North America - NW Coast/Alaska (Geographic Keyword)
226-250 (301 Records)
Whales obtained through various combinations of hunting and scavenging have long provided coastal communities worldwide with sustenance and many raw materials. However, global whale populations have been severely depleted by commercial whaling. This study combined historical abundance reconstruction with ecosystem modelling to investigate the effects of whaling on the abundances and ecological roles of five large whale species (blue, fin, sei, humpback and sperm) in northern British Columbia...
A Refined Relative Sea Level Curve and Paleoshoreline Modelling for the Prince Rupert Harbour Region (2015)
Deglaciation following the last glacial maximum caused dramatic coastline changes around the world. Locating and analyzing archaeological evidence of human settlement requires an understanding of the relative sea level (RSL) history and related changes to the landscape. On the Northwest Coast of North America RSL was affected by local glacial and tectonic conditions, and current research demonstrates that sea level histories are locally contingent and vary widely. This paper presents a refined...
A Regional Perspective on the Etched Stones at Tse-whit-zen (2015)
More than 900 incised and painted pebbles were recovered from the Tse-whit-zen Site in Port Angeles WA, yet, few have been reported elsewhere in the Pacific Northwest region. Similar stones from two sites on the Canadian side of the Strait of Juan de Fuca were reported by an art historian, but no spatial or temporal data was provided. Anecdotal accounts by archaeologists indicate that some incised stones have been found elsewhere in the Salish Sea, but have not yet been reported in...
Relatives of the Deep: Situated Knowledge and Archaeological Remote Sensing to Assess Climate Change Vulnerability at Tl’ches (2017)
Sellemah/Joan Morris, a Coast Salish Nation elder, was raised at Tl’ches, an archipelago of low islands in the Salish Sea of southwestern British Columbia. Islands are familial places in the Coast Salish world, the word translating to "relatives or ancestors of the deep." Ongoing archaeological and ethnoecological research indicates this island ecosystem was shaped by millennia of resource management and subsistence practices. In 1957, a drinking water shortage forced residents to move to...
Repatriation Collaborations Using 3D Technology: The Smithsonian-Tlingit Experience (2016)
Smithsonian repatriation efforts have resulted in close consultation and collaboration with tribes and Alaskan Native communities that have enabled exploration of museum resources and shared interests taking the communities and the Institution far beyond what was envisioned by most when the repatriation legislation was first enacted. In particular, the Tlingit Dakhl'aweidi clan and the Hoonah Indian Association have worked with the National Museum of Natural History to pilot collaborations using...
Replication of Stone Disk Beads from the Salish Sea Region, British Columbia (2015)
This poster presents the methods and results of experimental replication of stone disk beads from the Salish Sea region along the south coast of British Columbia. This particular type of beads is abundant across the region and found in a variety of contexts. Despite their ubiquity, little is known about their production. Through this poster, I discuss the methodology of the four experiments I conducted to replicate these types of beads using similar lithic raw materials, tools, and methods to...
‘Rerighting’ history - c̓əsnaʔəm: the city before the city (2017)
c̓əsnaʔəm is an ancient Musqueam village and cemetery located in what has become contemporary Vancouver. Over the past 125 years, archaeologists, collectors, and treasure hunters have mined c̓əsnaʔəm for artefacts and ancestral remains for their collections. The land has also been given various names since colonialism, including Great Fraser Midden, Eburne Midden, DhRs-1, and Marpole Midden. Today, intersecting railway lines, roads, and bridges to Vancouver Airport obscure the heart of...
Resource Intensification, Sedentism, Storage, and Ranking: A Visual Synopsis of Pacific Northwest History and Theory (2015)
Resource intensification is a concept used in explanations of sedentism, storage, social ranking and hierarchy. Within the Pacific Northwest treatment of these concepts have developed through three orientations: evolutionary-ecology, political economy, and social agency. We compare performance criteria (dynamic and empirical sufficiency, and tolerance limits) for both synthetic works and archaeological studies. Our poster-sized visual synopsis is intended to elicit comment and revision that...
