Bluefish Caves Revisited - Rolfe Mandel

Bluefish Caves Revisited: A Geoarchaeological and Paleoenvironmental Assessment of a Potential Pre-Clovis Site in the Yukon Territory of Northwestern Canada - Rolfe Mandel (University Distinguished Professor & Director, Odyssey Archaeological Research Program University of Kansas)

This presentation focuses on the results of investigations at Bluefish Caves, a cluster of four small rockshelters in the Yukon Territory. Dr. Mandel discusses recent investigations at this complex site.

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I was lucky enough to be part of the field crew in 1978, mostly excavating Cave 2.

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The deposits at the foot of Cave I has been disturbed by solifluction. The top soil layer would melt (while deeper soil remained frozen) and parts would roll a little bit downhill, like how sod is rolled. Over the centuries, this resulted in the top thin vegetated layer be underneath older soil. This made dating of bones and tools by dates of other bones difficult. Cave 2 had a soild layer of loess which hadnt undergone this rolling, at least at l