In This Section

Archaeological Field School in Quinhagak, Alaska

Home › Our Research › Research Projects › Archaeological Field School in Quinhagak, Alaska

Field School, 2012

WHEN: August 1 2012 – Aug 21, 2012

WHO: No experience necessary. College credit is optional. Participants must be 18 or over. You must be able and willing to work in Alaskan wilderness conditions.

COST: $600(USD)/week includes food, housing and local ground transportation.

TO APPLY: Send your application including CV and a one page cover letter why you want to participate to r.knecht@abdn.ac.uk by May 15, 2012

If your application is successful you are requested to pay a deposit of $300(USD)/week by May 24 2012.

***A very limited number of spaces are still available for students for this year's field school, please contact Dr. Knecht directly to enquire(22/05/12)***

The University of Aberdeen Department of Archaeology, in partnership with the village corporation Qanirtuuq, Inc. and the Yup’ik Eskimo village of Quinhagak, is working to record archaeological sites threatened by rising sea levels along the Bering Sea.

The goals of this project are to:

Generate new information about the prehistory and culture of the Yup’ik people by recovering artefacts and other materials from actively eroding archaeological sites.
Evaluate the impact of rising sea levels on the cultural resources in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta and develop locally based expertise and facilities to address those impacts.
Create new educational and economic opportunities for the people of Quinhagak and surrounding region.
Provide training and experience in community-based archaeological research for a new generation of scientists, land managers and community leaders.
Produce data about human adaptations to past climate change that will be relevant for local decision makers dealing with the effects of global warming.

For the 2012 field season we will focus on excavation of the Nunalleq Site, a late prehistoric village with exceptionally well-preserved organic remains. Data from the site will be important to our understanding of past climate change.

The Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta is an area three times the size of Scotland, yet its prehistory remains very poorly known. Our excavation at the Nunalleq site is the largest ever done in the area and the material we recover will give us the first detailed look at the prehistory of this very significant culture area.

Artefacts and features at the Nunalleq site are spectacular and abundant. The combination of permafrost and moist soil conditions have preserved wood, fur, bark, claws and other organic materials and are giving us an remarkably clear view of prehistoric Yup’ik culture. At least 80% of the artefacts we will recover will be made from wood and will need special care in handling and recording. Digging at this site will demand a good deal of care and attention to detail. It is also likely to produce some of the most remarkable finds of your archaeological career.

This year we will are hoping to excavate a full house, continuing on from the 2009 & 2010 excavations which exposed a partial floor of a semi-subterranean sod house. Careful mapping of all the finds will help us determine what kinds of activities went on in various areas of the dwelling.

Working with our partners in Quinhagak, we will combine locally based traditional knowledge with academic research methods to reconstruct the prehistoric roots of modern Yup’ik culture. The artefacts are the property of Qanirtuuq, Inc. and will be on loan to the University of Aberdeen while they are being conserved, catalogued and analyzed. The collection is expected to return to Alaska in 2013.

There will be a chance to learn survey skills as well; we will use GPS surveying equipment to record the position of marine and river shorelines around Quinhagak to monitor the ongoing erosion of archaeological sites and modern infrastructure.