ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the impact of great subduction earthquakes on both the archaeological record and the cultural history of the Kodiak Archipelago, Alaska. The Kodiak Islands are situated on the seismically active Aleutian–Alaskan subduction zone, the source of some of the largest earthquakes in the world. From 1994 to 1997 we undertook a detailed archaeological and geologic investigation at Settlement Point, a prehistoric village site on Afognak Island, to study the effects of subduction earthquakes on the archaeological record of the region. This chapter summarises our investigation of prehistoric occupation at Settlement Point and our inferences and conclusions about the relationship between Kodiak cultural history and great subduction earthquakes.
