Prehistory of the Pacific Northwest Plateau as Seen from the Interior of British Columbia

Abstract

Recent excavations in south-central British Columbia have revealed a 7,500 year sequence which indicates cultural relationships with the subarctic and the Canadian Prairie Provinces, but few similarities with Columbia River sites until after A.D. 1000. South-central British Columbia and the Columbia Plateau are considered to have participated in different cultural traditions until the damming of the Columbia River about A.D. 1250 allowed the upriver passage of salmon. The similarities noted between British Columbia and Columbia River sites in late prehistoric times may be attributable to the sudden increase in the resource potential of the Columbia River.

Toward a Prehistory of the Na‐Dene, with a General Comment on Population Movements among Nomadic Hunters

“…This, also, is exactly what is found: microblades and notched points are associated in southcentral British Columbia by about 5000 B.C. (Sanger 1967); they may occur together in northern Idaho as early as the sixth millennium B.C. (Swanson and Sneed 1966:33). In both cases, the earliest microblades apparently are found with notched points.…”

“…It is thus not surprising to find points with notches appearing by 5000 B.C. in south-central British Columbia in assemblages said to indicate relationship with the Canadian prairies (Sanger 1967) and appearing as early as 4000 B.C. in the southwestern Yukon in apparent association with bison bones (MacNeish 1964: 224, 312).…”

Peopling and Early Cultures of the Pacific Northwest

“…Radiocarbon-dated at 7530 + 270 years B.P. (GSC-530), the small assemblage from this occupation suggests a lifeway and subsistence typical of Early Boreal groups: a microblade industry, manufactures in antler, hunting (wapiti and deer bones), and fishing (salmon vertebrae) (31).…”

The Evolution of Social Ranking on the Northwest Coast of North America

“…Borden argues that fishing was not very important, partly because fish seem to disappear from the Five Mile Rapids site after their first intensive use. Others have also argued that fishing was of little importance in the interior until the last 1,000 or 2,000 years (Nelson 1969;Sanger 1967Sanger , 1970. Though a major re-evaluation of the evidence for prehistoric salmon fishing is clearly in order, it is beyond the scope of this paper.…”