Where Aviation Meets Archaeology
FAA engineers working in the Aleutian Islands uncover a historic archeological site, including the remains of an ancient Alaska Native.
By Jim Tise, FAA Communications
The two-week mission was all but complete. The FAA had finished remediating a contaminated site on Caton Island in the Aleutian Islands off the coast of Alaska. The last phase involved collecting samples from one more area that needed excavation. Aemon Wetmore, a senior-level environmental engineer in the FAA’s Environmental and Safety Engineering Center in the Western Service Area, had walked that section of the beach with Ned Gaines before and now they were taking one last look.
“Ned was looking at the site,” recalled Wetmore. “He found something that made him stop.”
“It was just a feeling I had,” said Gaines, a senior archeologist working with the FAA to ensure that historic archeological sites were handled with care. The work occurred in the vicinity of known prehistoric Aleut archaeological sites.
In 1942, at the request of the War Department, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) started installing radio communication and air navigation facilities on Pacific islands. By the end of 1945, the CAA had constructed facilities at 235 locations outside of the continental United States, including Caton Island. In December of 1980, Congress mandated that federal agencies remediate any contamination resulting from current or former activities to levels that protect human health and the environment. Under that law, the FAA is responsible for mitigating all of the CAA World War II-era sites throughout the Pacific.
The crew hired to remediate the area had earlier uncovered a treasure trove of artifacts. Gaines, who was on site throughout the project, monitored their work and documented and studied the artifacts. But something drew him to this stretch of beach.
“I just kept going back to this one area,” explained Gaines. “It was during evening time. I was just inspecting the site when I saw what looked like a little bit of a bone sticking out.”
He kneeled down and started to lightly brush away the sand. It was bone, but from what? A human? Whale or seal? Gaines carefully swept away more sand to discover it was part of a cranium. “I was pretty sure it was human,” he said. “Typically, when you start finding [artifacts], it’s not long until you start finding human remains,” he said. “It’s not an uncommon discovery.”
He kept brushing until he could see the molars inside the intact skull, tell-tale clues of the species. “At that point I identified it as human,” he said.
Gaines stopped excavating and stepped away. First, he had to notify local law enforcement — common procedure when skeletal remains are found during excavations — to rule out criminal activity. Unless he guessed incorrectly, they were ancient remains, which meant he and the FAA would have to initiate a series of notifications to state, federal, and tribal agencies, each with their own interests in — and jurisdiction over — the bones.
“Regulatory concerns are pretty extreme” when dealing with human remains, Gaines explained. The emphasis is to protect the sanctity and the historical nature of the site.
“The North American Graves Repatriation Act has a lot of rules on how to handle this sort of situation [when it happens on federal lands],” said Wetmore. “So when something is found like this, the first thing to do is to stop. Any activity within 30 meters is restricted. Nobody is allowed within this area,” he added.
Beyond the protocols circumscribed by law, there was a certain solemnity around the discovery. “I typically don’t get excited, solely for that fact that there’s always people on the other end of this story,” said Gaines about the discovery. “This is a person that died. Their family was sad and buried them. It’s always important to remember that.”
“It’s very sobering,” agreed Wetmore. “It’s kind of an introspective time when you find something like that. It makes a human connection to the site and what we’re trying to accomplish by cleaning it up … to preserve these areas.”
Further inspection of the site revealed the entire skeleton in the setting of a grave. The body was buried face down; nearby were a blade and honing tool, essential items left by family for the deceased as he continued his journey into the afterlife, noted Gaines.
The deceased was likely male and a hunter/gatherer/fisherman; Gaines estimates the remains were at least 1,000 years old, if not older. As mentioned earlier, their discovery did not surprise him considering it was just the latest in a series of noteworthy discoveries that constitute a major archeological site on Caton Island.
The site contains artifacts dating back anywhere from 50 years to millennia. Aleuts inhabited the islands 3,000 to 4,000 years ago. In the early 20th century, Norwegian cod fishermen made them their home. World War II brought American troops to the island. In the 1970s, ranchers came to Caton to raise cattle there.
