Episode 54 - An Arctic Expedition

Amber's too cold, Anna's too hot, and we've both lost our dang minds! In an effort to think about something other than the summer heat, this week we're offering you a sampler platter of some of the amazing archaeology from the Arctic regions up north! Learn how people got to the Arctic, what some of them did when they got there, and what's happening to Arctic sites now in light of global warming. Also hyenas. Refreshing!

To learn more about this week’s topic, check out:

Peopling of the Americas: Evidence for Multiple Models (Discover)

Late Pleistocene exploration and settlement of the Americas by modern humans (Science)

Beringia (National Parks Service)

These First Americans Vanished Without a Trace — But Hints of Them Linger (LiveScience)

The ancient people in the high-latitude Arctic had well-developed trade (EurekAlert)

Do Canadian Carvings Depict Vikings? Removing Mammal Fat May Tell (LiveScience)

How Did Prehistoric Hyenas Reach the Americas? Through the Arctic (Ha’aretz)

As the Arctic Erodes, Archaeologists Are Racing to Protect Ancient Treasures (Smithsonian)

The Unalaska Sea Ice Project (Boston University Zooarchaeology Laboratory)

What Clam Thermometers Tell Us About Past Climates (Sapiens)

Clamshells and Climate Change: What seal bones and clamshells teach us about past climate (The Brink)

Digging for butter clams in Dutch Harbor, Alaska (Youtube)

Photo credit: Ancient stone cache, Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, United States National Parks Service.