Ipiutak Site

The Ipiutak Site is a large archaeological site at Point Hope on the northwestern coast of Alaska, United States. Located on the Tikigaq spit, it is one of the largest precontact village sites in Arctic Alaska and forms part of a larger archaeological district associated with the ancestors of the Iñupiat. The site contains more than 500 abandoned house depressions and is the type site for the Ipiutak culture, which arose as early as 100–200 BCE and collapsed around 800 CE. Many of the houses were associated with large whale and walrus bones, and whale mandibles marked important spaces within the settlement. Excavations uncovered houses, over 100 burials, and a large collection of artifacts, including elaborately carved objects made from ivory, wood, bone, and stone. The site is renowned for its mortuary offerings, openwork ivory carvings, and insights into a hunting society that relied on marine mammals and caribou. The site was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966.

Archaeological site data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).