The faunal records from Alaskan cave sites have been particularly important for documenting the presence and extinction of Pleistocene megafauna in the region.

Woolly mammoths, horses, bison, and other Ice Age animals have all been documented in cave deposits from Alaska, with dates ranging from the late Pleistocene through the early Holocene.

Some of these deposits reflect the natural deaths of animals that used the caves, while others reflect the processing of animals killed or scavenged by human hunters.

The presence of both Pleistocene faunal material and human archaeological material in the same cave system — as appears to be the case at Trail Creek — raises specific questions about the relationship between humans and the megafauna they shared the landscape with.

In some cave contexts, the association of human artifacts with megafaunal remains is clear evidence of human hunting or processing of those animals.