I am a coastal archaeologist interested in understanding human social relations, human-environmental relations, and human-animal relations. I am a specialist in zooarchaeology and marine historical ecology. I conduct research on these issues with Indigenous peoples on the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Address: Department of Anthropology PO Box 1700 STN CSC Victoria BC V8W 2Y2 Canada
Ancestral Coast Salish societies in the Pacific Northwest kept long-haired “woolly dogs” that wer... more Ancestral Coast Salish societies in the Pacific Northwest kept long-haired “woolly dogs” that were bred and cared for over millennia. However, the dog wool–weaving tradition declined during the 19th century, and the population was lost. In this study, we analyzed genomic and isotopic data from a preserved woolly dog pelt from “Mutton,” collected in 1859. Mutton is the only known example of an Indigenous North American dog with dominant precolonial ancestry postdating the onset of settler colonialism. We identified candidate genetic variants potentially linked with their distinct woolly phenotype. We integrated these data with interviews from Coast Salish Elders, Knowledge Keepers, and weavers about shared traditional knowledge and memories surrounding woolly dogs, their importance within Coast Salish societies, and how colonial policies led directly to their disappearance.
As global fish populations face threats from climatic change and human exploitation, the value of... more As global fish populations face threats from climatic change and human exploitation, the value of Indigenous knowledge and technology for guiding restoration and conservation efforts is gaining increasing recognition. Indigenous fishers on the Northwest Coast of North America traditionally employed sophisticated harvesting practices developed through long-term relationships with marine ecosystems, which promoted sustained harvests. Here we examine traditional Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) hook technology which has been shown to reduce bycatch of nontarget species and is often described as highly size-selective. We investigate this technology using ethnographic information, analysis of fishing equipment curated in museums, and measurements of modern halibut. We identify regional variation and overlap in hook styles, expand previously established hook typologies, and observe the greatest number of hooks and the most stylistic diversity originating from Haida Gwaii, a location where available zooarchaeological data indicates high halibut abundance. We demonstrate that two measurements (hook lip-gap and barb-area size) disproportionately influence the maximum and minimum body size. Based on hook and modern fish measurements, we estimate the sample of hooks targeted fish between 53 and 145 cm in length, indicating a broad but flexible size-selectivity that has present day relevance for fisheries conservation, including non-mortality slot-limit fishing.
Climate change is altering the distribution and composition of marine fish populations globally, ... more Climate change is altering the distribution and composition of marine fish populations globally, which presents substantial risks to the social and eco- nomic well-being of humanity. While deriving long- term climatic baselines is an essential step for detect- ing and attributing the magnitude of climate change and its impacts, these baselines tend to be limited to historical datasets and palaeoecological sediment records. Here, we develop a method for estimating the ‘ancient Mean Temperature of the Catch’ (aMTC) using Indigenous fisheries catch records from two archaeological sites in the northeast Pacific. Despite different catch compositions, we observe an increase in aMTC over a 5,000-year period at two contemporaneously occupied archaeological sites in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. We document cooler catches from 5,000 to 3,000 cal yr BP and comparatively warmer catches from 1,800 to 250 cal yr BP. These warmer temperatures are broadly consistent with palaeoceanographic sea surface temperature proxies from British Columbia and Alaska. Because this method requires converting measures of fish bones into estimates of fish size structure, abundance, biomass, and finally aMTC, opportunities exist to account for both variation and uncertainty at every step. Nevertheless, given that preindustrial fisheries data are ubiquitous in coastal archaeological sites, this method has the potential to be applied globally to broaden the temporal and geographic scale of ocean temperature baselines.
Coastal shell midden deposits are a quintessential component of the archaeological record on the ... more Coastal shell midden deposits are a quintessential component of the archaeological record on the Pacific Northwest Coast. Despite their importance in informing the cultural and environmental histories of Indigenous peoples, research on shell middens has largely not sought to address the physical extent of these cultural deposits, which requires estimating shape, depth, and volume. Here, we present a new scalable geospatial model, designed to work with legacy survey data, for estimating midden volumes based on applying a regular geometric solid to sites with known extent and depth. We evaluate the accuracy of this technique using percussion core, total station, and lidar data from eight sites in Tseshaht territory on western Vancouver Island and three sites on the north coast of British Columbia (Canada). As part of the evaluation process of our results, we calculate uncertainty using subsurface core depth data and then compare generalized and modeled midden volume estimates. We demonstrate an accurate general model applied at the regional scale across a systematically surveyed landscape. This work presents the first landscape-scale measure of midden extents and volume within our study area, with relevance to historical ecology and settlement patterns.
Historical ecology has revolutionized our understanding of fisheries and cultural landscapes, dem... more Historical ecology has revolutionized our understanding of fisheries and cultural landscapes, demonstrating the value of historical data for evaluating the past, present, and future of Earth's ecosystems. Despite several important studies, Indigenous fisheries generally receive less attention from scholars and managers than the 17th-20th century capitalist commercial fisheries that decimated many keystone species, including oysters. We investigate Indigenous oyster harvest through time in North America and Australia, placing these data in the context of sea level histories and historical catch records. Indigenous oyster fisheries were pervasive across space and through time, persisting for 5000-10,000 years or more. Oysters were likely managed and sometimes "farmed," and are woven into broader cultural, ritual, and social traditions. Effective stewardship of oyster reefs and other marine fisheries around the world must center Indigenous histories and include Indigenous community members to codevelop more inclusive, just, and successful strategies for restoration, harvest, and management.
This article highlights the utility of vibracore technology to sample deep shell midden deposits ... more This article highlights the utility of vibracore technology to sample deep shell midden deposits on the Central Pacific Coast of British Columbia, Canada. Analysis of six core samples and 21 radiocarbon dates revealed that the archaeological deposits extended to a depth of 544 cm below surface and that occupation began approximately 6,000 years ago, continuing into the sixteenth century AD. Zooarchaeological identification of fine screened (2 mm) sediments shows that fish constitute 99.8% of identified vertebrate fauna, with a focus on herring (Clupea pallasii), salmon (Oncorhynchus sp.), rockfish (Sebastes sp.), and greenling (Hexagrammos sp.), followed by a variety of other fish taxa utilized throughout the occupation of this site. Despite a much smaller examined volume relative to conventional excavation, vibracoring was effective in recovering deep, stratigraphically intact, and adequate samples of zooarchaeological fisheries data as well as a considerable number of stone, bone, and shell artifacts (an estimated 550 artifacts per cubic meter of cultural sediments). These results show a persistent and sustainable ancient fishery through six millennia until the contact period. The field and laboratory methods described are especially conducive to sampling large and deep shell midden deposits repetitively.
The historic extirpation and subsequent recovery of sea otters (Enhydra lutris) have profoundly c... more The historic extirpation and subsequent recovery of sea otters (Enhydra lutris) have profoundly changed coastal social-ecological systems across the northeastern Pacific. Today, the conservation status of sea otters is informed by estimates of population carrying capacity or growth rates independent of human impacts. However, archaeological and ethnographic evidence suggests that for millennia, complex hunting and management protocols by Indigenous communities limited sea otter abundance near human settlements to reduce the negative impacts of this keystone predator on shared shellfish prey. To assess relative sea otter prevalence in the Holocene, we compared the size structure of ancient California mussels (Mytilus californianus) from six archaeological sites in two regions on the Pacific Northwest Coast, to modern California mussels at locations with and without sea otters. We also quantified modern mussel size distributions from eight locations on the Central Coast of British Columbia, Canada, varying in sea otter occupation time. Comparisons of mussel size spectra revealed that ancient mussel size distributions are consistently more similar to modern size distributions at locations with a prolonged absence of sea otters. This indicates that late Holocene sea otters were maintained well below carrying capacity near human settlements as a result of human intervention. These findings illuminate the conditions under which sea otters and humans persisted over millennia prior to the Pacific maritime fur trade and raise important questions about contemporary conservation objectives for an iconic marine mammal and the social-ecological system in which it is embedded.
Aim: The global decline of megafauna is believed to have had significant and wide- spread ecologi... more Aim: The global decline of megafauna is believed to have had significant and wide- spread ecological impacts. One such extinction of likely important consequence is the 18th century extinction of the Steller’s sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas); however, little has been written about how the loss of this megaherbivore may have impacted coastal ecosystem dynamics. Drawing on historical evidence, sea cow biology, kelp forest ecology, and the ecology of extant sirenians, we propose several discrete hy- potheses about the effects Steller’s sea cows may have had on kelp forest dynamics of the North Pacific. Location: North Pacific Ocean. Time period: Pre-1760s. Major taxa studied: Steller’s sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas). Results & conclusions: The evidence we review suggests that Steller’s sea cows ex- erted substantial direct and indirect influences on kelp forests, likely affecting the physical ecosystem structure, productivity, nutrient cycling, species interactions, and export of nutrients to surrounding ecosystems. This suggests that kelp forest dynam- ics and resilience were already significantly altered prior to the influence of more recent and well-known stressors, such as industrial fishing and climate change, and illustrates the important ecological roles that are lost with megafaunal extinction.
