Stage Two involved a multidisciplinary team of scientists focused on intensive data collection from the site. Large-scale excavations began in 2010, funded through the National Science Foundation. While excavating Upward Sun River Site’s third component, the UAF anthropology team uncovered the remains of a child who had been cremated and buried at the site, the earliest human remains in the North American Arctic or Subarctic. Potter consulted with local and regional Native American groups for consensus on how to proceed, following modern ethical practices in archaeology.

The child is estimated to have been around 3 years old at the time of death. The Healy Lake Tribe, which had been working closely with the UAF researchers, named the child “Xaasaa Cheege Ts’eniin,” which means “Upward Sun River Mouth Child.” Xaasaa Cheege Ts’eniin was laid to rest in the central hearth of the dwelling shortly before its abandonment 11,500 years ago. In the hearth beneath the burial, the team found remains of small animals, such as ground squirrels, hare, and salmon. This shows that early inhabitants, previously thought to be primarily big game hunters, were more flexible, employing a widely inclusive hunting strategy.

In 2013, another discovery took the UAF team by surprise. Underneath the hearth and Xaasaa Cheege Ts’eniin’s resting place, two more sets of remains were found. Both individuals were infants, one prenatal and one about six weeks of age. Following agreement with Native American groups, analyses geared towards understanding ancient affiliation and diet are ongoing. Mitochondrial DNA results have indicated that the two infants had different mothers, and provide evidence of genetic diversity at the end of the last Ice Age in Beringia. Nuclear DNA analyses are ongoing.

The findings at Upward Sun River are significant in several ways. Prior to this work, most sites from this period had been short-term hunting camps, likely occupied mostly by men. However, the young age of the two infants and the fact that they were buried indicate a larger more diverse social group, including women and children, which are often under-recorded for many ancient periods. The data provided by Upward Sun River Site is therefore rare and important to help reconstruct a holistic picture of these ancient Alaskan’s culture.

Other insights into the culture of this site are provided by the grave goods buried with the two infants. There were several antler rods found with the children, as well as stone cutting tools and spear points. This seems to indicate that, while practicing an economy incorporating small game, fish, and birds, big game hunting was an important part of their lifeway.

“We have lots of information encoded in these burials,” Potter said. “What they consider important enough to include with the burials gives us a key insights into their belief systems, something very difficult to do otherwise.”

The salmon bones found on site also offer important information, significant beyond the local region. After genetic and geochemical analyses of the bones by Carrin Halffman (CLA Adjunct faculty), Potter, and colleagues, we know that the salmon were chum salmon and displayed anadromous behavior.