Researchers say Unangax knowledge can help solve the mystery of Unalaska's ancient bear bones

[Judi Lynn]

By Sofia Stuart-Rasi, KUCB - Unalaska -October 6, 2023

Archaeologists found brown and polar bear bones – some over 5,000 years old – at two dig sites on Unalaska and Amaknak Islands in the Aleutians during the early 2000s. Since then, the bones have puzzled scientists. There are no bears on either island today and no historical records of bears ever living there.

Lilly Parker and Kaylee Tatum, researchers from the University of Oklahoma, spent two weeks in Unalaska this summer. They shared their research findings with the community and asked for any information about bears that was passed down through generations. Tatum said Unangax knowledge could help explain how the bones got there.

“Anything is helpful,” Tatum said. “Whether it’s a story that you heard around the campfire as a kid and you barely remember it … I still care. I still want to hear that.”

According to carbon dating, the polar bear bones are about 5,500 years old and the brown bear bones are about 3,000 to 5,500 years old.

More:
https://alaskapublic.org/2023/10/06/researchers-say-unangax-knowledge-can-help-solve-the-mystery-of-unalaskas-ancient-bear-bones/