Alaska's Tanana River archaeological site yields remains of Ice Age infants

© Ben Potter

Stone projectile points and associated decorated antler foreshafts from the burial pit at the Upward Sun River site. The remains of two Ice Age infants, buried more than 11,000 years ago at a site in Alaska, represent the youngest human remains ever found in northern North America, according to a new paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

An archaeology team has discovered the ancient burial site of a pair of infants near the Tanana River, a find that researchers say offers a new glimpse into life in Interior Alaska during the Ice Age.

The remains date back about 11,500 years and represent the youngest human remains ever found in northern North America. The site also gives insight into ancient burial practices, including grave offerings that included decorated stone weapons.

The discovery occurred in 2013 but is detailed for the first time by University of Alaska Fairbanks researcher Ben Potter in a new paper published in the . Potter's team led the dig at a site known as the Upward Sun River, located near the Tanana River southeast of Fairbanks.

Archaeologists have explored a large sand dune in the area for nearly a decade and previously found the partly cremated remains of a 3-year-old child at the site in 2010. That discovery established a new milestone as the oldest human remains ever found in Alaska.

© Ben Potter

Members of the archaeology field team watch as University of Alaska Fairbanks professors Ben Potter and Josh Reuther excavate the burial pit at the Upward Sun River site. The remains of two Ice Age infants, buried more than 11,000 years ago at a site in Alaska, represent the youngest human remains ever found in northern North America, according to a new paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The infants' burial site was unearthed about 15 inches below the cremated remains below a hearth in the same temporary dwelling, which was likely built from poles and animal hides. The well-preserved bones appear to belong to one child who died soon after birth and another who was stillborn.

All three children at the site appear to have died during the same summer. Potter said the care given to their burials - and the differing practices in each case - offers a rare window into an ancient culture that wasn't preserved through writing.

The infants were buried alongside stone spearheads and darts, which have shafts made of antler handles and decorated with geometric designs. Salmon bones are also prevalent at the site, showing how important the fish were to Ice Age diets in the Interior.

"Every bit of new information we're gathering from Upward Sun and other sites really show a sophisticated subsistence economy," Potter said. "People are really well-adapted to using all the resources that are present."

Joel Irish, a researcher from Liverpool John Moores University who also participated in the project, said the infants are clearly Native American. Little else about them has been established, including how they died.

Irish said the research team hopes to follow up with DNA tests to determine the gender of the infants and whether they were related.

Jerry Isaac, who served as Tanana Chiefs Conference president during the archaeological dig, gave his blessing to the project. Archaeologists worked with TCC and local tribes to establish rules for how to handle the remains.

Isaac acknowledged that disturbing ancient burial sites is controversial but said the knowledge gained from the Upward Sun remains could provide valuable links to Athabascan history.

Isaac said he's particularly interested in the subsistence practices of his ancestors and whether they may provide insight into some of the health problems that affect Alaska Natives today.

"The reason that personally I've supported it is one of curiosity and one of proof that our Native diets have connection to our health and well-being," he said.

Potter said much more work remains at the site, which sits on a dune roughly 20 meters wide and 600 meters long.

Unlike a lot of the history that has deteriorated in the acidic soil of boreal forests, the relatively deep sites at Upward Sun are well-preserved and abundant. Potter said there are six components to the site, which he said represents a "residential base camp." It includes at least 10 hearths and what appears to be a salmon processing site.

Viewed together, numerous sites in the Tanana River Basin could help provide insights into the technology and society of Alaska's indigenous people and how they adapted to thousands of years of climate change, Potter said.

"There really is no area in the New World comparable to this with this many well-dated, well-stratified sites," he said.