Restricted Forms of Knowledge in Pre-contact Coast Salish Lithic Craft Traditions (2015)
Recently anthropologists have increasingly recognized the role that the control of knowledge has in the production and reproduction of social inequality in small scale societies. In the case of the pre-contact Coast Salish of the Pacific Northwest, ethnographic data emphasizes the role that the control of elite prerogatives had in the maintenance of their status. Drawing upon cultural transmission models, these social relationships would be reflected not only in the prestige goods often...
Results of Section 106 Fieldwork at Three Archaeological Sites in Alaska: Producing Meaningful Research Results Under the Shadow of the Sequester (2015)
This paper presents results of recent Section 106 fieldwork undertaken by archaeologists with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Alaska Region, in 2013 and 2014. Results from work on sites along the Unalakleet River, the Agulokwak River, and Little Lake Louise in central, southwestern and southeastern Alaska, respectively, are presented. The problem of producing research that represents a contribution to the field of archaeology, within the constraints of agency mandates, the Section 106 process,...
The Resurgence of Geometric-patterned Regalia on the Northern Northwest Coast (2017)
Regalia woven using the "Chilkat" technique appeared on the northern Northwest Coast in the early 19th century, apparently replacing an older tradition of regalia decorated with geometric patterns. Only a dozen of these early robes (or archaeological fragments thereof) remain in museums. In the late 1980s, weaver and scholar Cheryl Samuel studied these survivals, documented them in great detail, and developed curriculum to teach these techniques to weavers, who since that time have created...
Sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria) and Human Ecodynamics at Tse-whit-zen and the Salish Sea (2017)
Zooarchaeological evidence from Tse-whit-zen indicates that juvenile sablefish, or black cod (Anoplopoma fimbria), played an important role in the village’s economy for ~2,200 years, but sablefish is scarcely mentioned in previous Northwest Coast archaeological research. The near-total absence of this species from other coastal sites in the Salish Sea cannot be explained by post-depositional destruction, screen size, sample size, or differences in zooarchaeological identification criteria. Thus,...
Sacred Artifact or Personal Totem: Results of an Analysis of a Carved Animal Sacrum Discovered Off the Oregon Coast (2015)
In March 2009, a couple walking along Oregon's central coast found a large, old looking, animal sacrum floating in a tide pool that had been modified to look like the head of an animal with a garnet used as an eye. Where this bone had originated, whether it represented an artifact that could have eroded from a local shell midden, or was placed on the beach to stump local scientists all remained in question. Since its discovery, many scientists have volunteered their time to try and unravel this...
Sea Level Fluctuations of the Southern Salish Sea: An assessment of the archaeological potential for sites dating from the Last Glacial Maximum to the Holocene (2017)
Following the last glacial maximum, coastlines around the world drastically changed. This occurred through a complex combination of geomorphological processes, which were compounded by global sea-level rise. While these fluctuations took place, humans adapted to an aquatic subsistent lifestyle along coastal regions. This study focuses on the southern Salish Sea (located in North America’s Pacific Northwest) and human-environmental interactions during the terminal Pleistocene. Through the use of...
The Search for the First Americans on Oregon’s Submerged Landforms: New Methods and Upcoming Research (2017)
Until recently, the search for Pleistocene-aged sites along Oregon’s coast has been mostly limited to subaerial landforms. In 2017 however, the search for early sites will reach past the subaerial and to Oregon’s outer continental shelf. These search efforts will be guided by using a GIS-based model that predicts the foraging potential of reconstructed late Pleistocene-aged coastal landscapes. We review our modeling methodology and how ecological aspects of Oregon’s coastal landscapes may have...
Searching for the First Americans Along Oregon’s Ancient Coast: New Methods and Upcoming Research (2017)
To date, efforts to search for and investigate Pleistocene-aged sites along the Northwest Coast have been largely limited to subaerial landforms and deposits. Beginning in 2017, the search for early coastal sites will extend onto Oregon’s outer continental shelf. These search efforts will be supported by the use of a GIS-based model that makes predictions about the foraging potential of reconstructed late Pleistocene-aged coastal landscapes. We review the modeling methodology and how...