Landscape genetic analyses of wildlife populations can exclude variation in a broad suite of pote... more Landscape genetic analyses of wildlife populations can exclude variation in a broad suite of potential spatiotemporal correlates, including consideration of how such variation might have similarly influenced people over time. Grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) populations in what is now known as coastal British Columbia, Canada, provide an opportunity to examine the possible effects of a complex set of landscape and human influences on genetic structure. In this collaboration among the Nuxalk, Haíɫzaqv, Kitasoo/Xai’xais, Gitga’at, and Wuikinuxv First Nations and conservation scientists, we characterized patterns of genetic differentiation in the grizzly bear, a species of high cultural value, by genotyping 22 microsatellite loci from noninvasively collected hair samples over a 23,500 km² area. We identified three well-differentiated groups. Resistance surfaces, which incorporated past and present human use, settlement, and landscape resistant features, could not explain this pattern of genetic variation. Notably, however, we detected spatial alignment between Indigenous language families and grizzly bear genetic groups. Grizzly bears sampled within an area represented by a given language family were significantly similar to those sampled within that language family (P = 0.001) and significantly divergent to those sampled outside the language family (P = 0.001). This spatial co-occurrence suggests that grizzly bear and human groups have been shaped by the landscape in similar ways, creating a convergence of grizzly bear genetic and human linguistic diversity. Additionally, grizzly bear management units designated by the provincial government currently divide an otherwise continuous group and exclude recently colonized island populations that are genetically continuous with adjacent mainland groups. This work provides not only insight into how ecological and geographic conditions can similarly shape the distribution of people and wildlife but also new genetic evidence to support renewed, locally led management of grizzly bears into the future.
Environmental management and monitoring must reconcile social and cultural objectives with biodiv... more Environmental management and monitoring must reconcile social and cultural objectives with biodiversity stewardship to overcome political barriers to conservation. Suitability modelling offers a powerful tool for such "biocultural" approaches, but examples remain rare. Led by the Stewardship Authority of the Kitasoo/Xai'xais First Nation in coastal British Columbia, Canada, we developed a locally informed suitability model for a key biocultural indicator, culturally modified trees (CMTs). CMTs are trees bearing evidence of past cultural use that are valued as tangible markers of Indigenous heritage and protected under provincial law. Using a spatial multi-criteria evaluation framework to predict CMT suitability, we developed two cultural predictor variables informed by Kitasoo/Xai'xais cultural expertise and ethnographic data in addition to six biophysical variables derived from LiDAR and photo interpretation data. Both cultural predictor variables were highly influential in our model, revealing that proximity to known habitation sites and accessibility to harvesters (by canoe and foot) more strongly influenced suitability for CMTs compared with site-level conditions. Applying our model to commercial forestry governance, we found that high CMT suitability areas are 51% greater inside the timber harvesting land base than outside. This work highlights how locally led suitability modelling can improve the social and evidentiary dimensions of environmental management.
In their recent paper entitled “Steller’s sea cow genome suggests
this species began going extinc... more In their recent paper entitled “Steller’s sea cow genome suggests this species began going extinct before the arrival of Paleolithic humans”, Sharko et al. use novel genomic methods to infer the demographic history of this species. Based on a single spe- cimen from the Commander Islands, the authors conclude that the species suffered a single catastrophic population decline approximately 400,000 years ago and was thus already on the verge of extinction well before human arrivals in the Late Pleis- tocene. Here we suggest their demographic assumptions warrant reinterpretation given the ecological barriers that likely structured sea cow populations along the North Pacific Rim. Our pre- liminary range simulations suggest that the Commander Is. population may have been physically isolated from others, mak- ing it unsuitable as a demographic inference for the entire sea cow North Pacific range. Under these assumptions, Sharko et al.’s findings are more likely indicative of the time since the isolation of this remnant population from the rest of the sea cow range, rather than representative of the population contraction of the species. This perspective highlights the importance of considering historical ecology and paleobiogeography when interpreting genomic data to infer past demographic histories.
Vibracoring is a geological sampling technology designed to obtain large-volume cores from a vari... more Vibracoring is a geological sampling technology designed to obtain large-volume cores from a variety of sediments. The technology has utility in coastal archaeology particularly for recovering stratigraphically intact sediments and zooarchaeological data from deep coastal archaeological sites. This article provides a short overview of how we applied this technology at two sites in the Broken Group Islands to evaluate for generating zooarchaeological and chronological data from deep coastal shell middens.
Domestic dogs are frequently encountered in Indigenous archaeological sites on the Northwest Coas... more Domestic dogs are frequently encountered in Indigenous archaeological sites on the Northwest Coast of North America. Although dogs depended on human communities for care and provisioning, archaeologists lack information about the specific foods dogs consumed. Previous research has used stable isotope analysis of dog diets for insight into human subsistence ('canine surrogacy' model) and identified considerable use of marine resources. Here, we use zooarchaeological data to develop and apply a Bayesian mixing model (MixSIAR) to estimate dietary composition from 14 domestic dogs and 13 potential prey taxa from four archaeological sites (2,900-300 BP) in Tseshaht First Nation territory on western Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Two candidate models that best match zooarchaeological data indicate dogs predominantly consumed salmon and forage fish (35-65%), followed by nearshore fish (4-40%), and marine mammals (2-30%). We compared these isotopic data to dogs across the Northwest Coast, which indicated a pronounced marine diet for Tseshaht dogs and, presumably, their human providers. These results are broadly consistent with the canine surrogacy model as well as help illuminate human participation in pre-industrial marine food webs and the long-term role of fisheries in Indigenous economies and lifeways. Although Indigenous communities on the Northwest Coast of North America have been classically described as 'hunter-gatherers' or 'fisher-hunter-gatherers' , they maintained disproportionately high population densities, extensive trade networks, and elaborate territorial and governance structures with a corresponding influence on coastal landscapes 1. A less well recognized component of cultural practices in this region is the care and maintenance of domestic dog (Canis familiaris) populations. Domestic dogs occur frequently in the early historic and oral historical accounts of the social and economic practices of Indigenous communities on the coast 2,3. The skeletal remains of dogs, including purposeful interments, are regularly encountered in archaeological site deposits dating back to the earliest sites with preserved fauna 3,4. Given that dogs depended on human communities for provisioning and protection from predators such as wolves, it has been postulated that the diet of dogs can reflect human subsistence practices through provisioning as well as scavenging of human refuse 5. One method by which researchers have generated insight into this relationship has been stable isotope analysis 6,7. Stable isotope analysis (SIA) estimates the relative contribution of foods that comprise an organism's diet and is a widely used method in ecology, archaeology, paleobiology, and forensics. Isotopic signatures can estimate diets among populations of the past via use of bone collagen and other preserved tissue of consumers and their foods. Two of the most commonly analyzed isotopes include carbon (δ 13 C), which can be used to assess whether an animal's protein is derived from marine or terrestrial sources 8 , and nitrogen (δ 15 N) isotopes, which open
Domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) occur in the archaeological record throughout North America but ... more Domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) occur in the archaeological record throughout North America but few zooarchaeo- logical studies have examined the extent of wild and domestic canids using multi-site observations across regions. Here, we present a meta-analysis of 172,310 mammal specimens identified from 210 archaeological sites along the Northwest Coast focusing on canid abundance, distribution, and osteological identifications. We show that canids have a ubiquitous geographic distribution and a high relative abundance in particular Northwest Coast sub-regions and that species-level identifications are overwhelmingly of domestic dogs in contrast to ~1% of non-domestic canids (wolf, coyote, and fox). Along with geochemical and genetic data, these zooarchaeological observations indicate a variety of roles for dogs including hunting, companionship, and wool production in a region lacking terrestrial agriculture and domestic livestock. We suggest the frequently applied taxonomic status of ‘indeterminate canid’ underestimates the extent to which domestic dogs played key roles in regional economies and cultural practices. Increased attention to resolving taxonomic ambiguity of canids through improving comparative collections and osteometric datasets will help clarify the non-conventional domestication pathways practiced by Northwest Coast peoples.
