Excavating the Intertidal at Hup’kisakuu7a, a Summary and Artifact Analysis

Summary

The Barkley Sound region of Vancouver Island has a rich archaeological record that is important to the Nuu-chah-nulth people. Due to changing sea levels, places that were once exposed are now underwater, meaning that the earliest possible occupations cannot be excavated. We excavated in the intertidal at Hup’kisakuu7a because of the possibility of finding evidence of human occupation between 5500-7000 cal years BP when sea levels were just a few meters below modern. From the excavations conducted we found fire-cracked rock (FCR) and possible artifacts which point to humans being present at this time. However, due to the lack of dateable samples and uncertainty of artifacts it is not something that can be confidently concluded. Further work is required to be done in the intertidal at Hup’kisakuu7a, especially because the artifacts found at Hup’kisakuu7a are so promising.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Student Research in Coastal and Community Archaeology at the University of Victoria

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 16216