Younger Dryas Environments and Archaeology on the Northwest Coast of North America

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Younger Dryas environments and archaeology on the Northwest Coast of North America

Article in Quaternary International · October 2011 DOI: 10.1016/j.quaint.2011.03.042

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Younger Dryas environments and archaeology on the Northwest Coast of North America

Daryl Fedje a,*, Quentin Mackie b, Terri Lacourse c, Duncan McLaren b a Parks Canada, 2349 Florence Street, Victoria BC, Canada b Department of Anthropology, University of Victoria, Victoria BC, Canada c Department of Biology, University of Victoria, Victoria BC, Canada article info abstract

Article history: This paper reviews the current archaeological and palaeo-environmental evidence from the Younger Available online 8 April 2011 Dryas period on the Northwest Coast of North America. Sea level histories are region-specific, ranging from 100 m lower to 150 m higher than modern at ca. 12,200 cal BP, the mid-point of the Younger Dryas. Palaeo-environmental evidence shows temperature decrease across the study area, but in some regions this is accompanied by greater precipitation and glacial advance whereas in other conditions were drier. Terrestrial vegetation reflects this variability, with northern areas in particular showing evidence for expansion of herb and shrub tundra and southern areas marked by increased mountain hemlock and other species. Marine, intertidal and terrestrial fauna indicate productive ecosystems, with some sub- regional changes, such as extirpation of deer and bison, perhaps associated with the Younger Dryas onset. Stable isotope analysis of bear remains show these species, which are a good ecological analogue for humans, exploited both marine and terrestrial resources. Despite patchy and dynamic marine and terrestrial environments, these results suggest a challenging, yet viable environment for humans. Archaeological evidence for Younger Dryas human occupation is currently limited to six sites, of which four are associated with karst caves. The earliest of these are in Haida Gwaii, where bear hunting is dated to at least 12,650 cal BP, during the heart of the Younger Dryas interval. Other sites in southeast Alaska and in the Fraser River lowlands date to around 12,100 cal BP. In Puget Sound, the presence of ca. 13,000 cal BP Clovis surface collections, and the emerging data from the pre-Clovis Ayer Pond bison butchery site, suggest pre-Younger Dryas occupation. The Northwest Coast was open to population movement from both the north and south in the poorly known interval before the Younger Dryas, when conditions may have been more moderate and stable. The sub-regional variation and the scale of environmental change in the Younger Dryas, especially sea level fluctuation, makes discovery of Pleis- tocene archaeological sites challenging. The Younger Dryas may therefore be seen as something of a worst-case scenario for both the human occupation and the archaeological investigation of the Northwest Coast. Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction to Yakutat Bay (Fig. 1). This includes a diverse area of different coastal configurations ranging from deeply indented and linear Following the Last Glacial Maximum, the transition to a warmer fjords to dense coastal archipelagos, strongly linear, exposed coasts, climate on the Northwest Coast of North America (Mathewes, 1993; and sheltered seas. Backed by the Cascade and Coastal Ranges, much Mathewes et al., 1993) was interrupted by the global cooling event of the Northwest Coast is steep and rugged, but there are local areas known as the Younger Dryas. While this provoked rapid, global of fairly low-relief terrain, some of which are remnants of the coastal climatic change, the specific ways this affected the Northwest Coast plain which emerged at times of lower sea level. In this paper, the have not been fully resolved. The Northwest Coast is a large area, focus will be on the period between 12,900 and 11,500 cal BP, which here defined as the coastal margin of Washington State, British encapsulates the start and end of the Younger Dryas. Columbia, and southeast Alaska: approximately the Columbia River Where present, the paleontological record from the Northwest Coast demonstrates a rich terrestrial and marine fauna from early * Corresponding author. post-glacial to earliest Holocene time. Environmental changes were E-mail address: [email protected] (D. Fedje). probably substantial at and during the Younger Dryas, producing

Fig. 1. Northwest coast study area. both adaptive challenges for the early inhabitants and site identi- Clague, 2002; Menounos et al., 2009). Sea level varied widely fication challenges for archaeologists. Because of shifting shorelines according to sub-region and proximity to the continental shelf. and other obstacles to site reconnaissance, only a small number of Vegetation regimes also reflect locally distinct conditions, while the archaeological sites provide a window on early human occupation palaeontological record is only available for select locales and during this interval. When coupled to palaeo-environmental confident assessment of coherent, region-wide patterns is not information, an imperfect (but improving) picture of the possible. Each of these from north to south is reviewed in turn. constraints and possibilities of life on and around the coastal plain during the terminal Pleistocene emerges. Here, a review of the environmental conditions on the North- 2.1. Sea level west Coast will be followed by an archaeological review of the study area, and a short discussion of marine and terrestrial During Younger Dryas times, sea level was in flux on the productivity and of the implications of the archaeological record. Northwest Coast with significant regional differences in elevation relative to modern, in rate of change, and in direction of change. On the inner coast (e.g., Prince Rupert, Kitimat and the Fraser Valley) 2. Environment sea level was falling rapidly (Clague,1984; Fedje et al., 2005a; James et al., 2002). On the outer north coast (e.g., Haida Gwaii) sea level By the time of the Younger Dryas event, most glaciers on the was rising rapidly and on the outer south coast (e.g., Barkley Sound) north coastal margin of British Columbia had retreated well inland sea level had stabilized at its lowest level (Josenhans et al., 1997; up the valleys of the mainland (Armstrong, 1981; Clague, 1984). Fedje et al., 2005a; Dallimore et al., 2008). During this time the Some glaciers on the south coast, such as the Squamish and the broad coastal plain characteristic of Late Glacial time was at its Sumas, are known to have significantly re-advanced during the greatest extent on the southern part of the coast, and shrinking Younger Dryas, while others were more static (e.g., Friele and rapidly on the northern coast (Fig. 2). Table 1 summarizes the 454 D. Fedje et al. / Quaternary International 242 (2011) 452e462