This paper presents the results of a consensus-driven process identifying 50 priority research qu... more This paper presents the results of a consensus-driven process identifying 50 priority research questions for historical ecology obtained through crowdsourcing, literature reviews, and in-person workshopping. A deliberative approach was designed to maximize discussion and debate with defined outcomes. Two in-person workshops (in Sweden and Canada) over the course of two years and online discussions were peer facilitated to define specific key questions for historical ecology from anthropological and archaeological perspectives. The aim of this research is to showcase the variety of questions that reflect the broad scope for historical-ecological research trajectories across scientific disciplines. Historical ecology encompasses research concerned with decadal, centennial, and millennial human-environmental interactions, and the consequences that those relationships have in the formation of contemporary landscapes. Six interrelated themes arose from our consensus-building workshop model: (1) climate and environmental change and variability; (2) multi-scalar, multidisciplinary ; (3) biodiversity and community ecology; (4) resource and environmental management and governance; (5) methods and applications; and (6) communication and
Rockfish (Sebastes spp.) are a common marine fish in nearshore and continental shelf environments... more Rockfish (Sebastes spp.) are a common marine fish in nearshore and continental shelf environments in the North Pacific Ocean. They are frequently identified in coastal archaeological sites in western North America; however, the morphological similarity of rockfish species limits conventional zooarchaeological identifications to the genus level. This study applies ancient DNA analysis to 96 archaeological rockfish specimens from four sites on separate islands in an archipelago on western Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Two of the archaeological sites are located within a marine protected area specifically designed to facilitate the recovery of inshore rockfish populations; two sites are located outside this boundary and remain subject to considerable fishing pressure. Using mitochondrial 16S and control region DNA sequences, we identify at least twelve different rockfish species utilized during the past 2,500 years. Identification of rockfish at closely spaced and contemporaneously occupied sites confirms that a variety of Sebastes species were consistently exploited at each site, with more exposed areas having a higher number of species present. Identification results indicate that four of the twelve species did not occur within the conservation area boundary and, instead, were found in sites where commercial and recreational fishing continues to be permitted. This study demonstrates that ancient DNA identifications of archaeological assemblages can complement and expand perspective on modern day fisheries conservation and management in this National Park Reserve and First Nations ancestral territory
Fisheries are of fundamental importance to Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest of North A... more Fisheries are of fundamental importance to Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest of North America today and in the past but few archaeological analyses have documented geographic patterning in fisheries across the entire region. This paper adopts meta-analysis methods and GIS-based spatial visualizations to survey the single largest compilation of fine-screened zooarchaeological fisheries data reported to date, including 513,605 fish remains identified at 222 sites from Oregon to southeast Alaska. These systematically collected zooarchaeological data indicate the most ubiquitous and proportionally abundant fish taxa over the late Holocene and reveal previously undocumented spatial patterning, indicating where certain fish taxa are consistently found in high relative proportions. Rather than seeking to evaluate chronological and/or evolutionary change, this study explores the environmental and cultural basis for assessing variability in Indigenous fisheries over millennial time scales. Specifically, we observe Pacific herring and the Pacific salmons to be the two most ubiquitous and proportionally abundant fish taxa across the Northwest Coast followed by flatfishes, sculpins, rockfishes, greenlings, dogfish, and a host of other poorly known taxa that represent consistent fishing effort. We document geographic patterning in the abundance and ubiquity of a range of fish including greater abundance of salmons in northern portions of the study area and outline trends that could represent biogeographic ranges for northern anchovy, Pacific hake, and pollock, among others. We conclude that examining patterning in the ubiquity and rank-order abundance represented by archaeological fisheries data offers significant potential for linking regionally distinct cultural practices noted in the 18th and 19th centuries to much longer human and ecological histories over the Holocene.
This article examines Nuu-chah-nulth oral histories in an archipelago on the exposed west coast o... more This article examines Nuu-chah-nulth oral histories in an archipelago on the exposed west coast of Vancouver Island, as well as the place names embedded within them, to evaluate Indigenous timelines of sequential and overlapping historical events alongside archaeological sequences of settlement. I specifically compare these distinct datasets in order to evaluate the ages of occupation in settlements in close proximity to each other as well as temporal trends within these large settlements. I observe oral historical sequences and the archaeological settlement chronology to show overlapping and complementary patterns that document the growth, expansion, and dynamically shifting residence patterns at multiple village sites over the past twenty-five hundred years. I argue that this comparison adds historical detail and an Indigenous perspective to an archaeological settlement history at an intergenerational scale and enriches interpretations of the relationships between spatially associated archaeological sites within a contact-era Nuu-chah-nulth local group territory along the outer coast of British Columbia.
This paper introduces a special issue of BC Studies featuring nine papers on the archaeology and ... more This paper introduces a special issue of BC Studies featuring nine papers on the archaeology and Indigenous history of the 'outer coast' of British Columbia.
Ancestral Coast Salish societies in the Pacific Northwest kept long-haired “woolly dogs” that wer... more Ancestral Coast Salish societies in the Pacific Northwest kept long-haired “woolly dogs” that were bred and cared for over millennia. However, the dog wool–weaving tradition declined during the 19th century, and the population was lost. In this study, we analyzed genomic and isotopic data from a preserved woolly dog pelt from “Mutton,” collected in 1859. Mutton is the only known example of an Indigenous North American dog with dominant precolonial ancestry postdating the onset of settler colonialism. We identified candidate genetic variants potentially linked with their distinct woolly phenotype. We integrated these data with interviews from Coast Salish Elders, Knowledge Keepers, and weavers about shared traditional knowledge and memories surrounding woolly dogs, their importance within Coast Salish societies, and how colonial policies led directly to their disappearance.
As global fish populations face threats from climatic change and human exploitation, the value of... more As global fish populations face threats from climatic change and human exploitation, the value of Indigenous knowledge and technology for guiding restoration and conservation efforts is gaining increasing recognition. Indigenous fishers on the Northwest Coast of North America traditionally employed sophisticated harvesting practices developed through long-term relationships with marine ecosystems, which promoted sustained harvests. Here we examine traditional Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) hook technology which has been shown to reduce bycatch of nontarget species and is often described as highly size-selective. We investigate this technology using ethnographic information, analysis of fishing equipment curated in museums, and measurements of modern halibut. We identify regional variation and overlap in hook styles, expand previously established hook typologies, and observe the greatest number of hooks and the most stylistic diversity originating from Haida Gwaii, a location where available zooarchaeological data indicates high halibut abundance. We demonstrate that two measurements (hook lip-gap and barb-area size) disproportionately influence the maximum and minimum body size. Based on hook and modern fish measurements, we estimate the sample of hooks targeted fish between 53 and 145 cm in length, indicating a broad but flexible size-selectivity that has present day relevance for fisheries conservation, including non-mortality slot-limit fishing.
Climate change is altering the distribution and composition of marine fish populations globally, ... more Climate change is altering the distribution and composition of marine fish populations globally, which presents substantial risks to the social and eco- nomic well-being of humanity. While deriving long- term climatic baselines is an essential step for detect- ing and attributing the magnitude of climate change and its impacts, these baselines tend to be limited to historical datasets and palaeoecological sediment records. Here, we develop a method for estimating the ‘ancient Mean Temperature of the Catch’ (aMTC) using Indigenous fisheries catch records from two archaeological sites in the northeast Pacific. Despite different catch compositions, we observe an increase in aMTC over a 5,000-year period at two contemporaneously occupied archaeological sites in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. We document cooler catches from 5,000 to 3,000 cal yr BP and comparatively warmer catches from 1,800 to 250 cal yr BP. These warmer temperatures are broadly consistent with palaeoceanographic sea surface temperature proxies from British Columbia and Alaska. Because this method requires converting measures of fish bones into estimates of fish size structure, abundance, biomass, and finally aMTC, opportunities exist to account for both variation and uncertainty at every step. Nevertheless, given that preindustrial fisheries data are ubiquitous in coastal archaeological sites, this method has the potential to be applied globally to broaden the temporal and geographic scale of ocean temperature baselines.
Coastal shell midden deposits are a quintessential component of the archaeological record on the ... more Coastal shell midden deposits are a quintessential component of the archaeological record on the Pacific Northwest Coast. Despite their importance in informing the cultural and environmental histories of Indigenous peoples, research on shell middens has largely not sought to address the physical extent of these cultural deposits, which requires estimating shape, depth, and volume. Here, we present a new scalable geospatial model, designed to work with legacy survey data, for estimating midden volumes based on applying a regular geometric solid to sites with known extent and depth. We evaluate the accuracy of this technique using percussion core, total station, and lidar data from eight sites in Tseshaht territory on western Vancouver Island and three sites on the north coast of British Columbia (Canada). As part of the evaluation process of our results, we calculate uncertainty using subsurface core depth data and then compare generalized and modeled midden volume estimates. We demonstrate an accurate general model applied at the regional scale across a systematically surveyed landscape. This work presents the first landscape-scale measure of midden extents and volume within our study area, with relevance to historical ecology and settlement patterns.
Historical ecology has revolutionized our understanding of fisheries and cultural landscapes, dem... more Historical ecology has revolutionized our understanding of fisheries and cultural landscapes, demonstrating the value of historical data for evaluating the past, present, and future of Earth's ecosystems. Despite several important studies, Indigenous fisheries generally receive less attention from scholars and managers than the 17th-20th century capitalist commercial fisheries that decimated many keystone species, including oysters. We investigate Indigenous oyster harvest through time in North America and Australia, placing these data in the context of sea level histories and historical catch records. Indigenous oyster fisheries were pervasive across space and through time, persisting for 5000-10,000 years or more. Oysters were likely managed and sometimes "farmed," and are woven into broader cultural, ritual, and social traditions. Effective stewardship of oyster reefs and other marine fisheries around the world must center Indigenous histories and include Indigenous community members to codevelop more inclusive, just, and successful strategies for restoration, harvest, and management.
