Archaeologists in western Alaska are scrambling to recover centuries-old Yup’ik artefacts from an important coastal site after a storm supercharged erosion and scattered cultural objects along the shoreline.
The emergency excavation is being done at Nunalleq near the village of Quinhagak where archaeologists and volunteers are trying to retrieve objects before another major storm hits the site.
Storm remnants of Typhoon Halong hit western Alaska last October, causing widespread flooding that displaced more than 1,000 people in several remote communities.
In Quinhagak, strong winds and floodwaters destroyed buildings and infrastructure and tore sections of the coastline apart.
The scale of the damage became apparent the following day when local resident Jenny Matthew and her husband travelled along the beach on four-wheelers.
Among the debris, Matthew spotted a smooth wooden bowl believed to have been carved by local residents between 400 and 600 years ago.
It was one of thousands of cultural objects exposed or displaced from the nearby Nunalleq archaeological site.
The site is regarded as an important record of Yup’ik life before Western contact and provides Quinhagak residents with a direct connection to their ancestors.
Race against coastal erosion
Archaeological work at Nunalleq has been under way since 2009, after thawing permafrost exposed significant numbers of objects earlier in the century.
Discoveries have included hand-carved animals, wooden masks, sewing needles, grass rope and pieces of kayaks. The frozen ground helped preserve many objects made from organic materials that would otherwise have deteriorated.
The site covers an area roughly equivalent to two Olympic-sized swimming pools, while the latest emergency excavation is focused on a much smaller section containing the remains of sod houses dating back approximately 400 to 500 years.
However, archaeologists say the Bering Sea has steadily moved closer to the excavation.
Declining sea ice and thawing permafrost have made parts of western Alaska increasingly vulnerable to coastal erosion, with human-caused climate change contributing to both processes.
Last October’s storm further reduced the distance between the sea and Nunalleq. At some high tides, seawater can now reach the excavation pit.
Lead archaeologist Rick Knecht compared the effort to save the site with “working in front of bulldozers”.
During the October flooding, the excavation was submerged beneath several feet of water. When the water retreated, it carried valuable objects away with it.
Archaeologists fear another severe storm could cause further irreversible losses.
Preserving a community’s history
The recovered objects are conserved and studied at the Nunalleq Culture and Archaeology Center, where they are accessible to descendants in Quinhagak as well as members of the public.
Elizabeth Church, director of Quinhagak Heritage Inc., which oversees the centre and archaeological project, said the collection has profound significance for the community.
“We all as humans want to know who we are and where we come from, and having the Nunalleq there for us strengthens that,” she said.
Church said seeing ancestral objects scattered across the beach after the storm reinforced the community’s determination to protect them.
“They are interwoven into us as people, and we feel a great sense of responsibility to care for them well, and to take them into the future with us,” she said.
The discoveries also provide evidence of how earlier generations adapted to environmental change and developed new technologies.
“When you know that you come from a people that were so resilient and so capable and so talented and so smart — you get a boost,” Church said.
With Alaska’s autumn storm season approaching, archaeologists are under growing pressure to recover as much as possible.
The team hopes to return for another excavation next summer, although funding is still being raised to continue the work.
Header Image Credit : Mary Cait Dolan – KYUK
Sources : KPBS
