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Settlement and Sea-Levels on the Central Coast of British Columbia: Evidence from Shell Midden Cores

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Aubrey Cannon
Aubrey Cannon*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4L9. Canada
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Abstract

Coring of shell-midden sites provides a regional chronology of site settlement in the Namu vicinity on the central coast of British Columbia. Coring proved an accurate and cost-effective alternative to traditional test-excavation, and its application in only two short field seasons doubled the number of sites tested in this region. The dating of basal cultural deposits from the cores shows initial occupation of sites ranging from 10,000 to 800 B.P. These dates exhibit a strong linear relationship with the current elevation of deposits above average high tide, suggesting that the settlement history of known shell-midden sites in this region is strongly linked to gradual long-term decline in relative sea levels.

Resumen

Resumen

La investigación de los conchales utilizando taladros tubulares ha resultado en una cronología regional de asentamiento en la cercanía de Namu, en la costa central de Columbia Británica. Este estudio ha demostrado que los taladros tubulares proveen una ahernativa precisa y económica al método tradicional de excavar pozos de prueba; se dobló el número total de sitios probados en esta región en solamente dos temporadas breves. El fechamiento de los depósitos culturales más profundos alcanzados por los taladros tubulares indica que la ocupación incipiente de asentamientos que varía entre 10.000 y 800 años. Estas fechas exhiben una fuerte relación lineal con la elevación moderna de los depósitos encima del pleamar promedio, que sugiere que hay una relación muy fuerte entre la historia de asentamiento de los conchales conocidos en esta región y la declinación gradual en el nivel relativo del mar.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 65 , Issue 1 , January 2000 , pp. 67 - 77
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 2000

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