Taking the samples from a long house depression on Galiano Island, Gulf Islands, Vancouver, B.C., Canada.
Where were all the Villages? Applying Geophysical Prospection to Understand Long-term Household and Community Dynamics in the Salish Sea
By
Dr. Colin Grier, Department of Anthropology,
W.S.U. Vancouver
By
Dr. Colin Grier, Department of Anthropology,
W.S.U. Vancouver
Despite decades of archaeological survey, CRM work, and targeted excavation inside houses, the sample of documented precontact Salishan house and village plans — and even simply village locations — remains surprisingly limited. As a result, many questions about household and village dynamics over the short and long term remain difficult to address. I outline how geophysics and archaeological ground-truthing can be productively applied to this problem, illustrated primarily by recent and ongoing research in the southern Gulf Islands of British Columbia. I also lay out some long-standing and emerging hypotheses concerning household and village organization, and how addressing these can serve the goal of restorative justice and reconciliation for Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest.
As highly perishable wooden constructions, plankhouses appear in the archaeological record of the Northwest Coast primarily through their footprint – as house terraces, platforms and depressions. Few of these house features have been preserved given modern coastal development, but the Dionisio Point site (DgRv-003) on Galiano Island provides an important example of the extent of terraforming that occurred to produce large houses and villages.
At Dionisio Point, at least five house features were established around 1500 years ago on three terraces that were cut into a sloping hillside. These three terraces measure approximately 60 x 20 m. The middle terrace contained a plankhouse estimated at 40 x 10 m in size, and the upper and lower terraces contain two houses each that measured approximately 20 x 10 m. The houses were laid out in a systematic and regular fashion suggesting an overall plan to the village, and radiocarbon dates indicate contemporaneity of the five known houses. Houses on the terraces are surrounded by 1 to 3 m high earthen ridges, adding to the engineered design of the village location. Terraforming at Dionisio Point illustrates an impressive and substantial effort to clear trees, excavate terraces, move earth and construct massive plankhouses.
As highly perishable wooden constructions, plankhouses appear in the archaeological record of the Northwest Coast primarily through their footprint – as house terraces, platforms and depressions. Few of these house features have been preserved given modern coastal development, but the Dionisio Point site (DgRv-003) on Galiano Island provides an important example of the extent of terraforming that occurred to produce large houses and villages.
At Dionisio Point, at least five house features were established around 1500 years ago on three terraces that were cut into a sloping hillside. These three terraces measure approximately 60 x 20 m. The middle terrace contained a plankhouse estimated at 40 x 10 m in size, and the upper and lower terraces contain two houses each that measured approximately 20 x 10 m. The houses were laid out in a systematic and regular fashion suggesting an overall plan to the village, and radiocarbon dates indicate contemporaneity of the five known houses. Houses on the terraces are surrounded by 1 to 3 m high earthen ridges, adding to the engineered design of the village location. Terraforming at Dionisio Point illustrates an impressive and substantial effort to clear trees, excavate terraces, move earth and construct massive plankhouses.
DATE: Friday, February 21st, 2020
TIME: 7 pm to 9 pm
PLACE: Mountaineers Seattle Program Center, 7700 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115 in the Cascade Room
COST: FREE to members, $10.00 to non-members, $5.00 for Students (please renew membership for 2019 and these programs at http://www.pnwas.org and now through PayPal)
Refreshments provided (Please bring cookies/snacks to share with the beverages).
TIME: 7 pm to 9 pm
PLACE: Mountaineers Seattle Program Center, 7700 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115 in the Cascade Room
COST: FREE to members, $10.00 to non-members, $5.00 for Students (please renew membership for 2019 and these programs at http://www.pnwas.org and now through PayPal)
Refreshments provided (Please bring cookies/snacks to share with the beverages).
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