Archaeological Investigations at the Stō:ló spiritual site Uwqw’iles - the Restmore Caves site (DiRj-34)

Summary

In 2014 Amec Foster Wheeler, in partnership with the Stō:ló Resource and Research Management Centre, conducted an archaeological investigation of rock shelter site DiRj-34 in response to a proposed development. The site was documented ethnographically by Wilson Duff in 1949 as the Restmore Caves and recorded as spiritual site Uwqw’iles by the Stō:ló Nation. The rock shelter is comprised of large boulders at the toe of the Canadian Cascade Range, adjacent to Hunter Creek on the south side of the Fraser River in S’olh Temexw. The site is located between Hope and Chilliwack, in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. The identification of stratified cultural layers, archaeological features, diagnostic lithic tools and the analysis of radiocarbon data provides a framework for placing the site into the oral and ethnographic history of the Stō:ló. The results of systematic data recovery and radiocarbon sampling are presented in the context of ethnographic and traditional use information. By comparing ethnographic information recorded on the rock shelter site, the cultural narrative associated with the Uwqw'iles spiritual site, and data collected during preliminary archaeological excavations, we provide a glimpse into the cultural landscape of the area, focusing on changing site-use and settlement patterns over time.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 16170