Cultural and archaeological context of Sugpiaq bead use in southern Alaska

Glass trade bead assemblages from two Sugpiaq village sites on the outer Kenai Peninsula coast of southcentral Alaska, (XBS-029) and (XBS-014), were examined using historical, ethnohistorical, and archaeological methodology to analyze a century of socioeconomic changes among the Sugpiaq from the Russian Early Contact era to the Early American Period, approximately 1790 AD --1890 AD. At the Early Contact Village site (XBS-029), stratigraphic and horizontal analysis suggest that beads were utilized during the winter season when ceremonial regalia may have been assembled for use during midwinter dances and hunting ceremonies. Analysis of archival Alaska Commercial Company records strongly indicates that the Denton site (XBS-014) was the small trading post Yalik, occupied from approximately 1871 through 1880. The presence of many beads, including older beads, at the Denton site suggests the continuing importance of beads as an expression of ceremonial and spiritual traditions in Sugpiaq culture in the late nineteenth century.