Recent Finds at Williston Reservoir in Northern B.C.
-Morley Eldridge

Archaeological work by Millennia Research Limited in the Williston Reservoir in 2009 recovered hundreds of artifacts and over 200 new archaeological sites were recorded.  The fieldwork took place on a remarkable landscape, the nearly billiard-table level surface of ancient glacial lakes, dissected by small drainages.  Scattered on this surface, and re-exposed because overlaying soils have washed away, are the artifacts from the entire late Pleistocene and Holocene periods.  Included are artifacts that appear to be made with Clovis-diagnostic technology, including very large blades and blade cores, points, and a Clovis point preform.  Also present are artifacts spanning almost all the paleoindian period as defined on the Great Plains; Agate Basin, Hell Gap, Alberta, Cody Complex, and late paleoindian complexes.  Besides points, other artifacts diagnostic of the paleoindian period such as burins and spurred scrapers were found.  Although paleoindian period artifacts formed the majority of the finds, the archaic or middle period, late precontact, and historic period artifacts of the Tsay Keh Dene were also present. These artifacts were collected with precise provenience, allowing a study of the cultural landscapes from different periods, and spatial analyses of artifact distribution by time, by function, and by association with landform features.   A number of very interesting observations were made. Morley Eldridge is the president of Millennia Research Limited, a Victoria archaeological consulting company.   2009 marks his 40th anniversary of doing archaeology in BC and his 41st field year.  Morley’s special interests are predictive archaeological modeling and remote sensing (particularly with LiDAR data), wet sites and basketry, archaeological data management, and (especially now!) paleoindian remains in northwest America.

Gwaii Haanas and the Gulf Islands: Results from the Parks Canada 2008 Archaeological Field Season

-Daryl Fedje and Nicole Smith   Archaeologists Daryl Fedje and Nicole Smith of Parks Canada will present some findings from this year’s fieldwork in the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve and the Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve & Haida Heritage Site. This year’s fieldwork included a focus on the intertidal and inland reaches of the two National Park Reserves.  In this talk Daryl and Nicole will provide a summary of the fieldwork in the two park reserves and will highlight some key discoveries. In particular, they will focus on: the finding of intact archaeological deposits below modern beach deposits in the intertidal zone of the Gulf Islands; the ways in which intertidal lithic sites of Gwaii Haanas are providing new insights into the stone tool production of the area; the discovery of clam gardens in Haida Gwaii; and further evidence of bear hunting and new evidence of human habitation from excavations at Gaadu Din 2 cave (one of the oldest sites in Canada).

The Dynamics of West African Village Life

Ann Stahl

Department of Anthropology

University of Victoria

It is easy for the casual observer to imagine that village life in West Africa has changed little over the centuries. The presence of earthen-walled structures, grass-thatched roofs and ongoing production of traditional crafts lends the impression that change has been recent and superficial. Yet West African societies have been enmeshed in global networks from the early second millennium AD – first through trans-Saharan exchange that linked sub-Saharan West Africa with the Mediterranean world; later through Atlantic networks that linked “Old” and “New” worlds; and, from the later 17th century, through formal colonial networks. For more than two decades the Banda Research Project has investigated the effects of these connections on daily life in the Banda area of west central Ghana. Ann Stahl will highlight what has been learned from archaeological evidence about the dynamism of West African village life, focusing particularly on the results of 2008 excavations at a site linked to Saharan trade.

Ann Stahl is a recent addition to the anthropology faculty at UVic where she is Professor and Chair. From 1988 to 2008 she was on the anthropology faculty at the State University of New York at Binghampton and prior to that taught at the Institute of Archaeology, University College, London (1985-88). She holds a PhD in Anthropology fro UC Berkley and an MA in Archaeology from the University of Calgary. She has published numerous book chapters and journal articles on her work in Banda in addition to a 2001 Cambridge University Press book entitled “Making History in Banda. Anthropological Perspectives on Africa’s Past.”  Her 2005 edited collection on African Archaeology published by Blackwell was awarded the 2006 ‘best book’ award by the Society for Africanist Archaeologists. She looks forward to learning more about BC archaeology and is pleased for the opportunity to share her work with us.

TUESDAY, October 21st, 2008 7:30 PM

PACIFIC FORESTRY CENTRE

506 West Burnside Road, Victoria, B.C.

For more information visit: www.asbc.bc.ca/vicsite/

Or call (250) 382-1448 or  email: asbcvictoria@gmail.com

Directions to the venue: http://cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/regions/map/pfc 

Neighbours and Networks: Anasazi Communities and the Chaco Regional System

Nicole Kilburn

Camosun College

Nicole Kilburn is an archaeologist who teaches in the Social Sciences Department at Camosun College.  In her former life, she was a contract archaeologist and graduate student in the American Southwest, where she studied the Anasazi, a culture that flourished between AD 900-1300, then faded (possibly in response to severe climate changes.)  At its peak, the Anasazi interaction sphere covered approximately 60,000 km2, and left evidence of its complex social, political, and economic systems in the form of roads,  stone Œpueblo‚ villages, and non-perishable artifacts that are the focus of archaeological work today.  During this talk, Nicole will outline her graduate work and explain elements of the Chaco Anasazi from the community perspective.

