11,500-Year-Old Evidence of Salmon Fishing Found in Alaska

The Upward Sun River archaeological site, located in interior Alaska near the Tanana River, holds some of the earliest evidence of human remains in North America’s Arctic and Sub-Arctic areas. Excavated remains, human dwellings and tools date to the Pleistocene Epoch, which ended roughly 11,700 years ago.

Recently, Univ. of Alaska Fairbanks’ researchers uncovered 11,500-year-old salmon remains in a cooking hearth in an ancient residential structure, verifying the earliest known evidence of Paleoindians using salmon as a food source.

About 300 salmon bone fragments were found at the site, reports the New York Times

Using ancient DNA and stable isotope analysis, the researchers verified the remains as sea-run chum salmon, which migrated upriver some 1,400 km away from where the modern mouth of the Yukon River exists.



“We have cases where salmon become landlocked and have very different isotopic signatures than marine salmon. Combining genetic and isotopic analyses allow us” to “establish their life histories,” said Ben Potter, an anthropologist with the university. “Both are necessary to understand how humans used these resources.”

Paleoindians, most likely, arrived in North America by foot, according to the National Humanities Center. Between 13,000 and 14,000 years ago, these ancient people crossed a land bridge between Siberia and Alaska, located in a region called Beringia. Not long after human arrival, between 11,000 and 10,000 years ago, a large portion of animal species met extinction. Included in those species were mammoths, 300-pound giant beavers, 1,500-pound short face bears and saber-toothed cats, among others. Whether the extinctions were due to human hunting or the changing climate remains up for debate.

According to the Univ. of Alaska Fairbanks, the findings counter prevailing beliefs that Ice Age Paleoindians were primarily big-game hunters.

Speaking with Alaska Dispatch News, Potter said the find has implications regarding the technology, economy and settlement pattern of early Alaskans. Due to the salmons’ annual runs, they were a “predictable resource,” he said to media outlet, rather than larger game, such as caribou.      

“This suggests that salmon fishing may have played a role in early human colonization of North America,” Potter said.

According to Science Magazine, the researchers believe the abundance of salmon in the area allowed Paleoindians to create large permanent villages. As a resource, salmon continued to gain importance as larger game died out in interior Alaska.