The Education Program
In
leading this program, Professor Rick Davis feels fortunate to have the opportunity
to focus on his archaeological fieldwork in Unalaska, an island located approximately
one-third down the Aleutian chain. This remote region of wind and storm was
once home to large populations of Unangan (Aleut) peoples, who lived in sizeable
settlements and subsisted off the rich marine mammal and fish resources which
to this day draw a huge fishing industry.
For the past several summers Professor Davis and Rick Knecht, Bryn Mawr Ph.D. ('95) and director of the Museum of the Aleutians, have excavated at a series of sites - Margaret Bay, Summer Bay, Amaknak Bridge, and Hog Island - and have established a chronology of occupation exceeding 8,000 years. Their interests focus on understanding the relation between climatic change upon the availability of marine resources and the consequent effects on the peoples who inhabited the region. An exciting aspect of their work is the tremendous support they have received from Unangan institutions and individuals, and the high level of interest and enthusiasm that exists for reconstructing Unangan history.