Chapter 15 Projectile Points of Central and Northern Interior British
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Chapter 15 Projectile Points of Central and Northern Interior British Columbia Martin P.R. Magne† and R.G. Matson‡ †Parks Canada, Calgary, AB ‡University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC Introduction The west-central and northern area of British Co- Figure 2. General overviews of the prehistory of the lumbia is the most under-studied archaeological parts of the Subarctic and Plateau that include this region in the province. This entire area (Figure 1) is area can also be found in Clark (1981) and Poko- remarkable for not exhibiting even one excavated tylo and Mitchell (1998). Borden (1952) initiated non-housepit stratified site extending to the middle archaeology in this part of the province with his prehistoric period (Grizzly Run at Mt. Edziza being surveys of the proposed Kenney reservoir and his a possible exception; Fladmark 1985). The relevant excavations at the Chinlac and Natalkuz Lake sites. chapters in the two volumes of the Handbook of During this project he made the acquaintance of North American Indians, Subarctic (Clark 1981) John Sewell, who had collected various sites in the and Plateau (Pokotylo and Mitchell 1998) map a area. The Sewell collection was donated to the Uni- total of only 30 sites worth discussing for an area versity of British Columbia where it has been used that includes about one-half of the province. We as a teaching collection for many years. We discuss extend this review from Mt. Edziza in the north- the Sewell collection here since it contains several west corner of British Columbia (Fladmark 1985) items of special interest. Readers should keep in to the south-central interior and include Matson’s mind that Jack Sewell was from Saskatchewan, in- work at the Mouth of the Chilcotin (Matson et al. deed he was once the president of the Saskatchewan 1984) and our comparative analyses at Eagle Lake Archaeological Society. One could legitimately (Matson et al. 1980, Magne and Matson 1982, 1984, wonder if some of the points in the Sewell collec- 1987, 2004, Matson and Magne 2004, 2007). Our tion were in fact first found in Saskatchewan. comparisons of the Eagle Lake and Mouth of Chil- In the mid-1960s Mitchell (1970a, 1970b) un- cotin areas, including Anahim Lake, Punchaw Lake, dertook survey and excavations on the Chilcotin and other northern plateau sites have revealed sig- Plateau, focusing on three sites that in many ways nificant ethno-linguistic patterns in late prehistoric are typical of that region, with shallow deposits, little small side-notched point types and styles. dateable organic material, and a mixture of points and microblades. His excavations at Poplar Grove, Overview of Research in the Area Horn Lake, and Natsadalia Crossing produced nine lanceolates, six stemmed points, five corner-notched The archaeological chronologies that have been points, six side-notched points, and an assortment presented for our region of interest are shown in of fragments. Comparisons at the time were made Figure 1. Major archaeological sites and surveys in the area considered. 274 | Magne & Matson Figure 2. Culture history sequences that have been proposed for central and northern British Columbia. to Borden’s Carrier sites, and to Sanger’s (1970) relied heavily on Sanger’s (1970) chronologies, with Lochnore-Nesikep work, with estimates that some explicit due caution given the distances involved of the material from Poplar Grove could be as old as and the often small assemblages involved in making 6000 to 3000 BC. These unsatisfactory Poplar Grove comparisons (Wilmeth 1971). age estimates remain today, demonstrating that the James Helmer offered a comprehensive culture early to mid-Holocene time period on the northern history overview of the central portion of the area Plateau is still extremely poorly known. in which we are interested in 1977 (Helmer 1977a), Starting with survey work in 1970 along the based on surveys he did in the Blackwater River area, Dean River and Anahim and Nimpo Lakes, Wil- and with reference to excavations he did at Punchaw meth’s (1971, 1978, 1979) Plateau work was directed Lake with Susan Montgomery and Knut Fladmark at outlining the history of Athapaskan occupations (see Fladmark 1976, Helmer 1977b, Montgomery in the area of Anahim Lake, with the principal goal 1978). Helmer’s (1977a, 1977b) descriptions of the of understanding the movement of Athapaskan- culture history of the northern plateau area pro- speakers to the American southwest. This research duced a chronology spanning only 5000 years, but set valuable groundwork that we expanded upon in his basic scheme would not be much altered today. later studies in an area further south, in which side- His “Early Prehistoric” starts at 3000 BC to AD 1, notched projectile point styles figure prominently, with diagnostics including