500-Year-Old Hunting Bow Found in Alaskan Lake Almost Perfectly Preserved

A wooden hunting bow was found preserved in an Alaskan lake for hundreds of years. Researchers believe the 54-inch bow is about 500 years old. National Park Service (NPS) employees found the bow in a lake in Lake Clark National Park and Preserve in southwest Alaska in September. It was in good condition, with some biological growth after being exposed to the elements for so long. The bow was sent to an NPS center in nearby Anchorage for analysis.

This is a significant discovery for archeologists as no other bows have been found in this region or within a radius of several hundred kilometers. It is also a rare find as land developments are not as common in Alaska, and these developments are what typically uncover archeological artifacts.

“The bow was found in shallow water. It was likely buried in fine alluvial sediments for an unknown period of time, as sedimentation is still apparent on the artifact’s surface. Both the burial conditions and the cold fresh water helped to preserve the bow, and nearly entirely prevented biological degradation,” Jason Rogers, park archaeologist for Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, told Newsweek.

500-Year-Old Hunting Bow Found in Alaskan Lake Almost Perfectly Preserved — Lake Clark Archeologist Jason Rogers and Alaska State Archeologist Rich VanderHoek carefully inspect the 500-year-old bow. Photo by the National Park Service and K. Myers.

While research is still ongoing, the bow was submitted for radiocarbon dating this month. Initial results suggest it has a date range between 1506 and 1660, and is probably made of spruce.

The NPS staff is also speaking with local Native American elders to compare the bow to items in museums. The bow seems to have a Yup’ik or Alutiiq style, but these styles are more common in Western Alaska or on the Alaska Peninsula than in the Lake Clark region. However, Yup’ik speaking people have resided nearby and may have traded with the Dena’ina people who lived in Lake Clark National Park, according to an NPS press release. The bow does not match any Dena’ina styles.

“Of course we know that pre-contact cultures were extremely mobile, and carried out extensive long-distance trade, warfare, intermarriage, etc. But it is still a fairly big surprise to find a Yup’ik style bow in a lake in the traditional Dena’ina homeland.”

Researchers currently have to rely on what they can see under a hand lens until they can cut a sample of the bow and observe under a microscope. The NPS has called on community members and local elders to reach out with any insight they might have.

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