Placer technology and its relationship to the structural variability of mining camps: Insight from the Kantishna and Chisana mining districts, Alaska

Abstract

This thesis explores the archaeological characteristics of placer gold camps from Kantishna and Chisana, two mining districts of interior Alaska. The study includes analyses of camp size, their location within the mining landscape, and the number, variety, size, and aspect of domestic structures. Results of analyses reveal variation between camps of hand, drift, hydraulic, and mechanized mining operations. Differentiation in fundamental aspects of camp design suggests that technology plays a role in the historical structure and archaeological variability of mining camps. These results have further implications for understanding the labor requirements and underlying social structure of different types of placer mining systems.