Flake Tools in the American Arctic: Some Speculations

1964 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 338-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edwin N. Wilmsen
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
New World ◽  
Yukon Territory ◽  
River Delta ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Land Bridge ◽  
Bering Land Bridge

AbstractTwo sites, Kogruk (at the summit of Anaktuvuk Pass, Alaska) and Engigstciak (at the head of the Firth River delta, Yukon Territory, Canada), have recently yielded flake-tool assemblages which show striking resemblances to a Eurasiatic flake-blade tradition based on a Levallois-Mousterian stone-chipping technique, and to the Clovis flake-blade tradition of America which appears to be based on a similar chipping technique. It is suggested that these traditions are historically related and that the Arctic sites provide a possible link between the two. The presence of incipient fluting in Siberia and at Engigstciak may prove significant. Dating is discussed in terms of the ecology and geology of the sites and is correlated with the probable periods of availability of the Bering land bridge. An upland-foothills zone is seen to be essentially continuous from central Asia to central North America. It is suggested that this zone provided the only environmentally compatible link between the two continents, and that it was therefore the most probable route of early hunting peoples into the New World.

Arctic archaeologies: recent work on Beringia

Antiquity ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 89 (345) ◽  
pp. 740-742 ◽  
Author(s):  
Herbert Maschner
Keyword(s):  
Bering Sea ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
Yukon Territory ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Land Bridge ◽  
Far North ◽  
North East ◽  
Bering Land Bridge ◽  
Last Glaciation ◽  
The Bering Sea

This review considers three books on the archaeology of territories situated around the Bering Sea—a region often referred to as Beringia, adopting the term created for the Late Pleistocene landscape that extended from north-east Asia, across the Bering Land Bridge, to approximately the Yukon Territory of Canada. This region is critical to the archaeology of the Arctic for two fundamental reasons. First, it is the gateway to the Americas, and was certainly the route by which the territory was colonised at the end of the last glaciation. Second, it is the place where the entire Aleut-Eskimo (Unangan, Yupik, Alutiiq, Inupiat and Inuit) phenomenon began, and every coastal culture from the far north Pacific, to Chukotka, to north Alaska, and to arctic Canada and Greenland, has its foundation in the cultural developments that occurred around the Bering Sea.

scholarly journals Setting the Stage: The Late Pleistocene Colonization of North America

Quaternary ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael O’Brien
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
New World ◽  
Pacific Coast ◽  
Ice Sheets ◽  
Land Bridge ◽  
Projectile Points ◽  
Bering Land Bridge ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Northern Half

The timing of human entrance into North America has been a topic of debate that dates back to the late 19th century. Central to the modern discussion is not whether late Pleistocene-age populations were present on the continent, but the timing of their arrival. Key to the debate is the age of tools—bone rods, large prismatic stone blades, and bifacially chipped and fluted stone weapon tips—often found associated with the remains of late Pleistocene fauna. For decades, it was assumed that this techno-complex—termed “Clovis”—was left by the first humans in North America, who, by 11,000–12,000 years ago, made their way eastward across the Bering Land Bridge, or Beringia, and then turned south through a corridor that ran between the Cordilleran and Laurentide ice sheets, which blanketed the northern half of the continent. That scenario has been challenged by more-recent archaeological and archaeogenetic data that suggest populations entered North America as much as 15,300–14,300 years ago and moved south along the Pacific Coast and/or through the ice-free corridor, which apparently was open several thousand years earlier than initially thought. Evidence indicates that Clovis might date as early as 13,400 years ago, which means that it was not the first technology in North America. Given the lack of fluted projectile points in the Old World, it appears certain that the Clovis techno-complex, or at least major components of it, emerged in the New World.

scholarly journals A biogeographic perspective on the evolution of fire syndromes in pine trees ( Pinus : Pinaceae)

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 172412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin J. Badik ◽  
Joshua P. Jahner ◽  
Joseph S. Wilson
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
New World ◽  
Historical Biogeography ◽  
Ancestral State ◽  
Land Bridge ◽  
Mountain Ranges ◽  
Bering Land Bridge ◽  
Pine Trees ◽  
Dispersal Events ◽  
The Relationship

Our goals were to explore the relationship between biogeography and the evolution of fire-adaptive syndromes in the genus Pinus . We used a previously published time-calibrated phylogeny and conducted ancestral trait reconstruction to estimate the likely timing of diversification in Pinus , and to determine when fire-adaptive syndromes evolved in the lineage. To explore trait conservation among fire syndromes and to investigate historical biogeography, we constructed ancestral state reconstructions using the program RASP and estimated the degree of conservatism for fire-adapted traits in the program BaTS. Our reconstructions suggest that the Bering land bridge, which connected North America and Asia, probably played a major role in early pine evolution. Our estimates indicated that fire-adaptive syndromes seem to have evolved more frequently in New World taxa and probably are related to the uplift of major North American mountain ranges. Our data suggest that certain geographically widespread adaptations to fire evolved repeatedly, possibly due to localized changes in climate and environment, rather than resulting from large dispersal events of pre-adapted individuals.

