College archaeologist to present new analysis from Little John site

WHITEHORSE—Yukon College archaeology and anthropology instructor Norm Easton will present the first talk in the 2018-19 Long Ago Yukon Speaker Series this Saturday to celebrate International Archaeology Day.

Easton’s presentation, The Little John Site - 14,000 Years of Human Occupation in Canada's Yukon Territory, will review the results to date on the analysis of 15 years of excavation undertaken in cooperation with the White River First Nation.

This includes a summary of the site chronology from the Late Pleistocene Allerod to the recent past, its lithic cultures, faunal assemblage, and materials analysis will be followed by placing the Little John record in a regional Beringian context and the initial human occupation of the Americas.

“The analysis of artifacts and data have provided much greater certainty on the dates the site was occupied,” said Easton. “I have been able to move from ‘pretty sure’, to ‘really sure’.”

The Little John site is the most extensively excavated site in Yukon. Located on the borderlands of Yukon and Alaska, Easton led activity there each summer from 2002 to 2016.

Easton teaches archaeology and anthropology courses in the Heritage and Culture certificate and Northern Studies diploma programs at Yukon College. His work with the Little John site particularly informs the classes ANTH 221 Subarctic Archaeology, ANTH 102 World Prehistory, and ANTH 103 Anthropological Archaeology.

The talk will take place Saturday, October 20, from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Beringia Centre. It will be followed by a celebration of International Archaeology Day with games, a cake and short, classic films by Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton.

For more information, please contact: