Far West Point

Far West Point is an archaeological site in the Canadian province of British Columbia . There, on Dundas Island in the Far West Point Indian Reserve of the Tsimshian northwest of Prince Rupert , excavations took place under the direction of archaeologists Andrew Martindale from the University of British Columbia and Susan Marsden, which brought to light artifacts up to 11,000 years old .

The site was continuously inhabited between 9690 ± 30 and 6185 ± 20 BP . A second settlement existed between 3855 and 2755 BP, the most recent being a recent cabin owned by Eric Green. The oldest site was excavated from June 2006. The remains that the inhabitants left behind were found, as is usually the case on the west coast of North America, in the form of hills, which consisted predominantly of animal remains, especially limestone and bone remains. The shell midden was 2.75 m high, the stratigraphy undisturbed. The bones found were identified by Rebecca Wigen, a senior lab instructor in anthropology at the University of Victoria .

The mollusks that were found en masse are predominantly remains of seven species, genera or families. Most frequently found barnacles (65.56% of the mass), followed by Horse clams (Tresus nuttallii) (20.07%), cockles (8.27%) and mussels (2.76%). Sea urchins , beetle snails , Littleneck clam or hard clam (Mercenaria mercenaria) were also found in small quantities , finally snails, Hairy Oregon Triton (Fusitriton oregonensis), oysters and abalones .

Fish remains were those of the genera Sebastes and salmon , more precisely Oncorhynchus , then Pacific halibut , Pacific herring , starfish , Pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus), from the green family Hexagrammos decagrammus, as well as the Hemilepidotus hemilepidotus from the family called Red Irish lord the bullhead . Eventually, some unidentified mammalian and bird bones were found. It is unclear whether the site was permanently inhabited or only seasonally. The change in food composition can now be represented.

These artifacts were discovered by a research team led by David Archer of Northwest Community College and Andrew Martindale. Based on previous knowledge, they reconstructed the environmental history and the heights of the sea level. Duncan McLaren, who was doing his doctorate on the findings, speculated that the island could be interpreted as a lever point. According to this, the ice masses that lay on the mainland during the last phase of glaciation ensured that the land below sank deeper into the igneous layer below, while Haida Gwaii , the chain of islands off the coast with little ice on it, moved as if by lever arm raised. Especially on the east side of the islands, this meant that they expanded strongly towards the mainland. Thanks to its location, Dundas Island off the mainland coast was neither particularly uplifted nor sunk far down, so the sites there did not disappear below sea level like many others. After the last ice age, the sea level off the mainland fell by around 200 m, while it rose by around 150 at Haida Gwaii. On Dundas, however, the sea level has only fallen by 13 m in the last 12,000 years.

According to this assumption, intact sites, i.e. places that did not have to be abandoned because of falling, but above all because of rising, sea levels and which are worthless or destroyed for archaeologists, can be found more easily using a map that shows the cycles. In a relatively short time, twelve sites were actually found in this way, which are between 5000 and 10,000 years old.

After consulting with the elders of the Lax'Kw'alaam , who had previously given permission for the exploration, they asked the archaeological team to continue their work.

literature

• David JW Archer: Village patterns and the emergence of ranked society in the Prince Rupert area , in: Perspectives on northern Northwest Coast prehistory , Hull: Canadian Museum of Civilization, vol. 160 (2001) 203-222.
• Andrew Martindale: Methodological Issues in the Use of Tsimshian Oral Traditions (Adawx) in Archeology , in: Canadian Journal of Archeology 30.2 (2006) 159-193.
• Andrew Martindale, Susan Marsden: Defining the Middle Period (3500 BP to 1500 BP) , in: Tsimshian History through a Comparison of Archaeological and Oral Records , in: BC Studies 138 (2003) 13-50.
• Duncan McLaren: Sea Level Change and Archaeological Site Locations on the Dundas Island Archipelago of North Coastal British Columbia, PhD, University of Victoria 2008.

Web links

• The Dundas Island Project ( Memento from October 15, 2011 in the Internet Archive )

Remarks

1. ↑ Anitra Winje: UVic archaeologist finds sites, makes history ( memento of the original from February 16, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , in: The Ring, April 2008.