Fig. 2. Juan Perez Sound (Southern Haida Gwaii) Palaeoshoreline at 13,000 cal BP. known sea level of key locales at 13,000, 12,500 and 11,500 cal BP. In northern Haida Gwaii, distinct increases in herb pollen during At 12,500 cal BP on the Northwest Coast there is a sea level range of the Younger Dryas, in particular from sedges and grasses (Poaceae) 250 m, from 100 m on the outer shelf in Haida Gwaii to þ150 m at suggest both decreased summer temperatures and, in contrast to the end of a long fjord at Kitimat. Determining accurate sea level southeast Alaska, increased precipitation (Mathewes et al., 1993). histories therefore requires localized research efforts, which are Paleoclimatic inferences based on fossil pollen assemblages from continuing in many areas across the Northwest Coast. northeastern Haida Gwaii suggest that between 12,900 and 11,800 cal BP summer air temperature was 2e3 C cooler than 2.2. Vegetation modern (Mathewes et al., 1993), although at West Side Pond in southern Haida Gwaii there is only limited evidence for a cooling On Pleasant Island near Juneau, Southeast Alaska, a “radical” trend during the Younger Dryas (Lacourse et al., 2005). change in pollen assemblages is noted between 12,600 and On the central British Columbia coast, Lacourse et al. (2003) 11,300 cal BP (Hansen and Engstrom, 1996), indicating that herb document the pre-Younger Dryas period but little is known about tundra replaced the pine parklands of the pre-Younger Dryas the Younger Dryas itself. Galloway et al. (2009) note an increase in period. At Mitkof Island, 200 km to the south, near Wrangell (Fig. 1), pine pollen between 12,700 and 11,800 at Seymour Inlet, which palynological evidence suggests similar, though likely less they attribute to cooler and drier Younger Dryas conditions. dramatic, changes in vegetation communities (Ager et al., 2010): However, Lacourse (2005), at the nearby Misty Lake site (Fig. 1), pine (Pinus contorta) decreases in association with increases in notes that mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana), an indicator of sedge (Cyperaceae) and ferns (Polypodiaceae). The climate during greater winter precipitation and colder temperatures overall, this period was likely drier and colder than the previous period increases at the same time along with pine. Mountain hemlock and (Hansen and Engstrom, 1996), although Ager et al. (2010) state that pine pollen increase in abundance in palynological records the relationship between colder conditions and the decline in pine throughout coastal British Columbia (Mathewes, 1993; Lacourse, at Mitkof Island is not well established. 2005; Galloway et al., 2009). D. Fedje et al. / Quaternary International 242 (2011) 452e462 455

Table 1 2.3. Paleontology Younger Dryas age sea level transects, in metres above (þ) or below () modern.

13,000 cal BP 12,200 cal BP 11,400 cal BP Paleontological data for the Younger Dryas is quite limited on North Coast the Northwest Coast. Faunal assemblages from southeast Alaska are Haida Gwaiia 120 m 100 m 50 m primarily known from a series of karst caves excavated by Tim b Dundas Island þ11 m þ10 m þ10 m Heaton. Radiocarbon-dated faunal remains between 12,900 and c þ þ þ Prince Rupert 30 m 20 m 10 m 11,500 cal BP, most of which are from On Your Knees Cave on Prince Kitimata,c wþ200 m wþ150 m wþ100 m of Wales Island (Fig. 1), are limited to numerous brown bear (Ursus South Coast arctos) and black bear (Ursus americanus), as well as a single Barkley Soundd 45 m 44 m 42 m specimen of caribou (Rangifer tarandus) dated to 12,600 cal BP South Salish Seae 15 m 20 m 25 m Fraser Lowlandf þ20 m þ18 m þ16 m (Heaton and Grady, 2003).

a From Haida Gwaii, fauna are limited to those recovered from Fedje et al. (2005b). fl b McLaren (2008). cave sites and from sea oor sampling. Table 2 provides the quan- c Clague (1984). tities of these fauna from the main excavation block at Gaadu Din 1, d Dallimore et al. (2008). including those from Younger Dryas age layers (Fedje and Sumpter, e James et al. (2009). 2007; Fedje, 2008). Intertidal shellfish assemblages are limited to f James et al. (2002). small samples from sediment cores and bucket samplers that intersected appropriate sediments (Fedje and Josenhans, 2000). Hetherington and Reid (2003) suggest that several intertidal On the south coast, near Vancouver, glacial advances in the species, including Butter clam (Saxidomus gigantea) and Littleneck Squamish and Fraser valleys extended to tidewater (eastern margin clam (Protothaca staminea) may have disappeared from the Hecate of the Salish Sea) during the Younger Dryas (Friele and Clague, Strait area (Fig.1) of north coastal British Columbia as a consequence 2002; Menounos et al., 2009). Glacial advance resulted from the of YD cooling. Sea surface temperature is inferred to have been effect of cooler and more moist conditions on Coast Mountain 3e4 C lower than modern off the B.C. coast during the Younger snowfield development. The Salish Sea and coastlines of Vancouver Dryas (McKay et al., 2004). However, recovery of Younger Dryas age Island were ice-free through Younger Dryas times with full marine specimens of the these intertidal shellfish species from now- circulation around Vancouver Island, although modern ocean drowned landforms suggests that conditions were not so severe as dynamics were not established in the Salish Sea area until the end to extirpate these species from all parts of the region (Table 3). of this time (Dallimore et al., 2008). On the south coast (Vancouver Island to Puget Sound environs), The presence of bison (Bison antiquus) on Orcas Island (Fig. 1)at palaeontological data are more limited for the Younger Dryas, 10,800 cal BP infers a somewhat open landscape in the southern although there is a relatively rich record for the millennium before Vancouver IslandeSalish Sea area until at least that time (Wilson 12,900 cal BP, including mastodon (Mammut americanus), bison et al., 2009). On northern Vancouver Island, mixed forest commu- (Bison antiquus), caribou, mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus), nities comparable to those of the modern Alaskan Panhandle were brown bear, short faced bear (Arctodus simus), and ground sloth established during Younger Dryas time (Lacourse, 2005). Increases (Megalonyx jeffersonii)(Nagorsen and Keddie, 2000; Steffen and in mountain hemlock throughout much of the southern portion of McLaren, 2008; Wilson et al., 2009; M. Wilson pers comm. 2009). the study area suggest decreased summer temperatures and Numerous bison have been found in post-glacial contexts on increased winter precipitation (Mathewes,1993; Brown and Hebda, southern Vancouver Island and surrounding islands, with the most 2002; Lacourse, 2005, 2007). On southern Vancouver Island, forest recent dating to 11,180 and 10,800 14C BP (ca. 13,100 and canopy structure shifted from open, pine-dominated, woodlands to 12,750 cal BP), from Orcas Island (Wilson et al., 2009). Rising sea increasingly closed forests with lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta), level and associated habitat fragmentation is believed to have Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis), Douglas-fir(Pseudotsuga menziesii), contributed to their extirpation but their apparent abundance prior western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) and mountain hemlock that to the Younger Dryas speaks to a productive post-glacial terrestrial endured through the Younger Dryas (Brown and Hebda, 2002). On environment. In the Olympic Peninsula area, near Sequim (Fig. 1), the Olympic Peninsula at the south margin of the Salish Sea, mastodon, bison and caribou were present at ca. 12,900 cal BP, but vegetation communities were characterized by western hemlock, it is not known at what time they were extirpated from the region Sitka spruce and Douglas-fir(Whitlock, 1992). (Wilson et al., 2009).