This article highlights the utility of vibracore technology to sample deep shell midden deposits ... more This article highlights the utility of vibracore technology to sample deep shell midden deposits on the Central Pacific Coast of British Columbia, Canada. Analysis of six core samples and 21 radiocarbon dates revealed that the archaeological deposits extended to a depth of 544 cm below surface and that occupation began approximately 6,000 years ago, continuing into the sixteenth century AD. Zooarchaeological identification of fine screened (2 mm) sediments shows that fish constitute 99.8% of identified vertebrate fauna, with a focus on herring (Clupea pallasii), salmon (Oncorhynchus sp.), rockfish (Sebastes sp.), and greenling (Hexagrammos sp.), followed by a variety of other fish taxa utilized throughout the occupation of this site. Despite a much smaller examined volume relative to conventional excavation, vibracoring was effective in recovering deep, stratigraphically intact, and adequate samples of zooarchaeological fisheries data as well as a considerable number of stone, bone, and shell artifacts (an estimated 550 artifacts per cubic meter of cultural sediments). These results show a persistent and sustainable ancient fishery through six millennia until the contact period. The field and laboratory methods described are especially conducive to sampling large and deep shell midden deposits repetitively.
The historic extirpation and subsequent recovery of sea otters (Enhydra lutris) have profoundly c... more The historic extirpation and subsequent recovery of sea otters (Enhydra lutris) have profoundly changed coastal social-ecological systems across the northeastern Pacific. Today, the conservation status of sea otters is informed by estimates of population carrying capacity or growth rates independent of human impacts. However, archaeological and ethnographic evidence suggests that for millennia, complex hunting and management protocols by Indigenous communities limited sea otter abundance near human settlements to reduce the negative impacts of this keystone predator on shared shellfish prey. To assess relative sea otter prevalence in the Holocene, we compared the size structure of ancient California mussels (Mytilus californianus) from six archaeological sites in two regions on the Pacific Northwest Coast, to modern California mussels at locations with and without sea otters. We also quantified modern mussel size distributions from eight locations on the Central Coast of British Columbia, Canada, varying in sea otter occupation time. Comparisons of mussel size spectra revealed that ancient mussel size distributions are consistently more similar to modern size distributions at locations with a prolonged absence of sea otters. This indicates that late Holocene sea otters were maintained well below carrying capacity near human settlements as a result of human intervention. These findings illuminate the conditions under which sea otters and humans persisted over millennia prior to the Pacific maritime fur trade and raise important questions about contemporary conservation objectives for an iconic marine mammal and the social-ecological system in which it is embedded.
Aim: The global decline of megafauna is believed to have had significant and wide- spread ecologi... more Aim: The global decline of megafauna is believed to have had significant and wide- spread ecological impacts. One such extinction of likely important consequence is the 18th century extinction of the Steller’s sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas); however, little has been written about how the loss of this megaherbivore may have impacted coastal ecosystem dynamics. Drawing on historical evidence, sea cow biology, kelp forest ecology, and the ecology of extant sirenians, we propose several discrete hy- potheses about the effects Steller’s sea cows may have had on kelp forest dynamics of the North Pacific. Location: North Pacific Ocean. Time period: Pre-1760s. Major taxa studied: Steller’s sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas). Results & conclusions: The evidence we review suggests that Steller’s sea cows ex- erted substantial direct and indirect influences on kelp forests, likely affecting the physical ecosystem structure, productivity, nutrient cycling, species interactions, and export of nutrients to surrounding ecosystems. This suggests that kelp forest dynam- ics and resilience were already significantly altered prior to the influence of more recent and well-known stressors, such as industrial fishing and climate change, and illustrates the important ecological roles that are lost with megafaunal extinction.
Landscape genetic analyses of wildlife populations can exclude variation in a broad suite of pote... more Landscape genetic analyses of wildlife populations can exclude variation in a broad suite of potential spatiotemporal correlates, including consideration of how such variation might have similarly influenced people over time. Grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) populations in what is now known as coastal British Columbia, Canada, provide an opportunity to examine the possible effects of a complex set of landscape and human influences on genetic structure. In this collaboration among the Nuxalk, Haíɫzaqv, Kitasoo/Xai’xais, Gitga’at, and Wuikinuxv First Nations and conservation scientists, we characterized patterns of genetic differentiation in the grizzly bear, a species of high cultural value, by genotyping 22 microsatellite loci from noninvasively collected hair samples over a 23,500 km² area. We identified three well-differentiated groups. Resistance surfaces, which incorporated past and present human use, settlement, and landscape resistant features, could not explain this pattern of genetic variation. Notably, however, we detected spatial alignment between Indigenous language families and grizzly bear genetic groups. Grizzly bears sampled within an area represented by a given language family were significantly similar to those sampled within that language family (P = 0.001) and significantly divergent to those sampled outside the language family (P = 0.001). This spatial co-occurrence suggests that grizzly bear and human groups have been shaped by the landscape in similar ways, creating a convergence of grizzly bear genetic and human linguistic diversity. Additionally, grizzly bear management units designated by the provincial government currently divide an otherwise continuous group and exclude recently colonized island populations that are genetically continuous with adjacent mainland groups. This work provides not only insight into how ecological and geographic conditions can similarly shape the distribution of people and wildlife but also new genetic evidence to support renewed, locally led management of grizzly bears into the future.
Environmental management and monitoring must reconcile social and cultural objectives with biodiv... more Environmental management and monitoring must reconcile social and cultural objectives with biodiversity stewardship to overcome political barriers to conservation. Suitability modelling offers a powerful tool for such "biocultural" approaches, but examples remain rare. Led by the Stewardship Authority of the Kitasoo/Xai'xais First Nation in coastal British Columbia, Canada, we developed a locally informed suitability model for a key biocultural indicator, culturally modified trees (CMTs). CMTs are trees bearing evidence of past cultural use that are valued as tangible markers of Indigenous heritage and protected under provincial law. Using a spatial multi-criteria evaluation framework to predict CMT suitability, we developed two cultural predictor variables informed by Kitasoo/Xai'xais cultural expertise and ethnographic data in addition to six biophysical variables derived from LiDAR and photo interpretation data. Both cultural predictor variables were highly influential in our model, revealing that proximity to known habitation sites and accessibility to harvesters (by canoe and foot) more strongly influenced suitability for CMTs compared with site-level conditions. Applying our model to commercial forestry governance, we found that high CMT suitability areas are 51% greater inside the timber harvesting land base than outside. This work highlights how locally led suitability modelling can improve the social and evidentiary dimensions of environmental management.
In their recent paper entitled “Steller’s sea cow genome suggests
this species began going extinc... more In their recent paper entitled “Steller’s sea cow genome suggests this species began going extinct before the arrival of Paleolithic humans”, Sharko et al. use novel genomic methods to infer the demographic history of this species. Based on a single spe- cimen from the Commander Islands, the authors conclude that the species suffered a single catastrophic population decline approximately 400,000 years ago and was thus already on the verge of extinction well before human arrivals in the Late Pleis- tocene. Here we suggest their demographic assumptions warrant reinterpretation given the ecological barriers that likely structured sea cow populations along the North Pacific Rim. Our pre- liminary range simulations suggest that the Commander Is. population may have been physically isolated from others, mak- ing it unsuitable as a demographic inference for the entire sea cow North Pacific range. Under these assumptions, Sharko et al.’s findings are more likely indicative of the time since the isolation of this remnant population from the rest of the sea cow range, rather than representative of the population contraction of the species. This perspective highlights the importance of considering historical ecology and paleobiogeography when interpreting genomic data to infer past demographic histories.
Vibracoring is a geological sampling technology designed to obtain large-volume cores from a vari... more Vibracoring is a geological sampling technology designed to obtain large-volume cores from a variety of sediments. The technology has utility in coastal archaeology particularly for recovering stratigraphically intact sediments and zooarchaeological data from deep coastal archaeological sites. This article provides a short overview of how we applied this technology at two sites in the Broken Group Islands to evaluate for generating zooarchaeological and chronological data from deep coastal shell middens.
