn bifaces are one of the few diagnostic lithic hallmarks of the terminal Pleistocene in interior Alaska. This paper presents the first regional overview and quantitative technological analysis of bifaces from archaeological sites dating 11,400 calendar years ago and earlier, based on characteristics of reduction, shaping, use, and discard. Overall, finished bifaces are small and extremely thin, with evidence of expedient production and use. Four basal-shape groups are present, falling semi-consistently into four descriptions. Convex-based bifaces appear as a distinct group with teardrop outline, informal reduction techniques, and minimal evidence for utilization. Triangular and subtriangular bifaces, exhibiting diverse reduction characteristics and low rates of hafting wear and breakage, appear to be more generalized point tips designed to conserve raw materials in Beringian climates. Concave-based bifaces show intensive flaking and high rates of haft-element breakage and abrasion, indicating they do not fit within a strict definition of Chindadn biface technology.

KEYWORDS:

• Dene Nene‌
• Beringia
• Chindadn
• Alaska
• terminal Pleistocene

Acknowledgements

All work at Healy Lake has been conducted in consultation with the Healy Lake Working Group and would not have been possible without support from Dr. John P. Cook, Thomas E. Gillispie, Robert Sattler, and the Tanana Chiefs Conference. As a mentor to Younie, Tom Gillispie reviewed drafts and volunteered ideas during many long talks, especially about the mechanics and construction of projectile technology. The majority of the sample items was accessed in consultation with the University of Alaska Museum of the North. More recently excavated bifaces were assessed with the aid of Kelly Graf, Charles Holmes, and David Yesner in their research laboratories, and we thank them for their hospitality as well as their shared ideas and insights into Chindadn technology. The authors also thank the editors of the special issue in which this paper appeared (Ashley Smallwood and Heather Smith), as well as the anonymous reviewers who provided important, thoughtful critiques.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article

Notes

1 Gomez Coutouly (2017) noted that there are two obsidian points from Swan Point CZ3. One is a convex-based Chindadn point that he re-assembled from three fragments, and the other is a non-diagnostic tip fragment (Gomez Coutouly, pers. commun., 2023).

Additional information

Funding

This research is based upon work funded by the National Science Foundation under a Dissertation Improvement Grant [Award Number 1216385] and a Wenner-Gren Foundation Dissertation Fieldwork Grant. As a component of Younie’s graduate study, it was also supported by a Doctoral Fellowship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada [SSHRC Number 752-2010-0269].

Notes on contributors

Angela M. Younie

Angela M. Younie completed their PhD at Texas A&M University in 2015, and has continued to conduct archaeological and ethnographic research in Alaska, Alberta, California, and Nevada. They are currently a Principal Investigator and Technical Writer with Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc. Their research interests include lithic technology, collaboration with Indigenous communities, public-education programs, and the incorporation of archived collections and multiple ways of knowing into research designs.

Ted Goebel

Ted Goebel is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Kansas. He has conducted Paleolithic archaeological research in northeast Asia and Alaska for more than 30 years, and has published extensively on the Pleistocene peopling of Beringia and the Americas. Since supervising his first excavation at the Walker Road site starting in 1988, he has sought to understand the significance of Chindadn bifaces.

Evelynn Combs

Evelynn Combs was born in Healy Lake, Alaska, previously served six years on the elected Healy Lake Tribal Council, and is now Tribal Administrator and Cultural Resource Manager, as well as serving on the Arctic Rivers Project Indigenous Advisory Council. She is currently in the undergraduate program with the Department of Anthropology at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.