13,800-year-old Alaskan points match Siberian tools; possible earliest North American shelter

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Key facts

• The tools come from the site of Shag Shag Thulti, located 55 km south of Fairbanks, Alaska, on a bluff overlooking the Tanana River.
• The name means 'they were there' in the local Alaska Native Athabaskan language.
• 66 radiocarbon dates establish three phases of late Pleistocene settlement at the site.
• The oldest phase yielded worked stone and bone artifacts, thousands of animal bones from many species and preserved activity areas, unparalleled for sites of this age in the region.
• Highlights are diamond-shaped stone points tapering to both ends, several with carefully ground edges near the bases suggesting hafting to a handle, unlike typical triangular or teardrop-shaped Alaskan early points.
• Similarly shaped tools from two sites in northeastern Siberia date to roughly the same period.
• Both the Alaskan and Siberian assemblages lack microliths, the smallest stone tools usually under 5 cm long.
• Stone from 25 obsidian artifacts was sourced from 370 km away, implying extensive travel or a wide trade network.
• An oval feature of charcoal-rich sediment in the earliest occupation layer contained a hearth, a shallow pit, numerous artifacts and a possible post hole, implying a south-facing partial shelter or lean-to, potentially the earliest evidence of a human shelter in North America.
• A nearby concentration of charcoal, animal bones and fire-affected stones may be an earth oven used to cook meat and obtain dietary fat.
• No human remains were recovered for DNA analysis, so the number of populations that crossed into Alaska remains unresolved.

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