From Field to Pithouse And Back Again: An Examination of Modern Vegetation and Paleoethnobotany of Housepit 54

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.

This poster compares observed species from the archaeobotanical record of Housepit 54 and a modern botanical survey conducted around the Bridge River Village. Archaeological data has been compiled from seed identification efforts from 15 floors in Housepit 54, completed 2013 to 2024. Seeds and other macrobotanical remains have been collected from sediment samples collected from across each floor during previous field seasons, have been processed by flotation, then separated using geological screens, and sorted by size. Seeds were identified and counted using microscopic and modern comparatives. The survey of modern vegetation was completed in late May of 2024. Xwisten Elders and Band Members shared knowledge of where significant plants had grown in the past, and these areas received pedestrian survey. All plants were identified, and some were collected for comparative samples. This survey represents the most recent efforts to combine Traditional Knowledge the Xwisten Elders hold, with the currant plant populations around the Mid-Fraser Canyon, and likely plant populations of the past over time as seen in the Housepit 54 archaeological record. 45 species have been observed in the archaeobotanical record and 128 species have been identified in the area around the village - 62 of which were significant plants.

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): 50166