Ice Age Humans Fished for Salmon: New Evidence Reveals a Prehistoric Diet

The interior of Alaska was not glaciated during the last ice age, which was waning as humans migrated into North America, Finney said.

The 11,500-year-old fish bones were discovered by scientists from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

“Salmon fishing has deep roots, and we now know that salmon have been consumed by North American humans at least 11,500 years ago”, study lead author Carrin Halffman, an anthropologist at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, said in a press release. So one of the I guess, implications of this are quite surprising.

The earliest North American inhabitants were probably more diverse in their food selection than previously thought – think of them as salmon fishermen as well as game hunters – according to a new study published Monday in the “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences”.

The evidence that was the next oldest was found on the coast, not in the interior and was dated only 5,000 years ago. “Sea-run” salmon are those who swim almost 900 miles up stream every year from the Pacific Ocean to the fresh waters of the Yukon River. The Tanana River, which feeds into the Yukon, is nearby.

Salmon still run in the same region today, say researchers.

Researchers identified the bones as belonging to the chum salmon using DNA and stable isotope analysis.

The fish bones don’t only tell the tale of the chum salmon’s spawning history.

The foraging population moved toward resources that were abundant, especially if they were aware salmon was present. Potter said the salmon vertebrae and human remains are contemporaneous.

Knowing that the people were catching salmon at the time indicates to scientists this possibility of migration.

Salmon had predictable patterns, which were anticipated by Native Alaskans.

Images above and below also from Dr Ben Potter, as photographed at the Upward Sun River dig site. Native people, who once celebrated the return of salmon with elaborate ceremonies, still net and dry salmon much as they did thousands of years ago. This discovery is now crucial to the better understanding of how humans discovered and used these resources. Fish bones are also often under-represented in the archaeological record because of the fragility of their skeletal elements and small size.

Fish were just part of this group’s diet. “Sites had been dominated by bones of other animals”. The same site is the location of the oldest human remains ever found in the North American Arctic and subarctic.