MA Theses in HRM: Jodie MacMillan 2019

An Archaeological Investigation of Subalpine and Alpine Use in the Southeast Yukon

Committee

Dr. David Burley, Professor, Senior Supervisor
Dr. Ruth Gotthardt, Archaeologist, Government of Yukon, Supervisor
Dr. Rudy Reimer, Associate Professor, External Examiner
Dr. Christina Giovas, Assistant Professor, Chair

Abstract

An archaeological land use model for subalpine and alpine environments for southeast Yukon was developed using available ethnographic, archaeological and environmental data. The model describes a pattern of dispersed predominantly short-term hunting camps or lookouts located primarily in the subalpine with limited use of alpine zones. These results were compared to the findings of a heritage resource management project conducted in Don Creek Valley and Howard’s Pass, Yukon. This data generally conformed well to the model with some unexpected exceptions regarding the density and increased number of sites (n=47) recorded in the subalpine and alpine. Factors for the unexpected site density could possibly be due to the concentration of economically important resources or the use of Howard’s Pass as a travel route. Overall the results of this thesis underscore the importance of upland areas to the groups that inhabited this region of the Yukon.