human habitation in the denali region extends to more than 11,000 years before the present, with documented sites just outside park boundaries dated to more than 8,000 years before present. however, relatively few archaeological sites have been documented within the park boundaries, owing to the region's high elevation, with harsh winter conditions and scarce resources compared to lower elevations in the area. the oldest site within park boundaries is the teklanika river site, dated to about 7130 bc. more than 84 archaeological sites have been documented within the park. the sites are typically characterized as hunting camps rather than settlements, and provide little cultural context. the presence of athabaskan peoples in the region is dated to 1,500 - 1,000 years before present on linguistic and archaeological evidence, while researchers have proposed that athabaskans may have inhabited the area for thousands of years before then. the principal groups in the park area in the last 500 years include the koyukon, tanana and dena'ina people.