North Pacific archaeology

This dissertation examines changes in Haida economic adaptations during the late pre-contact and early contact periods in Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia). This was primarily achieved through the analysis of faunal and artifactual assemblages recovered from archaeological excavations at eight village sites in Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site (southernmost Haida Gwaii). In addition, extensive syntheses of early historic accounts, ethnographic descriptions, and previous archaeological work provide context for the interpretation of the archaeological data and complementary data on the economic responses of the Haida to European contact and the maritime fur trade.

The new archaeological data presented in this dissertation, combined with previously published results, form the basis of a detailed description of the nature of Haida economic adaptations during the late pre-contact period (ca. 500 AD to 1774 AD). Most notably, these data clarify a previously recognized shift from a more generalized, rockfish-oriented economy to a more specialised, salmon focused economy between 1,200 BP and 800 BP. These distinct economic adaptations, now widely demonstrated for southern Haida Gwaii, have been formalized as an earlier Xyuu daw Phase (ca. 2,000 BP to 1,000 BP) and a later Qayjuu Phase (ca. 1,000 BP to contact), both within the previously described late Graham Tradition.

While the maritime fur trade and the incorporation of the Haida into the European capitalist world system increased the focus of the Haida on the hunting of sea otters, altered the Haida seasonal round, and introduced new items of material culture, it had relatively little impact on the Haida subsistence economy. Salmon continued to dominate Haida subsistence, while the majority of the introduced material culture was non-utilitarian or was incorporated into existing cultural practices. In contrast, European traders were forced to adopt a degree of Haida tradition into trade practices, and in many cases were dependent on the Haida to meet their own subsistence needs. More profound changes to Haida culture, including the rise of Haida economic dependency on the world economy, arose during the subsequent period of increasing European encroachment and settlement.

In this chapter, we compile archaeological data on the distribution of pinnipeds and sea otters from archaeological assemblages along the coast of southern British Columbia. We evaluate the spatial and temporal extent of human hunting and explore the possible influence humans may have had on this aspect of the marine environment and, conversely, discuss the potential significance that hunting these animals had to First Nations cultures in the region.

This study presents isotopic data (d13C and d15N from bone collagen) for 104 samples representing 29 vertebrate taxa from late pre-contact through to contact era (ca. 2000 – 100 BP) Haida Gwaii (British Columbia, Canada) from a wide variety of mostly marine organisms. The results demonstrate the considerable isotopic variability that characterizes potential prey items in coastal contexts and underscores the need for baseline faunal data to interpret human subsistence practices. Based on these data, a detailed marine food web was constructed, which provides insight into local ecological conditions. We present a simple method for quantifying the trophic level of ancient fauna using d15N of bone collagen. Finally, we discuss the implications of this study for the reconstruction of human diet.

The Anangula Core-and-Blade site (eastern Aleutians), discovered in 1938, dates between ca. 9600 and 8000 cal. BP. Anangula is a major site in the archaeology of Alaska and Beringia, and it has important implications to the peopling of the New World due to its chronology, geographic location, and material culture among others. This article focuses on the lithic industry and has two main aims: 1) presenting new research on previously unpublished lithic material, especially the pressure-microblade component, which has been largely overlooked up until now, and 2) discussing Anangula in relationship to other Beringian microblade sites in light of this reanalysis. This paper will show that the site has a definitive pressure-microblade component, argue that it thus has to be considered as a major Beringian microblade site, and discuss its technological proximity with microblade sites, especially from interior Alaska.

