The best method for quantifying the marine reservoir effect (MRE) using the global IntCal Marine1... more The best method for quantifying the marine reservoir effect (MRE) using the global IntCal Marine13 calibration curve remains unresolved. Archaeologists frequently quantify uncertainty on MRE values as errors computed from single pairs of marine-terrestrial radiocarbon ages, which we argue significantly overstates their accuracy and precision. Here, we review the assumptions, methods, and applications of estimating MRE via an estimate of the additional regional offset between the marine and terrestrial calibration curves (ΔR) for the Prince Rupert Harbour (PRH) region of British Columbia, Canada. We acknowledge the influence on ΔR of MRE variation as (1) a dynamic oceanographic process, (2) its variable expression in biochemical and geochemical pathways, and (3) compounding errors in sample selection, measurement, and calculation. We examine a large set of marine-terrestrial pairs (n = 63) from PRH to compare a common archaeological practice of estimating uncertainty from means that ...
This paper examines the pre-contact history of the eulachon fishery on the northern Northwest Coa... more This paper examines the pre-contact history of the eulachon fishery on the northern Northwest Coast of North America through multiple lines of evidence: zooarchaeological, ethnographic, and oral historical. The eulachon fishery and eulachon oil production was central to Northern Tsimshian socio-political relations, systems of ownership, and trade during the contact-and-post-contact period in the region. We bring together the results of an analysis of 15 fine-screened faunal assemblages collected from village sites in Prince Rupert Harbour and compare these with published northern coast village and camp fine-screened faunal assemblages. Our results show that eulachon and other smelt taxa are present in these assemblages, suggesting a deep history to the eulachon fishery. We suggest also that the paucity of eulachon remains at some sites could be explained by eulachon oil production and consider what lines of evidence are needed to explore the limitations of zooarchaeological data and the history of eulachon oil production in the future.
Glass that appears in archaeological contexts outside of the communities of its production and sh... more Glass that appears in archaeological contexts outside of the communities of its production and shows use as toolstone for lithic-like industries can be described as remanufactured. Such artifacts are commonly associated with contact encounters, most frequently with European colonial expansion. This article reviews the literature on remanufactured glass and argues that (1) much experimental and analytical work remains to develop coherent identification criteria, especially for expedient forms, and (2) such objects challenge archaeological orthodoxies in the definition of culture and its material manifestations. We argue that objects with manufacturing histories that span cultural contexts are a highly visible illustration of the hybridity in all cultural gestures. Hybridization is not a transaction between disparate, homogenous cultural regimes, but emerges from individual quotidian acts. Culture as a result, is not an entity, but the acceptance of coherence.
The relationship between humans and the sea has evolved over millennia in the Salish Sea (Georgia... more The relationship between humans and the sea has evolved over millennia in the Salish Sea (Georgia Basin/Puget Sound). Complex, pre-contact indigenous societies survived by adapting to and modifying their local environments for over 12,000 years. But the intricate, ...
The best method for quantifying the marine reservoir effect (MRE) using the global IntCal Marine1... more The best method for quantifying the marine reservoir effect (MRE) using the global IntCal Marine13 calibration curve remains unresolved. Archaeologists frequently quantify uncertainty on MRE values as errors computed from single pairs of marine-terrestrial radiocarbon ages, which we argue significantly overstates their accuracy and precision. Here, we review the assumptions, methods, and applications of estimating MRE via an estimate of the additional regional offset between the marine and terrestrial calibration curves (ΔR) for the Prince Rupert Harbour (PRH) region of British Columbia, Canada. We acknowledge the influence on ΔR of MRE variation as (1) a dynamic oceanographic process, (2) its variable expression in biochemical and geochemical pathways, and (3) compounding errors in sample selection, measurement, and calculation. We examine a large set of marine-terrestrial pairs (n = 63) from PRH to compare a common archaeological practice of estimating uncertainty from means that ...
