The Hidden Homes of the Brooks River

Archeologists excavating the floor of the third house at the Cutbank site. NPS photo.

People have made their homes along the Brooks River for at least 4,500 years, and many Alaska Native people with ties to the Katmai area consider the prehistoric Brooks River residents their ancestors. The Cutbank site is one of the largest archeological sites in the Brooks River area. It includes the remains of dozens of houses that now appear as depressions in the ground surface and is steadily eroding as the river meanders. Although little is known about seasonality, the large houses at the site were probably occupied for much of the year, with residents making seasonal trips elsewhere to gather resources.

In 1999 and 2000, visitors found human remains eroding from the Cutbank site, and notified NPS archeologists. In compliance with NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (25 U.S.C. 3001-3013)) and NPS policy, NPS archeologists contacted culturally affiliated Alaska Native groups, among them the Council of Katmai Descendants. Katmai NP&P staff worked with University of Oregon archeologist Don Dumond and the Council to develop and carry out a plan for site excavation and disposition of the human remains.

During fieldwork, archeologists found what appeared to be two large houses along the river, one a few meters upstream of the burial area, and the other a few meters downstream from it. Archeologists hoped to follow stratigraphic layers to link the burial to one of the two houses, and to explore the construction of the houses. A thick layer of whitish volcanic ash from the 1912 Mt. Katmai/Novarupta eruption forms an unbroken layer over the site, and an ashfall dating to about A.D. 1350 lies beneath the features. Radiocarbon dates confirm that the houses in the immediate area of the burial were occupied between A.D. 1400 and A.D. 1650.

Incised pebbles from the Cutbank site with designs enhanced. NPS photo.

The site held surprises. The archeologists found a third, older, house between the two houses visible on the surface. The newly-discovered house had several ingenious deep cold-trap entry passages, confirming that dwellings at the site had multiple rooms. The same type of large house, which indicates that larger family groups were living together, developed during the same time period on Kodiak Island. Elsewhere at the site, archeologists found incised pebbles lightly etched with stylized human figures. The pebbles resemble those commonly found on Kodiak, suggesting a past connection between the people who occupied Brooks River and Kodiak. The burial appears to date to the same time as the most recent of the three houses, where clay-lined pits for storing fish and sherds of pottery were found.

Erosion at the Brooks River Cutbank site cannot be stopped, but through archeological investigations and partnering with local communities we can learn about prehistoric lifeways before the evidence vanishes.

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• Katmai National Park & Preserve

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