Table 2 Fauna (NISPa) from main excavation block at Gaadu Din 1 cave (after Fedje et al., 2008).

13,800e12,900 cal BP 12,900e11,500 cal BP 11,500e10,200 cal BP (pre-Younger Dryas) (Younger Dryas) (post-Younger Dryas) Marine ﬁsh 130 Salmon 21 1454 109 Dolly Varden 1 16 3 Rainbow 7 Trout/Steelhead Birds 15 54 Brown bear 5 64 4 Black bear 2 153 30 Deer 3 3b

Notes: Osteological identification of fauna was carried out by Rebecca Wigen, Pacific Identifications, Victoria, B.C. A sample of the specimens identified by Wigen as brown bear and salmon were confirmed by ancient DNA analysis (Sarah Bray, written communication 2009; Dongya Yang, written communication 2007). a NISP ¼ number of identified specimens. b Note that the deer dates to the very beginning of the Younger Dryas with the most recent dating to ca. 12,900 cal BP (Table 3). 456 D. Fedje et al. / Quaternary International 242 (2011) 452e462

Table 3 Radiocarbon ages and stable isotopes for Younger Dryas age marine and cave fauna from Haida Gwaii.

Lab # Sample 14C Marine reservoir Cal yrs Rangee1sd d13C d15N Taxon dated corrected Juan Perez Sound 120 to 130 m paleoshoreline shellﬁsh CAMS 54601 V98-27-1 11,55050 10,950 12,891e12,713 Littleneck clam CAMS 47674 V98-22-1 11,54050 10,940 12,882e12,706 Littleneck clam CAMS 54600 V98-21-1 11,45050 10,850 12,797e12,628 Butter clam CAMS 48155 V98-53-2 11,29050 10,690 12,649e12,567 Littleneck clam

Juan Perez Sound 105 to 115 m paleoshoreline shellﬁsh CAMS 18997 V98A11-88 11,32060 10,720 12,668e12,575 Bay mussel CAMS 18996 V94A11-81 11,15060 10,550 12,568e12,382 Bay mussel CAMS 49630 V98-40-1 10,78070 10,180 12,008e11,702 Butter clam

Juan Perez Sound 50 to 55 m paleoshoreline shellﬁsh CAMS 49629 V98-31-1 10,58040 9,980 11,574e11,256 Butter clam

Gaadu Din Cave salmon (þ50 m) UCIAMS15163 GD 8A10 11,51025 10,910 12,839e12,683 16.6 13.8 Salmon UCIAMS15164 GD 7E11 10,97025 10,370 12,260e12,108 15.5 14.6 Salmon UCIAMS 5750 GD 2-25 10,99535 10,395 12,334e12,120 14.8 15 Salmon UCIAMS 5754 GD 2-55 10,93535 10,335 12,219e12,048 15.4 15.6 Salmon UCIAMS23614 GD 7B13 10,91035 10,310 12,032e11,858 15.5 ? Salmon UCIAMS15165 GD 7H7 10,83025 10,230 12,027e11,907 14.7 15.7 Salmon

Gaadu Din Cave brown bears (þ50 m) UCIAMS15156 EU7B6 10,71530 10,385 12,548e12,081 15.6 16.4 Brown bear UCIAMS41042 EU13A5 10,66030 10,360 12,374e12,109 16.1 15.0 Brown bear UCIAMS41043 EU13E6 10,46530 10,205 11,997e11,827 16.5 14.2 Brown bear

Gaadu Din deer (þ50 m) UCIAMS4892 EU4A6 11,00545 13,046e12,865 20.7 2.2 Deer UCIAMS23611 EU7A7 10,96540 12,965e12,847 21.6 4.4 Deer UCIAMS15159 EU8A2 10,93540 12,938e12,841 21.4 3.4 Deer UCIAMS15162 EU8A9 10,99025 12,964e12,867 22.1 6.0 Deer UCIAMS15161 EU9B3 10,92035 12,924e12,839 22.4 6.1 Deer UCIAMS15160 EU9B12 11,06030 13,067e12,905 24.3 Deer UCIAMS28003 EU14A1 10,94525 12,927e12,851 19.5 6.4 Deer

Gaadu Din black bear (þ50 m) UCIAMS5756 EU1A1 10,51535 12,677e12,387 20.6 0.8 Black bear UCIAMS21994 SAC1 10,46525 12,562e12,102 19.1 6.9 Black bear UCIAMS5753 EU 2A4 10,48535 12,674e12,240 20.3 1.1 Black bear UCIAMS5755 EU2A7 10,57535 12,779e12,399 21.3 2.7 Black bear UCIAMS4889 EU5A2 10,58545 12,790e12,398 21.7 2.3 Black bear UCIAMS5733 EU5A2 10,55035 12,719e12,395 21.5 2.4 Black bear UCIAMS15154 EU9A17 11,03030 13,047e12,886 20.2 3.8 Black bear

Note: Marine reservoir corrections follow Southon and Fedje (2003).

