Periglacial geoarchaeology at the Dog Creek site,Northern Yukon

The Dog Creek archaeological site (NcVi‐3), located in the northern Yukon, provides evidence of complex site transformational processes related to microclimatic conditions occurring since the mid‐Holocene. Geoarchaeological research at Dog Creek sought to interpret site formation processes in order to understand the relationship between surficial artifacts, buried artifacts, and stratified sediments. It also attempted to reconstruct the periglacial processes that were active in transforming the site and their relationships to microclimatic conditions. Sedimentology and fabric analysis show that artifacts were buried by solifluction and disturbed by frost heave and cryoturbation. Radiocarbon dating and pollen analysis demonstrated that solifluction took place approximately 5200–2000 years ago when a spruce forest existed at the site. This evidence suggests an onset of cooling conditions that continues to the present. After the mid‐Holocene, the spruce treeline began to move south toward its present position. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.