Analyses of archaeological faunal assemblages often require the use of varied quantitative techniques for reconstructing aspects of the harvested populations. This is particularly important with the increasing use of zooarchaeological data outside of the realm of traditional archaeological inquiry. Detailed size estimations of archaeological faunal specimens can be used to distinguish between the remains of individual animals, aiding in the reconstruction of minimum number calculations. Statistical regression provides a particularly useful technique for generating size estimations which may then be used to calculate such modified MNI values. This paper outlines a methodology for utilising regression estimated sizes in MNI calculations, and tests the methodology in the context of a case study involving fish remains from Aleutian Islands archaeological sites. The use of this methodology to generate modified MNI values results in consistent increases over values calculated using traditional MNI approaches. Such an approach, while more costly in terms of required effort, is felt to be preferable to traditional approaches in contexts where detailed size estimations are usefully calculated to answer other research questions.

Cette recherche se fonde sur un travail doctoral portant sur la diffusion du phénomène lamellaire dans le Nord Pacifique. La progression du débitage de lamelles selon cette technique a été suivie, depuis son origine en Extrême-Orient il y a environ 20 000 ans jusqu'à sa diffusion vers le Canada en passant par la Sibérie et l'Alaska. Les débitages de lamelles par pression sont un marqueur privilégié permettant de mettre en évidence les migrations et les interactions des groupes humains préhistoriques, comme l'on montré les travaux pionniers de M.-L. Inizan il y a plusieurs décen-nies. L'analyse a été traitée par l'étude directe de 24 séries datées entre ca 22000 et 9000 cal. BP en provenance de l'Extrême-Orient russe (Primorye), de la Sibérie (Yakoutie, Kolyma, Tchoukotka et Kamtchatka) et du Nord-Ouest de l'Amérique du Nord (Alaska et Colombie-Britannique), en plus de l'étude de matériel plus ponctuel de sites récents. Ce travail inclut la Béringie et les territoires limitrophes à ce continent, notamment ceux de l'Extrême-Orient asiatique (comme le Primorye) et ceux de la côte nord-ouest de l'Amérique du Nord (comme la Colombie-Britannique). Nous étendons notre étude à ces territoires car ils sont essentiels à la compréhension des industries à composante lamellaire par pression : l'Extrême-Orient serait le berceau du débitage lamellaire par pression et la Colombie-Britannique marque la limite sud de la diffusion de cette technique sur le continent américain. Dans cet article, nous analysons la progression du débitage lamellaire par pression et les différentes méthodes de débitage utilisées (méthodes Yubetsu, Horoka, Campus, etc.) depuis l'Extrême-Orient jusqu'au Canada, en discutant notamment de la diffusion (ou non diffusion) de certaines méthodes. Mots-clés : débitage par pression, lamelles,Nord Pacifique, peuplement du Nouveau Monde.

The maritime fur trade (1785–1840s) led to the local extinction of sea otters (Enhydra lutris) in many parts of the northeast Pacific. On the basis of studies of extant sea otter populations, it has been established that they have a disproportionate effect on nearshore ecosystems by limiting sea urchin abundance and facilitating the establishment of nearshore kelp forests; in the absence of sea otters, a local reduction in kelp-derived carbon is therefore expected. We measured the isotopic composition (δ13C and δ15N) of rockfish (Sebastes spp.) bone collagen from late Holocene archaeological sites in southern Haida Gwaii, BC, Canada, using δ13C as a proxy for kelp-derived carbon in the diet and δ15N as a proxy for trophic position. We observed significant spatial variability in rockfish kelp-derived carbon (δ13C), but not trophic level (δ15N). Kelp-derived carbon varied largely as a function of site characteristics (wave exposure), suggesting that local oceanographic conditions are important factors with respect to consumer tissue isotopic compositions. Kelp-derived carbon decreased in post-European contact rockfish relative to pre-European contact rockfish, likely as a result of the reduction of kelp forests associated with the local extirpation of sea otters. Although we detected a reduction in kelp-derived carbon in rockfish diets, we found no shift in trophic level at sites occupied following the maritime fur trade. This implies a shift in local ecosystems, and particularly in carbon sources, following the maritime fur trade, likely due to a trophic cascade resulting from the local extirpation of sea otters. Stability in rockfish trophic levels, however, implies that rockfish continued to feed at similar trophic levels, consuming prey with similar nitrogen isotopic compositions.

