Editing Fairbanks, Alaska (section)

=== Alaska Native presence ===

[[Alaskan Athabaskans|Athabascan peoples]] have lived on, traveled through, and stewarded the land of the Fairbanks area [[Prehistory of Alaska|for thousands of years]]. Fairbanks continues to benefit from the leadership and influence of people from Athabascan and other Alaska Native communities.  

An archaeological site excavated on the grounds of the [[University of Alaska Fairbanks]] uncovered a Native camp about 3,500 years old, with older remains found at deeper levels.<ref name="land bridge">Gibbon, Guy E. and Ames, Kenneth M. [https://books.google.com/books?id=_0u2y_SVnmoC ''Archaeology of Prehistoric Native America: An Encyclopedia'']. Taylor & Francis, 1998. p. 116</ref> From evidence gathered at the site, archaeologists surmise that Native activities in the area included seasonal hunting and fishing.<ref name="Gold Rush Town, p. 65">''Gold Rush Town'', p. 65</ref> In addition, archaeological sites on the grounds of nearby [[Fort Wainwright]] date back well over 10,000 years.<ref>U.S. Army. [http://www.usarak.army.mil/conservation/CR_fwa.htm "Cultural resources at Fort Wainwright"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090115091033/http://www.usarak.army.mil/conservation/CR_fwa.htm |date=January 15, 2009 }}<span>,, [http://www.usarak.army.mil www.usarak.army.mil] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070105003944/http://www.usarak.army.mil/ |date=January 5, 2007 }}. March 18, 2009. Accessed August 5, 2009.</span></ref> Arrowheads excavated from the University of Alaska Fairbanks site matched similar items found in Asia, providing some of the first evidence that humans arrived in North America via the Bering Strait land bridge in deep antiquity.<ref name="land bridge"/>