A burial cave in the western Aleutian Islands, Alaska.

Publisher: University Of Wisconsin Press Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 0107714 Publication Model: Print Cited Medium: Print ISSN: 0066-6939 (Print) Linking ISSN: 00666939 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Arctic Anthropol

Publication: Madison Wi : University Of Wisconsin Press
Original Publication: Madison, Univ. of Wisconsin Press.

Anthropology*/education ; Anthropology*/history ; Archaeology*/education ; Archaeology*/history ; Burial*/history ; Mortuary Practice*/education ; Mortuary Practice*/history; Alaska/ethnology ; Cemeteries/history ; History, 20th Century ; History, Ancient ; Skeleton

During the 1998 field season, the Western Aleutians Archaeological and Paleobiological Project (WAAPP) team located a cave in the Near Islands, Alaska. Near the entrance of the cave, the team identified work areas and sleeping/sitting areas surrounded by cultural debris and animal bones. Human burials were found in the cave interior. In 2000, with permission from The Aleut Corporation, archaeologists revisited the site. Current research suggests three distinct occupations or uses for this cave. Aleuts buried their dead in shallow graves at the rear of the cave circa 1,200 to 800 years ago. Aleuts used the front of the cave as a temporary hunting camp as early as 390 years ago. Finally, Japanese and American military debris and graffiti reveal that the cave was visited during and after World War II. Russian trappers may have also taken shelter there 150 to 200 years ago. This is the first report of Aleut cave burials west of the Delarof Islands in the central Aleutians.

Date Created: 20110716 Date Completed: 20110930 Latest Revision: 20191112

20240628

10.1353/arc.2011.0086

21755641