Islands of Four Mountains Artifact Analysis, Aleutian Islands, Alaska, 2013

This international and interdisciplinary project investigated connections among geological, ecological, and human systems in the Islands of the Four Mountains, Aleutian Islands. Extending 1800 km between the North American and Asian continents, the Aleutian Islands divide the northern Pacific Ocean from the Bering Sea. Given their unique subpolar location, their genesis on a volcanically- and seismically-active plate boundary, and their gradual colonization by humans during the past 9000 years, the Aleutian Islands are an excellent natural archaeological laboratory for tracking past: (1) human ecology, (2) subarctic human-environmental reciprocal relationships and, (3) geological influences, sometimes catastrophic, on human society. Host to some of the world's most active volcanoes, the Four Mountains provided a superlative opportunity to assess the development of prehistoric human risk management of, and adaptations to, environmental instability (climate change, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, sea level fluctuations) through deep time. Four Mountain prehistoric sites are highly significant in light of new geologic data indicating volcanic activity during human migration and societal development in the Aleutians. Extensive new radiocarbon, paleoenvironmental, and cultural data extracted from these sites yielded novel insights into North Pacific Rim regional interactions, Unangan coping mechanisms, changing subsistence, and adaptations during the prehistoric and European contact periods. The primary research goals in the Four Mountains region was understanding: (1) how human cultures and behavior have been shaped by Holocene climatic, biotic and geologic change; and (2) how human cultures have used and impacted biotic environments. Researchers tested and documented: a) relationships of and interactions among human groups who peopled the Aleutians, b) long-term change in Holocene environments and consequent change in terrestrial and marine animal populations and diversity, much of which constituted human resources; c) human responses to shifts in the distribution, diversity, and abundance of resources and, d) human coping mechanisms and resilience in the face of potentially catastrophic climatic and geological forces.

本国际跨学科项目旨在探究阿留申群岛（Aleutian Islands）中四山群岛（Islands of the Four Mountains）的地质、生态与人类系统之间的关联。阿留申群岛横亘于北美与亚洲大陆之间，绵延1800公里，将北太平洋与白令海分隔开来。凭借其独特的副极地地理位置、形成于火山与地震活跃的板块边界，以及过去9000年间人类逐步定居的历史，阿留申群岛成为追踪过往以下方面的绝佳天然考古实验室：（1）人类生态学；（2）亚北极地区人与环境的相互关系；（3）地质因素（有时具有灾难性）对人类社会的影响。四山群岛拥有世界上部分最活跃的火山，为评估史前人类在漫长地质时间尺度中对环境不稳定性（气候变化、火山喷发、地震、海啸、海平面波动）的风险管理与适应发展提供了绝佳机会。鉴于新的地质数据显示阿留申群岛人类迁徙与社会发展期间存在火山活动，四山群岛的史前遗址具有极高的重要性。从这些遗址中提取的大量新放射性碳（radiocarbon）、古环境（paleoenvironmental）及文化数据，为北太平洋沿岸区域互动、乌南甘人（Unangan）的应对机制、生计方式变迁，以及史前至欧洲接触时期的适应过程提供了全新洞见。四山群岛区域的主要研究目标是理解：（1）全新世气候、生物与地质变化如何塑造人类文化与行为；（2）人类文化如何利用并影响生物环境；研究人员测试并记录了：a）定居阿留申群岛的人类群体之间的关系与互动；b）全新世环境的长期变化及其导致的陆地与海洋动物种群和多样性变化（其中多数构成人类资源）；c）人类对资源分布、多样性及丰度变化的响应；d）人类面对潜在灾难性气候与地质力量时的应对机制与韧性。