Bluefish Caves is an archaeological site inYukon, Canada, located 54 km (34 mi) southwest of theVuntut Gwichin community ofOld Crow.[1] It has been suggested that human occupation dates to 24,000 yearsBefore Present (BP) based onradiocarbon dating of animal remains,[2] but these dates are contested due to the uncertain stratigraphic context of the archaeological remains relative to the dated animal remains.[3][4] There are three small caves in the area.[5]
Bluefish Cave was initially known to the localFirst Nations[citation needed], but was popularized by a fishing expedition in 1976, and later by researchers.[clarification needed][citation needed] This site is made up of three small caves, ranging from 10 to 30 m3 (350 to 1,060 cu ft).[6] The first cave contains various animal bones that appear to have been dragged there by predators; findings of cut marks may point to a human presence.[7]
TheOld Crow Flats, another important area with early human presence, are located about 75 km northeast of the Bluefish Caves.[8]
The site was excavated by archaeologistJacques Cinq-Mars between 1977 and 1987, and the initial radiocarbon dating suggested an age of 24,000 before present (BP).[9] This was considered controversial as it was in contrast to theClovis-First theory, widely accepted by academics at the time, which considered the earliest settlement date of North America to be around 13,000 BP.[10] A review of the site in 2017 found it to be 24,000 years old,[11] lending support to the "Beringian standstill" hypothesis — that the ancestors of Native Americans spent considerable time isolated in a Beringian refuge during theLast Glacial Maximum before populating the Americas.[12] A later paper questioned the dating (based on claimeddisturbances) and the culturality of the faunal remains,[3] but support for the 2017 study was reiterated by the author of that report.[13]
^Burke, A., and J. Cinq-Mars, "Paleoethological Reconstruction and Taphonomy of Equus Lambei from the Bluefish Caves, Yukon Territory, Canada", Arctic, vol. 51, no. 2, pp. 105–15, 1998
^abKathryn E. Krasinski and John C. Blong. 2020. "Unresolved Questions about Site Formation, Provenience, and the Impact of Natural Processes on Bone at the Bluefish Caves, Yukon Territory,"Arctic Anthropology 57(1): 1 1-21. doi: 10.3368/aa.57.1.1
^LaurianeBourgeon. 2021. "Revisiting the Mammoth Bone Modifications from Bluefish Caves (YT, Canada),"Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 37, 102969.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2021.102969
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