Domestic dogs are frequently encountered in Indigenous archaeological sites on the Northwest Coas... more Domestic dogs are frequently encountered in Indigenous archaeological sites on the Northwest Coast of North America. Although dogs depended on human communities for care and provisioning, archaeologists lack information about the specific foods dogs consumed. Previous research has used stable isotope analysis of dog diets for insight into human subsistence ('canine surrogacy' model) and identified considerable use of marine resources. Here, we use zooarchaeological data to develop and apply a Bayesian mixing model (MixSIAR) to estimate dietary composition from 14 domestic dogs and 13 potential prey taxa from four archaeological sites (2,900-300 BP) in Tseshaht First Nation territory on western Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Two candidate models that best match zooarchaeological data indicate dogs predominantly consumed salmon and forage fish (35-65%), followed by nearshore fish (4-40%), and marine mammals (2-30%). We compared these isotopic data to dogs across the Northwest Coast, which indicated a pronounced marine diet for Tseshaht dogs and, presumably, their human providers. These results are broadly consistent with the canine surrogacy model as well as help illuminate human participation in pre-industrial marine food webs and the long-term role of fisheries in Indigenous economies and lifeways. Although Indigenous communities on the Northwest Coast of North America have been classically described as 'hunter-gatherers' or 'fisher-hunter-gatherers' , they maintained disproportionately high population densities, extensive trade networks, and elaborate territorial and governance structures with a corresponding influence on coastal landscapes 1. A less well recognized component of cultural practices in this region is the care and maintenance of domestic dog (Canis familiaris) populations. Domestic dogs occur frequently in the early historic and oral historical accounts of the social and economic practices of Indigenous communities on the coast 2,3. The skeletal remains of dogs, including purposeful interments, are regularly encountered in archaeological site deposits dating back to the earliest sites with preserved fauna 3,4. Given that dogs depended on human communities for provisioning and protection from predators such as wolves, it has been postulated that the diet of dogs can reflect human subsistence practices through provisioning as well as scavenging of human refuse 5. One method by which researchers have generated insight into this relationship has been stable isotope analysis 6,7. Stable isotope analysis (SIA) estimates the relative contribution of foods that comprise an organism's diet and is a widely used method in ecology, archaeology, paleobiology, and forensics. Isotopic signatures can estimate diets among populations of the past via use of bone collagen and other preserved tissue of consumers and their foods. Two of the most commonly analyzed isotopes include carbon (δ 13 C), which can be used to assess whether an animal's protein is derived from marine or terrestrial sources 8 , and nitrogen (δ 15 N) isotopes, which open
Domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) occur in the archaeological record throughout North America but ... more Domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) occur in the archaeological record throughout North America but few zooarchaeo- logical studies have examined the extent of wild and domestic canids using multi-site observations across regions. Here, we present a meta-analysis of 172,310 mammal specimens identified from 210 archaeological sites along the Northwest Coast focusing on canid abundance, distribution, and osteological identifications. We show that canids have a ubiquitous geographic distribution and a high relative abundance in particular Northwest Coast sub-regions and that species-level identifications are overwhelmingly of domestic dogs in contrast to ~1% of non-domestic canids (wolf, coyote, and fox). Along with geochemical and genetic data, these zooarchaeological observations indicate a variety of roles for dogs including hunting, companionship, and wool production in a region lacking terrestrial agriculture and domestic livestock. We suggest the frequently applied taxonomic status of ‘indeterminate canid’ underestimates the extent to which domestic dogs played key roles in regional economies and cultural practices. Increased attention to resolving taxonomic ambiguity of canids through improving comparative collections and osteometric datasets will help clarify the non-conventional domestication pathways practiced by Northwest Coast peoples.
This paper presents the results of a consensus-driven process identifying 50 priority research qu... more This paper presents the results of a consensus-driven process identifying 50 priority research questions for historical ecology obtained through crowdsourcing, literature reviews, and in-person workshopping. A deliberative approach was designed to maximize discussion and debate with defined outcomes. Two in-person workshops (in Sweden and Canada) over the course of two years and online discussions were peer facilitated to define specific key questions for historical ecology from anthropological and archaeological perspectives. The aim of this research is to showcase the variety of questions that reflect the broad scope for historical-ecological research trajectories across scientific disciplines. Historical ecology encompasses research concerned with decadal, centennial, and millennial human-environmental interactions, and the consequences that those relationships have in the formation of contemporary landscapes. Six interrelated themes arose from our consensus-building workshop model: (1) climate and environmental change and variability; (2) multi-scalar, multidisciplinary ; (3) biodiversity and community ecology; (4) resource and environmental management and governance; (5) methods and applications; and (6) communication and
Rockfish (Sebastes spp.) are a common marine fish in nearshore and continental shelf environments... more Rockfish (Sebastes spp.) are a common marine fish in nearshore and continental shelf environments in the North Pacific Ocean. They are frequently identified in coastal archaeological sites in western North America; however, the morphological similarity of rockfish species limits conventional zooarchaeological identifications to the genus level. This study applies ancient DNA analysis to 96 archaeological rockfish specimens from four sites on separate islands in an archipelago on western Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Two of the archaeological sites are located within a marine protected area specifically designed to facilitate the recovery of inshore rockfish populations; two sites are located outside this boundary and remain subject to considerable fishing pressure. Using mitochondrial 16S and control region DNA sequences, we identify at least twelve different rockfish species utilized during the past 2,500 years. Identification of rockfish at closely spaced and contemporaneously occupied sites confirms that a variety of Sebastes species were consistently exploited at each site, with more exposed areas having a higher number of species present. Identification results indicate that four of the twelve species did not occur within the conservation area boundary and, instead, were found in sites where commercial and recreational fishing continues to be permitted. This study demonstrates that ancient DNA identifications of archaeological assemblages can complement and expand perspective on modern day fisheries conservation and management in this National Park Reserve and First Nations ancestral territory
Fisheries are of fundamental importance to Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest of North A... more Fisheries are of fundamental importance to Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest of North America today and in the past but few archaeological analyses have documented geographic patterning in fisheries across the entire region. This paper adopts meta-analysis methods and GIS-based spatial visualizations to survey the single largest compilation of fine-screened zooarchaeological fisheries data reported to date, including 513,605 fish remains identified at 222 sites from Oregon to southeast Alaska. These systematically collected zooarchaeological data indicate the most ubiquitous and proportionally abundant fish taxa over the late Holocene and reveal previously undocumented spatial patterning, indicating where certain fish taxa are consistently found in high relative proportions. Rather than seeking to evaluate chronological and/or evolutionary change, this study explores the environmental and cultural basis for assessing variability in Indigenous fisheries over millennial time scales. Specifically, we observe Pacific herring and the Pacific salmons to be the two most ubiquitous and proportionally abundant fish taxa across the Northwest Coast followed by flatfishes, sculpins, rockfishes, greenlings, dogfish, and a host of other poorly known taxa that represent consistent fishing effort. We document geographic patterning in the abundance and ubiquity of a range of fish including greater abundance of salmons in northern portions of the study area and outline trends that could represent biogeographic ranges for northern anchovy, Pacific hake, and pollock, among others. We conclude that examining patterning in the ubiquity and rank-order abundance represented by archaeological fisheries data offers significant potential for linking regionally distinct cultural practices noted in the 18th and 19th centuries to much longer human and ecological histories over the Holocene.
This article examines Nuu-chah-nulth oral histories in an archipelago on the exposed west coast o... more This article examines Nuu-chah-nulth oral histories in an archipelago on the exposed west coast of Vancouver Island, as well as the place names embedded within them, to evaluate Indigenous timelines of sequential and overlapping historical events alongside archaeological sequences of settlement. I specifically compare these distinct datasets in order to evaluate the ages of occupation in settlements in close proximity to each other as well as temporal trends within these large settlements. I observe oral historical sequences and the archaeological settlement chronology to show overlapping and complementary patterns that document the growth, expansion, and dynamically shifting residence patterns at multiple village sites over the past twenty-five hundred years. I argue that this comparison adds historical detail and an Indigenous perspective to an archaeological settlement history at an intergenerational scale and enriches interpretations of the relationships between spatially associated archaeological sites within a contact-era Nuu-chah-nulth local group territory along the outer coast of British Columbia.
This paper introduces a special issue of BC Studies featuring nine papers on the archaeology and ... more This paper introduces a special issue of BC Studies featuring nine papers on the archaeology and Indigenous history of the 'outer coast' of British Columbia.
In: Huu7ii: Household Archaeology at a Nuu-chah-nulth Village Site in Barkley Sound, by Alan D. McMillan & Denis E. St. Claire. Archaeology Press, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby., Jun 2012
This paper describes how fish overwhelmingly dominates the animal bone assemblage from the examin... more This paper describes how fish overwhelmingly dominates the animal bone assemblage from the examined column sample deposits at the Huu7ii village site, the named ancestral village of the Huu-ay-aht First Nation. Fish represent 99.9% of all identified bone specimens and are present in every examined litre of sediment indicating the importance of fish in the everyday life of site occupants. The bone assemblage is numerically dominated by Pacific herring, which vastly outnumbers the next most abundant fish: anchovy, salmon, hake, greenling, dogfish, and rockfish as well as two-dozen other fish taxa. I conduct a series of descriptive, quantitative, and graphical analyses that seek to interpret resource harvesting practices at the two examined portions of the site: a very large house (17x35m) dating to the late-Holocene (ca. 1,500-400 yr BP) and mid-Holocene midden deposits recovered on a raised beach terrace (ca. 5,000-3,000 yr BP).
Full Citation:
McKechnie, Iain (2012) Zooarchaeological Analysis of the Indigenous Fishery at the Huu7ii Big House and Back Terrace, Huu-ay-aht Territory, Southwestern Vancouver Island. In Huu7ii: Household Archaeology at a Nuu-chah-nulth Village Site in Barkley Sound, by Alan D. McMillan & Denis E. St. Claire. pp. 154–186. Archaeology Press, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby.
Mackie, Quentin, Daryl W. Fedje, Duncan McLaren, Nicole Smith and Iain McKechnie (2011). In Trekking the Shore: Changing Coastlines and the Antiquity of Coastal Settlement, edited by N. F. Bicho, J. A. Haws and L. G. Davis, pp. 51–103, Springer, New York.