2.4. Discussion of palaeoenvironment conditions with increases in the abundance of mountain hemlock. A mosaic of these types of vegetation communities occurred between While the global trend was towards cooler, drier conditions, Mitkof Island and Haida Gwaii/Dundas archipelago (Lacourse and there is much unexplored sub-regional diversity in the specific Mathewes, 2005; Lacourse et al., 2005; McLaren, 2008; Ager et al., impacts of the Younger Dryas event. Coastal regions can be 2010) and between Seymour Inlet and northeast Vancouver expected to have different responses than continental regions. island (Lacourse et al., 2003; Lacourse, 2005; Galloway et al., 2009). Principally, the ocean may buffer some of the cooling trend and After the Last Glacial Maximum and prior to the Younger Dryas, yet also promote increased precipitation, expression of which may there is sparse but firm evidence in the various sub-regions for itself depend on local conditions. Unfortunately, documentation of large terrestrial fauna including brown, black, and short faced bear, the Younger Dryas on the Northwest Coast is incomplete. The caribou, deer, mountain goat, bison, mastodon, and sloth (Heaton information on hand suggests a fairly patchy set of environmental and Grady, 2003; Wigen, 2005; McLaren and Steffen, 2008; Fedje conditions which will presumably reflect factors like a sub-region’s and Smith, 2009; Wilson et al., 2009; Wilson pers. comm. 2009). topographic elevation and steepness, relative proximity to the open Marine and fluvial productivity is shown by salmonids, including Pacific or to the Coast Mountain Ranges, to persistent or growing salmon (Oncorhynchus sp.), rainbow trout (Oncoryhnchus mykiss) glaciers, to katabatic winds, and other influences on local condi- and Dolly Varden char (Salvelinus malma), and numerous and tions. In other words, there appears to have been more than one set abundant palaeo-intertidal and subtidal shellfish assemblages of Younger Dryas conditions on the Northwest Coast, and at the found from southeast Alaska to Washington State (Hetherington moment no fine-grained review is possible. and Reid, 2003; Fedje and Smith, 2009). Marine mammal remains In general, landscapes immediately prior to the Younger Dryas are less common, although a 13,800 cal BP Steller’s sea lion included open pine parkland with abundant alder and ferns as well (Eumetopias jubatus) from the east coast of Vancouver Island indi- as remnant herb and shrub tundra. Some paleoecological records cates that higher level predators were rapidly recolonizing the that suggest colder and drier conditions facilitated the expansion of inner post-glacial waters (Harington et al., 2004). herbaceous communities during the Younger Dryas. Other records, During the Younger Dryas itself, paleontological evidence is less often from nearby locations, show a shift to colder and wetter abundant. Younger Dryas age salmonids, brown and black bear, and D. Fedje et al. / Quaternary International 242 (2011) 452e462 457 caribou are known (Fedje and Sumpter, 2008; Fedje and Smith, 3. Younger Dryas archaeological evidence 2010). Bison persisted on the south coast until at least 12,700 cal BP (Wilson et al., 2009), while in Haida Gwaii black-tailed Archaeological evidence of Younger Dryas age is reviewed deer (Odocoileus hemionus) were extirpated around 12,800 cal BP below, moving from north to south through the study area. (Fedje and Sumpter, 2008), both species perhaps disappearing Radiocarbon ages from archaeological contexts are presented in around the Younger Dryas onset. Sea levels themselves were highly Table 4. variable (Table 1). Lower sea levels in Hecate Strait, Barkley Sound, At On Your Knees Cave (49-PET-408) in southeast Alaska, and the Salish Sea exposed large areas of productive lowlands. Younger Dryas age archaeological evidence is limited to a single Caribou and other ungulates were likely much more abundant bone tool directly dated to 12,100 cal BP (Dixon, 2001). This date is in early post-glacial to earliest Holocene time when the landscape an outlier compared to the other stone tools and human remains was more open than after closed forest development ca. from this site, which consistently date to around 10,400 cal BP, 11,000 cal BP (Schalk et al., 2007). In Haida Gwaii, for example, however, it falls within the range of faunal materials recovered caribou survived in the muskeg-rich northern part of the archi- from within the cave. pelago until ca. A.D. 1900 (Spalding, 2000; Christensen and To the north, at Ground Hog Bay site 2 (Fig. 1), the lower Stafford, 2005). Other herbivores, and their predatory associates, component includes two dates of ca. 9200 14C BP (ca. 10,300 cal BP) may also have been present in the region. For example, bison, and a single date of 10,180 800 14CBP (w11,800 cal BP) although undated, has been recovered from the mainland coast at (Ackerman, 1996). The large associated error of the latter 14C date Kitimat (Smith, 1977), and may have been associated with an early, means the site cannot currently be placed with confidence in the more open landscape. Faunal remains from both cave and marine Younger Dryas. samples cannot be considered in any way to be representative of Younger Dryas age archaeology has also been found at three the landscape as a whole, but do serve as indicator species for at different caves in Haida Gwaii, each of which reflect winter bear least part of the regional paleontological story. The lowland hunting. At K1 cave on west-central Haida Gwaii, there is evidence ecosystems noted above have mainly been flooded and, with a few for bear hunting in the middle Younger Dryas (Fedje et al., 2004b; exceptions, such as northeastern Haida Gwaii and the Dundas McLaren et al., 2005). At this site, one spearpoint base was strati- Islands, little remains subaerially of the true coastal plain. graphically constrained between dates of 10,660 and 10,525 14CBP In summary, proxy records of the Younger Dryas period on the (ca. 12,600 cal BP), and a second between layers dating to 10,960 Northwest Coast indicate at least some degree of patchiness via and 10,510 14C BP (ca. 12,800e12,500 cal BP) (Table 4). Found in locales which may have quite different characteristics and resource association with abundant bear bones well within the dark zone of suites from each other and from both preceding and subsequent a cave, these points were most likely introduced into the cave inside time periods. On a larger scale, this is comparable to the thrust of the bodies of wounded bears, a pattern interpreted as winter bear a recent review of the Younger Dryas in North America, which hunting at or near hibernation dens. No evidence of butchering, points to generally colder winters, more seasonality, but also tool maintenance or camp activities were observed during the divergent trends on a sub-regional scale across the continent relatively limited archaeological investigations at this extensive (Meltzer and Holliday, 2010). cave system.

Table 4 YD age archaeological components.

