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Publication of the Archaeological Society of British Columbia ISSN 0047-7222 Vol.23, No.3 June 1991 INSIDE: Archaeology gets its feet wet ... page 1. Debitage ... page 5. Victoria ASBC chapter digs in ... page 6. Letter to the editor ... page 8. Volunteer opportunities ... page 8. Heritage legislation news ... page 9. Book reviews ... page 10. Permits ... page 12. What to see this summer ... page 13. The Midden Publication of the Archaeological Society of British Columbia Editor: Kathryn Bernick Subscriptions and Mailing: Helmi Braches Submissions and exchange publications should be directed Subscription is by membership in the A.S.B.C. (see below), or to the Editor. Contributions on subjects germane to B.C. non-member rates of $12.00 a year (5 issues). U.S.A. and overseas archaeology are welcomed: maximum length 1,500 words, $14.00 a year. Check or postal money order in Canadian funds no footnotes, and only a brief bibliography (if necessary at payable to the A.S.B.C. Address to: Midden Subcriptions, P.O. Box 520, Station A, Vancouver, B.C. V6C 2N3. all). Guidelines available. The contents of The Midden are copyrighted by the A.S.B.C. It is The next issue of The Midden will appear unlawful to reproduce all or part by any means whatsoever, without mid-October 1991. permission of the Society, which is usually gladly given. Publication of The Midden is made possible in part by financial Contributors this issue: Brian Apland, Kathryn assistance from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, Recreation and Bernick, Norm Easton, Grant Keddie, Phyllis Mason, Culture through the British Columbia Heritage Trust and B.C. Lottery Terry Spurgeon. revenues. Production Assistants: Vicki Feddema, Phyllis Mason, Barbara Stopa. THE COVER: ASBC-Victoria members joseph Baur and Louise Baycroft screening the midden under the Tillicum bridge. See article on South Gorge Bridge site, on pages 6-7. The Society The Archaeological Society of President: Affiliated Chapters: British Columbia is dedicated to William Paull (980-5186) Fraser Valley. Meetings featuring the protection of archaeological Vice President: illustrated lectures are held on the resources and the spread of Roderick Millar (734-1897) third Tuesday of each month archaeological knowledge. Membership Secretary: (September to May) at 7:45 p.m. on Toni Crittenden (736-4708) the Fraser Valley College campus in Meetings featuring , illustrated Abbotsford. President: Thelma lectures are held on the second Annual membership fees: single Mcintyre (853-1495). Membership Wednesday of each month (except $20.00; family- $25.00; senior citizen Secretary: Andy Purdy (823-4920) . July and August) at 8:00 p.m. in the - $15.00; student- $15.00. Vancouver Museum Auditorium. Visitors and new members are Membership includes Midden welcome! subscription. Address to: A.S.B.C. Membership Secretary, P.O. Box 520, Station A, Vancouver, B.C. V6C 2N3. NEXT MEETING: September 11 Topic to be announced. Archaeology Under the Water at Montague Harbour by Norm Easton ERODED MIDDEN deposits are survived from the mid-Holocene, back together again. In this sense, ubiquitous along the island coasts of about 4000 to 8000 years ago. sites are not lost, only transformed. the Strait of Georgia. Anyone taking But, are they lost, or just the ferry from Vancouver to misplaced? What has really The second thing that I believe Victoria sees the splashes of white happened to these shoreline sites? has happened to our coastal shell beaches dotting the shorelines archaeological sites is not at all among the bedrock. Visitors as well I believe two things have apparent, but completely sensible as residents of the Gulf Islands happened. The first is apparent - upon reflection - many coastal quickly come to realize that there is coastal midden sites have eroded archaeology sites are not visible not a single beach that does not away. From an archaeological point because they have become display midden deposits in varying of view, however, they are not overburdened by sediments. degrees of decay and exposure. destroyed, merely redeposited "Of course," you say, " that is Most of us know that these shells elsewhere. The challenge is to why archaeologists dig in the represent the accumulation of the determine where and to learn to earth.'' remains of prehistoric. dinners by interpret what we might find. The "No," I respond. "That is why British Columbia's first peoples. excavation and interpretation of archaeologists must dive in the Many of us worry at their exposure, "secondary deposits," that is, sea.'' as these archaeological deposits archaeological remains outside of contain not just clam shells, but a their original "primary" context, is The "disappearance" of coastal whole range of material evidence of in fact far more the norm than most middens is only partly due to an ancient way of life. We know