AN INVESTIGATION OF MORTUARY VARIABILITY AND SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS DIFFERENTIATION ON THE NORTHWEST PLATEAU Rick J. Schulting B. A., Simon Fraser University, 1990 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of Archaeology O Rick J. Schulting 1994 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSlTY April 1994 All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author. APPROVAL NAME Rick J. Schulting DEGREE Master of Arts TITLE AN INVESTIGATION OF MORTUARY VARIABILITY AND SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS DIFFERENTIATION ON THE NORTHWEST PLATEAU EXAMINING COMMITTEE: Chair Dr. Jon Driver qr. Brian Hayden Sesior Sppervisor ~r.yackNance Professor Department of Archaeology Dr. Mark Skinner Associate Professor Department of Arch/aeology t ' Dr. Roderick Sprague External Examiner Laboratory of Anthropology University of Idaho Date Approved: April 26,1994 PARTIAL COPYRIGHT LICENSE I hereby grant to Simon Fraser University the right to lend my thesis or dissertation (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 agree that permission for multiple copying of this .thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by me or the Dean of Graduate Studies. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis Eoc financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Title of Thesis/Dissertation: AN INVESTIGATION OF MORTUARY VARIABILITY AND SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS DIFFERENTIATION ON THE NORTHWEST PLATEAU Author: 'SiQlfature' Rick J. Schulting Name April 28, 1994 Date Abstract The purpose of this thesis is to examine Plateau mortuary data from the perspective of socioeconomic status differentiation. Published and unpublished data from a large number of sites on both the Columbia Plateau and the Canadian Plateau are considered. The main emphasis is on the differential distribution of grave inclusions, since this appears to provide the most meaningful and accessible expression of socioeconomic status inequality in the study area. Ethnographic data regarding the level of status inequality as expressed in both the living community and in burial practices are also summarised. The results indicate a varying degree of inequality in the various Plateau groups; in no case, however, can a group be characterised as purely egalitarian. A number of patterns are identified in the archaeological mortuary data. For example, some artifact classes, for the most part utilitarian in function, are found to be associated with different age and sex classes. In some areas, different forms of burial appear to be associated with higher socioeconomic status, while in other areas this relationship is unclear. Lorenz curves and Gini indices are employed to quantify the degree of inequality present in the various assemblages, and tests are developed to address the statistical significance of the observed differences. Regional differences in inequality were d=cult to examine due to inadequate sample size and the absence of dates for the assemblages. However, an analysis of overall grave artifact richness and "wealth" indicate changing relationships between the late prehistoric and the protohistoric periods. The earlier middle prehistoric period (ca. 4000 to 2000 B.P.), although poorly represented in the available data, appears to indicate sigmficantly less inequality in the distribution of grave inclusions than later periods. The late prehistoric and protohistoric periods appear to exhibit similar levels of socioeconomic differentiation. Thus, the mortuary data appear to support a model of increasing socioeconomic inequality after ca. 2000 B.P. This is independently supported by settlement data, elaboration of material culture, and artistic styles, all of which appear to show an increase in complexity at roughly the same time and over a large area, encompassing most or all of the Plateau as well as parts of the Northwest Coast. Neither the ethnographic nor the archaeological mortuary data support an egalitarian model for the Plateau. The differential distribution of grave inclusions indicates an unequal access to exotic prestige and wealth items. .. lll Acknowledgments This work could not have been completed without the generous assistance of numerous individuals. Foremost amoung these is my senior supervisor, Dr. Brian Hayden, whose ideas I always found challenging. The other members of my committee, Drs. Jack Nance, Mark Skinner, and Roderick Sprague, were also invaluable, and their comments were much appreciated. Dr. Sprague in addition provided me with unpublished data that would otherwise have been unavailable. I would especially like to thank a number of museum personnel for their help in facilitating access to the collections and documentation of their respective institutions; these include: Jayrnie Brauer of the American Museum of Natural History, Julie Stein of the Burke Museum, Betty Long of the Maryhill Museum, Robert Parnmett of the Canadian Museum of Civilization, Randy Manuel of the Penticton Museum, Dan Bruce of the Kelowna Centennial Museum, Lynn Duckworth of the Karnloops Museum, Joyce Johnson of the Department of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia, Barb Winter of the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Simon Fraser University, and Dan Savard and Nancy Romaine of the B.C. Provincial Museum. I am very grateful to all of these individuals for the assistance that I received. I would like to thank Simon Fraser University for the financial support I received in my programme, without which it would not have been possible to travel to the various museums mentioned above in order to examine their collections. I also owe a debt of gratitude to my parents for their unending support. Thanks to Natalie Munro, Hartley Odwak, and Greg Richmond for their support, and for putting up with sections of this work that I occasionally inflicted on them. Finally, I would like to acknowledge and thank Joanna Ostapkowicz for her encouragement and confidence in my work. Table of Contents Approval .............................................................................................. ii... Abstract ............................................................................................... IU Acknowledgments ................................................................................... iv... List of Tables ........................................................................................ w List of Figures .......................................................................................ix CHAFER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................ 1 The Plateau ................................................................................. 3 Mortuary Studies on the Plateau ......................................................... 4 Organisation of Chapters ................................................................. 6 CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND .............................................. 9 Inequality and Status ...................................................................... 15 The Basis of Inequality ................................................................... 17 Achieved vs . Ascribed Status ............................................................ 21 Emulation ................................................................................... 26 Dimensions of Mortuary Variability ..................................................... 28 CHAPTER 3: METHODS ........................................................................ 40 Analytical Design .......................................................................... 44 Age and Sex ................................................................................ 45 Grave Inclusions and Assemblage Richness ........................................... 47 Measures of Inequality .................................................................... 51 The Lorenz Curve and Gini Index .............................................. 52 Levels of Significance ............................................................ 54 CHAPTER 4: ARTIFACT CLASSES ........................................................... 56 Sociotechnic Items ....................................................................... 59 Burial Shrouds. Clothing. and Insignia ........................................ 59 Marine Shells ...................................................................... 60 Bone and Tooth Ornamentation ................................................. 64 Turquoise ..........................................................................64 Bone and Antler Combs .........................................................65 Steatite ............................................................................. 65 Stone and Antler Clubs ..........................................................68 Copper .............................................................................69 Whalebone Clubs ................................................................. 74 Utilitarian Objects .......................................................................75 Nephrite Celts .....................................................................76 Atlatl Weights .....................................................................77