Tag Archives: Archaeological Society of BC

ASBC Victoria Talk: Tuesday September 16, Jenny Cohen on Paleoethnobotany of Kilgii Gwaay

Posted on September 12, 2014 | 12 comments
2002 excavations at Kilgii Gwaay Site.

2002 excavations at Kilgii Gwaay Site.

Paleoethnobotany of Kilgii Gwaay: a 10,700 year old Ancestral Haida Archaeological Wet Site

Jenny Cohen

Tuesday, September 16, 2014, 7:30 pm

Cornett Building B129

(North End of Cornett building)

University of Victoria (map)

The Victoria Chapter of the Archaeological Society of BC (ASBC) has a long-running monthly Fall-Spring speaker series which is starting again next week.  The speaker is UVic Anthropology graduate student Jenny Cohen, speaking on results from her paleobotanical analysis of the 10,700 year old intertidal wet site, Kilgii Gwaay, in southern Haida Gwaii.  It’s a fascinating site which gives real insight into the way of life of Ancestral Haida at the Pleistocene-Holocene transition and I’m sure Jenny’s thesis, nearing completion, will be of wide interest.

If you don’t have enough Kilgii Gwaay in your life then I recommend you jump over to the Burnt Embers blog, where there are some excellent photos from the tricky intertidal excavations at that site a few years ago: Setting Up;  Keeping Water Out; Putting Water In;  Water Screening; and Kilgii Gwaay Finds.

Abstract: Continue reading →

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Posted in Archaeology, Haida Gwaii, Northwest Coast

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R.I.P Hilary Stewart, 1924-2014

Posted on June 16, 2014 | 15 comments
Hilary Stewart fish weir

Hilary Stewart drawing of a fish weir. Source: bcheritage.ca

Sad news out of Quadra Island with the news that Northwest Coast archaeological legend Hilary Stewart passed away on June 5th, at the age of 90.  The local newspaper the Discovery Islander has a full obituary (page 2) (PDF) written by her friend, anthropologist Joy Inglis.

Continue reading →

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Posted in anthropology, Archaeology, First Nations, Northwest Coast, Teaching, Technology

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Two talks in Victoria next seven days

Posted on March 11, 2014 | Leave a comment
Burial cairn on Race Rocks. Source: RaceRocks.com

Burial cairn on Race Rocks. Source: RaceRocks.com

Two very cool talks in Victoria over the next few days.  The first is a unique opportunity to hear from Cowichan (Coast Salish) “gravedigger” Harold C. Joe, who for more than 30 years has worked with archaeologists and anthropologists to care for the disturbed ancestral dead, among his other responsibilities.

The second talk is the monthly ASBC event which features Dr. Andreas Fuls of the Berlin Institute of Technology, who will address a topic in Mayan astronomy and the Mayan collapse.

If you’re not in Victoria you can probably stop reading, but if you click below then you’ll find  more details, including abstracts and the where and when.

Continue reading →

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Posted in Archaeology, Cultural Resource Management, First Nations, Northwest Coast, Vancouver Island

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Upcoming archaeology talks in Nanaimo

Posted on February 4, 2014 | 1 comment
Millennia hearth model screenshot.

Millennia hearth model screenshot from video. Click to go to blog post and view video.

I’ve been asked to post about some upcoming talks in Nanaimo with archaeological interest.  Below I list the talks, which are all co-sponsored to one degree or another between VIU and the Nanaimo ASBC chapter.  The linked posters below give you more information about parking, times, room numbers, abstracts, bios, etc.  All these talks are free and open to the public. For further information then contact mail@asbcnanaimo.ca .

I know many of you are stuck in other lovely places in the world and can’t make it, but for those more local then the details follow.

First up – in just a day or two – is Morley Eldridge of Millennia Research, speaking on his cool uses of digital technology in site recording and excavation.  This is really cool stuff and probably the way of the future for at least some scales of archaeological research. There’s  sneak preview of some of the new methods on the Millennia Blog.

Lecture: A New Methodology for Archaeological Excavation: Mitigative Excavation of GbTo-13 and GbTo-54, Prince Rupert.