Lab # Sample 14C Cal yrs range Taxon dated and comment YD age archaeology e K1 Cave CAMS-93774 EU11B10 10,525 50 12,552e12,421 Black bear above point CAMS-93775 EU11B20 10,660 40 12,630e12,561 Black bear below point UCIAMS-4884 EU11CB2a 10,510 35 12,543e12,442 Black bear above point UCIAMS-4886 EU11CB3a 10,960 35 12,897e12,730 Black bear below point

YD age archaeology e Gaadu Din 1 Cave UCIAMS-28005 EU11D#2 10,615 30 12,604e12,548 Charcoal with stone tool UCIAMS-12388 EU9C8 10,550 25 12,568e12,432 Charcoal with stone tool UCIAMS-31729 EU7B7 10,150 25 11,957e11,760 Bone point UCIAMS-12386 EU7B2b 9,980 30 11,548e11,312 Charcoal with stone point

YD age archaeology e Gaadu Din 2 Cave CIAMS-56933 EU7-B20 10,530 20 12,551e12,428 Charcoal, biface ﬂakes (brf) UCIAMS-40882 EU4A2 10,295 25 12,110e12,035 Charcoal with biface UCIAMS-40880 EU2A1 10,220 30 12,044e11,828 Charcoal with spearpoint UCIAMS-56932 EU7-B15 10,280 25 12,088e11,830 Lower hearth charcoal, brf UCIAMS-49182 EU6-B8b 10,215 20 12,032e11,830 Middle hearth charcoal, brf UCIAMS-55084 EU6-B8b 10,210 20 12,027e11828 Middle hearth charcoal, brf UCIAMS-55083 EU6-D8b 10,205 20 11,998e11,826 Middle hearth charcoal, brf UCIAMS-55085 EU7-A3 10,025 45 11,690e11,394 Black bear bone

YD age archaeology e 49-PET-408 e On Your Knees Cave CAMS-42381 10,300 50 12,371e11982 Terrestrial mammal

YD age? Archaeology e Ground Hog Bay WSU-412 10,180800 12,371e11982 Terrestrial mammal

Post-YD age archaeology ElTa-18, Hunter Island Beta-109626 9940 50 11591e11247 Charcoal

YD age archaeology e DhRn 29 e Cardinalis Creek, Stave Watershed Beta226980 N29-06H25 10,170 40 11,974e11675 Charcoal Beta 241999 N29-06-H25 10,370 40 12,382e12,124 Charcoal 458 D. Fedje et al. / Quaternary International 242 (2011) 452e462

Fig. 3. Stratigraphic proﬁle at Gaadu Din 2 Site, Haida Gwaii.

Human use of Gaadu Din 1 cave in southeastern Haida Gwaii Preliminary investigation at the Gaadu Din 2 Cave suggests this was likely limited to bear hunting (Fedje and Sumpter, 2007). At site, only several hundred metres from Gaadu Din 1, was intermit- this site, two flaked stone spear points and two flake tools were tently used by people as a hunting camp or refuge between 12,500 dated by association with charcoal and bone to between 12,600 and and 10,700 cal BP (Fedje and Smith, 2009). This is based on recovery 11,500 cal BP. The tip of a bone point was directly dated to of formed tools and evidence of on-site tool maintenance, mostly in w11,800 cal BP (Table 4). As at K1, the recovered spear points may and around a stratified hearth feature (Fig. 3). One large, complete have been introduced to the cave by wounded bears, who either bifacial projectile point (Fig. 4) and two very small bifacial point tips pulled the spears out in the safety of the cave, or died there shortly were found, as well as a bifacial knife. Eleven small biface resharp- thereafter of their wounds or much later of unrelated natural ening flakes and several soft hammerstones were also found. All causes. In all cases, artifacts are left together with bones on the cave artifacts from Gaadu Din 2 are consistent with hunting-related floor. Scattered charcoal in the cave would fit well with an ethno- activity and associated tool maintenance, and the near-absence of graphic hunting technique described by Hallowell (1926) and bear remains may also indicate it was not commonly used as a den. McLaren et al. (2005). In this technique, burning branches were The pattern at these three cave sites contrasts with the nearby thrown into a den to smoke out the bear, or dogs were sent in to early Holocene (10,700 cal BP) summer occupancy, coastal site of roust the animal. The bear would rapidly emerge from its lair and Kilgii Gwaay (McLaren et al., 2005; Fedje et al., 2001; Fedje et al., be encouraged to charge the hunter, impaling itself on long spears 2005c), where about half of the numerous bear bones show butted into the earth just outside the cave entrance. From the evidence of butchering and burning, but at which an absence of hunters’ perspective, this has the advantage of not having to meet bifacial projectile points (in a lithic assemblage of more than 4000 the bear on its own terms inside a narrow, cramped and dark cave specimens) suggests bears were being trapped. Both the winter passage. On occasion, a wounded bear would likely have retreated cave and summer coastal archaeological signatures are consistent back into its lair. This may be the means by which the projectile with historically documented seasonal bear hunting patterns and points are brought into the cave, and would imply greater archae- associated ritual beliefs (Hallowell, 1926; McLaren et al., 2005). ological deposits outside the cave entrance. However, heavy over- Younger Dryas age archaeological sites are less known from the burdens, erosion and dense vegetation in these locales make site central and southern Northwest Coast. On the central coast, only survival and discovery difficult. Hunter Island (ElTa-18), with a basal date of 9940 14CBP (ca. The presence of the flake tools also suggests that, on occasion, 11,400 cal BP) approaches the Younger Dryas period (Cannon, 2000). bears may have been butchered inside the cave, possibly to facili- This site is several centuries older than basal layers of the nearby tate their removal through the narrow cave entrance. However, no Namu site. The evidence at Hunter Island is very limited, and tells bones exhibit clear evidence of cut marks or burning, canine teeth little of the way of life other than access across a deepwater channel have not been preferentially removed, and the element distribution to an outer-coast island e the western and southern shores of which is similar to that expected from complete carcasses resulting from are exposed to the open Pacific e probably required watercraft. natural mortality (Fedje and Sumpter, 2007). The apparent absence In the Stave River watershed near Vancouver, numerous arti- of evidence of human agency in the elements recovered suggests facts have been found deflated on the shore of a reservoir. Recent that entering the cave to confront a wounded bear or to butcher investigations at 23 different archaeological sites in this valley have a large carcass in a cramped and dark locale may have been a rare, revealed a number of lag deposits of artifacts with co-laterally and probably undesirable, turn of events. flaked stemmed and lanceolate points and point fragments, D. Fedje et al. / Quaternary International 242 (2011) 452e462 459

