DESIGN OF STONE TOOL TECHNOLOGY DURING THE EARLY PERIOD (CA. 10,000-5,000 B.P.) AT NAMU, CENTRAL COAST OF BRITISH COLUMBIA FARID RAHEMTULLA B.A., University of Alberta, 1985 M.A., University of Toronto, 1990 M.A., Simon Fraser University, 1995 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in the Department of Archaeology O Farid Rahemtulla SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Summer 2006 All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or by other means, without permission of the author. APPROVAL NAME: Farid Rahemtulla DEGREE: TITLE OF THESIS: Design of Stone Tool Technology During the Early Period (CA. 10,000 - 5,000 B.P.) at Namu, Central Coast of British Columbia EXAMINING COMMITTEE: Chair: George Nicholas, Professor Roy Carlson. 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Simon Fraser University Library Burnaby, BC, Canada Abstract This dissertation centers around an examination of a chipped stone tool component dating to the Early Period (10,000 - 5,000 I4C BP) at the site of Namu, located on the central coast of British Columbia. The site is important for a number of reasons, the most notable of which is the incredible time depth and the volume of archaeological materials dating to the early Holocene. Given that there are very few known and well-excavated sites of similar age on the Northwest Coast, Namu provides an opportunity to glimpse into a time period that is poorly understood from an archaeological perspective. Prior to this research, studies on Early Period lithic materials have focused on important chronological and preliminary culture-historical concerns, but we still know little about the people behind the stone tools. Over the last four decades many researchers have been developing new theoretical and methodological perspectives for understanding stone tools. Most of this work has fallen under the approach termed Technological Organization. Under this conceptual umbrella there are a number of different approaches; one of the most useful is the study of stone tool design, subsumed under Design Theory. In general the goal is to try to understand the kinds of decisions made by ancient toolmakers in designing their stone technological systems, and the empirical effects of these decisions. Using this conceptual framework an analysis is performed on the stone tool assemblage from the Early Period at Namu. Unlike the Interior of British Columbia and many other parts of North America, the dominant raw materials used at Namu are unusually medium-grained igneous toolstones that are somewhat difficult to work with. Based on the overall exercise, settlement, mobility, raw materials, tasks and learning are perceived as critical factors in the design of the stone technologies at Namu. The analysis supports the notion that Namu was a sedentary or semi-sedentary settlement very early in its history, and that the inhabitants must have used watercraft in order to underwrite the organization of their flaked stone tool technologies. These results have repercussions for our understanding of coastal hunter-fisher-gatherer groups, and for theoretical models that posit the long-term development of Northwest Coast societies. Acknowledgements The completion of this research is in part due to the support of many individuals. My supervising committee has been instrumental in providing guidance and support through the tenure of this project. As senior supervisor, Dr. Roy Carlson gave me the opportunity to examine the Namu materials, and to be part of the 1994 field research at the site. His role has been critical to this research. Over the years Professor Philip Hobler has provided support in so many ways, I am only one of very many students who have benefited greatly from his extensive field and lab experience, and from his friendship. Although his formal role in the committee was internallexternal examiner, Dr. Brian Hayden has been inspirational in his wide-ranging work on lithics and on several other topics. Much of the conceptual basis of this dissertation is derived from his work. I also thank Dr. Martin Magne for serving as external examiner, and for forwarding pertinent publications through the years. Department chairs and other faculty members provided financial and general support: Jack Nance, Jon Driver, Knut Hadmark, Cathy D'Andrea, George Nicholas and Eldon Yellowhorn. The staff at the Department of Archaeology has always been very adept and helpful. Ingrid Nystrom, Ann Sullivan, Robyn Banerjee and Linda Przbyla helped me to navigate through the inevitable bureaucracy at SFU, which would otherwise be far more frustrating. The lab staff has been instrumental in facilitating several aspects of the research. Andrew Barton provided much needed help with equipment and facilities, sometimes even before I asked for it. Shannon Wood has also been generous with her time. The materials analyzed for this project were recovered under the auspices of field crews from the University of Colorado, and by students and staff of the Simon Fraser University 1977, 1978 and 1994 archaeology field schools. Without their efforts this research would not have been possible. The Heiltsuk People have also played a critical role in these projects; many community members provided expertise and/or were part of these field crews, including representation from the Heiltsuk Cultural Education Centre under the direction of Jennifer Carpenter. They include but are not limited to: Carl Humchitt, Julie Carpenter, Gary Housty, Beth Humchitt, and Jessica Schooner (Humchitt). I also thank Scott Williams for conducting the important stone tool replicative work, Jim Stafford for helping to sort through the debitage tailings and Kate Cooke for constructing the maps. Over the years friendships were formed with several graduate and undergraduate students in the Department of Archaeology, there are too many to list here but during the course of this dissertation a few stood out in their willingness to always discuss various aspects of Northwest Coast archaeology or help out in other ways: Tom Arnold, Duncan McLaren, Rudy Reimer, Mike Richards, Cameron Smith, and Jim Stafford. Other individuals provided assistance in other ways such as providing opportunities for fieldwork or collaboration. These include: Aubrey Cannon, Gary Coupland, Colin Grier, Alan McMillan, Denis St. Claire and Elroy White. Finally and most importantly I thank the Heiltsuk Peoples, on whose traditional territory this research is based. Many individuals from the community have been enormously helpful and supportive and I hope that this dissertation in some way contributes to a greater understanding and appreciation of Heiltsuk history. Table of Contents vii Chapter Four: Model for technological design and expectations-----------------------------. 108 List of Tables List of Figures Figure 13. Selection of flakes culled from the experimental sample .------------------------.169 Figure 17: Large unidirectional core.-------------. xii xiv xvi Figure 111. Namu core and non-debitage tool representation by period.------------------. 307 xvii Chapter 1: Introduction Anthropologists have long recognized the unique nature of aboriginal socio- political organization, subsistence, settlement and art styles on the Northwest Coast of North America. This region has been the focus of numerous studies conducted by ethnographers and ethno-historians during the last two centuries, and early European explorers and travelers also recorded information on the lifeways that they witnessed. First Nations in the region today retain much information regarding the ecology of the land as well as the lifeways of their ancestors through knowledge in oral histories. This wealth of information has been used to varying degrees by archaeologists, as an analogical tool in reconstructing indigenous lifeways of the last few thousand years. The well-known ethnographies and ethnohistories have played a pivotal role in the interpretation of archaeological materials from the most recent several thousand years. Thus, our knowledge of the more recent history of Northwest Coast peoples is continually expanding, but relatively little is known about lifeways during the early to middle Holocene time period. First Peoples are documented on the Northwest Coast by at least 10,000 14cyears ago and while there are some tantalizing oral histories that purportedly describe events as far back as the late Pleistocene (Harris 1997), such knowledge is not common within the academy.