Alaska -- Antiquities, Antiquities, Alaska, Inuit -- Alaska -- Gulf of Alaska Region -- Antiquities, Inuit, Gulf of Alaska Region (Alaska) -- Antiquities, Gulf of Alaska Region (Alaska) 

"Excavations at three Ocean Bay culture sites at Ocean Bay and on Afognak Island bordering the Gulf of Alaska are described. Discovery of this culture extended time depth to c 4000 B.C. and gave a new technological dimension to a sub-area of the North Pacific where the previously-known sequence had for 3000 years emphasized ground slate technology.

The investigations described here document the local origin of ground slate implements nearly 6000 years ago and their replacement of flaked chert implements which occurred in seemingly abrupt stages. Rudimentary microblade and blade industries suggest links with earlier North Pacific populations. Although most Ocean Bay culture sites apparently are situated to exploit salmon fisheries, circumstance dictates that these people were preeminently maritime hunters." -- Abstract.