Located on the shores of Moller Bay in the centre of the Alaska Peninsula, the Hot Springs Village Site was excavated by an archeological team under the direction of Hiroaki Okada and Atsuko Okada from 1972 to 1984. Their fieldwork resulted in various research findings.
In this report, some 1500 bone artifacts excavated from the Hot Springs Village Site were analyzed. By examining shell layers, the condition of house depressions, and the radiocarbon dates of various deposits, the following four occupational phases were established; Port Moller I (4200 B. P. - 3800 B. P.), Port Moller II -1(3500B. P. -2800B.P.), Port Moller II -2(2800B. P. -2000B. P.), and Port Moller III (1500B. P. -600B. P.)
Excavated bone artifacts were classified as follows; 8 types and 41 subtypes of hunting and fishing tools (such as arrowheads, fishhook barbs, appear and harpoon points), 13 types and 26 subtypes of working tools (such as flaking tools, shovels, drills, awls, and wedges), 12 types and 17 subtypes of connecting tools (such as sockets, hafts, fore shafts, and wedges), 7 types and 8 subtypes of ornaments and ceremonial objects, The intended use of each artifact and their change in form through time was also analyzed.
During Port Moller II -2, the use of large multi-pronged fishing spears and bone arrowheads with a projecting tang on the base was observed. Along with the climate change that brought mudflat in the bay, the bone artifacts during this period suggest the change in subsistence activities, such as introduced shallow sea fishing, salmon fishing, and hunting of caribou as well as other land mammals.
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