The best method for quantifying the marine reservoir effect (MRE) using the global IntCal Marine1... more The best method for quantifying the marine reservoir effect (MRE) using the global IntCal Marine13 calibration curve remains unresolved. Archaeologists frequently quantify uncertainty on MRE values as errors computed from single pairs of marine-terrestrial radiocarbon ages, which we argue significantly overstates their accuracy and precision. Here, we review the assumptions, methods, and applications of estimating MRE via an estimate of the additional regional offset between the marine and terrestrial calibration curves (ΔR) for the Prince Rupert Harbour (PRH) region of British Columbia, Canada. We acknowledge the influence on ΔR of MRE variation as (1) a dynamic oceanographic process, (2) its variable expression in biochemical and geochemical pathways, and (3) compounding errors in sample selection, measurement, and calculation. We examine a large set of marine-terrestrial pairs (n = 63) from PRH to compare a common archaeological practice of estimating uncertainty from means that ...
This paper examines the pre-contact history of the eulachon fishery on the northern Northwest Coa... more This paper examines the pre-contact history of the eulachon fishery on the northern Northwest Coast of North America through multiple lines of evidence: zooarchaeological, ethnographic, and oral historical. The eulachon fishery and eulachon oil production was central to Northern Tsimshian socio-political relations, systems of ownership, and trade during the contact-and-post-contact period in the region. We bring together the results of an analysis of 15 fine-screened faunal assemblages collected from village sites in Prince Rupert Harbour and compare these with published northern coast village and camp fine-screened faunal assemblages. Our results show that eulachon and other smelt taxa are present in these assemblages, suggesting a deep history to the eulachon fishery. We suggest also that the paucity of eulachon remains at some sites could be explained by eulachon oil production and consider what lines of evidence are needed to explore the limitations of zooarchaeological data and the history of eulachon oil production in the future.
Glass that appears in archaeological contexts outside of the communities of its production and sh... more Glass that appears in archaeological contexts outside of the communities of its production and shows use as toolstone for lithic-like industries can be described as remanufactured. Such artifacts are commonly associated with contact encounters, most frequently with European colonial expansion. This article reviews the literature on remanufactured glass and argues that (1) much experimental and analytical work remains to develop coherent identification criteria, especially for expedient forms, and (2) such objects challenge archaeological orthodoxies in the definition of culture and its material manifestations. We argue that objects with manufacturing histories that span cultural contexts are a highly visible illustration of the hybridity in all cultural gestures. Hybridization is not a transaction between disparate, homogenous cultural regimes, but emerges from individual quotidian acts. Culture as a result, is not an entity, but the acceptance of coherence.
The relationship between humans and the sea has evolved over millennia in the Salish Sea (Georgia... more The relationship between humans and the sea has evolved over millennia in the Salish Sea (Georgia Basin/Puget Sound). Complex, pre-contact indigenous societies survived by adapting to and modifying their local environments for over 12,000 years. But the intricate, ...
The best method for quantifying the marine reservoir effect (MRE) using the global IntCal Marine1... more The best method for quantifying the marine reservoir effect (MRE) using the global IntCal Marine13 calibration curve remains unresolved. Archaeologists frequently quantify uncertainty on MRE values as errors computed from single pairs of marine-terrestrial radiocarbon ages, which we argue significantly overstates their accuracy and precision. Here, we review the assumptions, methods, and applications of estimating MRE via an estimate of the additional regional offset between the marine and terrestrial calibration curves (ΔR) for the Prince Rupert Harbour (PRH) region of British Columbia, Canada. We acknowledge the influence on ΔR of MRE variation as (1) a dynamic oceanographic process, (2) its variable expression in biochemical and geochemical pathways, and (3) compounding errors in sample selection, measurement, and calculation. We examine a large set of marine-terrestrial pairs (n = 63) from PRH to compare a common archaeological practice of estimating uncertainty from means that ...
Uploads