people realize (and perhaps more erosion. I believe that the most that discovery and analysis of this than most archaeologists admit). significant single factor affecting the evidence can enrich our apprecia The majority of sites (except very location of shoreline middens, tion of the complex adaptations of recent or enclosed ones) are particularly during the mid past lifeways. Concern for the -exposed to the effects of weather, Holocene, is the cumulative effect apparent loss of these archaeolo water, animals, and humans; effects of post-glacial sea level rise. That is gical sites may grow when we that mix up the evidence, so to to say, the coastal sites from this realize that in the Gulf Islands, no speak. Archaeology is the detective period are located not on the coastal sites at all seem to have work that tries to put the pieces present-day coast, but along the The Midden · 1 coast that was in existence at the and, for a variety of reasons, time of their occupation - a paleo Montague Harbour rose to the top shoreline. If one considers the of the list. Eldridge's cores nailed it relative sea-level curve of the Gulf there, and with the support of the Islands, the reason why there are so BC Archaeology Branch and the few mid-Holocene sites in the Underwater ArchaeologicaJ Society region becomes apparent - they of BC, I spent three days excavating would have been located on a small test pit offshore, in October shorelines some 3-10 m below the 1989. modern shoreline. The results of this short field excursion were equivocal. A Partly with these thoughts in number of possible lithic artifacts mind, I began to investigate the were recovered, but they were very intertidal and submarine zones waterworn, and the tell-tale offshore from the big midden at characteristics of human use were Montague Harbour (D{Ru 13}. This not obvious. More intriguing were site had been excavated by Dr. the faunal remains, which included Donald Mitchell in the 1960s. He burned mammal bones. identified three cultural units at Although a start had been made, D{Ru 13: Gulf of Georgia, Marpole, three days was hardly enough time and Locarno Beach. He also noted to address the problem. The BC that the lowest deposits on-shore Heritage Trust recognized this and extend below the high-tide water agreed to fund three weeks of table, and that considerable erosion fieldwork in 1990. Andrew Mason, of the shore-face of the midden in the October 1990 Midden [Vol.22, seemed to have occurred, resulting No.4:6-7], discussed the public in redeposition of midden materials participation aspects of this along the beach. fieldwork; here I focus on the More recently, in 1989, Morley archaeological methods and initial Eldridge conducted a site boundary findings. survey of D{Ru 13. A core sample of The research strategy, developed the beach sediments led him to as the beginning of a close suggest that along with mixed examination of the effects of sea secondary midden deposits, some level rise and erosion on coastal portions of the intertidal beach area deposits, had three components. contained " undisturbed cultural One was to collect a series of deposits.'' sediment cores in order to ascertain For some years, I had been the geological evidence for the deliberating where to launch field timing and rate of sea-level change investigations of paleo-shorelines in the Montague Harbour basin, 50 E z \ 0 ..... ~ UJ 0 ..J · ·~·· · · · ···· · ··· · ·· · ···· · ··· · ···· · ······ · · · ·· · · ······ · ···· · ········· · · UJ ? ? . 1 2 1 1 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 0 RADIOCARBON AGE ( x 10 3 YEARS BP) Approximate sea level curve for the Victoria and Gulf Islands area, based on geological cores. 2 - The Midden SCALE E3 E3 F3 0 50 100m. Underwater c ontours in me t res above end below char I datum (lowe r low w a ter >. Intertidal and submarine excavation units at the Montague Harbour site, D{Ru 13. and to seek out likely areas where stratigraphy of the core shows a evidently generally unaltered cultural deposits might be found. basal clay level, followed by a layer midden deposits, whereas the Another was to undertake of what seem to be aerated soils lowest unit had a relatively simple controlled excavation of the that are in turn overlaid by marine stratigraphy consisting of only three intertidal zone. By beginning at the sands. The transition from soils to identifiable strata. All of the units basal level of the shoreside sands has been radiocarbon dated to bottomed out at a stiff clay stratified midden deposits, we 1900 ± 80 BP on marine shell (not interface, which may represent hoped to trace the limit of their calibrated). Several other cores from alluvial sediments deposited during integrity seaward and identify some the area show similar stratigraphy, periods of high sea level at the very effects of tidal inundation. Finally, and we hope to further date and end of the Pleistocene.