Anangula Archeological District

In Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, Anangula preserves evidence of one of the earliest known human settlements in the region, dating to about 6400 BCE. The site formed in a time of much lower sea levels, in an environment thought to lie along the southern edge of the hypothesized Bering land bridge, where rich coastal waters and abundant wildlife could support settlement. Its eventual abandonment may have been linked to volcanic ashfalls. Archaeological work, beginning in 1938 and advancing through the 1950s and late 1960s, uncovered eight partially subterranean single-family houses and more than 30,000 artifacts, making Anangula an important source for understanding early life in the Aleutians, Beringia, and the North Pacific.