Terminal Pleistocene epoch human footprints from the Pacific coast of Canada

Abstract

Little is known about the ice age human occupation of the Pacific Coast of Canada. Here we present the results of a targeted investigation of a late Pleistocene shoreline on Calvert Island, British Columbia. Drawing upon existing geomorphic information that sea level in the area was 2–3 m lower than present between 14,000 and 11,000 years ago, we began a systematic search for archaeological remains dating to this time period beneath intertidal beach sediments. During subsurface testing, we uncovered human footprints impressed into a 13,000-year-old paleosol beneath beach sands at archaeological site EjTa-4. To date, our investigations at this site have revealed a total of 29 footprints of at least three different sizes. The results presented here add to the growing body of information pertaining to the early deglaciation and associated human presence on the west coast of Canada at the end of the Last Glacial Maximum.

Indigenous peoples’ habitation history drives present‐day forest biodiversity in British Columbia's coastal temperate rainforest

“…All habitation sites used in this study were chosen because these were places where people lived and harvested marine resources, which is evident in the shell middens present at each of these sites. There is little information about how site usage varied through time, though the majority of these sites are thought to have had continuous seasonal occupation for past millennia, with some sites, such as one on Calvert Island, having evidence of human activity dating back over 13,000 years (McLaren et al., ). These sites have not been used with historic intensity for at least 130 years though site‐specific dates are not currently available.…”

Late Quaternary Vegetation Development Following Deglaciation of Northwestern Alexander Archipelago, Alaska

“…Given that humans have been present in southeastern Alaska and coastal B.C. for over 10,300 years (Dixon, 1999), and perhaps ≥ 13,000 years (Mackie et al, 2018;McLaren et al, 2018), plant propagules may have been transported by boat from island to island, perhaps inadvertently. During high water stages, streams carry plant detritus, including seeds, many of which germinate downstream (Jaques, 1973, and observations in Alaska by the author).…”

“…and archeological evidence from other B.C. coastal sites (Mackie et al, 2018;McLaren et al, 2018). Numerous early Holocene archeological sites have been found recently in southern Alexander Archipelago (Carlson and Baichtal, 2015), indicating that a marine-adapted human population was well established in the region by that time.…”

“…A recent archeological discovery of human footprints preserved in buried beach sands on Calvert Island in northern coastal B.C. suggests that humans were present in the region at least as early as 13,000 yr BP (Mackie et al, 2018;McLaren et al, 2018). This paper provides evidence of the terrestrial plant resources and climatic conditions faced by human colonists and their descendants in this dynamic region with its history of earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, rapid sea level changes, and changing climate, faunas, and vegetation.…”

Biological Anthropology in 2018: Grounded in Theory, Questioning Contexts, Embracing Innovation

“…The discovery of twenty‐nine well‐preserved footprints dated to 13,000 cal BP in British Colombia, meanwhile, supported growing evidence that humans occupied Pacific North America at the end of the Last Glacial Maximum (McLaren et al. ).…”