Date: Thursday February 6, 2014

Location: VIU Nanaimo campus, Building 356, Lecture Hall 109 (Education/Social Sciences) Time: 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM
ASBC Members, Students and the Public Free! Everyone Welcome.  More instructions on the poster (PDF)

The other talks are by Andrew Martindale (UBC) and Quentin Mackie (UVIC) (no relation).  Details below:

Continue reading →

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Posted in Archaeology, Cultural Resource Management, First Nations, Teaching, Vancouver Island

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ASBC Victoria January Meeting: Tom Bown & Historical Archaeology, Tuesday Jan 21st

Posted on January 20, 2014 | 2 comments

Please note the new location for this talk (below) – ASBC Victoria is no longer at the Pacific Forestry Centee

Tom Bown
A Trail of Empties

Tuesday, January 21, 2014,
7:30 pm

Cornett B129, UVic

Abstract: Global expansion from the 17th century on could likely be studied just by the trail of bottles left behind. Fortunately glass preserves well and, based on the style and method of manufacture, can offer some very precise dating tools. In an archeological context glass fragments are often the first indication of contact or trade with the outside world. They can also offer information about a site and the people who lived there. During the talk I will offer an overview of how to identify and date glass bottles along with some “hands on” examples.

Feel free to bring bottles of your own for possible identification.

My spies in the UVIC Anthropology Department tell me they are really happy to be the new host for the ASBC, and are very grateful to the Pacific Forestry Centre for their many years of hospitality.  Instructions and a map to Cornett Building B129, UVIC are below.

Continue reading →

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Posted in history, Miscellaneous, Technology

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ASBC Victoria October Talk: Morley Eldridge on New Methods in Archaeological Excavation

Posted on October 14, 2013 | 3 comments
Prince Rupert point cloud from Millennia blog

Prince Rupert digital point cloud showing relationship between hearths and shell-bearing layers, from Millennia blog. Source: http://millennia-research.com/stacked-box-hearths-in-3d/

A NEW METHODOLOGY FOR ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATION: MITIGATIVE EXCAVATION OF GBTO-13 AND GBTO-54,PRINCE RUPERT

Morley Eldridge, Millennia Research

The next ASBC Victoria public talk is by UVic’s own Morley Eldridge, who is also principal of well-known and well-respected archaeological consulting firm.  Morley has been doing some exciting new methods of in-field digital recording, with application in Prince Rupert Harbour. It also seems there will be a show and tell of artifacts at this meeting. Further, I’ve been meaning to post on this and I will!  Promise!  But Morley et al are cutting in on my turf with a sweet new blog found here.

Anyway, I’ve seen some of this from Roger and Morley at the SAA in Hawaii and it was kick-ass.

The meeting is Tuesday October 15, 2013, 7:30 pm at the Pacific Forestry Centre, 506 West Burnside Road.  Map.  Free and open to the public.

Click continue to read the abstract.

Continue reading →

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Posted in Archaeology, Cultural Resource Management, fieldwork, Northwest Coast, Shell Middens

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ASBC Victoria Tue Feb 19th: Coastal Archaeology in Huu-ay-aht territory, Vancouver Island

Posted on February 17, 2013 | 5 comments
Archaeological work in Huu-ay-aht territory, 2012

Archaeological work in Huu-ay-aht territory, 2012

Quick note to say that the upcoming February meeting of the Victoria Chapter of the Archaeological Society of B.C.  should be a good one (sadly I am back east at the time):

Coastal Field Archaeology in Huu-ay-aht Territory: Highlights from the 2012 Bamfield Marine Science Centre Archaeological Field School

Tuesday February 19th, 2013, 7:30 pm Pacific Forestry Centre,
506 West Burnside Road. map

Free and Open to the Public

Abstract: In July and August of 2012, the Huu-ay-aht First Nation and the Bamfield Marine Science Centre co-hosted a ‘Coastal Field Archaeology’ course on Huu-ay-aht Government Lands in Barkley Sound on western Vancouver Island. Continue reading →

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Posted in Archaeology, fieldwork, First Nations, Northwest Coast, Shell Middens, Vancouver Island

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ASBC Victoria – Public Talk Tue Oct 18: Daryl Fedje on Gulf Islands Archaeology

Posted on October 16, 2011 | 12 comments

Parks Canada - UVIC Archaeological Project in the Intertidal Zone, 2010.