THE IDENTIFICATION AND ORIGIN OF THE STRAINS OF THE LARCH SAWFLY, PRISTIPHORA ERICHSONII (HYMENOPTERA: TENTHREDINIDAE), IN NORTH AMERICA

1974 ◽  
Vol 106 (11) ◽  
pp. 1121-1131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Horne R. Wong
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
North American ◽  
Land Bridge ◽  
Bering Land Bridge ◽  
Pristiphora Erichsonii ◽  
Larch Sawfly

AbstractThis study identifies and presents a key to five strains of the larch sawfly, Pristiphora erichsonii (Hartig), which are designated Aweme, Fernie, Ambleside, Thirlmire, and Salzburg.Aweme and Fernie strains occur only in North America and Salzburg strain is confined to Eurasia. Two Eurasian strains, Ambleside and Thirlmire, were accidentally introduced into Canada from England by 1913 among cocoons shipped for the release of the parasite Mesoleius tenthredinis Morley. It is postulated that the ancestors of Aweme-Salzburg strains Fernie–Thirlmire strains dispersed across the Bering Land Bridge into North America some time in the Miocene. These phyletic lines evolved into distinct Eurasian and North American strains. Early infestations in North America apparently consisted of North American strains, while later outbreaks have consisted primarily of the recently introduced Eurasian strains.

Late Pleistocene fish fossils of Coregonus, Stenodus, Thymallus, Catostomus, Lota, and Cottus from the Old Crow basin, northern Yukon, Canada

1981 ◽  
Vol 18 (11) ◽  
pp. 1740-1754 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen L. Cumbaa ◽  
Don E. McAllister ◽  
Richard E. Morlan
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Geographic Variation ◽  
Glacial Refugia ◽  
Yukon Territory ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Arctic Grayling ◽  
Thymallus Arcticus ◽  
Freshwater Sculpin ◽  
Longnose Sucker ◽  
First Time

Fossils of the broad whitefish, Coregonus nasus; the inconnu, Stenodus leucichthys; the longnose sucker, Catostomus catostomus; and the burbot, Lota lota, are reported for the first time from North America and a freshwater sculpin, Cottus, for the first time from Yukon Territory. The known fossil occurrence of the Arctic grayling, Thymallus arcticus, in North America is extended from 32 000 to about 60 000 years BP. These six fossils represent about one sixth of the present-day Yukon freshwater ichthyofauna of 35 species.These fossils provide a major test for the method of determining glacial refugia based on geographic variation of morphological or protein characters. They confirm that these taxa were present prior to and presumably survived the Wisconsinan glaciation in a Beringian refugium.The occurrence of these fossils, all subarctic or subarctic–boreal species known at present in the same area, does not suggest a paleoenvironment greatly different from the present one.

scholarly journals Impact of Reduced Arctic Sea Ice on Northern Hemisphere Climate and Weather in Autumn and Winter

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-61
Author(s):  
Svenya Chripko ◽  
Rym Msadek ◽  
Emilia Sanchez-Gomez ◽  
Laurent Terray ◽  
Laurent Bessières ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Sea Ice ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Northern Hemisphere ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Polar Vortex ◽  
Arctic Sea Ice ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Arctic Sea ◽  
Autumn And Winter

AbstractThe Northern Hemisphere transient atmospheric response to Arctic sea decline is investigated in autumn and winter, using sensitivity experiments performed with the CNRMCM6-1 high-top climate model. Arctic sea ice albedo is reduced to the ocean value, yielding ice-free conditions during summer and a more moderate sea ice reduction during the following months. A strong ampli_cation of temperatures over the Arctic is induced by sea ice loss, with values reaching up to 25°C near the surface in autumn. Signi_cant surface temperature anomalies are also found over the mid-latitudes, with a warming reaching 1°C over North America and Europe, and a cooling reaching 1°C over central Asia. Using a dynamical adjustment method based on a regional reconstruction of circulation analogs, we show that the warming over North America and Europe can be explained both by changes in the atmospheric circulation and by the advection of warmer oceanic air by the climatological ow. In contrast, we demonstrate that the sea-ice induced cooling over central Asia is solely due to dynamical changes, involving an intensi_cation of the Siberian High and a cyclonic anomaly over the Sea of Okhotsk. In the troposphere, the abrupt Arctic sea ice decline favours a narrowing of the subtropical jet stream and a slight weakening of the lower part of the polar vortex that is explained by a weak enhancement of upward wave activity toward the stratosphere. We further show that reduced Arctic sea ice in our experiments is mainly associated with less severe cold extremes in the mid-latitudes.

