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ABSTRACT
We present and test a predictive archaeological survey model that targets early Holocene paleoshorelines in the Prince Rupert Harbour area using LiDAR bare earth digital terrain models and a 15,000-year reconstructed history of relative sea level change. Despite a century of archaeological research in the study area, no sites dating earlier than 6000 cal b.p. had been identified prior to our research. Our field survey identified three early Holocene sites associated with paleoshorelines 7–10 m above current sea level (masl). These locations demonstrate repeated use through the Holocene even as shoreline position changes. We discuss these new data in relation to the early Holocene archaeological record from the rest of the northern Northwest Coast and suggest that the region was ubiquitously occupied by this time and that the lack of recorded early Holocene sites in some areas is likely a result of survey and preservation bias, rather than historical reality.
Acknowledgments
We gratefully acknowledge the Lax Kw’alaams and Metlakatla First Nations for supporting our research. We especially thank Steven Dennis, Tony Leighton, Justin Junge, Jacob Kinze Earnshaw, Eric Guiry, Steve Mozarowski, TJ Brown, Robert Gustas, and Dave Doolan for help in the field. John Maxwell provided advice for the practicalities of field testing. Steve Mozarowski helped analyze the lithic artifacts from GbTo-185. TJ Brown designed Figure 3a. We also thank three anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments. We are grateful to Nexen Ltd. for providing the LiDAR DTM for the study area and to Metlakatla First Nation for logistical support in the field. This project was generously funded by SSHRC Grant # 410-2011-0414 and NSF Grant # 1216847.
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes on Contributors
Bryn Letham (Ph.D. 2017, University of British Columbia) is a SSHRC post-doctoral fellow at Simon Fraser University. His research explores human-environment interactions on coastal landscapes and his research interests include geoarchaeology, past sea level change, archaeological survey, landscape and settlement archaeology, and paleoenvironmental reconstruction.
Andrew Martindale (Ph.D. 1999, University of Toronto) is Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology, Director of the Laboratory of Archaeology and a research associate of the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Study at the University of British Columbia. He is also the Director the Canadian Archaeological Radiocarbon Database. His research explores indigenous history via archaeology primarily along the west coast of North America with focus on settlement patterns and chronology.
Nicholas Waber (M.A. 2012, University of Victoria) is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia. His research focuses on microblades on the British Columbia Plateau, GIS, 3D photogrammetry, and open source technologies in archaeology.
Kenneth M. Ames (Ph.D. 1976, Washington State University) is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Portland State University. His research interests include household archaeology, political ecology, aquatic hunter-gatherers, hunter-gatherer complexity, and settlement and mobility patterns.