Dating Pacific Period Settlement Pattern Dynamics in the Prince Rupert Harbor Region of Northern British Columbia.

Summary

A large regional suite of radiocarbon dates documents changing Pacific Period settlement patterns in the Prince Rupert Harbor region of northern British Columbia. Late Pleistocene/Holocene sea level changes focuses discussion on the last 5000 years. At that time, the settlement pattern appears to be one of small, one to four house communities dispersed across the sea-scape. Non-residential middens are present throughout the Holocene. Larger linear villages appear after 5000 calBP and larger multi-rowed linear and curvilinear villages with marked variation in house form by 2500 calBP. While villages are still widely dispersed regionally, populations and villages were also concentrated in the Harbor after ca 3800 calBP. This well-established pattern is disrupted ca 1700 calBP when the harbor and environs were abruptly abandoned. Upon reoccupation land use was significantly reorganized with populations aggregated in several large villages in the harbor and areas formerly occupied residentially exploited logistically by boat-borne task groups.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Issues in Building Radiocarbon Chronologies

Keywords

Spatial Coverage