Moose Creek, Alaska

Moose Creek is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska.

It is located beside the Moose Creek Bluff, which is a medium size hill with a rocky cliff facing the Richardson Highway.

Coordinates: 64°43'30"N, 147°13'05"W Chugwater is a large (100 x 165m) site on the east summit of Moose Creek Bluff near the town of North Pole, Alaska 25 km southeast of Fairbanks.

[5] Samples of charcoal and sedimentary organics obtained from this site demonstrate human occupation going back before 13,000 years ago.

"Strata in some areas [of Moose Creek] contain artifacts diagnostic of much of the past 11,000 years of prehistory in sediments averaging 30cm deep, and seldom exceeding 50cm.

Lively (1988) identified three separate components: Component 1, a basal non-microblade level with teardrop-shaped (Chindadn) bifaces and small endscrapers similar to Nenana Valley assemblages antedating 10,600 BP (Powers & Hoffecker 1989); Component 2, a microblade-bearing level with asymmetric bifacial points or knives attributed to the early Denali complex or American Paleoarctic tradition (APT); and Component 3, an upper microblade-bearing level with notched and lanceolate points typical of Tuktu or Late Denali sites of the interior.

Maitland (1986:115) also attributed several artifacts in the upper levels to an incursion or influence by Norton peoples.

Fairbanks North Star Borough map