An Archaeological Test of A Settlement Pattern Shift Recorded in Tsimshian Oral Records

Summary

We archaeologically test a hypothesis derived from the Tsimshian oral record. That record recites a long history of settlement movement and conflict culminating in an invasion of coastal Tsimshian territory by northerners. This conflict reportedly caused the Tsimshian to temporarily abandon their coastal territories and retreat inland. We tracked settlement shifts through a site taxonomy and intensive analysis of a large 14C sample acquired by percussion coring. We found an occupational hiatus in the study area and hence cannot disprove the hypothesis. We conclude the archaeological data are best explained by the history described in the indigenous oral record.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Tsimshian Archaeology: 50 Years of Research and 10,000 years of History

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 14940