Late-Quaternary Geomorphic Processes: Effects on the Ancient Aleuts of Umnak Island in the Aleutians

Abstract

Glaciation, volcanic activity, marine processes and wind action affected in various ways the lives of the ancient Aleuts of Umnak Island, who first settled at Anangula about 8,400 BP following deglaciation some 3,000 years earlier. Expanding alpine glaciers reached the sea in places about 3,000 BP without the nearby peoples being much affected. A catastrophic eruption of Okmok Volcano about 8,250 BP is suggested as the cause of the abandonment of the oldest known site of Anangula, and subsequent migration westward into the central Aleutians. Cutting of strandflats between 8,250 and 3,000 BP led to the development of a very large, accessible, year-round food resource, and an apparent proliferation of settlements. In marked contrast to other parts of Beringia, Umnak Island became the site most favorable for human settlement.