Abstract
DR. ALEš HRDLIČKA, accompanied by a number of volunteer students, left Washington on May 11 for a further season's work on Kodiak Island, Alaska. Several seasons have already been devoted by Smithsonian expeditions, of which Dr. Hrdlička has been in charge, to the examination of sites on this island. The results have shown that it was at one time thickly populated and was in all probability a stepping stone in the peopling of America by migrants from Asia. The earliest inhabitants, whose skeletal remains have been found at the bottom of the accumulated debris, represent the earliest remains of man which have been found in the far north. They are not, however, ancient in the geological sense. In type they approach the physical characters of the Indians of California and the west coast. The earliest immigrants introduced a high order of stone culture, and many of the objects found with them are unique. They were succeeded by the Aleut, who were the inhabitants at the time of the coming of the Russians. A remarkable feature in the culture of the older population is that it is not identical throughout. A marked change takes place in the course of their period of occupation. In the coming season, work will be confined to one large village, already partially explored. The site will be subjected to intensive study in the hope of obtaining a decisive answer to some, at least, of the problems which have been raised in the investigations of previous years.
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Archæological Exploration in Alaska. Nature 133, 865 (1934). https://doi.org/10.1038/133865a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/133865a0