Award Abstract # 1521365
Collaborative Research: Fishing through antiquity in central Alaska: exploring the abundance and use of salmon through stable isotope, zooarchaeological, and ancient DNA analyses

NSF Org: OPP
Office of Polar Programs (OPP)
Recipient: IDAHO STATE UNIVERSITY
Initial Amendment Date: March 7, 2016
Latest Amendment Date: April 29, 2020
Award Number: 1521365
Award Instrument: Standard Grant
Program Manager: Erica Hill
OPP
 Office of Polar Programs (OPP)
GEO
 Directorate for Geosciences
Start Date: March 15, 2016
End Date: February 28, 2021 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount: $120,058.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date: $120,058.00
Funds Obligated to Date: FY 2016 = $120,058.00
History of Investigator:
  • Bruce Finney (Principal Investigator)
    finney@isu.edu
Recipient Sponsored Research Office: Idaho State University
921 S 8TH AVE
POCATELLO
ID  US  83201-5377
(208)282-2592
Sponsor Congressional District: 02
Primary Place of Performance: Idaho State University
650 Memorial Drive
Pocatello
ID  US  83209-0002
Primary Place of Performance
Congressional District:
02
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): JJC9GJJJL4M7
Parent UEI:
NSF Program(s): ASSP-Arctic Social Science
Primary Program Source: 0100XXXXDB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s): 1079, 5221, 9150
Program Element Code(s): 522100
Award Agency Code: 4900
Fund Agency Code: 4900
Assistance Listing Number(s): 47.078

ABSTRACT

The primary goals of the proposed research are to reconstruct changes in salmon abundance and explore human use of salmon in central Alaska from the earliest occupations during the last Ice Age (~13,000 years ago) through the late prehistoric period. Today, salmon make up the largest proportion of wild foods harvested by rural Alaskans, but the availability of this important subsistence resource is declining in many upriver areas. Research on prehistoric salmon abundance and use can provide data critical to understanding natural variation in salmon availability and how northern riverine peoples have responded to fluctuations in this important resource in the past. By providing a long-term perspective for sustainability and food security planning, project data will benefit a variety of salmon stakeholders within Alaska and beyond. The project has a strong educational component, including the development and delivery of a project-based course for the Rural Alaska Honors Institute (a college preparatory program for rural and Alaska Native college-bound students), thus enhancing opportunities for underrepresented groups.

This project will address three questions: (1) How has salmon abundance varied over time in central Alaska? (2) When did prehistoric foragers begin to use salmon, and when did they begin to intensively exploit this resource? (3) How did foragers respond to changes in salmon availability? To address these questions, a multidisciplinary team will use independent approaches: (a) stable isotope analysis of human and faunal remains will reveal the contribution of salmon to the diets of prehistoric salmon consumers (e.g., humans, dogs, bears); (b) zooarchaeological and ancient DNA analyses of fish remains from existing faunal assemblages will allow reconstruction of past fish procurement and processing strategies; and (c) stable isotope analysis of interior lake sediment cores will track natural fluctuations in salmon abundance. These data will be integrated with models of forager economy and mobility to explore cultural responses to salmon abundance through multiple prehistoric periods. This research will provide the necessary faunal isotope data to accurately reconstruct overall paleodiets of newly discovered multiple human individuals at the interior sites of Upward Sun River (~11,500 yrs old) and Tochak (~1000 yrs old), where faunal and initial isotopic data suggest significant salmon use. This project provides unprecedented time depth on natural variation in salmon abundance in the North Pacific and in understanding how northern peoples have responded to changes in this critical resource in the past. The study will produce much-needed direct data bearing on prehistoric subsistence strategies in the Alaskan interior throughout the period of human occupation.

PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH

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Gavin, D.G., Kusler, J.E., Finney, B.P. "Millennial-scale decline in coho salmon abundance since the middle Holocene in a coastal Oregon watershed, USA" Quaternary Research , v.89 , 2018 , p.432 doi:10.1017/qua.2017.106
Guiry, E., Royle, T.C.A., Matson, R.G., Ward, H., Weir, T., Waber, N., Brown, T.J., Hunt, B., Price, M.H.H., Finney, B.P., Kaeriyama, M., Qin, Y., Yang, D.Y., Szpak, "Differentiating salmonid migratory ecotypes through stable isotope analysis of collagen: Archaeological and ecological applications" PLoSONE , v.15 , 2020 , p.e0232180 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0232180.
Guiry, E., Royle, T.C.A., Matson, R.G., Ward, H., Weir, T., Waber, N., Brown, T.J., Hunt, B., Price, M.H.H., Finney, B.P., Kaeriyama, M., Qin, Y., Yang, D.Y., Szpak, P. "Differentiating salmonid migratory ecotypes through stable isotope analysis of collagen: Archaeological and ecological applications" PLoSONE , v.15 , 2020 10.1371/journal.pone.0232180
Halffman, C.M., Potter, B.A., McKinney, H.J., Finney, B.P, Rodrigues, A.T., Yang, D. and Kemp, B.M. "Early human use of anadromous salmon in North America at 11,500 y ago" Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , v.112 , 2015 , p.12344
Halffman, C.M., Potter, B.A., McKinney, H.J.,Tsutaya, T., Finney, B.P., Kemp, B.M., Bartelink, E.J., Wooller, M.J., Buckley, M., Clark, C.T., Johnson, J.J., Bingham, B.L., Lanoë, F.B.,Sattler, R.A., Reuther, J.D. "Ancient Beringian paleodiets revealed through multi-proxy stable isotope analyses" Science Advances , v.6 , 2020 10.1126/sciadv.abc1968
McCarthy, M.D., Rinella, D.J., and Finney, B.P. "Sockeye salmon population dynamics over the past 4000 years in Upper Russian Lake, south-central Alaska" Journal of Paleolimnology , v.60 , 2018 , p.67
Molly D. McCarthy, Daniel J. Rinella and Bruce P. Finney "Sockeye salmon population dynamics over the past 4000 years in Upper Russian Lake, south-central Alaska" Journal of Paleolimnology , v.60 , 2018 , p.67 doi.org/10.1007/s10933-018-0024-1
Royer, T.C and Finney, B. "An Oceanographic Perspective on Early Migrations to the Americas" Oceanography , v.33 , 2020 , p.32 10.5670/oceanog.2020.102
Royer, T.C and Finney, B. "An Oceanographic Perspective on Early Migrations to the Americas" Oceanography , v.33 , 2020 , p.32 https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2020.102.

PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT

Disclaimer

This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.

Summary of the project: Salmon fishing through antiquity in central Alaska

The primary goal of this research was to reconstruct changes in salmon abundance and explore human use of salmon in central Alaska from the earliest occupations in the terminal Pleistocene through the late Holocene, or about the last 14,000 years. The project addressed these questions: How has salmon abundance varied over time in central Alaska?, and When did prehistoric foragers begin to use salmon and intensively exploit this resource? To address these questions a multidisciplinary team including paleolimnologists and archeologists used independent approaches

To reconstruct changes in salmon abundance, sediment cores are taken from lakes where sockeye salmon return and spawn. Cores are obtained by standard methods and dated using radiocarbon and volcanic ash layers. Salmon abundance is determined from analysis of isotopes of nitrogen (delta15N) in sediments, as salmon import high levels of delta15N into lakes in proportion to their abundance when they return to spawn and die. Important salmon lakes studied here include Larson Lake in the Upper Susitna region, Upper Russian Lake on the Kenai Peninsula, and Telaquana Lake in SW interior Alaska.

Larson Lake contains the oldest and most complete record, extending to more than 14,500 years ago. It shows clear evidence for the presence of salmon shortly after formation via. deglaciation. Salmon populations generally increased after that time, with some variation. Major times of increase occurred around 11,500 to 10,000 years ago, followed by a decline, with a subsequent strong increase from 9,500 to 8,500 years ago. Since that time salmon populations have been at a relatively high level, though they increased to higher overall levels during the last 4,000 years.

Records from Upper Russian Lake and Telaquana Lake cover about the past ~ 5,000 years. They are of higher resolution, and show variability on decadal to century time scales. They are similar to the Larson Lake record, in showing a general increase in salmon abundance from the beginning of their records up to the time that commercial fishing began in Alaska, about 150 years ago.

The common features in these three lakes suggest that climate plays a role in controlling salmon abundance, likely by its effect on ocean productivity. In general, increases in salmon abundance can be related to periods of a stronger Aleutian Low atmospheric pressure system over the North Pacific, consistent with modern observations which show that salmon abundance in Alaska is positively correlated with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), which strengthens in concert with the Aleutian Low.

We examined the use of salmon by humans by establishing that Pacific Chum salmon were caught by humans at the Upward Sun Site in interior Alaska as early as 11,500 years ago using stable isotopes and ancient DNA in salmon bones. We established that the ancient Beringian paleodiets in summer consisted of about 30% salmon, through multi-proxy stable isotope analyses of human remains. This suggests that the early humans in interior Alaska had broad foraging ability, at least seasonally, and were able to subsist on diets not exclusively relying on large mammals.


Last Modified: 01/14/2022
Modified by: Bruce P Finney

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