Next up for the local (Victoria) branch of the Archaeological Society of B.C. is a Tuesday, October 18th talk by Daryl Fedje of Parks Canada Archaeology. Details below; it is free and open to the public.  I know of some of this research to be presented and if I can add an editorial comment:it is now clearly demonstrated that the intertidal zone has very high potential for un-disturbed archaeological deposits, some of which show exceptional preservation.  These include not only classic “waterlogged sites” with woody preservation, but also numerous water-saturated shell middens, and even the remains of intact house features.  I think it’s probable that in the Salish Sea at least, the intertidal zone is a hugely unappreciated zone of interest and I hope the Archaeology Branch and Consulting Archaeologists are working together to make sure it gets a thorough examination. And, if they aren’t, then it would be welcome if First Nations were to apply pressure by demanding routine subsurface testing in intertidal zones as a minimum requirement for shoreline archaeological assessments, perhaps commenting to this effect when reviewing permit applications.  Anyway:

Intertidal Archaeology in the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve

October 18th, 2011, 7:30
pm Pacific Forestry Centre,
506 West Burnside Road (Map)

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

Abstract:  Recent investigations in the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve included a focus on the intertidal zone. Analyses of cultural and paleoecological data obtained from these investigations has resulted in a more detailed sea level history for the area and, discovery of a suite of archaeological sites associated with sea levels slightly lower than modern. These now-intertidal sites include intact shell middens and apparent house features dating as early as 4,000 years ago.

Bio: The Victoria ASBC Branch president writes,  “Daryl Fedje is a long-time archaeologist with Parks Canada, now based in Sidney, B.C.  He is widely published, with a respected international reputation.  Research in the Gulf Islands that he directs, co-directs, or facilitates is some of the most current work relevant to the Victoria region – but of course with wider ramifications.“

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Posted in Archaeology, Cultural Resource Management, Northwest Coast, Shell Middens, underwater archaeology, Vancouver Island

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ASBC Victoria: Public Talk Tuesday Sept 20, Barkley Sound Archaeology

Posted on September 18, 2011 | 12 comments

Kelsey, Rodney and Jinky in the older deposits at Hiikwis.

The local (Victoria) branch of the Archaeological Society of B.C. is firing up it’s winter lecture series.  The first talk is on Tuesday, and features UVic’s own Kelsey MacLean, speaking on the enigmatic stone tool assemblage from Hiikwis, in Barkley Sound.  Details below; it is free and open to the public.

Kelsey MacLean

M.A. Candidate, University of Victoria

Chipped Stone in Barkley Sound.

Abstract: In 2008, Hiikwis became the first archaeological site in Barkley Sound with a significant sample of chipped stone materials. This material provides new insights into the culture history of Barkley Sound and the Nuu-chah-nulth peoples. It is well known that settlement patterns changed drastically in Barkley Sound from approximately 1500 to 1000 AD (Marshall 1993:40), which is a period of occupation represented at Hiikwis. Although the population movements both before and during this time have been theorized about before, Hiikwis is causing researchers to reconsider their previous assertions. Analysis of the chipped stone materials aims to determine who created these stone tools, and why there is a relative abundance of these tools at this site in contrast to the surrounding excavated locations. Essentially, why are there chipped stone tools here, but not next door?

Bio: Kelsey MacLean is currently an MA candidate at the University of Victoria. She is an executive member of the Victoria Branch of the Archaeological Society of BC and has a BA in Anthropology and Sociology from the University of Victoria. Her first fieldwork experience was in Barkley Sound in 2008 and she has returned each summer for further research. Her interest in the Tseshaht and the Barkley Sound region led to her pursuing her MA thesis project within this extended archaeological project.

SEP. 20, 2011, 7:30
pm Pacific Forestry Centre,
506 West Burnside Road.

Map

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Posted in Archaeology, Northwest Coast, Technology, Vancouver Island

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