Geophysical analysis at the Old Whaling site, Cape Krusenstern, Alaska, reveals the possible impact of permafrost loss on archaeological interpretation

Figures & data

Fig. 1  Location of Cape Krusenstern National Monument. The study area lies just north of the Arctic Circle, and within the continuous permafrost zone (permafrost boundary after Jorgenson et al. 2008).

Fig. 2  Cape Krusenstern beach ridges and site location.

Fig. 3  Looking north towards a house pit in Giddings’ winter settlement. (Photo by Christopher Wolff.)

Fig. 4  The site presented a flat surface free of obstructions, making the deployment of geophysical instruments very easy. Shown here, Thomas Urban with Noggin ground-penetrating radar system. (Photo by Christopher Wolff.)

Fig. 5  Amplitude-slice image of ground-penetrating radar results revealing complex dendritic patchwork related to a combination of hydrologic and cryogenic processes in the active layer (i.e., above the permafrost layer).

Fig. 6  Test excavation of the edge of sunken surface feature revealing fine sandy deposits (under north arrow) that naturally infilled a permafrost fissure.

Fig. 7  In this comparison of magnetic and ground-penetrating radar results, the ground-penetrating radar image (lower) has undergone a spherical averaging filter to reduce clutter and emphasize strong trends. This is a true three-dimensional rendering with the upper 50 cm removed to reveal underlying features. The magnetic image (upper) incorporates a grey-scale rendering of the upward continued pseudo-gradient with a colour-contour map. The contour map uses the full range of magnetic data to indicate the locations of metal (contour interval = 3 nT/m) and demonstrate that features of interest are represented in only a very narrow range of the data.

Fig. 8  Overlays of magnetic and ground-penetrating radar (GPR) results along entire survey area indicated a deeper trend from the underlying beach ridge.

Fig. 9  The magnetic survey of the summer settlement revealed strong signals from the known houses and from various ferrous debris. The additional house documented by Darwent & Darwent (2005) was not evident.

Fig. 10  Test excavation near winter house revealing probable midden deposits.

Jorgenson T, Yoshikawa K, Kanevskiy M, Shur Y, Romanovsky V, Marchenko S, Grosse G, Brown J, Jones B. Permafrost characteristics of Alaska. 2008; Fairbanks: Institute of Northern Engineering, University of Alaska. (December 2008 update to July NICOP map.).

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Darwent J, Darwent C.M. The occupational history of the Old Whaling site at Cape Krusenstern. Alaska Journal of Anthropology. 2005; 3: 135–153.

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