Walakkpa Site Alaska: Its Place in the Birnirk and Thule Cultures

An archeological survey directed by the author near Point Barrow, Alaska, during the summer of 1968 resulted in the discovery of Walakpa, a deeply stratified coastal Eskimo site. It contained over 20 occupation levels, showing the development of Eskimo culture from Birnirk to Thule, as well as earlier and later Eskimo occupation levels. On the basis of excavations at Walakpa during 1968 and 1969, previous estimates of Birnirk and Thule origins are reexamined and a new interpretation of the genesis of this Eskimo culture proposed. Specifically, on the basis of the Point Barrow excavations, this monograph (1) examines the development of the Birnirk and Thule Eskimo cultures and (2) provides definitions for the horizon markers for each of the Eskimo stages represented at Walakpa. As a result of this detailed study, the author concludes that (1) Birnirk developed out of Old Bering Sea; (2) Birnirk can be divided into three phases: Early, A.D. 500-700, Middle, A.D. 700-800, and Late, A.D. 800-900; (3) Thule Eskimo culture developed directly out of Birnirk; and (4) the development from Birnirk to Thule took place because of over-utilization of seals as the primary food resource and a change to a warmer climatic regime that further depleated the already weak seal resource, resulting in an increased use of whales for food and an expansion of hunting territories to the east.