1,000-Year-Old Secret Cache Uncovered in Alaska
Researchers at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska recently uncovered a 1,000-year-old cache pit used by the Dene people for food preservation. This important find, wich consists of evidence of how indigenous peoples stored fish, meat, and berries, reinforces the oral history of the Dena’ina and Ahtna regarding long-term habitation in the area. The cache pit, approximately 3.5 feet deep and lined with birch bark and grass to aid preservation, highlights the elegant understanding these native groups had of their environment and their cyclic lifestyle that enabled them to sustain themselves year-round. Archaeologist Margan Grover emphasized the importance of recognizing the longstanding presence and stewardship of the land by Indigenous peoples in a region frequently enough characterized by modern development. The pit further illustrates how these communities thrived in a challenging environment, surviving through periods of scarcity and adapting their practices over generations.
Long before there was a refrigerator in Alaska, its indigenous people knew how to preserve food using what nature provided.
Last June, a team led by an archaeologist at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson found a cache pit where the Dene people stored food to be consumed later, according to the Smithsonian.
Although evidence elsewhere in the state of humans hunting goes back further, the discovery north of Anchorage “further substantiates Dena’ina and Ahtna oral traditions that JBER and the surrounding area have been used for a very long time,” archaeologist Margan Grover said, according to a news release from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.
Elizabeth Ortiz, an archaeologist and cultural resource manager, said cache pits preserved fish, meat, and berries, much like a root cellar.
The pits were dug in well-drained dirt and lined with birch bark and layers of grass to preserve what was stored, she said. The one recently found was about 3.5 feet deep, according to the Smithsonian.
Grover said finds in the greater Anchorage area are unusual because of its extensive development.
Ortiz said the native people would come to the area in the summer to fish for salmon and preserve some of what was caught.
Grover said native people had “a sophisticated understanding of their environment that allowed them to thrive for generations,” per the release.
“It wasn’t all about salmon — they established a cyclical system of movement that allowed them to be in the right place at the right time for hunting, fishing, gathering, weather, and socializing,” Grover said.
“They occupied a large area that included all the resources needed to succeed year-round. They actively managed the resources in their territory, doing small things to enhance what nature already provides.”
“When we got the results back that said it was 960 years, plus or minus 30, we were shocked,” Ortiz said, according to KNBA.
“In the scale of Alaska archeology and history, it’s not very old, right?” Grover said, noting that no sites near the cache pit have been found.
“Anchorage is a new town. You know, 1914 is when it’s first established,” she said. “But there are people who were here much longer than that, and they were amazing stewards of this land, and so we have to make sure we acknowledge that.”
Discover the remarkable history of Alaska with a 1,000-year-old cache pit, revealing ancient Dene food storage techniques! https://t.co/CFxyNvQDWM pic.twitter.com/s3VhzqneSN
— NFTExplorer (@NFTexpl0rer_) February 6, 2025
Angela Wade, a Chickaloon village tribal citizen and its historic preservation officer, said oral tradition and archeology often reinforce one another.
“There are things that we know inherently from what was passed down about living in a place, but there are other things that these archeological sites tell us about the past … and about hardship,” Wade said.
“And how our people really persevered through things like volcanic winter or time when the fish didn’t show up.”
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