The Aleutian Mercury Dynamics project aimed to utilize archaeological and historical samples of sea lion, fur seal and Pacific cod bones to measure mercury concentrations and bulk and compound specific isotope values to show movement of mercury through ecosystems for the past 6,000 years in the Aleutian Islands region. The project was successful in all respects.

The archaeology and ethnohistory portion of the collaborative project provided access to the 2,600 archaeological bone samples used in the study. Acquiring the samples was a complex process that included stages focused on consultation with Unangax̂ and permitting from Unangax̂ organizations, four museums in Alaska, Washington D.C. and France, and federal agencies such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Once permitting was completed, millions of faunal remains, animal bones,  from midden areas in over 70 Unangax̂ ancestral villages were analyzed to find the 2,600 individual animals used in the mercury study. This required first locating the collections in repositories on three continents and then analyzing the archaeological excavation record from each site to be sure each bone sample was placed in the correct time period. Several of the far-flung collections were repatriated back to Alaska because of the project. Selecting bone samples from the archaeological collection required a rapid form of “minimum number of individual” analysis, as it was critical that each animal included in the study be included only one time, even if many bones from any given animal were present in the archaeological record.

One new archaeological excavation of two middens areas of ATU-216, an ancestral village on the north shore of Agattu Island, provided critical samples for the western Aleutians. The western Aleutians were particularly critical in the study, as sea lion studies in recent decades have shown high mercury concentrations in pups there. These high concentrations stimulated the Aleutian Mercury Dynamics research. It was critical to know if the high recent mercury concentrations resulted from anthropogenic industry or if changes in mercury concentrations occurred throughout time in the region.

Students and new career scholars contributed to the research significantly. Students from at least four institutions joined the project in many different ways. New scholars in the project traveled to the repositories to sort through ancestral middens. They joined fieldwork on Agattu Island. They sorted midden, labelled bags, and performed some of the key analyses. They were brave and steadfast as they confronted the millions of animal bones, foul storms in the western Aleutians, and charged the project with energy and interest.

The project resulted in outcomes directly tied to intellectual merit and broader impacts. First, the 2,600 samples for the mercury study, all placed to a time period and location, provide critical new data for the region. This is a remarkably high number of samples, and the larger collaborative project can definitively assess ecosystems and mercury concentrations over time with little uncertainty.

The archaeological portion of the project resulted in two publications, one focused on the culturally-mediated aspect of the biological animal remains in the study. The samples are from ancestral midden areas in villages. This means that they are not random natural samples, but instead represent 6,000 years of Unangax̂ resource selection and management. Interpretations of past environments using Indigenous ancestral materials must always consider the cultural context that created the archaeological record.

The outcomes of the project include a new publication about the Russian colonization era of the western Aleutian Islands. This period is known to history mainly through western texts. The excavation at ATU-216 provides a material record of Unangax̂ intersections with the new colonizers that highlights interaction and identity during a period of dynamic change in the late 1700s C.E.

The project also developed a set of educational panels accompanied by an artifact cast kit in collaboration with Unangax̂ representatives from Aleut (Corporation) and Foundation, Agdaagux Tribal Council of King Cove, Atux̂ Forever, Aleutian/Pribilof Islands Association, Pauloff Harbor Tribe, Nelson Lagoon Tribal Council, Native Village of Atka, Ounalashka Corporation, and Qawalangin Tribe. The educational panels present the Aleutian Mercury Dynamics cultural context, theory/methods, and results to answer questions of interest to Unangax̂ collaborators. The project worked with an graphic artifact to develop new images that depict the movement of mercury in ecosystems. Artifact casts included with the displays allow people to handle and interact with the tools ancestors would have used to acquire and process the animals used in the study. The panel kits were shared with villages and open access museums/visitor’s centers throughout the region. Finally, these panels will be the core of an exhibit at the Museum of the Aleutians in Summer 2026.

The project is complete, the samples are returned to repositories, and information from the past five years can be found on the general Aleutian Mercury Dynamics website: ine.uaf.edu/werc/aleutian-mercury

Last Modified: 03/30/2025
Modified by: Caroline L Funk