Evolutionary history of New World ticks of the genus Dermacentor (Ixodida: Ixodidae), and the origin of D. variabilis

2019 ◽  
Vol 127 (4) ◽  
pp. 863-875 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula Lado ◽  
Hans Klompen
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
New World ◽  
Dermacentor Variabilis ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Western North America ◽  
Land Bridge ◽  
Phylogenetic Reconstructions ◽  
History Of ◽  
Migration Event

Abstract This study integrates biogeographical and phylogenetic data to determine the evolutionary history of the New World Dermacentor, and the origin of D. variabilis. The phylogenetic reconstructions presented here strongly support the hypothesis of an Afrotropical origin for Dermacentor, with later dispersal to Eurasia and the Nearctic. Phylogenetic and biogeographical data suggest that the genus reached the New World through the Beringia land bridge, from south-east Asia. The monophyly of the genus is supported, and most of the New World Dermacentor species appear as monophyletic. Dermacentor occidentals constitutes the sister lineage of D. variabilis, and the latter is subdivided into two well-supported clades: an eastern and a western clade. The western clade is genetically more variable than the eastern. The genus Dermacentor probably originated in Africa, and dispersed to the Palearctic and then to the New World through the Beringian route. Dermacentor variabilis appears to have originated in western North America, and then dispersed to eastern North America, probably in a single migration event.

Phaeogalera and Galerina in arctic-subarctic Alaska (U.S.A.) and the Yukon Territory (Canada)

1992 ◽  
Vol 70 (2) ◽  
pp. 414-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Horak ◽  
O. K. Miller Jr.
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Key Words ◽  
Arctic Tundra ◽  
Yukon Territory ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
North Slope ◽  
Wet Meadow ◽  
Alpine Habitats ◽  
Alaskan North Slope ◽  
First Time

Eleven taxa of Galerina and Phaeogalera are described. Galerina leptocystis, Galerina subarctica, and Galerina praticola are reported from arctic North America for the first time. Phaeogalra stagnina is only found in very humid, wet meadow tundra associated with Drepanocladus or Calliergon. Galerina arctica is reported for the first time from Alaska and Canada. One species, Galerina pseudocerina, is found only in arctic alpine habitats in Canada and not in the arctic tundra. Two forms of Galerina pseudomycenopsis represent the most common taxon observed in Alaskan North Slope wet meadow tundra on peat or associated with Calliergon, Drepanocladus, and Sphagnum. Two species, Galerina clavata and Galerina hypnorum, are common cosmopolitan taxa, but only G. clavata is frequently encountered on the Alaskan North Slope. The association of the Galerina taxa with mosses is presented and discussed, as well as their occurrence in microhabitats in wet meadow tundra and among polygons in coastal tundra on the Alaskan North Slope. Key words: Galerina, Phaeogalera, Cortinariaceae, Alaska, Yukon Territory, bryophytes.

Anastrophyllum assimile and Marsupella revoluta, new to the interior of North America

1977 ◽  
Vol 55 (19) ◽  
pp. 2479-2484 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana G. Horton
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
North America ◽  
Northwest Territories ◽  
North American ◽  
Yukon Territory ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Devon Island ◽  
New Localities ◽  
Central Eastern ◽  
Coastal British Columbia

Anastrophyllum assimile (Mitt.) Steph. and Marsupella revoluta (Nees) Lindb. are reported from the Keele Peak area, central-eastern Yukon Territory, Canada, and M. revoluta is also reported from Devon Island, Northwest Territories, Canada. These new localities extend a pattern of disjunct occurrences throughout the known range of both species, which further support the hypothesis of their relictual status. However, collections of A. assimile from coastal British Columbia and the Alexander Archipelago, Alaska, are indicative of strong oceanic affinities of North American populations of this species. Also, the arctic and alpine localities at which either A. assimile or M. revoluta might be expected to occur in the interior of Alaska and the Yukon are limited in number as both species invariably occur in association with siliceous substrates.

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