This artifact, a sidescraper that may have been used to do fine skin work by the ancestors of the Koyukon people roughly 1,000 years ago, was found on the refuge in 2006 (Photo by A. Kokx, USFWS).

This mammoth tusk, which will eventually be used in an educational display, was found on the Kanuti Refuge in August, 2006 (Photo by S. Kropidlowski, USFWS).

Vegetation surveys on Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge this summer resulted in some unexpected findings.  The first occurred in July, when field crews were checking the accuracy of a satellite-derived fire severity map.  One of the tasks was to determine depth of the "duff layer", the layer of decomposing vegetation, before burning.  This involved digging through the duff down to mineral soil and then measuring the depth.  In one area of particularly deep, wet, peaty duff - where there was not a single rock exposed - Adam Kokx, an intern from the University of Alaska, reached in about a foot deep and pulled out a piece of rock that had obviously been worked by a human.  The site was revisited a month later by regional archaeologist Debbie Corbett, who identified the artifact as a sidescraper, probably used to do fine skin work by the ancestors of the Koyukon people roughly 1,000 years ago.

The second discovery was made in early August on the South Fork Koyukuk River when a field crew was floating downriver to access an inventory plot.  During a routine break at a gravel bar, Wildlife Biologist Lisa Saperstein noticed part of a mammoth tusk lying fully exposed on the gravel.  Mammoths went extinct about 10,000 years ago.  The tusk was later transported back to Fairbanks and will eventually be cleaned and used in an educational display.