EXPLORING 10,000 YEARS OF HUMAN HISTORY ON EBEY’S PRAIRIE, WHIDBEY ISLAND, WASHINGTON by Andrea L. Weiser B.A., Fort Lewis College, 1992 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS In the Department of Archaeology © Andrea L. Weiser 2006 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Fall 2006 All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author. SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY PARTIAL COPYRIGHT LICENCE I hereby grant to Simon Fraser University the right to lend my thesis, project or extended essay (the title of which is shown below) to users of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the library of any other university, or other educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. I further grant permission to Simon Fraser University to keep or make a digital copy for use in its circulating collection. I further agree that permission for multiple copying of this work for scholarly purposes may be granted by me or the Dean of Graduate Studies. It is understood that copying, publication or public performance of this work for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Public performance permitted: Multimedia materials that form part of this work are hereby licenced to Simon Fraser University for educational, non-theatrical public performance use only. This licence permits single copies to be made for libraries as for print material with this same limitation of use. Public performance not permitted: Multimedia materials that form part of this work are hereby licenced to Simon Fraser University for private scholarly purposes only, and may not be used for any form of public performance. This licence permits single copies to be made for libraries as for print material with this same limitation of use. Multimedia licence not applicable to this work. No separate DVD or DC-ROM material is included in this work. Title of Project: Exploring 10,000 Years of Human History on Ebey’s Prairie, Whidbey Island, Washington Author: Andrea L. Weiser (Date Signed) SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY PARTIAL COPYRIGHT LICENCE The author, whose copyright is declared on the title page of this work, has granted to Simon Fraser University the right to lend this thesis, project or extended essay to users of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the library of any other university, or other educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. The author has further granted permission to Simon Fraser University to keep or make a digital copy for use in its circulating collection. The author has further agreed that permission for multiple copying of this work for scholarly purposes may be granted by either the author or the Dean of Graduate Studies. It is understood that copying or publication of this work for financial gain shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission.\ Permission for public performance, or limited permission for private scholarly use, of any multimedia materials forming part of this work, may have been granted by the author. This information may be found on the separately catalogued multimedia material and in the signed Partial Copyright Licence. The original Partial Copyright Licence attesting to these terms, and signed by this author, may be found in the original bound copy of this work, retained in the Simon Fraser University Archive. W. A. C. Bennett Library Simon Fraser University Burnaby, BC, Canada APPROVAL NAME: Andrea L. Weiser DEGREE: M.A. TITLE OF THESIS: Exploring 10,000 Years of Human History on Ebey’s Prairie, Whidbey Island, Washington EXAMINING COMMITTEE: Chair: Dr. Eldon Yellowhorn Assistant Professor _________________________________________ Dr. Dana Lepofsky, Associate Professor Senior Supervisor _________________________________________ Dr. Catherine D’Andrea, Associate Professor _________________________________________ Dr. Douglas Deur, Research Coordinator Pacific N.W. Cooperative Studies Unit University of Washington Examiner Date Approved: _________________________________________ ii ABSTRACT Northwest Coast prairies contain a suite of resources not available in other ecosystems, making them a unique and sought after environment for animals and people. Archaeological research in Northwest Coast prairies is in its infancy but it is clear that an integrated approach, drawing on a number of disciplines, is needed to decipher human use of prairies in the past. I investigate the archaeological, archaeobotanical, and ethnographic record of Ebey’s Prairie, located on central Whidbey Island in Washington State. My findings indicate that people used Ebey’s Prairie throughout prehistory for a variety of activities over a broad time scale (~10,000 to 150 BP). Direct evidence of Camassia—one of the most important native plant foods in the Northwest, is one indication that indigenous people tended and maintained edible and useful plant resources on Ebey’s Prairie for hundreds and perhaps thousands of years. Keywords: Whidbey Island; anthropogenic prairie; camas, archaeobotany; Ferry House; Northwest Coast iii DEDICATION To my husband, Andris, for his patience and loving support. To my parents, C.J. and Adrienne Weiser, my sister, Rachel R. Robertson, and brother, Russell R. Weiser, for helping me believe I can do anything I put my mind to. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I gratefully acknowledge the support of those who contributed to this project. Most especially, I thank my thesis committee advisor, Dr. Dana Lepofsky, and committee members, Dr. Catherine D’Andrea and Dr. Douglas Deur for their enthusiasm, thorough editing, and guidance. Much of the data presented here was acquired through a National Park Service project to investigate archaeological deposits at the Ferry House Site. I am grateful for the team of archaeologists, historians, specialists, and volunteers I had the pleasure of working with. Thank you to Gretchen Luxenberg, Rob Harbour, Jim Thompson, Bob Mierendorf, Brooke Larrabee, Kirstie Haertel, Doug Wilson, Bob Cromwell, Julie Stein, Jacob Fischer, and Larry Conyers. Naoko Endo, Derrick Horne, Garnet Martens, Mathias Schuetz, Marah Fernando, Phil Dering and Greg Morrissey offered expertise and advice in the laboratory, Monika Nill, Keith Garnett, Rob Klengler, and Doug Littauer provided expertise for graphics, Rachel Robertson, Sarah Welch, and Jen Herkes assisted with tables and editing, and Andris Vezis helped with field experiments. I am also grateful for funding provided by the National Park Service, Simon Fraser University Graduate Fellowships, the International Graduate Student Bursary, the Dr. J.V. Christensen Award, an Association of Washington Archaeology Research Grant and an Albright-Wirth Grant. NPS funding supported my fieldwork and paid for the radiocarbon dates reported in this thesis. Other funds supported me during research, writing, and dissemination of results at national and regional conferences. v TABLE OF CONTENTS APPROVAL .................................................................................................. ii Abstract......................................................................................................... iii Dedication......................................................................................................iv Acknowledgements ........................................................................................v Table of Contents..........................................................................................vi List of Figures ............................................................................................ viii List of Tables.............................................................................................. xiii Chapter 1: Introduction................................................................................1 Anthropogenic Prairies of the Northwest Coast..........................................................1 What is a Prairie?..................................................................................................................... 1 What is an “Anthropogenic Prairie”? ...................................................................................... 2 The Distribution and Significance of Anthropogenic Prairies on the Northwest Coast .......... 3 Outline of this Thesis....................................................................................................10 Chapter 2: Cultural Context of Anthropogenic Prairies.........................12 Plant Resources in Anthropogenic Prairies...............................................................12 Animal Resources in Anthropogenic Prairies ...........................................................16 Maintaining the Harvest..............................................................................................16 Ebey’s and other Prairies of Whidbey Island............................................................18 Historic Evidence of Indigenous Use of Ebey’s Prairie ........................................................ 22 Archaeological Context of Ebey’s Prairie ............................................................................. 30 The Ferry House Site (45IS221) on Ebey’s Prairie ............................................................... 33 Chapter 3: Methods.....................................................................................35