Chaluka Site
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
Alaska Heritage Resources Survey
Seaside view of the site
Location	Address restricted[2],Umnak Island,Aleutian Islands,Alaska, United States
Nearest city	Nikolski, Alaska
NRHP reference No.	66000155[1]
AHRS No.	SAM-001
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	October 15, 1966
Designated NHL	December 29, 1962[3]

TheChaluka Site is a prehistoricarchaeological site andNational Historic Landmark inNikolski, Alaska, onUmnak Island in theAleutian Islands of southwesternAlaska. The site documents more than 4,000 years of more-or-less continuous occupation of the area now occupied by the modern village of Nikolski. The site includes a largemidden, yielding much information about the origins of theAleut people.

The major feature of the site is its large midden, a mound about 700 feet (210 m) long, 200 feet (61 m) wide, and 21 feet (6.4 m) deep. Excavations at the site have yielded more than 4,000 artifacts, including a wide variety of projectile points, made from ivory, bone, and stone. The site has also yielded one of the oldestradiocarbon dates in theAleutian Islands, documenting human activity there as early as 1,800 BCE. Human remains identified as Paleo-Aleut in age have been recovered from the site, as have stone lamps, stone knives of a type similar to those found atDorset culture sites, and carved ivory deity images.^[4]

The site was first identified as of archaeological interest in 1909, and its first major excavation took place in 1938 under the auspices of theSmithsonian Institution'sAleš Hrdlička. It has since been a regular subject of study. One of the most important excavations took place in 1962 under the leadership ofWilliam S. Laughlin, in which two wide trenches were dug, and the stratigraphy of the midden carefully documented.^[5]

The Chaluka site is unique because it supported a continuous population for nearly 3.500 years and reveals a very precise food sourcing system that sustains the fostering offaunal life. Mathematical figures were used to manage natural stocks.^[6]

The site was declared aNational Historic Landmark in 1962,^[3] and listed on theNational Register of Historic Places in 1966.^[1]

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Aleutians West Census Area, Alaska
• List of National Historic Landmarks in Alaska

• William C. Sturtevant (1978).Handbook of North American Indians: Arctic. Government Printing Office. pp. 848.ISBN 9780160045806.
• Lippold, Lois K. (1966). "Chaluka: The Economic Base".Arctic Anthropology.3 (2):125–131.JSTOR 40315626.

• Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Alaska
• Geography of Aleutians West Census Area, Alaska
• National Historic Landmarks in Alaska
• Native American history of Alaska
• National Register of Historic Places in Aleutians West Census Area, Alaska

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