For 11,000 years, the Native people of northern Alaska used obsidian, or volcanic glass. The easily flaked, sharp obsidian was the preferred material for many stone implements, and was therefore highly valued and widely traded among Native people. The source of the obsidian, however, remained a mystery to all but the Native people. For four years, the archaeological team of Donald W. Clark and A. McFadyen Clark undertook surveys and excavations in what has come to be designated the Batza Tena area of Alaska. The purpose of their expeditions was to explore the archaeology of AlaskaÕs most important source of obsidian. The expeditions proved fruitful, for not only did they find abundant ancient campsites and toolmaking sites, but their discovery has helped to trace trading networks throughout the Far Northwest. This volume reports on the findings form these extensive archaeological surveys and excavations at Batza Tena. Donald W. Clark has been curator of archaeology at the Canadian Museum of Civilization since 1968. He graduated from the University of Alaska, in Fairbanks, and received his PhD from the University of Wisconsin, in Madison. His fieldwork has ranged from Kodiak Island, in the Gulf of Alaska, to Koyukuk River, in northwestern Alaska, and across the Yukon in Great Bear Lake in the District of Mackenzie. A. McFadyen Clark is curator emeritus at the Canadian Museum of Civilization. Prior to her retirement in 1992, she was the MuseumÕs Athapaskan Ethnologist for 23 years. She was trained at George Washington University and the University of Wisconsin, in Madison. Her primary fieldwork has been among the Koyukon Athapaskans of northwestern Alaska.