TUESDAY, September 16^th, 2008 7:30 PM

PACIFIC FORESTRY CENTRE

506 West Burnside Road, Victoria, B.C.

For more information visit: www.asbc.bc.ca/vicsite/

Or call (250) 382-1448 or  email: asbcvictoria@gmail.com

Directions to the venue: http://cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/regions/map/pfc 

The 2008 Northwest Anthropological Conference will be held at the Marriott Hotel in downtown Victoria, British Columbia. Sessions, posters, and workshops will be held in the conference facilities at the hotel. A reception will be held on the Thursday night of the conference in the galleries of the Royal British Columbia Museum. The conference will end with a banquet in the Pacific Ballroom at the Marriott Hotel.

NWAC includes anthropological research in northwestern North America, and the research of Pacific Northwest anthropologists working elsewhere in the world. A centrepiece of this year’s conference will be a special symposium based on the findings of researchers investigating Kwäday Dan Ts’ìnchi, the remains of a man preserved by glacial ice in northwestern British Columbia. Other session have been proposed and can be viewed in the list of proposed sessions.At the Gala Banquet the Keynote Speaker will Dr. Keith Thor Carlson speaking on the Sasquatch.

Topics for the conference should fall under the following general themes:

1. Cultural anthropology in the northwest
2. Archaeology in the northwest
3. Physical/biological anthropology
4. Indigenous anthropology
5. Indigenous archaeology
6. Cultural anthropology in other areas
7. Archaeology in other areas
8. Cultural resource management
9. Other(s)

For More information on the conference visit: http://nwac.2008.googlepages.com/

ASBC Victoria Meeting TUESDAY, April 15^th, 7:30 PM

The Archaeology of the Burrup Peninsula, Western Australia

Phil Czerwinski

The Burrup Peninsula in Western Australia is home to arguably the largest rock art province in the world, and is also the location of one of Australia’s largest resource development precincts. The question must be asked: can industry and cultural heritage coexist? This talk will provide an overview of the Burrup Peninsula rock art, provide information relating to development in the area and address some of the measures archaeologists have gone to both work with and against resource development companies for the goal of heritage management.

Phil Czerwinski has worked as an archaeologist in Australia for the past eight years; both as a consultant archaeologist and with State Government. His interests in archaeology include the technology of stone artifacts, rock art analysis and ethnography and Aboriginal mythology as these relates to archaeological sites. As a recent immigrant to Canada, he looks forward to learning more about the archaeology of his new adopted lands

ASBC Victoria Meeting TUESDAY, March 18^th, 7:30 PM

Douglas-fir Culturally Modified Trees; (and) Recognising Evidence of Widespread Aboriginal Burning in the Victoria Area

Pete Dady

The presentation will deal with two related topics. Douglas-fir culturally modified trees are a common but little-noticed feature around Victoria (and elsewhere). They are old-growth trees which exhibit the scars of bark removal carried out by Native people as part of their traditional economy. And the shapes and growth patterns of present-day Douglas-firs and Garry oaks illustrate how much of late prehistoric Greater Victoria was open “prairie” that was created by wide-scale aboriginal burning. Learn to recognise all these features on your walks around town!

– Pete Dady is a professional archaeologist and past president of the ASBC Victoria Branch. He has conducted archaeological work on the BC coast since 1994. 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 the area.

TUESDAY, March 18^th, 2008 7:30 PM

PACIFIC FORESTRY CENTRE

506 West Burnside Road, Victoria, B.C.

Directions to the venue: http://cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/regions/map/pfc

For more information call (250) 381-0442 or email: asbcvictoria@gmail.com

The Woss Lake Rockshelter and an Early Period Trail Corridor on Northern Vancouver Island

Jim W. Stafford

Coast Interior Archaeology

In 2005, the ‘Namgis First Nation initiated an archaeological survey of a reinstated traditional trail that extends through a low mountain pass between Woss Lake and Tahsis Inlet on northern Vancouver Island. This historically important trail has been an critical link between the east and west coasts of Northern Vancouver Island from the early Holocene through to the historic fur trade. Preliminary archaeological investigations along the trail corridor identified a variety of pre-contact sites including culturally modified trees, intact sections of the indigenous trail, and a rockshelter habitation (EaSp-11) used between at least ca. 6,000 years BP to present. This presentation will focus on the rockshelter and the trail corridor in light of the regional archeology as currently known.

————————Jim Stafford is the principal of Coast Interior Archaeology and has conducted archaeological work on the BC coast for over 15 years.

TUESDAY, February 19^th, 2008 7:30 PM

PACIFIC FORESTRY CENTRE

506 West Burnside Road, Victoria, B.C.

Directions to the venue: http://cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/regions/map/pfc
For more information call (250) 381-0442 or email: asbcvictoria@gmail.com

The Victoria ASBC wishes you a happy new year and welcomes you to our new ASBC Victoria News blog site. This site will provide you with all the latest news that affects Victoria’s archaeological community. For more information on membership and any non-news topics, please visit our main website at: http://www.asbc.bc.ca/vicsite/