A Lithic Raw Materials Study of the Bridge River Site, British Columbia, Canada
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers Graduate School 2007 A Lithic Raw Materials Study of the Bridge River Site, British Columbia, Canada Darrell Albert Austin The University of Montana Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Austin, Darrell Albert, "A Lithic Raw Materials Study of the Bridge River Site, British Columbia, Canada" (2007). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 269. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/269 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A LITHIC RAW MATERIALS STUDY OF THE BRIDGE RIVER SITE, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA by Darrell A. Austin B.A. University of Montana Thesis Presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts The University of Montana Spring 2007 Approved by: Dr. David A. Strobel, Dean Graduate School Dr. Anna M. Prentiss, Chair Anthropology Department Dr. John E. Douglas Anthropology Department Dr. Donald Winston Geosciences Department Austin, Darrell A., M.A. Spring 2007 Anthropology A Lithic Raw Materials Study of the Bridge River Site, British Columbia, Canada (99pp.) Chairperson: Anna M. Prentiss New excavations at the Bridge River Site were conducted over two seasons (2003, 2004), collecting over 16,000 artifacts, of which about 4,000 were from dated contexts. These dated materials were used for a materials study to look at settlement patterns, trade and prestige. The Bridge River Site is located in an area of complex geology that contains many unique and valuable resources for the prehistoric and the present. The accreted terranes are a series of land extensions created by buoyant rocks (island arcs) carried by the subduction zone and accreted or added to the main continent. These accreted terranes collided with the continent and were not subducted below ground because of their lighter rocks. They also caused mountain building and complex faulting and folding. They are the source of many different useful materials, some quite rare. Nephrite jade and steatite are some of the rare minerals common in the Bridge River area and are part of a groundstone industry. These are important prestige materials, but it appears that salmon was the principal industry, providing food for the inhabitants all year around, with a surplus for trade. The growth of the village from Bridge River 1 (1797-1614 cal. B.P.) through Bridge River 3 (1275-1261 cal. B.P.), and then the abandonment and final occupation during Bridge River 4 (610-145 cal. B.P.) was demonstrated by the radiocarbon dating of the housepits. It is also supported by the increase and decline in the number of artifacts recovered at the site, which follows the pattern of growth and decline. The diversity of the occupation periods is uncertain. Richness indicates that diversity may have followed the growth and decline of the village, but the evenness could not be determined. Large pithouses were thought to be occupied by higher status individuals and groups, and should reflect that with greater prestige materials and items (Hayden 1996), but the data shows medium sized houses as having the greatest amount of prestige materials. That may be the result of the greater number (23) of medium sized houses than the large ones (6). Since no housepits were fully excavated, small sample sizes can make results suspect. More excavations will give us larger, more reliable sample sizes, but the growth and decline of the village will probably be supported. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many people contributed to this project, and it took several years. First I want to thank the Bridge River Band for allowing these excavations in their prehistoric village site. Their generous co-operation was extended to us by Mr. Bradley Jack, chief of the Bridge River Band, other members of the Jack family, and many other members of the Bridge River Band. The people of Lillooet and the surrounding area were very friendly and helpful. George Vanderwolf, a local jade miner and cutter, was also helpful in understanding the serpentine-jade relationship. I also wish to thank the professors that helped me through this. Anna Prentiss is the principal investigator of the Bridge River village site and her help and encouragement was indispensable. John Douglas was also very helpful especially with the diversity part of this thesis. And Don Winston’s knowledge and instruction in geology is a great asset and helped me stay up to date with changing geologic theories. This was all made possible by the generous financial support from the National Science Foundation and the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research Inc. The University of Montana and Simon Fraser University also provided needed funds, equipment and personnel. Lastly I would like to thank my family for their continued support, encouragement and patience to see this through. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents Page ABSTRACT ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF FIGURES vii LIST OF TABLES ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 Research Questions 2 Significance of Research 3 Thesis Outline 4 CHAPTER 2: PREHISTORY AND ENVIRONMENT 6 The Environment of the Lillooet Area 6 Cultural Chronology of the Lillooet Area 7 Shuswap Horizon 8 Plateau Horizon 8 Kamloops Horizon 9 Fraser River Lillooet 9 The Bridge River Site 10 CHAPTER 3: THE GEOLOGICAL SETTING 14 The Origin of British Columbia 14 The Geology of the Middle Fraser Canyon 17 CHAPTER 4: LITHIC MATERIALS 19 Volcanic Rocks 19 Dacite 20 Basalt 21 Obsidian 22 Vitric Tuff 22 Plutonic and Intrusive Rocks 22 Quartz Diorite 23 Granite 23 Andesite 23 Porphyry 24 Clastic Rocks 24 iv Carbonate Rocks 24 Metamorphic Rocks 25 Nephrite 26 Soft Rocks and Minerals 28 Steatite and Soapstone 28 Mica 28 Copper 28 Graphite 29 Serpentine 29 Gypsum 29 Galena 30 Fine-Grained Quartz 30 Chert 33 Green Chert 33 Jasper 33 Chalcedony 33 Silicified Wood 33 Pisolite 34 CHAPTER 5: SOCIAL INEQUALITY AND LITHIC RAW MATERIALS 35 Prestige and Trade 37 Groundstone Industry 39 An Ethnographic Example of the Prestige Economy 45 Nephrite for Prestige 46 Steatite for Prestige 49 Obsidian for Prestige 50 Copper for Prestige 51 Mica for Prestige 53 CHAPTER 6: ANALYSIS 55 Materials at Bridge River over Time 55 Methods 55 Volume Adjustment-Cubic Meters Excavated 56 Richness 56 Evenness 58 Diversity over Time 62 Diversity of Medium and Large Housepits 64 Prestige Materials at Bridge River over Time 65 Prestige Materials in Medium and Large Sized Housepits 68 Statistics 70 Summary 72 CHAPTER 7: RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS 73 Hypotheses Testing 73 Obsidian Trade 74 Final Overview and Conclusions 78 v REFERENCES CITED 80 APPENDICES 89 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1.1 Map of Middle Fraser Canyon of British Columbia showing pithouse 5 village sites 2.1 Graphic representation of general trends in Plateau prehistory 10 3.1 Subduction zone showing steam and magma rising to become 15 igneous plutons and volcanoes 3.2 Accretionary terranes in British Columbia 16 4.1 Ultramafic rocks and nephrite mines in the Bridge River area 27 4.2 Nephrite-bearing belt in British Columbia 27 5.1 Trade routes and source areas of prestige materials 40 5.2 Prestige groundstone showing a pestle made from diorite and a bowl 42 made from granite 5.3 River-worn nephrite boulder with blade removed 43 5.4 Steatite tube pipes from the Columbia River 44 5.5 Iron Dagger made by Jewitt for Chief Maquinna 46 5.6 Nephrite woodworking tools and long “property” celt 48 5.7 Nephrite war pick or “slave killer” 49 5.8 Prestigious obsidian blade 50 5.9 Prestigious “Coppers” 53 6.1 Materials of Bridge River 1 showing dominance of dacite 57 6.2 Materials of Bridge River 2 showing dominance of dacite 58 6.3 Materials of Bridge River 3 showing dominance of dacite 58 6.4 Materials of Bridge River 4 showing dominance of dacite 58 vii 6.5 Materials of Bridge River 1 without dacite; other materials visible 60 6.6 Materials of Bridge River 2 without dacite; other materials now 60 visible 6.7 Materials of Bridge River 3 without dacite; other materials now 60 visible 6.8 Materials of Bridge River 4 without dacite; other materials now 61 visible 6.9 Diversity plot of occupations with dacite 63 6.10 Diversity plot of occupations without dacite 64 6.11 Diversity plot of occupations showing medium and large housepits 65 with dacite 6.12 Diversity plot of occupations showing medium and large housepits 65 without dacite 6.13 Prestige materials per occupation 66 6.14 Prestige materials during Bridge River 1 67 6.15 Prestige materials during Bridge River 2 67 6.16 Prestige materials during Bridge River 3 67 6.17 Prestige materials during Bridge River 4 68 6.18 Prestige materials of medium and large housepits at the Bridge River 68 site over time viii LIST OF TABLES 6.1 Richness of raw materials per occupation 57 6.2 Number of housepits per occupation 57 6.3 Evenness table from Pielou’s Evenness Index (J) with dacite 61 6.4 Evenness table from Pielou’s Evenness Index (J) without dacite 61 6.5 Richness of raw materials for medium and large housepits per 62 occupation 6.6 Contingency table for chi square test of independence for prestige 71 materials for medium and large houses and occupation periods ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION The Bridge River site (EeRl4) is located several kilometers upriver from the confluence of the Bridge River with the Fraser River and is a prehistoric pithouse village of about 80 housepit depressions and over 150 external pit features.