Identifying past hunter-gatherer settlement patterns in the southern Yukon, a geographical information systems approach

Abstract

The goal of this thesis is the identification of hunter-gatherer settlement patterns in Kluane National Park Reserve, southwest Yukon. Geographic information systems are used as a tool to conduct this research. This thesis incorporates three types of data: environmental, archaeological and ethnographic. Objectives of this thesis are to add to the current knowledge of human habitation in the study region, to critically evaluate and further contribute to the use of geographic information systems in archaeology, and to assist in the management and protection of cultural resources in Kluane National Park by building a regional model that can be used to predict the location of unknown sites. From the data available, hypotheses are formulated and tested. The outcome of this research is the construction of a regional model for hunter-gatherer land use in the Kluane region. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)