Coastal British Columbia is largely a rugged fjord-land archipelago. It has not always been so – ... more Coastal British Columbia is largely a rugged fjord-land archipelago. It has not always been so – over time, the coastline has changed configuration dramatically and the fauna and flora have seen multiple successions and extirpations. Through this, for the last 11,000 RCYBP years at least, resilient people made their living from the ocean and the land, shrugging off or taking advantage of environmental change. Similarly, archaeologists have worked the nooks and crannies of the coast for decades, surveying in the dense forest and digging in the deep middens, subject to similar environmental conditions as those they study and making quiet progress in regional culture histories. In more recent years, this area has been thrust to the forefront of research into the First Peopling of the American continents. As the Clovis First model began to be questioned, alternate modes and routes for the arrival of humans were brought in from the sidelines, including the hypothesized west coast route (e.g., Fladmark 1979). Not much research had been focused on this route, perhaps as Easton (1992) suggests, because of the terrestrial mindset of many archaeologists. Perhaps also, the prospects of finding sites on the deeply drowned landscapes or in the rugged, heavily forested hinterland was prohibitively daunting and led to a pessimistic outlook on success.
In this chapter, we compile archaeological data on the distribution of pinnipeds and sea otters f... more In this chapter, we compile archaeological data on the distribution of pinnipeds and sea otters from archaeological assemblages along the coast of southern British Columbia. We evaluate the spatial and temporal extent of human hunting and explore the possible influence humans may have had on this aspect of the marine environment and, conversely, discuss the potential significance that hunting these animals had to First Nations cultures in the region.
"Archaeologists working on the Northwest Coast have periodically employed the use of core and col... more "Archaeologists working on the Northwest Coast have periodically employed the use of core and column sampling to describe the taxonomic composition of fish recovered from small volumes of fine-screened archaeological deposit (Cannon 2000; Casteel 1976a; Coupland 1991; Fawcett 1991; Hanson 1991; Monks 1977; Moss 1989; Wigen and Eldon 1987). Although the controlled recovery and laboratory processing of these fine-screened (less than 6 mm) matrix samples is known to be an effective way to describe the composition of fish in a shell midden deposit, this type of analysis is rarely conducted in more than a single area of a site, and the results are not often explicitly compared to fauna identified from adjacent excavation units (but see Cannon 2000). As a result, taxonomic frequencies of fine-screened fish remains are often not included in the spatial, temporal and quantitative investigation of prehistoric subsistence practices on the Northwest Coast, even though fish remains are often the most numerous and ubiquitous vertebrate taxa present in shell midden deposits.
Here, I describe fish recovered from five fine-screened column samples and compare this with the large assemblage of fish remains identified from excavation units at Tsʼishaa (Frederick and Crockford, 2005). My purpose in doing so is to provide a broader assessment of the context and significance of the fauna recovered from the site as a whole. My column sample analysis is based an assemblage of 20,245 fine-screened fish remains and is compared to an assemblage of 45,333 fish specimens examined from 1⁄4" excavation units, where fish account for the overwhelming majority of the fauna identified (66–98% NISP, Frederick and Crockford 2005)."
This monograph reports the results of extensive excavation at three portions of this large villag... more This monograph reports the results of extensive excavation at three portions of this large village complex, the origin location of the Tseshaht people in their oral traditions. It incorporates information on Tseshaht oral history and ethnography, as well as archaeology. Substantial appendices report the results of specialized analyses.
In August 2010, an international group of zooarchaeologists gathered to share and discuss advance... more In August 2010, an international group of zooarchaeologists gathered to share and discuss advances in collaboration, communication, and information management during a symposium at the 11th International Council for Archaeozoology (ICAZ) conference in Paris, France. The presentations and posters in the session, nine of which are presented in this special issue, detail current projects using digital technologies to document, assess, integrate, and communicate zooarchaeological research.
Zooarchaeologists are increasingly employing novel digital technologies in their research into th... more Zooarchaeologists are increasingly employing novel digital technologies in their research into the archaeological history of the human use of animals. This special issue of Ethnobiology Letters highlights a series of new technological approaches that expand the capacity for addressing outstanding research questions and chart new courses for interpretation beyond conventional analyses. This collection of articles build upon papers presented during a symposium at the International Council of Archaeozoology Conference held in San Rafael, Mendoza Province, Argentina in September 2014.
I am a guest editor (along with Alan McMillan) of an upcoming special Issue of the journal 'BC St... more I am a guest editor (along with Alan McMillan) of an upcoming special Issue of the journal 'BC Studies' which will feature nine papers about the archaeology of the outer Coast of British Columbia. This special issue will be published in Early November and available in print and online at: http://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/bcstudies/issue/archive
In August 2010, an international group of zooarchaeologists gathered to share and discuss advance... more In August 2010, an international group of zooarchaeologists gathered to share and discuss advances in collaboration, communication, and information management during a symposium at the 11th International Council for Archaeozoology (ICAZ) conference in Paris, France. The presentations and posters in the session, nine of which are presented in this special issue, detail current projects using digital technologies to document, assess, integrate, and communicate zooarchaeological research.
This dissertation examines multiple scales of Indigenous history on the Northwest Coast from the ... more This dissertation examines multiple scales of Indigenous history on the Northwest Coast from the disciplinary perspective of archaeology. I focus on cultural lifeways archaeologically represented in two key domains of human existence: food and settlement. The dissertation consists of six individual case studies that demonstrate the utility of applying multiple spatial and temporal scales to refine archaeological understanding of cultural and historical variability on the Northwest Coast over the Mid-to-Late Holocene (ca. 5,000-200 BP). The first of three regionally scaled analyses presents a coast-wide examination of fisheries data indicating that Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) exhibit a pervasive and previously under-recognized importance in Northwest Coast Indigenous subsistence practices. Next, I use zooarchaeological data from the southern British Columbia coast to identify a pattern of regional coherence in Coast Salish and Nuu-chah-nulth hunting traditions reflecting the scale of intergenerational cultural practice. The third study re-calibrates the settlement history of a small and historically significant locality in Coast Tsimshian territory (Prince Rupert Harbour) to clarify the temporal resolution of existing radiocarbon datasets and test inferences about social and political change. Following this regional exploration of scale, I document site-specific temporal variability in archaeological fisheries data from a Nuu-chah-nulth ‘big-house’ reflecting climatic and socio-economic change. I examine Indigenous oral histories and archaeological datasets to evaluate these parallel records of settlement in the neighbouring territory of an autonomous Nuu-chah-nulth polity before and during the occupation of a large defensive fortress. Finally, I demonstrate how everyday foodways are archaeologically expressed and reflect ecological differences and active management strategies within several spatially associated sites over millennial timescales. These linked case studies offer new clarity into long-standing debates concerning archaeologically relevant scales of cultural-historical variability on the NWC. They collectively demonstrate an enduring regional and temporal coherence for key aspects of Indigenous resource use and settlement and a historical dynamism at finer scales. I argue this has cultural, historical, and archaeological significance as well as relevance for contemporary understandings of the Northwest Coast environment. I conclude that a focus on the pervasive aspects of the everyday over millennia offers insight into individual actions across broader patterns of history.
This thesis critically examines the archaeological history of fishing at a five thousand year-old... more This thesis critically examines the archaeological history of fishing at a five thousand year-old shell midden on the southwest coast of Vancouver Island. To do this, I use fish bones identified from Ts’ishaa (DfSi 16 and 17), a large ethnographically identified Nuu- chah-nulth village, to describe the taxonomic composition of marine fish recovered from spatially and temporally distinct areas of the site. After evaluating the depositional and taphonomic history of the assemblage, I examine evidence of fishing at a variety of spatial and temporal scales. I identify periods of change and continuity in the use of abundant and ubiquitous fish taxa throughout the site and conclude that similarities between contemporaneous deposits demonstrate the existence of community-wide fishing practices. I then characterize changes observed in the archaeological record by linking them to community-level changes in the use of the site at different points in time.
In partnership with the Huu-ay-aht First Nation and the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre, this arc... more In partnership with the Huu-ay-aht First Nation and the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre, this archaeological field course introduces students to coastal field archaeology on the Northwest Coast of North America. Over six weeks, two Huu-ay-aht youth and 15 students from the western Canadian Universities will participate in field trips to a variety of archaeological sites, attend lectures on Indigenous oral history, archaeological theory, zooarchaeology, and the historical ecology of western Vancouver Island; and participate in 3 weeks of intensive fieldwork. The remainder of the course will be spent in the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre labs and facilities analyzing recovered samples and completing collaboratively authored site reports. Students will also be responsible for individual reports on aspects of this archaeological research, all of which will be shared with the Huu-ay-aht First Nation, the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre, and the British Columbia Archaeology Branch.
The department of Anthropology at UVic will be running an archaeology field school in Nuu-chah-nu... more The department of Anthropology at UVic will be running an archaeology field school in Nuu-chah-nulth First Nation territories on western Vancouver Island as part of two 1.5-credit courses (ANTH 343 & 344). The first four days of the field school will be based in Victoria followed by two and a half weeks of remote camp-based fieldwork in the Broken Group Islands in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. The final 3-weeks of the course will be spent at the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre (a UVic supported teaching and research facility in Barkley Sound) where students will conduct laboratory analyses and prepare written research reports on recovered archaeological material. This course will be an immersive 6-week field experience (including hiking, camping, and boat travel) and require full days and dedicated teamwork.
