Abstract

In addition to having yielded the earliest evidence of human occupation of eastern Beringia, the Bluefish Caves of northem Yukon, Canada, have also provided us with the largest and most complex in situ late PIeistocene fauna ever recorded in this region, if not in all of Beringia. This paper presents some preliminary research results on an important component of die Bluefish fauna, the equids (Equus lambei). More specifically, it presents data derived from the study of seasonal mortality profiles of these now extinct Beringian small horses. Estimates of season of death, used in this research, are obtained from a skeleto-chronologicaI study of a relatively large sample of horse teeth recovered from these three caves. Age profiles are also obtained using this technique. Seasonal mortality and age profiles of equid assemblages from the three Bluefish caves are compared. In contributing to the reconstruction of Full and Late Glacial landscapes in the Bluefish region, as well as in the large region of eastern Beringia, this research provides us with the means to investigate further the so-called 'productivity paradox', and may thus lead to a better appreciation of very ancient and poorly understood forms of human adaptation.