Longtime Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge Supervisory Biologist Bill Pyle presented his “top 10” list of research projects on Kodiak brown bears at a reception Wednesday.
Museum Begins Study of Alutiiq Rock Art Sites
Molly Odell maps pit-style petroglyphs near Cape Hepburn, Kodiak Island. Image-Alutiiq Museum
With a $42,000 grant from the US Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Sun’aq Tribe of Kodiak and the Alutiiq Museum are collaborating on a study of ancestral Alutiiq rock art. The project, which started in January, is helping museum archaeologists study areas with known or suspected petroglyphs. Petroglyphs, or rock carvings, are a traditional form of artwork created by Alutiiq ancestors as much as 1000 years ago. They are known from about fifteen areas in the Kodiak Archipelago.
“This project is a targeted effort to document little-known rock art sites,” said Alutiiq Museum Curator of Archaeology Patrick Saltonstall. “While the Cape Alitak petroglyphs are the largest and best known examples of Alutiiq rock art, there are a number of other places in the Kodiak region where people have reported carvings. We’ve been keeping a record of these