Mesa Site Brochure

The Mesa Site is a scientifically important, ancient archaeological site located on land managed by the Bureau of Land Management on the northern edge of the Brooks Range in arctic Alaska. The site lies on a ridge nearly 150 miles north of the Arctic Circle and 160 miles from the nearest road. Between roughly 11,700 and 13,600 years ago, hunters used this site, located atop a mesa-like ridge, as a lookout to spot game. What they left behind, including distinctive stone tools and the remnants of ancient campfires, is among the oldest evidence of human presence in the Western Hemisphere. From discoveries made at the Mesa Site, archaeologists have learned how some of the very first Alaskans lived.