Fig. 4. Select lithic artifacts from Gaadu Din 2 site, Haida Gwaii. (a) Complete point; (b, c) point tips; (d) biface; (ceh) biface resharpening flakes. totalling 67 specimens (McLaren et al., 2008). Ten of these have Mastodon at Sequim (Gustafson et al., 1979) have not yet been square-based stem attributes similar to Windust points (McLaren conclusively demonstrated to be archaeological, although evidence and Steffen, 2008). Preliminary subsurface tests at the Cardinalis for the former is accumulating. Creek Site (DhRn-29), where some stratified deposits survived inundation, has produced 14C dates from scattered charcoal asso- 4. Discussion ciated with cultural material beginning in the Younger Dryas period (McLaren et al., 2008). Charcoal from directly beneath a biface While there is a wide geographic range to the Younger Dryas age returned a date of 10,170 14C BP (ca 11,800 cal BP) (Table 4). sites just noted, the best combination of archaeological and envi- A second charcoal sample from within 5 cm of the biface returned ronmental evidence continues to come from the Haida Gwaii caves, a date of 10,370 14C BP (ca. 12,200 cal BP), although a third date of and the earliest Holocene sites which lie nearby. Discussion will only 9190 14C BP (ca. 10,350 cal BP) comes from another part of the therefore focus on these key sites. same stratum (Table 4). Further south in Puget Sound, eight separate finds of Clovis 4.1. Marine and terrestrial productivity Points are known, recently summarised by Croes et al. (2008). Most of these are surface finds, but two, 45-KI-215 and 45-KP-139, were The paleontological data from Haida Gwaii caves provide several found within bogs or under peats (Croes et al., 2008). Ranging from lines of evidence supporting the viability of Haida Gwaii for people near Olympia in southernmost Puget Sound to within a few miles of during early post-glacial times, including the Younger Dryas cold the Canadian Border at Bellingham, these points presumably date interval. Both brown and black bear were present. Younger Dryas to the fairly narrow Clovis horizon of 11,050 to 10,800 14C BP (ca. age caribou were not recovered from these caves, but are known to 13,000e12,700 cal BP) (Waters and Stafford, 2007), immediately have been present on the archipelago from at least 13,300 cal BP to before or through the onset of the Younger Dryas period. If these historic times (Wigen, 2005; Fedje and Smith, 2010). Salmon from points represent “late Clovis”, then they would certainly lie within Gaadu Din 1 are most abundant from levels dating to the interval the Younger Dryas. Recent discovery of a stratified site (45-KI-839), 13,000e11,500 cal BP. Their abundance, and the presence of Dolly also in the Puget Sound area, with Clovis-like basally thinned Varden char and Rainbow trout, suggests at least moderately projectile points recovered from a soil unit dating between 10,000 productive offshore marine environments at this time, as well as and 12,800 cal BP suggests presence of this technology in the some fairly stable rivers and lakes (Fedje and Sumpter, 2007). Since southern Northwest Coast area in Younger Dryas times (Kopperl brown bears with a partially marine isotope signature co-occur et al., 2010). with salmon in the caves, it is likely that fall bears feeding at the Other pre-Younger Dryas sites from the Puget Sound area, such streams and using the caves as lairs is the means by which the as Ayer Pond on Orcas Island (Kenady et al., 2011) and Manis salmon got into the cave (Fedje and Sumpter, 2007). 460 D. Fedje et al. / Quaternary International 242 (2011) 452e462

