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In the popular imagination, archaeology may conjure images of fantastic treasures, but most artifacts uncovered by archaeologists are more mundane. Oftentimes, it is not the artifacts themselves that are important, but the context in which they were found. This is the case with a series of artifacts uncovered this year during the UAA archaeological field school at the Carpenter Site 鈥� three tin cans. 

The field school, which ran from May 19 to June 21, was led by Gerad Smith, Ph.D., assistant professor of anthropology and principal investigator at the site. A dozen students and volunteers joined Smith on the excavation, which took place on a bluff near the mouth of the Shaw Creek, about a half-hour drive from Delta Junction. The Carpenter Site is also known as 鈥淣aayii'臋臋'鈥� 鈥� a traditional place name for the area in the Middle Tanana Dene language, meaning 鈥渋t is visible across.鈥�  

During the field school, the students excavated through 13,000 years' worth of wind-blown sediment that had built up above the bedrock at the site. While the excavation uncovered tools made of obsidian and chert left behind hundreds or thousands of years ago by ancestral Dene people, even recent artifacts 鈥� like the tin cans 鈥�  can provide important clues to understanding the site.

Uncovering a forgotten history at the site

Lauren Waitman, an undergraduate junior in anthropology, was one of the students who discovered the cans. 鈥淭his one was actually found under our feet at the lunch table we eat at every single day,鈥� Waitman said. 鈥淭he other we found in our [excavation] quad and one also in the quad next to us.鈥� 

Enough of the can is preserved to potentially identify when it was manufactured. 鈥淭his is pre-World War II, probably dated to 1905,鈥� Waitman explained. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to take a closer look at this in the lab this fall [...] We鈥檙e going to see if we have any numbers written on it.鈥� 

Smith believes the can may be connected to a roadhouse that operated in the area from 1908 to 1918. The roadhouse was operated by a Polish immigrant named Anthony Kozloski. 鈥淯p on the bluff where we鈥檙e excavating, [Kozloski] had a potato field, so he obviously went up there quite a lot,鈥� said Smith. 

In his 2022 book, The Gift of the Middle Tanana, Smith explained that Kozloski tragically suffered a head injury from being kicked by a horse, which resulted in 鈥渆xtreme behavioral changes that included severe paranoia.鈥� Kozloski鈥檚 ensuing erratic behavior led to travelers on the Richardson Trail avoiding his roadhouse and the 夜色视频app Native families at Shaw Creek abandoning the area. 

鈥淭his is perhaps one of [Kozloski鈥檚] canned lunches he had up there,鈥� Smith said of one of the cans found by his students.

Historic artifacts and ancient artifacts require different approaches

While the tin cans provide a direct connection to the recent history of the area, the excavators were interested in understanding the deep history of the site and the ancient artifacts left behind from ancestral Dene people over thousands of years. 

Damian Bartlett, an undergraduate senior in anthropology, was a volunteer at the Carpenter Site during the excavation. Bartlett, who said he was drawn to archaeology because it 鈥渆ncapsulates that romantic cowboy lifestyle a little bit,鈥� previously completed a in Fairbanks through UAF. 

The Chena Townsite was a gold rush-era settlement, and many of the artifacts Bartlett encountered at the site were historic artifacts made of metal (鈥渉istorics鈥�), unlike the many artifacts of obsidian and chert (鈥渓ithics鈥�) at the Carpenter Site. 

鈥淲e dealt with a lot of historics [at Chena], which is a very different environment,鈥� said Bartlett. 鈥淸With lithics] we鈥檙e surveying with a lot more intricacy and we鈥檙e thinking a lot more carefully than we tend to with historics, just because historics are a fair bit closer to the surface and easier to interpret.鈥�

The ancient artifacts found at the Carpenter Site are not limited to lithics, but include other signs of human activity on the bluff over thousands of years. 

鈥淲e find a huge amount of burnt bone, and a huge amount of charcoal,鈥� Bartlett explained. 鈥淵ou can feel that people have been sitting here making tools and talking to each other around fires for thousands of years.鈥�

Finding direct connections to the past

While the historic and ancient artifacts at the Carpenter Site are separated by a vast gulf of time, understanding their relationship to each other is important for understanding the site. 

The tin cans are a physical reminder that Kozloski farmed potatoes up on the bluff where the Carpenter Site is located, and it鈥檚 apparent that in farming at the site, Kozloski unknowingly disturbed some of the buried artifacts, pulling them out of their original context.

One artifact that was found out of its proper context was an obsidian blade that turned up in the topsoil (or 鈥渉umic layer鈥�) at the site. The blade showed signs of wear, indicating it had been used before being discarded.

鈥淥bsidian is really cool. It鈥檚 a volcanic glass. When it solidifies, it has a uniform chemical structure throughout the entire flow,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淪o we can zap it with an [X-ray fluorescence analyzer] and get a real quick chemical elemental read on it.鈥�

Like the tin cans from Kozloski鈥檚 roadhouse, obsidian artifacts can surprisingly tell a larger story. Although the obsidian blade was found in a disturbed context 鈥� meaning it will be difficult to tell exactly how old it is 鈥� the chemical composition of the material can help pinpoint where it originally came from. 

鈥淲e can source it to its original spot where it was picked up off the landscape and see how far it traveled,鈥� Smith explained. 鈥淭he obsidian at this site is pretty much coming from either Wiki Peak, which is near the Canadian border, or Batza Tena, which is on the Koyukon River. My guess is this is from Batza Tena, but we haven鈥檛 [analyzed] it yet.鈥�

For Smith and the students and volunteers on the site, every artifact, historic or ancient, provided a tangible connection to the past. 

鈥淲e see potential cut marks on bones and things like what might be condensed milk cans [from] Kozloski鈥檚 Roadhouse nearby. These stories tie into the site,鈥� said Waitman. 鈥淚n archaeology, we鈥檙e trying to find the story behind the artifacts, although it might be guesses a lot of the time.鈥� 

鈥淚t feels very personable, it feels very intimate,鈥� Bartlett added. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e inextricably tying yourself into the story of this artifact, into a piece of stone that hasn鈥檛 been touched for five thousand, six thousand, seven thousand years. It鈥檚 incredible in that way.鈥