Swan Point Archaeological Site

Swan Point Archeological Site
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Excavation takes place at Swan Point
Location	Address restricted
Nearest city	Big Delta, Alaska
Area	less than one acre
NRHP reference #	08000929
Added to NRHP	September 26, 2008

The Swan Point Archeological Site is located in eastern central Alaska, in the Tanana River watershed. It is one of a collection of sites in the area that have yielded the oldest evidence of human habitation in the state, and provide the only evidence to date of megafauna no longer found in Alaska, including extinct varieties of wapiti (elk), bison, and mammoth. Finds colocated with human artifacts at the site have given radiocarbon dates of 14,000 years, indicating the site was occupied around 12,000 BCE.

The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.

Swan Point has been occupied at least five times since ca 14,500 cal yr B.P. with evidence of charcoal that has been radiocarbon dated to approximately 14,000 B.P. The charcoal dating makes this the oldest known site in the Tanana River Valley. The five occupation times include:

This is the oldest cultural level from approximately 11,660 cal yr B.P. to 10,000 cal yr B.P. Artifacts found at this level include worked mammoth tusk fragments, microblades, microblade core preparation flakes, blades, dihedral burins, red ochre, pebble hammers, and quartz hammer tools and choppers. The microblades found at this zone are significant as they are the oldest securely dated microblades in eastern Beringia.

A variety of bifacial points were found at this level, which dates to approximately 10,230 ± 80 cal yr B.P, including lanceolate points with convex to straight bases, along with graver spurs, quartz pebble choppers and hammers. The mammoth artifacts found in the Latest Pleistocene zone date to approximately 14,000 cal yr B.P. With no other mammoth remains found beyond tusk ivory, it is assumed that the people who lived on the site scavenged the ivory rather than hunting the mammoth themselves.

Artifacts found at this level include lanceolate points with heavy edge grinding, sub-conical microblade cores, microblades and scrapers. The upper layer of this level also has notched points, lanceolates, flake burins, microblades, a microblade core and a graver spur on a flake.