The new Science Advances study of Shég’ Xdaltth’í’, in interior Alaska, describes occupation layers dating to 13,800, 13,000 and 12,700 years ago. Among the finds are bird-bone needles, an anvil surrounded by broken bison bones and hammerstones, and an earth oven. Kelly Graf’s team interprets that grouping as evidence of intensive marrow extraction and likely grease rendering.
Distinctive diamond-shaped stone points resemble contemporaneous examples west of the former land bridge, suggesting a cultural connection across Beringia. The vivid part is the base camp itself: clothing repair, food processing and repeated use of a place. The paper explicitly says this is not Beringia’s oldest site; potential dwelling evidence should not become an unqualified “first house in the Americas.” University of Kansas, October 14 · Paper abstract