Cannon and Yang (2006) argue that a sedentary winter village based on stored pink and chum salmon began at Namu approximately 7000 B.P. In contrast, we argue that (a) available data support neither a sedentary winter village by that date nor a subsistence focus on stored pink and chum salmon; (b) the timing and ubiquity of salmon exploitation and storage was not as the authors assert; instead, stable, long-term adaptations focused on taxa other than salmon are found elsewhere on the Northwest Coast; and (c) seasonality estimation based on growth increments is a valid methodology.

We examined the isotopic composition (d13C and d15N) of sea otter (Enhydra lutris) bone collagen from ten late Holocene (ca. 5200 years BP - AD 1900) archaeological sites in northern British Columbia (BC), Canada. Because sea otters are now extinct from much of this region and have not fully recolonized their former range (e.g. Haida Gwaii and most of northern BC) these data represent an important first step towards better understanding sea otter foraging ecology in BC. The isotopic data suggest a diet composed primarily of benthic invertebrates, with a very low reliance on epibenthic fish. There is very low isotopic and thus inter-individual dietary variability in Holocene BC sea otters during the late Holocene. Furthermore, zooarchaeological abundance data suggest that otters represented a widespread and significant focus of aboriginal hunting practices on the northern BC coast during the mid- to late-Holocene. The consistent reliance on a small number of low-trophic level prey and limited dietary variability in Holocene BC sea otters may reflect top-down impacts on otter populations by aboriginal peoples. As part of our assessment of sea otter diet, we review trophic discrimination factors (D13C and D15N) for bone collagen from published literature and find marked variability, with mean values of +3.7 +/- 1.6 for D13C (n = 21) and +3.6 +/- 1.3 for D15N (n = 15).

Paleoethnobotany in the Northwest Coast is in the process of developing methodological conventions and establishing the range and sophistication of questions that can be asked of its data. This paper presents a preliminary analysis of archaeobotanical remains from three Haida village middens, focusing in particular on the taphonomic concerns that face palaeoethnobotanists during analysis and interpretation. We explore the process of sourcing the various types of remains encountered in midden contexts in an attempt to distinguish those that are culturally vs. naturally deposited. Determining the origins of different constituents of archaeobotanical assemblages is the first step towards interpretation and the ability to address questions of broader social and economic import.

Eighteenth century European contact in Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia), and elsewhere on the Northwest Coast, sparked the lucrative maritime fur trade, and led to a shift in Haida economic focus. The subsequent extirpation of sea otters from much of the coast soon after the initiation of the trade had cascading effects on ecologically related species, and resulted in further changes in Haida subsistence adaptations. This paper examines the results of ongoing archaeological research in Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site (Southern Queen Charlotte Islands) in order to increase our understanding of changing Haida adaptation during this dynamic period.

Simple linear regression for estimating fish length has been applied to remains of Pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus) from two sites on Shemya Island (ATU-003 and ATU-061). Al-though five major methods have been used for the estimation of fish size from archaeological remains, Casteel (1976:122) suggests that the best method involves simple linear regression. Because skeletal size and fish length are highly correlated and form a linear relationship, the simple linear regression approach involves the creation of regression formulae that compare the length of a fish to specific measurements of skeletal elements. The derived formulae can then be used to estimate the size of fish from measurements of archaeological remains. Estimating the sizes of fish prehistorically harvested allows more detailed conclusions to be drawn regarding ancient fishing practices. In addition, possible impacts of identified harvesting methods on past fish populations can also be assessed, as illustrated by the Pacific cod example presented here.

