FAIRBANKS, ALASKA—Scientists from the University of Alaska Fairbanks analyzed the stable isotopes of charcoal samples collected from the 17 fire pits at the Upward Sun River site in central Alaska. Dwellings at the site have been dated to as early as 13,200 years ago. Western Digs reports that the unique chemical signature of salmon fat was detected in ten of the cooking pits. One of these pits dated to at least 11,800 years old. Evidence for the cooking of freshwater fish and land animals was found in other pits, suggesting that the different foods were consistently prepared in different areas over the course of thousands of years. It had been previously believed that the Ice Age hunters who cooked here relied on land animals, such as bison, elk, and mammoth for food. For more on early peoples in the New World, go to "America, in the Beginning."
