The culture sequence at the Nunik site, Chernabura Island, Alaska

The Nunik site (XSI-040) is located on the north end of Chernabura Island, the southernmost of the Shumagin Island group, located south of the Alaska Peninsula in the north Pacific Ocean. The site consists of more than eighty depressions. Over two field seasons we excavated a portion of a rectangular house and one of its side chambers. Eleven radiocarbon dates on charcoal indicate that four components of occupation were present in 1.8 meters of deposit. In this dissertation I provide a detailed description and analysis of faunal and lithic debris from all four components.; The remains from Component 1 (110-40 BP) indicate that sea lions, harbor seals, sea otters, birds and fish were procured and butchered for consumption elsewhere. The stone tools and debitage support this interpretation as a special use campsite. The rectangular house in Component 2 (390-200 BP) was similar to houses elsewhere in the eastern Aleutians in the early contact period. A unique special use floor at the north end of the house provided a tantalizing glimpse of ceremonial customs. The faunal debris, stone tools and debitage contain a depauperate assemblage influenced by regular maintenance behavior on the part of the inhabitants and a planned abandonment process. Component 3 (1500-400 BP) is not well understood, containing overlapping fire-related features and a small lithic assemblage. Component 4 (3660-3250 BP), known only through a 2 m x 1 m testpit, indicated occupation of Chernabura on the earliest exposure of north shore bedrock. Analysis of pollen samples from within the house depression provided an understanding of plant use by the Aleuts in Component 2 and their ancestors in Component 4.; This research shows a strong sense of cultural continuity over the last 400 years with hints of potential continuity as far back as 3600 years. Lithic raw materials used at the Nunik site over the last 3600 years remained strikingly similar with the exception of obsidian and slate which did not appear until after A.D. 500 in Component 3. Plants used at the site also remained consistent over all four components.