Archaeological investigations on the Lucy Islands, near Prince Rupert, B.C. from 2010 to 2013: New evidence relating to the Development of North Coast Culture.

Summary

In the summer of 1966, George MacDonald launched the wide-ranging North Coast Prehistory Project. One of his goals was to document the broader patterns of human settlement along the north coast of British Columbia, and in 1968, this led to the first test excavations at GbTp-1, a small seasonal encampment on the Lucy Islands, 19 km west of Prince Rupert, in the open waters of Chatham Sound. The data from that excavation showed that this remote site was already inhabited by about 2500 years ago, placing it firmly within the Middle Period (3500-1500 BP) in the emerging local sequence. Recent work at this site, from 2010 to 2013, shows that the occupation actually began as early as 9500 years ago. At that time, sea levels were higher, and the archaeological evidence is therefore located well above the modern shoreline. Although limited in scope, the latest research offers several new insights into that poorly known early period in the development of north coast culture.

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): 15554