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Delineation of site chronology and spatial components using macroscopic lithic analysis at DhRp-52

University of British Columbia

This thesis summarizes the results of an analysis of stone tools from site DhRp-52 to determine differences and similarities between its spatial and temporal components. DhRp-52 was an inland/riverine settlement that spanned approximately 2,500 years of occupational history contemporaneous with the Old Cordilleran Culture to the Locarno Beach Phase. My research analyzed stone tools to distinguish site components and structural features through time and in space, assessed similarities and differences between structures and their associated non-structural areas, evaluated the presence of three temporal components at the site, interpreted site use through assemblage structure variation, and attempted to understand how the site fit within the regional chronology. These analyses demonstrated that in most cases, stone tool assemblages reflected differences between site components through time (stratigraphy) and space (inside and outside structures). Statistically significant differences were detected between the structural and non-structural zones in the most recent and upper-most component of the site and between the three temporal components, but not in the middle component between non-structural and structural zones. These findings suggested two conclusions: 1) spatial partitioning was more prominent in the Late Component than the Middle Component, and 2) three occupational components identified by stratigraphy and radiocarbon dates were substantiated by tool assemblage variation. A comparison between DhRp-52’s three temporal components and the Glenrose Cannery and Crescent Beach sites determined that although major hallmarks of lithic technological change relating to regional chronology were observed at both sites and their respective components, DhRp-52’s temporal deposits cannot be assigned to the Old Cordilleran Culture, Charles Culture or Locarno Beach Phase at this time. This research at DhRp-52 contributes to the overall understanding of early human settlement in the lower Fraser River Valley and to our understanding of regional chronology. It suggests how resources other than intensive salmon harvesting may have facilitated early intensive settlement in the region, monitors lithic technological change through time in the Fraser River Valley, and how lithic assemblage composition can vary at different locations within the Gulf of Georgia region.

Text

2010-01-12

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/18031

Anthropology

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/