Statistical regression provides a useful technique for the estimation of the original live length and weight of fish specimens found in archaeological contexts.  This methodology was applied to the comparison of skeletal element size and the live length and weight of six fish taxa: Pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus), Walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma), Atka mackerel (Pleurogrammus monopterygius), Greenling (Hexagrammos sp.), Rockfish (Sebastes sp.), and Irish Lords (Hemilepidotus sp.).  A selection of skeletal elements were measured from comparative specimens of each taxa and these data sets were used to generate regression formulae which compared the known live length and weight to specific skeletal element measurements.  These formulae were then applied to the analysis of fish remains from several sites on Adak, Buldir, and Shemya Islands in the Aleutian archipelago.  The regression approach is shown to produce superior results to those obtained through traditional meat weight calculations.  The results of this analysis also provide insight into the subsistence of prehistoric Aleut populations and changes in the local ecology over time.

"The detailed estimation of the original live size of faunal specimens from archaeological assemblage provides a particularly useful, though generally under-employed, tool for zooarchaeological analysis. Though a variety of methods have been employed in the generation of such size estimations, statistical regression provides perhaps the most accurate estimations of the original live length and weight of fish specimens found in archaeological contexts. Such estimations are useful for the reconstruction of diet and the investigation of past environments. Furthermore, detailed size estimations can contribute to a refinement of other methods of faunal quantification, such as the calculation of minimum numbers of individuals (MNI).

Statistical regression was applied to the comparison of skeletal element size and the live length and weight of six fish taxa: Pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus), Walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma), Atka mackerel (Pleurogrammus monopterygius), Greenling (Hexagrammos sp.), Rockfish (Sebastes sp.), and Irish Lords (Hemilepidotus sp.). For each taxon, a selection of skeletal elements were measured from comparative specimens and these data sets used to generate regression formulae which compared the known live length and weight to specific skeletal element measurements. This resulted in the creation of a easily applicable tool for the estimation of the live size and weight of skeletal specimens from archaeological contexts.

This methodology was tested in the context of a case study involving the analysis of fish remains from five archaeological sites in the Aleutian archipelago. Specifically, this included two sites on Adak island, a single site on Buldir island, and two sites on Shemya Island, providing a sample that spans the central and western parts of the Aleutian chain. In the assessment of the relative contributions of the taxa under consideration to the diet of the prehistoric inhabitants of these sites, the regression approach was shown to produce superior results to those obtained through traditional meat weight calculations. The results of this analysis also provide insight into temporal changes in the local environment and ecology."

This study examines changes in Haida economic adaptations during the late pre-contact and early contact periods in Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia). This was primarily achieved through the analysis of faunal and artifactual assemblages recovered from archaeological excavations at eight village sites in Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site (southernmost Haida Gwaii). In addition, extensive syntheses of early historic accounts, ethnographic descriptions, and previous archaeological work provide context for the interpretation of the archaeological data and complementary data on the economic responses of the Haida to European contact and the maritime fur trade.

The new archaeological data presented in this volume, combined with previously published results, form the basis of a detailed description of the nature of Haida economic adaptations during the late pre-contact period (ca. 500 AD to 1774 AD). Most notably, these data clarify a previously recognized shift from a more generalized, rockfish-oriented economy to a more specialised, salmon-focused economy between 1,200 BP and 800 BP. These distinct economic adaptations, now widely demonstrated for southern Haida Gwaii, have been formalized as an earlier Xyuu daw Phase (ca. 2,000 BP to 1,000 BP) and a later Qayjuu Phase (ca. 1,000 BP to contact), both within the previously described late Graham Tradition.

While the maritime fur trade increased the focus of the Haida on the hunting of sea otters, altered the Haida seasonal round, and introduced new items of material culture, it had relatively little impact on the Haida subsistence economy. Salmon continued to dominate Haida subsistence, while the majority of the introduced material culture was non-utilitarian or was incorporated into existing cultural practices. In contrast, European traders were forced to adopt a degree of Haida tradition into trade practices, and in many cases were dependent on the Haida to meet their own subsistence needs. More profound changes to Haida culture arose during the subsequent period of increasing European encroachment and settlement.