Other faunal patterns may be particularly interesting for are comparable to sea mammals and fish (Dixon, 2001), indicating understanding the Younger Dryas on the Northwest Coast. During a significant marine dietary component. the early Younger Dryas, deer appear to have been extirpated from While the Younger Dryas was a period of substantial change, so Haida Gwaii, perhaps because of a sudden increase in snowfall were the periods before and after. For example, a large number of beyond this species’ winter-time foraging abilities (Edwards, 1956; sites in Haida Gwaii are known between 12,600 and 10,200 cal BP, Hanley, 1984). The presence of several brown bear specimens dated a time of profound changes in sea level, fauna and flora. In Gwaii 11,900e12,300 cal BP, which stratigraphically overlay other abun- Haanas National Park Reserve, southern Haida Gwaii (see Fig. 2), over dant, undated brown bear remains, shows that these bears survived one hundred occupation sites are known from a narrow window ca to the end of the Younger Dryas on Haida Gwaii. 10,600 cal BP, when sea level was similar to modern for a few decades The bear evidence from the Younger Dryas is particularly (Mackie and Sumpter, 2005), which suggests a robust human pop- interesting because bears, being large, omnivorous, territorial land ulation. Sea level rise was on the order of 5 cm per year for two mammals with relatively slow reproductive rates, can be consid- millennia. Putting this in human terms, the village in which a person ered a useful proxy for human ecology (Fedje et al., 2004a). Stable was born would have been inundated by the time he or she died, and isotope analyses of brown bear remains (Table 3) indicate a mixed that person’s great-grandparents’ camps would have become reefs or terrestrial-marine diet, with the marine component most likely fishing holes. Substantial change would have been apparent in living derived from exploitation of anadromous fish. This seasonal memories. However, the dynamic environment was arguably an opportunity to gorge on fish may be an important, or even crucial, opportunity, not a cost. The intertidal zone would have been aspect of brown bear ecology. However, the terrestrial component a moving window into the surficial geology, providing abundant, if of their diet speaks to productive opportunities for brown bears to temporary, sources of suitable material for stone tools. Under- forage on plants. Black bears, in contrast, have a strongly terrestrial standing that sea level change was an integral part of their world, not signature, perhaps reflecting competitive exclusion by brown bears an external imposition or burden (Leary, 2009) that directs the at salmon streams (Fedje and Sumpter, 2007). With deer extirpated, archaeologist’s attention away from coping with change to change black bear and caribou were the only other large land mammals being a normal state of affairs. People dealt very well with the known to be on Haida Gwaii during the Younger Dryas, these two dynamic environment for 2000 years but with the onset of relative species being the only large mammals known from the Holocene as environmental stability, there may have been adaptive challenges, as well. With mixed feeding brown bears known through the Younger perhaps reflected in the Richardson Island stone tool assemblage Dryas, and with numerous black bear specimens showing terres- around 9800 cal BP (Fedje et al., 2008; McLaren and Smith, 2008). trial d13C(Table 3), then both marine and terrestrial environments This suggestion resonates with Meltzer and Holliday’s(2010)recent can be inferred to be adequate for humans before and during this suggestions that it may have been the end of the Younger Dryas that cold period (Heaton and Grady, 2003). Pollen accumulation rates posed the adaptive challenge to eastern Palaeoindians. from lake sediment cores also indicate productive vegetation Elsewhere on the coast, On Your Knees cave is also on an outer- communities throughout the region (e.g., Lacourse, 2005). In coast island, as is Hunter Island, the earliest Holocene age Hunter addition, paleoecological records document evidence that known Island site. Ground Hog Bay is in the midst of a steep, fjord context. food plants and other plant resources were available to humans The Stave River sites are in an upland valley which would have been throughout the late glacial period (e.g., Lacourse and Mathewes, closer to the ocean at the time of occupation of the Cardinalis Creek 2005). site. In Puget Sound, the Clovis finds are concentrated on the relatively low-lying coastal or near-coastal landform, which would have 4.2. Human adaptation: maritime vs. coastal vs. terrestrial offered mixed terrestrial and marine resources. The overall archaeological evidence, patchy as it is, shows use of remote and rugged At 12,600 cal BP, the time of the earliest direct archaeological islands, of coastal plains, and of inland valleys. The most reasonable evidence for human occupation in Haida Gwaii, the archipelago was working model is one of people who collectively had marine as well more than 30 km from the mainland of North America. Travel must as terrestrial skills. Across the Northwest Coast, the Younger Dryas have been at least in part by marine waters e or people arrived much might have encouraged responses in multiple directions depending earlier, on foot. Maritime resources appear to have been relatively on where and when people found themselves. Some areas may have abundant at this time, but there was also still an open parkland become inhospitable seasonally, while others may have become environment likely amenable to a variety of game, including caribou more hospitable from a human perspective. Archaeologists should (cf. Carlson, 2009). The climate was colder, and sub-regionally may therefore be seeking evidence of multiple ways of life from the have been relatively wetter or drier. At this time brown and black spectrum between “quite maritime” to “very terrestrial”, depending bears hibernated in caves in Haida Gwaii, a practice they seem to on the environmental setting, and not imposing a single adaptation abandon about 11,500 cal BP (Fedje and Sumpter, 2007). onto a large, dynamic and diverse region which had heterogeneous The Haida Gwaii cave sites show that people were present by at ecological responses to the Younger Dryas event. least 12,600 cal BP, in the heart of the Younger Dryas period, and that part of their adaptation included winter bear hunting in or 5. Conclusions around the karst caves of the interior of the archipelago. The site settings, near the remote and rugged west and southeastern coasts The Northwest Coast was open to human entry before of Haida Gwaii, indicate a broadly coastal occupation. There is not 15,000 cal BP (Clague et al., 2004). Prior to the Younger Dryas, by yet sufficient data to assert a well-developed maritime adaptation 13,000 cal BP, a diverse terrestrial, intertidal, marine and anadro- at this time. However, by around 10,700 cal BP at the Kilgii Gwaay mous fauna was established on the Northwest Coast. The Younger and Richardson Island archaeological sites, there is strong evidence Dryas was a time of substantial environmental change, though this for a diverse and comprehensive maritime-fluent adaptation in change was regionally diverse and had variable outcomes for which some terrestrial resources continued to be used (Fedje et al., humans. Some environmental circumstances, such as sea level 2005b; Steffen, 2006). Contemporaneously at On Your Knees cave, change, continued from prior times in ways minimally affected by there is evidence for widespread movement of obsidian across the Younger Dryas, while other changes, such as local faunal hundreds of kilometres from sources on the mainland (Lee, 2007). extirpations, resulted from the Younger Dryas itself. Some changes, Isotopic d13C values from the remains of a single human individual such as the extirpation of deer, were negative environmental D. Fedje et al. / Quaternary International 242 (2011) 452e462 461 factors for humans, while others, such as the increased extent of Humanities Research Council grants 410-2001-0898 and 410-2005- coastal plains, might have been beneficial. 