Archaeologists are racing to save precious artifacts in Alaska after last year's storm

Archaeologists are racing to save precious artifacts in Alaska Last year, remnants of a typhoon damaged homes, infrastructure and an archaeological dig site. Now, archaeologists are trying to get as many objects out as possible before the next storm. History Archaeologists are racing to save precious artifacts in Alaska after last year's storm September 19, 20265:01 AM ET By  Samantha Watson A crew of volunteer excavators and archaeologists searches the soil for artifacts at the Nunalleq dig site near the coastal village of Quinhagak, Alaska, on June 8. MaryCait Dolan/KYUK hide caption toggle caption MaryCait Dolan/KYUK Last October, remnants of Typhoon Halong swept through western Alaska — causing widespread flooding and displacing over a thousand people in multiple far-flung villages off the state's road system. In the coastal village of Quinhagak, the storm shook houses and damaged some buildings and infrastructure. And the day after it hit, Jenny Matthew and her husband rode four-wheelers along the torn-up beach, assessing the damage. Only on NPR People's houses are collapsing into the ocean. FEMA gives them no other option The wind and floodwaters had peeled the tundra up like discarded carpeting. And as Matthew scanned the debris, suddenly, something caught her eye. "I said to my husband, 'Look, what's that?' We stopped. He got up and took it, and it was that bowl," Matthew remembered. The bowl was wooden and smooth. It was carved 400 and 600 years ago and was one of thousands of cultural objects scattered along the coastline. Science This High Arctic rhino may change what we know about ancient animal migrations The storm had unearthed it from an archaeological dig site called Nunalleq that sits near the village. It's renowned as one of the best examples of Alaska Native Yup'ik culture before Western contact and serves as an important link to Quinhagak's past. Not only had the storm scattered many objects from the site, it also increased the risks for what was still in the ground . This past summer, a team of archaeologists came to the village for an emergency dig to recover as much as possible before the next big storm. Principal archaeologist Rick Knecht examines an artifact found . MaryCait Dolan/KYUK hide caption toggle caption MaryCait Dolan/KYUK Charlotta Hillerdal holds up a wooden doll found in the soil at Nunalleq. MaryCait Dolan/KYUK hide caption toggle caption MaryCait Dolan/KYUK Precious objects slowly being excavated Archaeologists have been working at this dig site since 2009, according to lead archaeologist Rick Knecht.