In 2016 the UVic Archaeology field school will be offered in Nuu-chah-nulth First Nation territor... more In 2016 the UVic Archaeology field school will be offered in Nuu-chah-nulth First Nation territories on western Vancouver Island in coastal British Columbia as part of two 1.5 credit courses (Anthropology 343 & 344). The first week of the field school will be based at UVic which will be followed by two weeks of remote camp-based fieldwork in the Broken Group Islands in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. The final 3-weeks of the course will be spent at the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre (a UVic supported teaching and research facility in Barkley Sound) where students will conduct laboratory analyses and prepare written research reports on recovered archaeological material. This course will be immersive 6-week field experience (including hiking, camping, and boat travel) and require full days and dedicated teamwork. Please visit the weblink below to see how things are progressing.
This 3-week field and lab based course will introduce students to historical ecology from a coast... more This 3-week field and lab based course will introduce students to historical ecology from a coastal archaeological perspective. We will visit and examine archaeological data from a series of coastal archaeological sites in Nuu-chah-nulth territory in Barkley Sound. The majority of our time will be spent in the Treaty lands and traditional territory of the Huu-ay-aht First Nations where we will be conducting laboratory analysis of archaeological data collected from in the Broken Group Islands in the traditional territory of the Tseshaht First Nation. Students will attend lectures, labs, seminars, and fieldtrips introducing them to Indigenous history and the analytical potential of ecological data obtained from archaeological sites. We will conduct laboratory research in archaeology and work with existing zooarchaeological data (animal remains from archaeological sites) as part of independent student projects. These reports will be presented to the Huu-ay-aht, Tseshaht, and Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre as well as the Provincial and Federal Heritage Management agencies (BC Archaeology Branch and Parks Canada) upon completion of the course.
In Late May 2014, Hakai faculty Margot Hessing-Lewis and Iain McKechnie co-instructed a 2-week co... more In Late May 2014, Hakai faculty Margot Hessing-Lewis and Iain McKechnie co-instructed a 2-week course focused on the intersections between Archaeology and Ecology. The goal of the course was to bring together students and experts from both disciplines to productively converse between our different perspectives and methodologies. In doing so, our aim was to improve and find new collaborative approaches to understand the social and ecological landscape of BC's Central Coast, and beyond. Twelve students from diverse fields and backgrounds took part in the course's daily lectures and field trips. During their busy 2-week stay at HBI, they heard from and took part in discussion with 22 guest lecturers, including academics, Indigenous knowledge holders and Hakai affiliated researchers. Below is a selection of student reflections on the course, including photos from the experience. Many thanks to the Hakai Beach Institute, including Eric and Christina, HBI staff, guest lecturers, and students for taking the time to make this an incredible learning opportunity.
to apply for 2015 visit:
http://www.bms.bc.ca/university/courses2015/summer15.html
please note... more to apply for 2015 visit:
http://www.bms.bc.ca/university/courses2015/summer15.html please note that the application deadline has been extended. Please be in touch with the University Programs Office to discuss the application process specifically
(250) 728-3301 ext. 216
Course Description:
In partnership with the Huu-ay-aht First Nation, this course introduces students to coastal field archaeology. Over six weeks, students participate in field trips to a variety of archaeological sites; attend lectures on indigenous history, archaeological theory, paleoenvironments, and the historical ecology of the west coast of Vancouver Island; and participate in 3 weeks of fieldwork. The remaining class time will be spent in the lab analyzing archaeological samples and completing individual final projects. Students are also responsible for writing up aspects of the archaeological work in a detailed site report, which will be shared with the Huu-ay-aht First Nation and the provincial Archaeology Branch.
Research Skills:
Students will learn about the fundamentals of archaeological survey, recording, excavation, sampling, data analysis, and how to prepare written reports on their findings. We will work in groups to develop and address archaeological research questions and regularly share our observations with community members.
Prerequisites:
An introductory course in Anthropology and an introductory course in Archaeology, or permission of the Instructor.
Required Textbook:
Alan McMillan and Denis St.Claire 2012. Huu7ii: Household Archaeology at a Nuu-chah-nulth Village Site in Barkley Sound. Archaeology Press, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC. Please purchase prior to the start of class through SFU Archaeology Press:
http://www.sfu.ca/archaeology/archpress/catalogue/huu7ii.html
Additional readings will be provided by instructors during class.
We recommend the following for anyone interested in some archaeological background to the region: Since the Time of the Transformers: The Ancient Heritage of the Nuu-chah-nulth, Ditidaht, and Makah by Alan McMillan, 1999, UBC Press, Vancouver, BC. available at
http://www.ubcpress.ca/search/title_book.asp?BookID=1666
Physical Requirements: Students must be comfortable in boats and with traversing rough, slippery, and forested terrain in all weather. They must also be able to lift, carry, and/or operate equipment weighing up to 20 lbs.
For More Information about the Bamfield Marine Science Centre, its courses and how to apply please visit:
We examined the isotopic composition (d 13 C and d 15 N) of sea otter (Enhydra lutris) bone colla... more We examined the isotopic composition (d 13 C and d 15 N) of sea otter (Enhydra lutris) bone collagen from ten late Holocene (ca. 5200 years BPeAD 1900) archaeological sites in northern British Columbia (BC), Canada. Because sea otters are now extinct from much of this region and have not fully recolonized their former range (e.g. Haida Gwaii and most of northern BC) these data represent an important first step towards better understanding sea otter foraging ecology in BC. The isotopic data suggest a diet composed primarily of benthic invertebrates, with a very low reliance on epibenthic fish. There is very low isotopic and thus inter-individual dietary variability in Holocene BC sea otters during the late Holocene. Furthermore, zooarchaeological abundance data suggest that otters represented a widespread and significant focus of aboriginal hunting practices on the northern BC coast during the mid-to late-Holocene. The consistent reliance on a small number of low-trophic level prey and limited dietary variability in Holocene BC sea otters may reflect top-down impacts on otter populations by aboriginal peoples. As part of our assessment of sea otter diet, we review trophic discrimination factors (D 13 C and
Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site has seen considerable archaeological s... more Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site has seen considerable archaeological survey work in recent decades with approximately 200 sites recorded in the intertidal zone. While a number of early Holocene sites have been subject to intensive intertidal investigations, other site types, such as fishtraps, have been studied to a lesser degree. This paper will examine the results of preliminary fieldwork aimed at documenting and dating intertidal and riverine fishtrap features in Gwaii Haanas, and places the results in the context of recent terrestrial research which has documented a late Holocene shift in subsistence towards increased salmon use.
Rockfish (Sebastes spp.) are a diverse genus of marine fishes, with approximately 103 species wor... more Rockfish (Sebastes spp.) are a diverse genus of marine fishes, with approximately 103 species worldwide and at least 72 in the NE Pacific 1 .
Researchers from Hakai Institute, Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre, and Huu-ay-aht First Nation ha... more Researchers from Hakai Institute, Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre, and Huu-ay-aht First Nation have collaborated to begin mapping archaeologically and ecologically significant places in Barkley Sound on the southwest coast of Vancouver Island using UAVs (drones). These drones create georeferenced 3D maps from hundreds of overlapping aerial photos and provide an opportunity to depict research sites within their larger coastal landscape and measure elements of the coast in fine detail.
I was part of a workshop on the recovery of Sea Otters in British Columbia in 2014 and this short... more I was part of a workshop on the recovery of Sea Otters in British Columbia in 2014 and this short film was made about the event: to view the movie, see http://coastalvoices.net/
Many zooarchaeologists are developing or employing effective and/or novel digital technologies as... more Many zooarchaeologists are developing or employing effective and/or novel digital technologies as key aspects of their research. This session highlights novel approaches and improvements from previous research efforts. Here is a list of presenters.
Moreno-García, M.; Pimenta, C.
Measuring the small: a digital proposal to improve the osteometrical study of Passeriformes.
Manzano, B.; Means, B.; Zechini, M.; Begley, C.
Digital Scanned 3-D Reproduced Elements of Extinct Species; The Future Examines the Past.
Macheridis, S.
Digital photogrammetry and image-based modeling as documentation method of zooarchaeological remains in refuse contexts.
Boschin, F.; Bernardini, F.; Zanolli, C.; Princivalle, F.; Tuniz, C.
A look from the inside: MicroCT analysis of burned bones.
Zanolli, C.; Boschin, F.; Bernardini, F.; Corny, J.; Tuniz, C.
A new method to discriminate between wolf and dog remains in zooarchaeological studies.
Moretti, E.; Arrighi, S.; Boschin, F.; Crezzini, J.; Ronchitelli, A.
How are the cut marks produced? A microscopic analysis of striations inflicted on bone surface using different stone tools.
Urquiza, S.; Estévez Escalera, J.
Atlas digital osteológico de camélidos sudamericanos.
