The Northwest Microblade Tradition

The Northwest Microblade Tradition represents an complex of related tool types found in several places in Alaska, the Yukon and Northwest Territories. These complexes in and of themselves are not complete enough to assign definite cultural affiliations, but are morphologically similar, geographically contiguous and temporally limited. These features allow the inference of general cultural homogeneity in a regional context during the period of 6500 B.C. to around 3500 - 4000 B.C. in Alaska and the western Arctic and up to 1000 B.C. in the Northwest Territories. The general characteristics of the tradition are numerous microblades struck from cores, un-retouched burins, net sinkers, crude bi-facial knives, scrapers of all sizes and projectile points including several large lanceolate types. The earliest phases represent hunters of bison, elk, caribou, as well as small game and fish. Over time these tools become smaller and more finely crafted and begin to include harpoons, beaver tooth gouges and polished stone adzes. The Northwest Microblade Tradition was likely an interior forest development for the most part with maritime specialization occurring later in the sequence. The interior development may have provided an ancestral base to later Denetasiro traditions of Athapascan speaking Sub-arctic hunters.

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From: Willey, Gordon R. An Introduction to American Archaeology. Englewood Cliffs , New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc. 1966

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