Anangula Island (russian: Анангула; also called Ananiuliak Island; occasionally referred to as ''Kurityien Anaiuliak'', ''Anaiuliak'', ''Anayulyakh'' or ''Anangouliak'' russian: Ананиулиак) is a small island in the Fox Islands group of the

Aleutian Islands The Aleutian Islands (; ; ale, Unangam Tanangin,”Land of the Aleuts", possibly from Chukchi language, Chukchi ''aliat'', "island"), also called the Aleut Islands or Aleutic Islands and known before 1867 as the Catherine Archipelago, are a cha ...

of southwestern

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

. The -long island is separated from

Umnak Island Umnak ( ale, Unmax, Umnax; russian: Умнак) is one of the Fox Islands of the Aleutian Islands. With of land area, it is the third largest island in the Aleutian archipelago and the 19th largest island in the United States. The island is home ...

by a channel about wide and consists of a mostly barren

tundra In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless moun ...

landscape of

volcanic ash Volcanic ash consists of fragments of rock, mineral crystals, and volcanic glass, created during volcano, volcanic eruptions and measuring less than 2 mm (0.079 inches) in diameter. The term volcanic ash is also often loosely used t ...

Ancient history

During the

last A last is a mechanical form shaped like a human foot. It is used by shoemakers and cordwainers in the manufacture and repair of shoes. Lasts typically come in pairs and have been made from various materials, including hardwoods, cast iron, and ...

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...

, Anangula and nearby

formed the tip of a peninsula on the southern edge of the

Bering land bridge Beringia is defined today as the land and maritime area bounded on the west by the Lena River in Russia; on the east by the Mackenzie River in Canada; on the north by 72 degrees north latitude in the Chukchi Sea; and on the south by the tip of ...

and was covered by the Cordilleran Ice Sheet that dominated the northwestern portion of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. This made the area unsuitable for both animal and human habitation until the ice sheet began to recede about 10-12,000 years bp. The first human settlement on Anangula (and the oldest known evidence of human activity in the Aleutians), a small village and

core Core or cores may refer to: Science and technology * Core (anatomy), everything except the appendages * Core (manufacturing), used in casting and molding * Core (optical fiber), the signal-carrying portion of an optical fiber * Core, the central ...

and

blade A blade is the portion of a tool, weapon, or machine with an edge that is designed to puncture, chop, slice or scrape surfaces or materials. Blades are typically made from materials that are harder than those they are to be used on. Historic ...

site on the southeastern end of the island, was established about 8,400 years bp. Although estimates of how long the settlement was occupied range from under 100 years to more than 1,500 years, it is generally agreed that it was abandoned after a major eruption at the Okmok volcano northeast on Umnak buried the area under nearly two meters of ash.

Recent history

During the 1910s, Anangula was one of many Aleutian islands to be stocked with

Arctic fox The Arctic fox (''Vulpes lagopus''), also known as the white fox, polar fox, or snow fox, is a small fox native to the Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and common throughout the Arctic tundra biome. It is well adapted to living in co ...

es by the United States government for

trapping Animal trapping, or simply trapping or gin, is the use of a device to remotely catch an animal. Animals may be trapped for a variety of purposes, including food, the fur trade, hunting, pest control, and wildlife management. History Neolithic ...

and

fur trading The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most ...

purposes, in this case mostly by the

Aleut The Aleuts ( ; russian: Алеуты, Aleuty) are the indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands, which are located between the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. Both the Aleut people and the islands are politically divided between the U ...

s who lived in

Nikolski Nikolsky (masculine), Nikolskaya (feminine), or Nikolskoye (neuter) may refer to: Places *Nikolski, Alaska, a census-designated place in Alaska * Nikolske, Ukraine, an urban locality in Ukraine * Nikolsky District, several districts in Russia * N ...

, about to the south on Umnak Island. Later, during the 1930s, an additional population of

rabbit Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit speci ...

s was established on the island to serve as food for the foxes. In the late 1940s, the foxes were removed because of their detrimental effects on the native

marine bird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environ ...

populations, though the rabbits remain to the present. The island gained some prominence in the

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

community with the discovery of the core and blade site by William S. Laughlin in 1938. Later expeditions by Laughlin during the 1950s and 1960s uncovered more artifacts and a series of four expeditions in 1970-1974 unearthed the village site.

References

{{authority control Fox Islands (Alaska) Islands of Aleutians West Census Area, Alaska Islands of Alaska Islands of Unorganized Borough, Alaska