A Spoonful of Sediment: Using Geochemical Analysis to Understand Activity Patterns across and within Housepit 54 Floors

Summary

This is an abstract from the "The Housepit 54 Project at Bridge River, British Columbia: Multidisciplinary Contributions to Household Archaeology" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Analysis of household floor data from Housepit 54 at the Bridge River site, British Columbia has focused on the spatial distribution of lithic, faunal, botanical, and fire-cracked rock remains to provide insight into labor patterns, social identity, activity areas, and more. In order to better understand household use of space in conjunction with these macroscopic materials, we assess and visualize the geochemical properties of spatially distributed soil samples across multiple floors. As a means of delineating potential spatial boundaries of past activity, this analysis compares hearth proximity, storage/refuse pit location, and archaeological remains with floor surface geochemical signatures using pXRF and isotope analysis. By creating an isotope-informed index, we compare use of space across multiple scales from intra-floor variability to inter-floor change/consistency over time. This geochemical analysis is contextualized within the broader study of household social organization to reveal subtle distinctions and highlight the necessity of utilizing multiple depositional proxies to recreate past activity.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• The Housepit 54 Project at Bridge River, British Columbia: Multidisciplinary Contributions to Household Archaeology

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 50156