leaf-shaped points, as discussed later in this paper (Magne and Matson corner-notched points, stemmed points, excurvate 1982, 1984, 1987; Matson et al. 1980; Matson and blade, concave base points, and microblades. Helm- Magne 2007). In his earlier papers, Wilmeth also er’s “Middle Prehistoric” spans AD 1 to AD 1300, Projectile Points of Central and Northern Interior British Columbia | 275 and includes varieties of corner-notched and large of the Chilcotin (Ham 1975; Matson et al. 1984), side-notched points. His “Late Prehistoric” includes which spawned the Eagle Lake Project and associ- small side-notched points and varieties of corner- ated surveys in the western Chilcotin region from notched points. In this same region, Brandon and 1979 through 1985 (Alexander and Matson 1985, Irvine (1979) recovered a variety of points and mi- Alexander et al. 1987; Magne 1984, 1985; Magne croblades from disturbed contexts and test excava- and Matson 1984; Matson and Magne 2007; tions at a salvage investigation at the Pantage Creek Matson et al. 1980). site (FhRs 35), southwest of Punchaw Lake, which Cultural chronologies that have been proposed for adds to the data that were available to Helmer. the Interior Plateau are shown in Figure 2. Chatters Donahue’s (n.d.) examination of surface collec- and Pokotylo (1998) and Stryd and Rousseau (1996) tions and his excavations at Tezli (Donahue 1977) extend occupations to 11,000 BP, but in fact we and Ulgatcho (Donahue 1973) are important con- have no well-dated archaeological sites before about tributions to northern Plateau prehistory. Unfortu- 7000 BP, the Gore Creek skeleton at 8250 ± 115 BP nately Donahue’s classificatory schemes are idiosyn- (S–1737; Cybulski et al. 1981) being the exception. cratic and difficult to apply in a comparative manner The Nesikep Creek and Lehman sites that Sanger without examination of photographs. Two of the (1970) reported are the best known examples of the earliest dates in our area are from Tezli, a pithouse well known “early” period, and represent pre-house- site, and Punchaw Lake. The date of 3980 ± 100 BP pit settlement patterns. By other western North (GaK 4907) from Punchaw Lake (Fladmark 1976) American standards, however, the points of the Early is associated with a burial underneath one of the Nesikep are actually early Middle Period or Early “house platforms” found there, and the date of Archaic types. Chatters and Pokotylo (1998) prefer a 3850 ± 140 BP (S–769) from Tezli is from a layer more generic style of chronology, one beginning with in the bench area of a house pit truncated by the an Early Period from 11,000 to 8000 BP, a Middle pit (Donahue 1977:132). If either of these dates are Period from 8000 to 4000 BP that is subdivided into actually coeval with house structures they would be Early and Late Middle periods, then a Late Period among the oldest found on the Canadian Plateau, from 4000 BP that has an Early Late division from although older housepit dates occur on the Colum- 4000 to 2500 BP. bia Plateau (Ames 1998, Campbell 1985). Fladmark’s (1985) Mt. Edziza chronology ex- Fladmark’s (1985) surveys and excavations in the tends to about 5000 BP, even though Smith (1971, Mount Edziza area are the most northern materials 1974) had proposed occupations extending to about we examine. Extensive surveys of the Stikine River 10,000 BP based on obsidian hydration dates. Stryd northwest of Mt. Edziza for a then-anticipated hy- and Rousseau’s (1996) chronology begins at about droelectric development uncovered a single stratified, 11,000 BP, with the Early Period extending to about late prehistoric site and a few other shallow sites but 7000 BP, a Middle Period to 3500 BP, then a Late none of any apparent age (Aresco Ltd. 1982, Magne Period. Their Lochnore Phase at about 5500 BP to 1982). MacNeish’s (1960) Callison site just south 3500 BP is the period in which housepit occupa- of the Yukon border is unfortunately undated and tions begin and by the time of the Shuswap Horizon relates more closely to Yukon archaeology, so we do (ca. 3500 BP), many, perhaps, most, Plateau peoples not discuss that assemblage here. appear to be living in housepit villages. To the north Work on the upper Skeena River, in the interior the cultures are not as well known. Borden’s 1952 at Hagwilget Canyon (Ames 1979), and at Moric- pioneering work in the northern interior identified etown (Traces 2005), has yielded materials dating the Natalkuz Lake site, which was occupied from back to about 4700 BP. The sites here may be related about 2400 BP to late precontact times, followed by more closely to sequences further down river, such the Chinlac site’s protohistoric occupation. Helmer’s as at Gitaus and Kitselas. We will look at the Mori- chronology (1977a) as discussed above begins at cetown-Hagwilget area but those important sites 5000 and extends to Late Prehistoric period, but further west are definitely in the coastal B.C.