Archaeology

Spurred by plans to realign the Sterling Highway, archaeologists for the State of Alaska began surveying the proposed highway corridors for potential archaeological sites in the 1980's. The surveys located a number of sites along the Kenai River, and several sites in the Russian River confluence area were tested to determine size and age. Three sites at the confluence were selected, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) began investigation in 1979, 1988 and 1993. Although these probes led to detailed mapping of the area around the confluence, very little testing was conducted at that time.

The BIA’s investigations were based on an oral tradition containing an inventory of historic resources (Brelsford 1975). The sites included the presence of numerous large house depressions, cabin foundations and fire-cracked rock middens at the Russian River confluence, as well as a number of Dena’ina style houses at the Forest Service’s Russian River Campground.

Additional excavations began in 1992, when archaeologist Debra Corbett met with the Kenaitze Indian Tribe’s cultural leaders, who challenged the state to allow local youth the opportunity to become involved. In subsequent years, Native youth surveyed and located five new sites, and participated in the excavation at New Village—the last Dena’ina settlement on the Upper Kenai River.

Since then, attention has focused on a large, complex site in the heart of the archaeological district. Nine pits are at the center of the excavations, and using information from Dena’ina Elders, investigators identified the cluster as “potlatch houses,” with associated cache and tent pits and piles of fire cracked rock from steam bath houses.

To learn more about the history and archaeology of the Russian River Settlement, download the Dixon Bibliography here.