Among the artifacts the crew found were beer bottles and C-rations, horseshoes and bridles, 19th century wine, perfume, and opium bottles, fishing hooks, shotguns, worked whale-bone cutting and scraping tools, ground slate knife fragments, and a flaked stone spear point of a style that is dated back 4,000 years. Each of the artifacts was excavated by Gaines, who had them analyzed in his office before repatriating them to the tribe.
“It’s an incredibly rich site,” said Gaines, “It’s definitely National Register-eligible. I’d say this is a significant find.”
That Wetmore and his team did not damage the archeological site or the grave was not by luck. “We knew that there were archeological sites in the vicinity of where we were proposing to do work,” said Wetmore. “We had an idea that there could be [important sites] prior to the site visits.”
Like all FAA-led projects in historically and culturally sensitive areas, the team arrived prepared for a potential archeological site.
“Through consultation with Alaska’s State Historical Preservation Officer, we knew of several registered sites within our project location,” said Wetmore.
“We have an exceptional working relationship with Alaska’s State Historical Preservation Officer,” said Brad Platt, manager of the FAA’s Environmental and Safety Engineering Center. “We consult with them from the get-go. We get their comments and incorporate all of their requirements into our work plan. We bring them on board really early as a member of the team,” he added.
Gaines briefed the team about known archeological locations on the island. “This archaeology represents the only traces and record of the prehistoric peoples in this region, who left no written record,” said Gaines. “The archaeology is irreplaceable. Once the archaeology is gone, it’s gone forever, along with the story of these early inhabitants,” he added.
Gaines instructed the team on how to respond with cultural sensitivity when a site is uncovered. “You’ve got to make this stuff visual,” he explained. He presented photos of the types of artifacts that might be uncovered, and he provided a history of Caton Island from prehistoric times to the present.
He also emphasized the criticality of diligence and attentiveness. “You have to hammer in the regulatory response,” he said, noting that there are state and tribal laws that must be followed, not just federal. “This isn’t a joke. If there’s a mistake, you can be held civilly or criminally responsible.”
He briefed the team on common indicators of prehistoric sites, such as earthen cache pits or depressions, fire-affected rock, or flaked stone tools. Historic site indicators include wood, brick or concrete pieces that might indicate a buried structural foundation, ceramics, and food and drink containers.
Archeologists had mapped out possible locations for archaeological sites using old maps. “We started consulting with state preservation offices, the Pauloff Harbor Tribe, who are descendants of the Aleuts who inhabited the island, and Fish and Wildlife Service nine to 10 months in advance,” explained Gaines. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers also had done site surveys for the cleanup.
Gaines lauded the FAA’s commitment to protecting what Native Alaskans consider sacred grounds. “There have been cases where archeology has been damaged” because proper preparation and consultations had not been made prior to a project, he said.
The FAA benefits, as well, by avoiding unnecessary delays because the groundwork hadn’t been properly layed. “Caton easily could have been a budget buster and a time buster,” but because the FAA prepared from the start, there were no issues, said Gaines.
After consultations with the Pauloff Harbor Tribe — the federally recognized tribe affiliated with the descendants of the Sanak Archipelago Aleuts that claimed the remains — the Aleut’s body was carefully reburied in a ceremony.
“When we did rebury him, I had a strong emotional response,” recalled Wetmore. “Everything was done very respectfully. [Gaines] performed a nice ceremony.” As he returned these remains to rest, Gaines apologized to the man for any disturbance they had caused.
“It’s been a tremendous learning experience,” said Wetmore. “We set up our camp in a location very near the house pits [where] ancient people had been living. Just being out there experiencing the weather and the conditions — we weren’t living like them, but we were experiencing a lot of the same conditions they were experiencing.”
On a clear day, said Wetmore, he and his team could journey to Caton’s cliffs and watch whales and seals swimming and imagine that these were some of the same sights that humans were seeing 3,000 years ago. “And then find some of the artifacts they were using gives you a lot closer feeling of how they lived. It’s pretty unique and a very cool experience,” he added.
“What’s really neat is when I’m out there with a crew and we’re sitting there talking about these things,” said Gaines. “A lot of those guys really got into it. It’s a glimpse into a time that is gone, really. To be there camping out in the same spot, then you become part of the story. It’s fantastic. It’s like a hand reaching out across the ages.”