Section 106 Mitigation in Memoradum of Agreements: A View From the Corps (2017)
What constitutes acceptable Section 106 mitigation to resolve adverse effects under the National Historic Preservation Act? Stipulations in a Section 106 Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) need to be enforceable, with sufficient specificity and accountability for an Agency to monitor compliance. Are there limits to what is possible in Stipulations in Section 106 MOAs? This paper uses examples from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Regulatory Program-permitted projects to explore the concept and...
Selective Conditions for Obsidian Stone Tool Manufacture and Use in Central Washington State (2015)
The presence of obsidian in chipped stone tool assemblages in central Washington State is well known. Local, low quality obsidian sources have been documented occurring in conjunction with more commonly found nonlocal, high quality obsidian sources. Though the archaeological occurrence of obsidian is well documented in this area, a systematic study of the organization of technology using evolutionary archaeological approach can help clarify how obsidian was selected and incorporated into stone...
Shaping identities through physical and cognitive landscape modifications in the Rat Islands, AK (2015)
Low mound groupings were defined during the multidisciplinary Rat Islands Research Project during the summer of 2014. These mounds are clustered in at least three areas on Kiska Island and Segula Island. Traditionally interpreted as "bird mounds" by non-Aleuts, these mounds were thought to be places where birds habitually sat over millennia. The hypothesis has been that subsequently enriched soils fostered exaggerated vegetation growth relative to the surrounding landscape. While various bird...
Shellfish Harvesting Strategies on the Northern Northwest Coast: Evidence from Labouchere Bay, Southeast Alaska (2017)
This poster presents new data from five shell midden sites on Prince of Wales Island, Alaska in order to examine how shellfish-harvesting strategies changed during the middle to late Holocene. The accessibility and resilience of shellfish beds on the coastal margin makes them valuable resources that complement more seasonally-restricted food sources such as salmon runs. In order to meet the increasing needs of permanent settlements that emerged during the middle Holocene, shellfish management...
Shellfish, Seasonality and Subsistence in Sechelt Inlet: Understanding Intertidal Resources with High-resolution Bivalve Sclerochronology (2017)
This paper presents the results of annual growth pattern analysis and geochemical analysis of live-collected and archaeological shells from the Sechelt Inlet, southern British Columbia. Annual growth line analysis of butter clams (Saxidomus gigantea) from three sites in this region revealed an intensive pattern of shellfish collection relative to other large village sites on the Pacific Northwest Coast. This variability suggests there may also be differences in seasonal collection patterns. To...
Shifting use of Mammals at Tse-whit-zen: Response to Gradual or Catastrophic Change? (2017)
The mammalian component of the Tse-whit-zen village (WA) midden samples is typical of Northwest Coast archaeological sites. However, overall identification rates are quite low, with only 8% to 11% of the overall number of mammal specimens (NSP) identified beyond Class. This pattern is driven by fragmentation and burning, with burned bone making up 18% to 44% of NSP. Burning rates peak in Chronozone 5 (CZ5, 525-1000 BP), while identification rates decrease steadily through time. Artiodactyls...
Sinew Thread Production and Properties in Western Alaska (2017)
The production and functional properties of sinew thread are integral to the creation of Arctic Clothing. I focus on the creation of sinew thread from tendons and how production techniques affect thread usability in clothing production. Specifically, the strength and pliability of sinew thread. My reproduction of sinew threads is modeled upon the sinew used in extant Western Arctic garments in the collection of the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. The strength of sinew thread is compared...
The social implications of elk hunting for ancestral Coast Salish communities (2017)
Field, laboratory and archival archaeological research has helped to reconstruct important parts of the ancestral seasonal landscape in the southern Strait of Georgia. Contextual understanding of place provides a baseline for questions of sociality during the last c. 5000 years prior to the colonial era. Evidence illustrates several of the historical processes through which community identities were brought into focus in the Coast Salish world. As an example, I explore what is known about one of...
Sociocultural Anthropology’s Engagement with Archeology and Indigenous Frameworks (2017)
As archaeologists seek out new ways to engage with Indigenous frameworks, people and communities, sociocultural anthropology can engage and advance the conversation in several ways. Archaeologists and sociocultural anthropologists commonly work with the same communities, on the same issues, but on different time scales. Long term research with the Upper Skagit tribe of Washington State, undertaken collaboratively with archaeologists and community members, reveals sets of social tensions of...