Helicopter Pilot Troy Cambier peers into a cave in the White Mountains. Photo by Barry Whitehill.

Archeologist Debbie Corbett inspects an old cabin on Jefferson Creek. Photo by Barry Whitehill.

Archeologist Jeff Rasic documents a new site on the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge. Photo by Barry Whitehill.

Archeologist Jeff Rasic displays an artifact found during the survey. Photo by Barry Whitehill.

“You know, I’ve never found many sites in high country,” exclaimed archeologist Jeff Rasic as his helicopter touched down on a high pass between two drainages.  Moments later Jeff’s keen eyes spied a dark green, chert projectile point.  The Yukon Flats Refuge had recorded another new archeological record.  It seemed virtually every stop produced similar results.  With its dense cover of boreal forest, the 10-millin acre Yukon Flats Refuge has long dissuaded archeologists from discovering ancient secrets of human activity.  But recent large fires that stripped the organic top layer combined with the mobility of a small helicopter made this archeological survey successful.  Many sites were just a scatter of microscopic rock flakes left after the finishing touches were applied to stone tools.  But even these tell an interesting story, especially those from the volcanic glass, obsidian.  Each source of obsidian has a unique chemical signature.  To date, Jeff has found only obsidian in northeastern Alaska that has originated from the Koyukuk River country in the central part of the state.  Jeff suspects another obsidian source may be somewhere to the east, perhaps in Canada, as he diligently collects samples of the obsidian flakes.  The quest continues.