Pilaar Birch, S.
Demographics in Zooarchaeology.
Dibble, W.
21st Century Tools for Zooarchaeological Data Entry: Touch Screens, Speech Recognition, Barcodes, and GIS.
Cornaglia Fernández, J.
Zooarchaeology of the Santa Fe´s Pampa Lagoons (Argentine): SIG application to the intersite spatial analysis.
In partnership with the Huu-ay-aht First Nation and the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre, this arc... more In partnership with the Huu-ay-aht First Nation and the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre, this archaeological field course introduces students to coastal field archaeology on the Northwest Coast of North America. Over six weeks, two Huu-ay-aht youth and 15 students from the western Canadian Universities will participate in field trips to a variety of archaeological sites, attend lectures on Indigenous oral history, archaeological theory, zooarchaeology, and the historical ecology of western Vancouver Island; and participate in 3 weeks of intensive fieldwork. The remainder of the course will be spent in the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre labs and facilities analyzing recovered samples and completing collaboratively authored site reports. Students will also be responsible for individual reports on aspects of this archaeological research, all of which will be shared with the Huu-ay-aht First Nation, the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre, and the British Columbia Archaeology Branch.
Uploads
Papers by Iain McKechnie
Location: North Pacific Ocean.
Time period: Pre-1760s.
Major taxa studied: Steller’s sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas).
Results & conclusions: The evidence we review suggests that Steller’s sea cows ex- erted substantial direct and indirect influences on kelp forests, likely affecting the physical ecosystem structure, productivity, nutrient cycling, species interactions, and export of nutrients to surrounding ecosystems. This suggests that kelp forest dynam- ics and resilience were already significantly altered prior to the influence of more recent and well-known stressors, such as industrial fishing and climate change, and illustrates the important ecological roles that are lost with megafaunal extinction.
this species began going extinct before the arrival of Paleolithic
humans”, Sharko et al. use novel genomic methods to infer the demographic history of this species. Based on a single spe- cimen from the Commander Islands, the authors conclude that the species suffered a single catastrophic population decline approximately 400,000 years ago and was thus already on the verge of extinction well before human arrivals in the Late Pleis- tocene. Here we suggest their demographic assumptions warrant reinterpretation given the ecological barriers that likely structured sea cow populations along the North Pacific Rim. Our pre- liminary range simulations suggest that the Commander Is. population may have been physically isolated from others, mak- ing it unsuitable as a demographic inference for the entire sea cow North Pacific range. Under these assumptions, Sharko et al.’s findings are more likely indicative of the time since the isolation of this remnant population from the rest of the sea cow range, rather than representative of the population contraction of the species. This perspective highlights the importance of considering historical ecology and paleobiogeography when interpreting genomic data to infer past demographic histories.
Location: North Pacific Ocean.
Time period: Pre-1760s.
Major taxa studied: Steller’s sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas).
Results & conclusions: The evidence we review suggests that Steller’s sea cows ex- erted substantial direct and indirect influences on kelp forests, likely affecting the physical ecosystem structure, productivity, nutrient cycling, species interactions, and export of nutrients to surrounding ecosystems. This suggests that kelp forest dynam- ics and resilience were already significantly altered prior to the influence of more recent and well-known stressors, such as industrial fishing and climate change, and illustrates the important ecological roles that are lost with megafaunal extinction.
this species began going extinct before the arrival of Paleolithic
humans”, Sharko et al. use novel genomic methods to infer the demographic history of this species. Based on a single spe- cimen from the Commander Islands, the authors conclude that the species suffered a single catastrophic population decline approximately 400,000 years ago and was thus already on the verge of extinction well before human arrivals in the Late Pleis- tocene. Here we suggest their demographic assumptions warrant reinterpretation given the ecological barriers that likely structured sea cow populations along the North Pacific Rim. Our pre- liminary range simulations suggest that the Commander Is. population may have been physically isolated from others, mak- ing it unsuitable as a demographic inference for the entire sea cow North Pacific range. Under these assumptions, Sharko et al.’s findings are more likely indicative of the time since the isolation of this remnant population from the rest of the sea cow range, rather than representative of the population contraction of the species. This perspective highlights the importance of considering historical ecology and paleobiogeography when interpreting genomic data to infer past demographic histories.
Full Citation:
McKechnie, Iain (2012) Zooarchaeological Analysis of the Indigenous Fishery at the Huu7ii Big House and Back Terrace, Huu-ay-aht Territory, Southwestern Vancouver Island. In Huu7ii: Household Archaeology at a Nuu-chah-nulth Village Site in Barkley Sound, by Alan D. McMillan & Denis E. St. Claire. pp. 154–186. Archaeology Press, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby.
Here, I describe fish recovered from five fine-screened column samples and compare this with the large assemblage of fish remains identified from excavation units at Tsʼishaa (Frederick and Crockford, 2005). My purpose in doing so is to provide a broader assessment of the context and significance of the fauna recovered from the site as a whole. My column sample analysis is based an assemblage of 20,245 fine-screened fish remains and is compared to an assemblage of 45,333 fish specimens examined from 1⁄4" excavation units, where fish account for the overwhelming majority of the fauna identified (66–98% NISP, Frederick and Crockford 2005)."
To see the full issue online visit: http://www.alexandriaarchive.org/bonecommons/items/show/1731
To view the entire open access issue paste this link into your browser:
http://ojs.ethnobiology.org/index.php/ebl/issue/view/22/showToc
http://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/bcstudies/issue/archive
Please visit the weblink below to see how things are progressing.
http://www.bms.bc.ca/university/courses2015/summer15.html
please note that the application deadline has been extended. Please be in touch with the University Programs Office to discuss the application process specifically
(250) 728-3301 ext. 216
Course Description:
In partnership with the Huu-ay-aht First Nation, this course introduces students to coastal field archaeology. Over six weeks, students participate in field trips to a variety of archaeological sites; attend lectures on indigenous history, archaeological theory, paleoenvironments, and the historical ecology of the west coast of Vancouver Island; and participate in 3 weeks of fieldwork. The remaining class time will be spent in the lab analyzing archaeological samples and completing individual final projects. Students are also responsible for writing up aspects of the archaeological work in a detailed site report, which will be shared with the Huu-ay-aht First Nation and the provincial Archaeology Branch.
Research Skills:
Students will learn about the fundamentals of archaeological survey, recording, excavation, sampling, data analysis, and how to prepare written reports on their findings. We will work in groups to develop and address archaeological research questions and regularly share our observations with community members.
Prerequisites:
An introductory course in Anthropology and an introductory course in Archaeology, or permission of the Instructor.
Required Textbook:
Alan McMillan and Denis St.Claire 2012. Huu7ii: Household Archaeology at a Nuu-chah-nulth Village Site in Barkley Sound. Archaeology Press, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC. Please purchase prior to the start of class through SFU Archaeology Press:
http://www.sfu.ca/archaeology/archpress/catalogue/huu7ii.html
Additional readings will be provided by instructors during class.
We recommend the following for anyone interested in some archaeological background to the region: Since the Time of the Transformers: The Ancient Heritage of the Nuu-chah-nulth, Ditidaht, and Makah by Alan McMillan, 1999, UBC Press, Vancouver, BC. available at
http://www.ubcpress.ca/search/title_book.asp?BookID=1666
Physical Requirements: Students must be comfortable in boats and with traversing rough, slippery, and forested terrain in all weather. They must also be able to lift, carry, and/or operate equipment weighing up to 20 lbs.
For More Information about the Bamfield Marine Science Centre, its courses and how to apply please visit:
http://www.bms.bc.ca/
for a peak at the course in 2013, please check out this great video by student Sara Daruvala
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXNiGJLgi58
Moreno-García, M.; Pimenta, C.
Measuring the small: a digital proposal to improve the osteometrical study of Passeriformes.
Manzano, B.; Means, B.; Zechini, M.; Begley, C.
Digital Scanned 3-D Reproduced Elements of Extinct Species; The Future Examines the Past.
Macheridis, S.
Digital photogrammetry and image-based modeling as documentation method of zooarchaeological remains in refuse contexts.
Boschin, F.; Bernardini, F.; Zanolli, C.; Princivalle, F.; Tuniz, C.
A look from the inside: MicroCT analysis of burned bones.
Zanolli, C.; Boschin, F.; Bernardini, F.; Corny, J.; Tuniz, C.
A new method to discriminate between wolf and dog remains in zooarchaeological studies.
Moretti, E.; Arrighi, S.; Boschin, F.; Crezzini, J.; Ronchitelli, A.
How are the cut marks produced? A microscopic analysis of striations inflicted on bone surface using different stone tools.
Urquiza, S.; Estévez Escalera, J.
Atlas digital osteológico de camélidos sudamericanos.
Pilaar Birch, S.
Demographics in Zooarchaeology.
Dibble, W.
21st Century Tools for Zooarchaeological Data Entry: Touch Screens, Speech Recognition, Barcodes, and GIS.
Cornaglia Fernández, J.
Zooarchaeology of the Santa Fe´s Pampa Lagoons (Argentine): SIG application to the intersite spatial analysis.