Effect of Crude Oil Contamination on Some Archaeological Sites in the Gulf ofAlaska, 1991 Investigations. Archaeology Study Number 1. EXXON VALDEZ Oil Spill State/Federal Natural Resource Damage Assessment Final Report

摘要

The 1991 field study investigated the presence of crude oil in 13 intertidalarchaeological sites. The study assessed the effect of oiling at those sites on the ability to obtain radiocarbon dates for the archaeological remains. Ages of sites were estimated based on the types of artifacts recovered from subsurface deposits and compared with results of radiocarbon tests at those deposits. The four archaeological sites from which adequate collections and radiocarbon samples were obtained were also sampled for sediments to test for presence of oil. None of the sites yielded radiocarbon dates which appear to be significantly skewed from the expected age range. However, caution must be used in projecting those conclusions to other sites in the oil spill area in scientific studies because of the many factors which control such findings.