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The Archaeological Society of British Columbia was established in 1966 and is a non-profit society dedicated to the protection of archaeological resources and the spread of archaeological knowledge. The main ASBC branch, located in Vancouver, B.C. publishes both "The Midden" and the ASBC newsletter "SocNotes". In addition to Victoria, Nanaimo is the other active ASBC society branch.

Tuesday Jan 17,2012, 7:30pm at the Pacific Forestry Center.

Abstract:
The discovery of more than a hundred Gravettian “Venus” statuettes across Eurasia continues to spawn more than a century of debate. While research has attempted to shed light on these objects, they remain mysterious. This research tests the assumption that the Paleolithic “Venuses” are one cohesive unit. Analyses of the Waist-to-Hip Ratio, body shapes, and contextual details of the female statuettes, suggest that they are diverse in both form and function. Instead of trying to create an all-encompassing hypothesis in regards to form or function of these objects, future analyses should focus on explaining diversity and its implications.
Bio:
Allison Tripp is a PhD student at the University of Victoria. She completed a Bachelor of Arts at the University of California Santa Barbara and a Master of Philosophy at Leiden University in the Netherlands. She has done archaeological fieldwork in Germany, Spain, and The Republic of Georgia and has pursued graduate research in Germany and Russia.  She has received grants from Leiden University Funds and the Archaeology Department at Leiden University. Her research interests include Paleolithic art and mind/brain evolution. She served as a research assistant in the Psychology Department at New Mexico State University under the direction of Dr. James Kroger where she learned EEG. This semester she will be working with Dr. Adam Krawitz at the University of Victoria and learning fMRI. She currently has a peer reviewed article in press in Archaeology Ethnology and Anthropology of Eurasia entitled “Analyzing Fertility and Attraction in the Paleolithic: The Venus Figurines.”

Tuesday Nov 15, 2011, 7:30pm at the Pacific Forestry Center.
 Early Period Archaeology and Landscapes on the Central Coast of British Columbia

This talk will present the results of recent field research being undertaken on the Central Coast of British Columbia, which is focused on furthering our understanding of the early occupation of the region.

Bio: “Duncan McLaren is the owner and operator of Cordillera Archaeology, an archaeological contracting firm based in Victoria, BC.  He also is an adjunct professor in the Department of Anthropology and the University of Victoria.”

Tuesday Oct 18, 2011, 730pm at the Pacific Forestry Center.
Intertidal Archaeology in the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve

Recent investigations in the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve included a focus on the intertidal zone. Analyses of cultural and paleoecological data obtained from these investigations has resulted in a more detailed sea level history for the area and, discovery of a suite of archaeological sites associated with sea levels slightly lower than modern. These now-intertidal sites include intact shell middens and apparent house features dating as early as 4,000 years ago.

The Victoria Branch president writes:
Daryl Fedje is a long-time archaeologist with Parks Canada, now based in Sidney, B.C.  He is widely published, with a respected international reputation.  Research in the Gulf Islands that he directs, co-directs, or facilitates is some of the most current work relevant to the Victoria region – but of course with wider ramifications.

Tuesday, Sept 20, 2011 7:30pm at the Pacific Forestry Center.
In 2008, Hiikwis became the first archaeological site in Barkley Sound with a significant sample of chipped stone materials. This material provides new insights into the culture history of Barkley Sound and the Nuu-chah-nulth peoples.  It is well known that settlement patterns changed drastically in Barkley Sound from approximately 1500 to 1000 AD (Marshall 1993:40), which is a period of occupation represented at Hiikwis. Although the population movements both before and during this time have been theorized about before, Hiikwis is causing researchers to reconsider their previous assertions.

Analysis of the chipped stone materials aims to determine who created these stone tools, and why there is a relative abundance of these tools at this site in contrast to the surrounding excavated locations.  Essentially, why are there chipped stone tools here, but not next door?

Bio:

Kelsey MacLean is currently an MA candidate at the University of Victoria.
She is an executive member of the Victoria Branch of the Archaeological Society of BC and has a BA in Anthropology and Sociology from the University of Victoria.  Her first fieldwork experience was in Barkley Sound in 2008 and she has returned each summer for further research.  Her interest in the Tseshaht and the Barkley Sound region led to her pursuing her MA thesis project within this extended archaeological project.

May 17, 2011, 7:30 at the Pacific Forestry Center.
Presentation:
Preliminary Investigation Results from DcRu-1151: A Locarno-Age Living and Processing Site at Esquimalt Lagoon.

Abstract:
DcRu-1151 is located approximately 500 m inland from the Esquimalt Lagoon in Colwood, B.C., in the vicinity of the new Aquattro townhouse and condominium development. Archaeological investigations were conducted by I.R. Wilson Consultants Ltd. (now Stantec) in late 2007 and continued until Spring 2008. Investigations into the site revealed what is anticipated to be a Locarno Phase semi-subterranean house-floor containing a carefully constructed hearth. Adjacent to this a second smaller semi-subterranean feature containing an unusual clay- and rock-lined oven or hearth. These features are believed to be unique to the region. DcRu-1151 shares a contemporaneous time frame with DcRu-74, located within 500 m southeast of DcRu-1151. DcRu-74 is believed to be the only known Locarno-period wet site on southern Vancouver Island.

This talk will discuss the spatial distribution of these unique features as they offer a unique opportunity to explore the construction and use of Locarno-age housing. We also hope to encourage dialogue about their function.

