Late Holocene Animal Use in Southern Kamchatka

Abstract

Abstract This study purposed to reveal animal use in southern Kamchatka by examining the largest archaeofaunal collections recovered by Tamara M. Dikova and Nikolai N. Dikov. Radiocarbon dates of charcoal and caribou antler demonstrated that materials for this study were dated during the past 1,600 years, including three cultural periods: Nalychevo Culture (the 15–19th centuries AD), Tar’ya Culture (the mid-first millennium AD), and the intermediate period between them (the early second millennium AD). The taxonomical distribution suggested the significance of true seals and caribou as hunting games. Various roles of sites around Cape Lopatka for seasonal hunting, trade, and manufacturing bone tools were inferred based on bone composition. Caribou antlers, drift whale carcasses, and long bird bones were important materials for making bone tools. The first example of wolf eel and Steller’s sea cow remains associated with archaeological sites on the Siberian side of the North Pacific were also reported.