The Emerging Archaeology of Glaciers and Ice Patches: Examples from Alaska's Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve

Melting and retreating glaciers and ice patches (aniuvat) have revealed frozen archaeological remains on several continents, including North America. Artifacts from these sites provide information about high-latitude and high-altitude human adaptations and unique insights into prehistoric material culture. A Geographic Information System (GIS) model, “Modeling Archaeological Potential of Ice and Snow,” or MAPIS, is being developed to focus aerial reconnaissance and pedestrian survey for archaeological and paleontological site discovery over vast areas containing glaciers and ice patches. Two field surveys in Alaska's Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve refined the MAPIS model and documented historic and prehistoric artifacts on the surface of recently melted glaciers and aniuvat. Because thawed and exposed organic artifacts decompose or are destroyed soon after exposure, there is an urgent need to locate and preserve them before they are lost forever.