Looking Beyond Dena’ina House Pits and Cache Pits: There is something else out there

Frequently, surface depressions at Dena'ina ancestral sites are interpreted as houses or cache pits. A review of ethnographic and historical literature suggests that surface depressions at Dena'ina ancestral sites are a result of several activities beyond habitation and caching. Pitfall traps, temporary shelters, cooking pits, menstrual huts, water wells, graves, and trees uprooted for beluga hunting are some features that can result in surface depressions. Possible feature locations, attributes, and identification methods are addressed in the presentation.