New Radiocarbon Dates and Methods for Elucidating the Extent and Timing of use for Intertidal Fishing Features on the Northwest Coast

Summary

Acquiring accurate and precise dates for archaeological materials and features is fundamental for investigating human history on the Northwest Coast (NWC) of British Columbia, Canada. Remarkably few radiocarbon dates for intertidal features exist in the literature, and they are only associated with features that yield objects which can be directly dated, such as fish traps containing wooden stakes. Various numerical and relative dating techniques have been applied to other types of intertidal features, although these methods cannot constrain intricate temporal variations. Thus, wooden stake features provide some of the best opportunities to evaluate how the intertidal zone on the NWC was used and managed by people during the late Holocene. In this study, we present 99 new calibrated radiocarbon dates from intertidal fishing features on the NWC that define spatio-temporal trends related to the extent and timing of use for such features.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

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

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 17323