Biography:
Kira Kristensen is a professional member of the BC Association of Professional Archaeologist (BCAPA) and has been working in consulting archaeology since 2000. She has supervised and conducted extensive archaeological surveys, impact assessments and excavations in British Columbia from the northeastern portions of the province to Vancouver Island. Originally from Vancouver Island, Kira is happy to be home and living in Port Alberni, BC and is enjoying working for Madrone Environmental Services in Duncan, BC.

Kristi Bowie is currently a fulltime graduate student at UVic completing her MA in Anthropology. For over eight years she has been consulting in archaeology, paleontology and forensics for organizations including the RCMP, American Museum of Natural History and most recently several years with I.R. Wilson Consultants Ltd., now Stantec. Kristi’s MA studies are centred on the issue of Indigenous children who are considered missing and reputed to be buried in unmarked burial and cemetery sites associated with former residential schools in Canada.

April 19, 2011, 7:30PM at the Pacific Forestry Center.

Presentation:
  DNA and Human Migration.  An Illustrated Talk.

Abstract:
  All of us human beings contain the evidence of our biological relationship with each other in our DNA.  What does the current evidence reveal about the movements of human populations through time?  The quest in search of my own genetic ancestors uncovers the complexity of European and Middle East history that many of us share.

Biography:
  Grant Keddie is the Curator of Archaeology at the Royal B.C. Museum.

March 15, 2011, 7:30PM at the Pacific Forestry Center.

Presentation:
	A High Altitude "Big Bang": Late Formative Period (200 BC-450 AD) Archaeology in Highland Bolivia

Abstract:
Archaeology in the Lake Titicaca Basin of Bolivia and Peru has exploded in the last 20 years, with a significant number of research projects focusing on the Late Formative Period This archaeological period directly precedes the appearance of Tiwanaku, an urban and expansive society a thousand years before the Inca Empire. In this talk I will introduce the Tiwanaku phenomena, and explore what we have been learning about the earlier Late Formative Period. Drawing on a long-term project in the high plains of Bolivia, I will discuss some of the social and political processes that define this 650 year period. I will highlight a variety of rhythms in these changes, from slow changes surrounding human-environmental interactions, to what might be called the social and political "big bang" that defined the appearance of Tiwanaku.

Biography:
Dr. Andy Roddick has conducted archaeological fieldwork in Canada, Belize, Peru and Bolivia. Since 2002, he has been a core member of the Taraco Archaeological Project, an international project working on the edge of Lake Titicaca, Bolivia. Dr. Roddick is an expert in prehistoric analysis of ceramics, and uses a range of geological and geophysical tools in his research. He received his BA and MA from the University of British Columbia, and his PhD from the University of California Berkeley. He is currently an adjunct professor of Anthropology and a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Victoria.

The talk is free. We meet at 7:30, March _, at the Pacific Forestry Centre, 506 West Burnside Road, Victoria.  Click on the link below for the location.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011, 7:30PM at the Pacific Forestry Center:
	Our speaker will be Ben Hjermstad.
	Presentation:
	His presentation will be on his thesis work at an excavation at a buffalo jump and butchering site in the Canadian Prairies. He presently works as a consulting archaeologist at Golder Associates in Victoria.

The talk is free. We meet at 7:30, February 15, at the Pacific Forestry Centre, 506 West Burnside Road, Victoria.  Click on the link below for the location.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011, 7:30PM at the Pacific Forestry Center:
	Presentation:
	Arrowheads

Abstract:
  When people think of archaeology they tend to think of arrowheads.  Casting about for presentation topics I have often received the request “Let’s hear more about artifacts!”  And when people say “artifact”, the first thing they think about is an arrowhead.
  Triangular bifaces of black basaltic rock are commonly found in shell middens on the shores of the Georgia and Juan de Fuca straits.  Archaeologists interpret them as arrowheads – the arming points of hunting arrows – and as a marker of the late period of Straits Salish culture.  We will examine these arrowheads, and their interpretation, and will use both as a jumping-off point to look at the archaeology of the straits.  What assumptions do people make about arrowheads?  What assumptions are archaeologists making about these particular arrowheads when they are interpreting them?  Are they arrowheads?  What do arrowheads mean?

Biography:
  Pete Dady has been a consulting archaeologist working in B.C. since 1994, and is the president of the Victoria Branch of the ASBC.  He was born and raised in Victoria and has a degree in Anthropology from the University of Victoria.  He has a special interest in the prehistory of this area.

The talk is free. We meet at 7:30, Tuesday January 18, at the Pacific Forestry Centre, 506 West Burnside Road, Victoria.  Click on the link below for the location.

The Victoria Branch of the ASBC is seeking new and continuing members to participate in a variety of initiatives.

Members of the ASBC Victoria include:

The interested public
Students
Educators
Professionals
First Nations

Learn about the 5000 years of human history in Greater Victoria. Become involved in preserving archaeological heritage sites.

JOIN TODAY!

Meetings of the Victoria Branch of the ASBC are usually conducted on the third Tuesday of each month at 7:30 pm [excluding June through August, and December] at the:

Pacific Forestry Centre: 506 West Burnside Road, Victoria, B.C.

The meetings and lectures are FREE

For more information call (250)384-6059 or email: asbcvictoria@gmail.com Directions to the venue: Google Maps Link.