Ancient DNA Analysis of Fish Remains from Charlie Lake Cave (HbRf-39), British Columbia, Canada

Summary

Excavations of Charlie Lake Cave (HbRf-39) in northeastern British Columbia, Canada, have recovered well-preserved faunal remains from stratified deposits that span the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. These remains represent a variety of taxa, including amphibians, birds, fish, mammals, and reptiles. A previous morphological analysis of the fish remains from the site (n=1,235) identified the majority of the fish remains as sucker (Catostomus sp.) (n=669). Due to bone fragmentation and other challenges associated with morphology-based species identification, only a small number (n=20) of the remains were identified to the species-level. To facilitate the identification of more of these fish remains to the species-level, we used ancient DNA analysis to assign species-level identifications to a sample of fish remains from Charlie Lake Cave. These data will aid in investigating temporal changes in the species composition of the assemblage of fish remains from the site. In addition, we sought to use ancient DNA analysis to document temporal changes in the population structure of the fish species represented at the site. By documenting these kinds of temporal changes, this research can shed light on the dynamics of the complex relationships between fish, people, and the environment over the longue durée.

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): 17105