Subsistence at the Willows Beach Siteand the Culture History of Southeastern Vancouver Island
-Ila Willerton
Culture types in Pacific Northwest archaeology are characteristic artifact assemblages that often distinguish different prehistoric periods. Artifact assemblages indicate a culture type transition occurred during the 2,630 BP–270 BP occupation of Willows Beach (DcRt-10), a shell midden in Oak Bay, Greater Victoria. Faunal remains from this long-occupied site reveal links to subsistence patterns, following Dale Croes’s theory that culture type change reflects subsistence intensification over time. Five DcRt-10 faunal assemblages were analyzed, and those of stratigraphic units associated with the later Gulf of Georgia and earlier Locarno Beach culture types were compared. The youngest assemblage contains a smaller proportion of land mammal bone, suggesting increased sea mammal, fish, and bird procurement. The remains also suggest a greater variety of taxa exploited over time. These results hint that culture type change is linked to subsistence change, shedding light on the nature of culture types and the culture historic sequence of this region. Ila Willerton is an Anthropology student with a keen interest in Northwest Coast archaeology. She completed her Bachelor of Arts at the University of Victoria in 2007, and recently defended her Master of Arts thesis at UVic as well. Her area of specialization is zooarchaeology and the relationship between diet and cultural change. The subject of this talk will be Ila’s recent M.A. work on faunal bones from the Willows Beach site in Oak Bay.