Oldest subarctic North American human remains found

A newly excavated archaeological site in Alaska contained the cremated remains of one of the earliest inhabitants of North America. The site may provide rare insights into the burial practices of Ice Age people and shed new light on their daily lives.

University of Alaska Fairbanks archaeologist Ben Potter and four colleagues published their discovery in the Feburary 25 edition of the journal Science.

The skeletal remains appear to be that of an approximately three-year-old child, found in an ancient fire pit within an equally ancient dwelling at the Upward Sun River site, near the Tanana River in central Alaska. Radiocarbon dating of wood at the site indicates the cremation took place roughly 11,500 years ago, when the Bering Land Bridge may still have connected Alaska and Asia. Initial observations of the teeth by UAF bio archaeologist Joel Irish provide confirmation that the child is biologically affiliated with Native Americans and Northeast Asians.

The apparent age of the remains from the site, researchers said, would certainly make them the oldest human remains found in northern North America as well as the secondyoungest Ice Age child on the continent.

The find is also notable because archaeologists and Alaska Natives are working hand-in-hand to ensure the excavation and subsequent examination of the remains will benefit science and heritage studies in a way that is respectful of traditional Athabascan culture.

Both the burial and the house itself are the earliest of their kind known in subarctic North America, according to the researchers. Discovery of burial sites of this age in North America is very rare; the buried remains of children are even more so.

The discovery of the remains was unexpected, Potter said. In fact, it was evidence of an older occupation at the site—about 13,200 years ago—that first attracted the researchers to the site. Only while investigating this earlier occupation did evidence of the burial come to light.

Photo courtesy of Ben Potter
Joshua Reuther, Ben Potter and Joel Irish excavate the burial pit at the Upward Sun River site in Alaska.