Ozette
The Ozette were North American Indians and belonged to the Nuu-chah-nulth , a group of linguistically and culturally related tribes living in western Canada and Washington State . The Ozette spoke Wakash and were probably a southern branch of the Makah . They lived on Ozette Lake and the Ozette River in what is now Clallam County on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. At the same time, Ozette refers to a Makah town that replaced the predecessor settlement of the same name, which had fallen victim to a natural disaster. Ozette is one of the most important and extensive archaeological sites on the northwest coast.
history
Ozette was buried in a massive mudslide in the years after 1500. From 1967 Richard Dougherty of Washington State University had the opportunity, with the permission of the Makah, to begin archaeological digs in protected locations on Cape Alava. Even these first excavations showed that a whaling culture had left a village here that went back at least 2000 years. In February 1970, however, a storm surge put the excavation site in great danger, so that it was now digged with more resources and employees. The excavations were directed by Stephen Samuels and Richard Daugherty.
The excavation campaigns from 1966/70 to 1981 unearthed around 55,000 artefacts , and three out of five longhouses were excavated. In addition, the oldest surviving sculpture comes from this area (around 800 BC), although it is unclear whether the Makah had already displaced their predecessor culture by this time. At least 67 whales were found in the remains. The excavations showed that there was trade along the west coast to the north of Vancouver Island and as far as Oregon and California . A separate museum is dedicated to all these finds.
In addition, around Ozette there is a certain concentration of the petroglyphs, which occur unevenly in the Nuu-chah-nulth area .
The Makah living further north settled the area at an unknown time. Around 1870 Ozette consisted of 15 houses, in which around 200 Makah lived, but the place increasingly shrank in favor of Neah Bay . In 1917 the place was given up.
In 1979, after seven years of planning and construction, the Makah Cultural and Research Center was opened. There are 500 to 600 exhibits of the 55,000 artifacts on display. Most of the exhibits are in the Makah Museum in Neah Bay.
See also
literature
- Paul F. Gleeson (ed. By Richard D. Daugherty): Ozette Archaeological Project, Interim Final Report, Phase IV and V , University of Washington 1972 and 1973.
- Paul Gleeson, Jeffrey Mauger, Marian Fisken: Ozette Archaeological Project, Interim Final Report Phases VIII and IX , University of Washington 1976.
- Paul Gleeson: Ozette Archaeological Project, Interim Final Report, Phase XIII , University of Washington 1980
- Paul F. Gleeson: Ozette Woodworking Technology , University of Washington 1980.
- Dale R. Croes: Cordage from the Ozette Village Archaeological Site: A Technological, Functional, and Comparative Study , University of Washington 1980.