The Donnelly Ridge Site and the Definition of an Early Core and Blade Complex in Central Alaska

Abstract Excavations carried out at the site of Donnelly Ridge in central Alaska have led to the delineation of an early core and blade culture which includes the Campus site and two sites previously excavated on the Teklanika River to the west. Sites of the Denali complex are linked by distinctive microblade cores, core tablets and microblades derived from the latter, large blades, biconvex bifacial knives, certain end-scraper forms, a distinctive burin type, and other traits. The clearest affiliations of the Denali complex are with a series of late Upper Palaeolithic sites west of Lake Baikal, but relationships may be seen with sites in Hokkaido and Kamchatka as well. The bearers of this culture probably entered Alaska prior to the final submergence of the Bering land bridge.