there was such a growth but there is an apparent connection to this and the increase of marine life in the Pacific waters during the neoglacial cooling period. By 1100 AD the western Alaskan Peninsula and the adjacent islands had eight to ten massive settlements and many smaller that supported as many as 7,000 to 12,000 people. Settlements consisted of up to 250 semi-subterranean winter houses as well as summer residences and storage areas. Winter houses were constructed to be eighteen inches into the ground in order to aid in the protection of blowing wind and rain along with the maintenance of a constant temperature. The frames of these houses were made of either driftwood or whalebone and covered in a layer of sod or peat. The entrance was on the roof of the structure with a hole and ladder leading into the interior. The houses ranged in size (some up to fifty meters long) and housed 30-60 members of an extended family. There were other smaller areas that were used as seasonal or special task sites that were used for shorter periods of time in comparison to the more sedentary housing. Large settlements were located next to rivers and streams that provided subsistence such and salmon and other marine organisms. Long-distance trade and travel was apparent which linked Aleutian communities located hundreds of miles away. Societies became hierarchical with the presence of nobles (warriors or skilled hunters), a middle class, and slaves (prisoners or orphans). There were many beneficial attributes of living in large settlements. These attributes included protection against attack from other settlements, an increase in food storage and sharing in times of need, and overall social and economic support. Hunting in the marine environment consisted of the use of kayak style boats that were made of animal skins sewn around a flexible wooden frame. Harpoons and darts along with compound fishhooks, atlatls, stone sinkers, digging and prying picks, and ropes were also used. Year round available animals for subsistence included sea lions, sea otters, harbor seals, cod, halibut, and marine invertebrates. Migratory animals hunted included humpback and baleen whales, fur seals, salmon, and birds. On the Islands themselves there was almost a total dependence upon the marine environment considering that the animal population consisted only of birds, lemmings, and fox. Food storage was moved from outside to inside houses during this tradition with the food storage areas