West Naknek Archaeological Survey

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A. Project Goals ¿ The goal of this project is to work towards completing a cultural resources inventory of Katmai National Park and Preserve and improving the understanding the record of the past human presence in Katmai. Information about the distribution of cultural sites will enable more effective management of specific areas of Katmai. B. Project Objectives ¿ Katmai includes approximately 4.25 million acres much of it never surveyed for historic properties. This project funds baseline NHPA Section 110 archeological inventory focusing on American Creek, Brooks Lake, Headwaters Creek, and the west end of Naknek Lake--including the park border on Pike Ridge. Previous archeological work focused mainly on Brooks River and the Katmai Coast of Shelikof Strait, but large areas of interior Katmai lands remain un-inventoried. Naknek Lake has received little systematic survey. Neither Brooks Lake nor its tributary Headwaters Creek have been surveyed despite their close proximity to the Brooks River Archeological District NHL. Heavy visitor-use on American Creek has left eroded campsites that may be affecting resources associated with past use of this river. Addressing these gaps will be critical as Katmai amends management along Pike Ridge. New baseline data will improve understanding of pre-contact subsistence and settlement patterns in upland drainages. Relatedly, this survey work will improve the park¿s chronological tephra sequence, a relative dating technique that helps researchers identify and assign Katmai¿s archeological components to specific cultural and temporal units.

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