0778. Terri Lacourse is supported by a Natural Sciences and Engi- Much of the Northwest Coast is still a remote, rugged and neering Research Council of Canada Discovery Grant. Work in the undeveloped wilderness and the current low inventory of early Stave Watershed was undertaken under contract from BC Hydro sites may or may not reflect intensity of use by early peoples. and was conducted with the Kwantlen First Nation. The Haida Additional evidence of human activity can be anticipated from Gwaii work is the product of several years research involving other cave sites in this area, but discovery of ocean shoreline a number of archaeologists from Haida Gwaii along with academic, archaeological sites is less likely because of the logistics in finding government, consulting and volunteer archaeologists from ‘down deeply drowned sites subjected to transgressive erosion. Early south’ (Victoria). Faunal analyses were conducted by Becky Wigen, Period Northwest Coast archaeology has always been presented Pacific Identifications. We also thank Ted Goebel, Iain McKechnie with many challenges including low archaeological visibility, dense and the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and vegetation, shorelines either deeply drowned or highly stranded, suggestions. steep terrain and terrestrial erosion processes, and acidic soils which dissolve organic remains in a matter of decades e not to References mention difficult and expensive access via planes or boats to many of the locales of most interest. During times of rapid sea level Ackerman, R.E., 1996. Ground Hog Bay, Site 2. In: West, F.H. (Ed.), American change, coastal dwellers likely followed the transgressing or Beginnings: the Prehistory and Palaeoecology of Beringia. University of Chicago regressing shorelines. This led to their material remains being Press, pp. 424e429. Ager, T.A., Carrara, P.E., Smith, J.L., Anne, V., Johnson, J., 2010. Postglacial vegetation spread thinly across terrestrial and submarine landscapes. history of Mitkof Island, Alexander Archipelago, southeastern Alaska. Quater- Other than caves, the greatest potential for an early record in nary Research 73, 259e268. this area may be formerly inland landforms at locations where key Armstrong, J.E., 1981. Post-Vashon Wisconsin glaciation, Fraser Lowland, British Columbia. Geological Survey of Canada Bulletin 332 Ottawa. food resources can be expected to have been abundant. If people Brown, K.J., Hebda, R.J., 2002. Origin, development, and dynamics of coastal were present in the area, habitation sites might be expected to be temperate conifer rainforests of southern Vancouver Island, Canada. Canadian found near wetlands or ponds, or on lake or river terraces. Sedi- Journal of Forest Research 32, 353e372. mentation and thick overburden is a major challenge but ultimately Cannon, A., 2000. Settlement and sea-levels on the Central Coast of British Columbia: evidence from shell midden cores. American Antiquity 65, 67e77. may protect sites. It is interesting that in the Stave Watershed Carlson, R.L., 2009. The rise and fall of native Northwest Coast cultures. In: (McLaren et al., 2008), extensive survey of deflated sediments in Cassidy, J., Ackerman, R., Ponkratova, T. (Eds.), Maritime Adaptation and Seaside fi a drawn-down dam reservoir has recovered nearly continuous Settlement along the Paci c Coast of North America during the Pleistocene- Holocene boundary. The University Book Press, pp. 93e122. cultural materials across zones of apparent low potential, only Christensen, T., Stafford, J., 2005. Raised beach archaeology in Northern Haida revealed through the very high surface visibility. These include Gwaii: preliminary results from the Cohoe Creek site. In: Fedje, D.W., numerous artifacts stylistically assignable to the terminal Pleisto- Mathewes, R.W. (Eds.), Haida Gwaii, Human History and Environment from the Time of Loon to the Time of the Iron People. UBC Press, Vancouver, pp. cene. As noted, several of the Puget Sound Clovis points were found 245e273. in bog or peat contexts. This suggests such sites may not be Clague, J.J., 1984. Quaternary geology and geomorphology: Smithers-Terrace-Prince particularly rare, just obscure, and that a focus on predictive Rupert area, British Columbia. Geological Survey of Canada Memoir 413. fi Clague, J.J., Mathewes, R.W., Ager, T.A., 2004. Environments of northwestern North modelling of intact landforms speci cally for Pleistocene sites America before the Last Glacial Maximum. In: Madsen, D.B. (Ed.), Entering could be productive. This may require a very fine grained and local America: Northeast Asia and Beringia Before the Last Glacial Maximum. environmental model of the Younger Dryas to be built. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, pp. 63e94. 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Post-glacial evolution of have already been found in challenging locations via intense and a Pacific coastal fjord in British Columbia, Canada: interactions of sea-level focused survey of only those zones with the very highest potential change, crustal response and environmental fluctuations; results from MONA e (Fedje and Christensen, 1999; McLaren, 2008; Sanders, 2009). Core MD02-2494. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 45, 1345 1362. Dixon, E.J., 2001. Human colonization of the Americas: timing, technology and Where isostatic and eustatic sea level change were in balance, process. In: Elias, S.E., Brigham-Grette, J. (Eds.), Beringian Paleoenvironments: such as the Dundas Archipelago (McLaren, 2008), a substantial Festschrift in Honour of David M. Hopkins. Quaternary Science Reviews 20, palaeo-coastal record may be present near low-relief modern 277e299. Edwards, R.Y., 1956. Snow depths and ungulate abundance in the mountains of shorelines, and therefore may be easier to access and investigate. western Canada. Journal of Wildlife Management 20, 159e168. A preliminary reconnaissance on the Dundas Group returned a site, Fedje, D.W. 2008. 2007/08 Gwaii Haanas Archaeology and Paleoecology. Annual GcTr-6 (“Far West Point”) on a palaeoshoreline of nine to eleven Report, Parks Canada, Victoria. 14 Fedje, D.W., Christensen, T., 1999. Modeling paleoshorelines and locating early metres in elevation, with a basal date of 9690 C BP (ca. Holocene coastal sites in Haida Gwaii. American Antiquity 64, 635e652. 11,150 cal BP), about twice as old as previously recorded for the Fedje, D.W., Sumpter, I.D., 2007. 2005/06 Season Gwaii Haanas archaeology and north mainland coast (McLaren, 2008). Following McLaren (2008), paleoecology. Annual Report, Parks Canada, Victoria. taking further advantage of these isostatic “hinge” areas could also Fedje, D.W., Sumpter, I.D., 2008. 2006/07 Season Gwaii Haanas Archaeology and Paleoecology. Annual Report, Parks Canada, Victoria. be productive, by making the “haystack” smaller. Resolving the Fedje, D.W., Smith, N.F., 2009. 2008/09 Gwaii Haanas Archaeology and Paleo- issues surrounding the Younger Dryas and earlier occupations of ecology. Annual report, Parks Canada, Victoria. the Northwest Coast will probably involve gaining much higher- Fedje, D.W., Smith, N.F., 2010. 2009/10 Gwaii Haanas Archaeology and Paleoecology. Annual Report, Parks Canada, Victoria. resolution environmental data for the sub-regions, and selectively Fedje, D.W., Mackie, Q., McLaren, D.S., Christensen, T., 2008. A projectile point targeting areas of very high archaeological potential. sequence for Haida Gwaii. In: Carlson, R.L., Magne, M.P. (Eds.), Projectile Point Sequences in Northwestern North America. Archaeology Press, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, pp. 19e40. Acknowledgements Fedje, D.W., Wigen, R.J., Mackie, Q., Lake, C.R., Sumpter, I.D., 2001. Preliminary results from investigations at Kilgii Gwaay: an early Holocene archaeological This work has been supported by Gwaii Haanas National Park/ site on Ellen Island, Haida Gwaii, British Columbia. Canadian Journal of Archaeology 25, 98e120. Haida Heritage Site, Parks Canada Archaeological Services, the Fedje, D.W., Mackie, Q., Dixon, E.J., Heaton, T.H., 2004a. Late Wisconsin environ- Council of the Haida Nation and Canada Social Sciences and ments and archaeological visibility on the northern Northwest Coast. In: 462 D. Fedje et al. / Quaternary International 242 (2011) 452e462

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