Abstract
The antiquity of contact between Eyak-Tlingit in Southeastern Alaska and Athabaskans in Southern Yukon is poorly understood. Archaeological evidence of inter-regional interaction is currently confined to the Late Period, although there is ethnographic evidence of more ancient networks. The discovery of a cryogenically preserved stick (willow [Salix sp.]), from the Kluane Icefields may represent the region’s earliest evidence (2430 ± 20 14C BP) of glacial travel. Ancient DNA was used in an attempt to assess the specimen’s origin based on a phylogeographic analysis of modern Salix distributed on either side of the Saint Elias Range. DNA could not be amplified from the target specimen, leading to an investigation of the viability of paleogenetics for wooden artifacts using biofacts from alpine ice patches in Southern Yukon. A considerable lack of plastid variability was observed in modern Salix ssp., although three loci were identified that may be amenable to phylogeographic applications.
