Coastal Settlement Patterns in BC at the Pleistocene-Holocene Transition

Summary

In this presentation we explore how early Holocene shoreline settlement patterns in Haida Gwaii can be used to inform the search for late Pleistocene sites on Quadra Island in the northern Salish Sea. The 11K to 14.5K cal BP shorelines on Quadra Island are located at elevations up to 180 m above modern. Low visibility necessitates focused investigations on these raised landforms in order to find early sites. We are applying our knowledge of the distribution of archaeological sites in Gwaii Haanas to Quadra Island. There are nearly 150 sites recorded in the intertidal zone of Gwaii Haanas, Haida Gwaii dating to 10,700 cal BP. Analysis of these data identified significant differences in settlement patterns between these early sites and those dating to the last two millennia. We also discuss whether early Holocene coastal settlement patterns may include a few long term residential sites from which people accessed many short term sites.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Archaeology of Stranded, Intertidal, and Submerged Shorelines on the Northwest Coast of North America

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 16501