Pacific salmon has been a staple resource for residents of British Columbia for over seven thousand years. Archaeological evidence obtained from a shell midden at Namu, B.C., provides detailed information about the diets of the First Peoples living at Namu over the past seven thousand years. Pacific salmon was the most prevalent species of fish uncovered within the midden, excluding herring. Pink, chum and sockeye species were consumed in the greatest quantities. Pink was particularly favored because of its ability to store over winter months without spoiling. Evidence from the shell midden also reveals fluctuations within the pink salmon fishery from ~3800 until 1900 cal year BP. The paleoenvironmental conditions within Namu Lake during the time of the pink collapse have never before been explored. There is also little evidence pertaining to what may have contributed to the collapse of the pink fishery. Sediment cores collected from Namu Lake, B.C. provide evidence for paleoenvironmental conditions that may have contributed to fluctuations in the pink salmon population. Particle size analyses of lake sediment cores indicate changes in river discharge as well as erosional intensity within the Namu basin. Particle size, coupled with radiocarbon dating, reveal a transitional period within the basin from ~ 3200 to 2200 cal year BP. A decrease in elemental ratios/Al, particularly Ca, Na, Ba, and Sr, provides evidence for a decline in erosional intensity and a relatively drier period within the basin. The decrease in erosional intensity could be due to consistently drier conditions at Namu. A resulting reduction in the flow of the Namu River would have caused an increase in finer particles within the pink salmon spawning grounds. Average C/N ratios for NC1 are 26.28, indicating that organic matter within the lake is mainly terrestrial in origin. These results, combined with the particle size and trace metal analysis, reveal that river discharge and slope wash had declined during this period causing fine material to remain in the Namu River (outflowing), which is the spawning grounds for the pink salmon, rather than being transported out into the bay. The results of this study reveal that a shift in moisture, towards relatively dry conditions, negatively impacted spawning pink salmon at Namu Lake. This study provides insight into the sensitivity of Pacific salmon to climate and the effects future climate change may have on the species. The ability of environmental data to supplement and enhance archaeological information and interpretations of prehistoric conditions is illustrated throughout this study. The cores collected at Namu Lake also reveal the need for site specific climatic data in order to accurately interpret archaeological contexts and conditions. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

No description available.

Thesis (M.A.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Department of Anthropology, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2003. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 689-733). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Thesis (doctoral) - Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, 2001. / This book is a slightly revised version of the doctoral dissertation the author completed in June 2001 and defended at the Faculty of Arts of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in October 2001. Includes bibliographical references (p. 255-285) and index.

No description available.

This study attempts to demonstrate symbolic whale bone patterning within 31 Thule winter houses along the southeast coast of Somerset Island, Northwest Territories, Canada. All visible architectural whale bone incorporated within the dwellings was mapped. Trends towards particular patterns of whale bone distribution were demonstrated using Spearman's Rank-order Correlation Coefficient. The potential symbolic nature of such patternings was determined within the context of north Alaskan ethnographic and oral historical sources. The extensive use of whale bone in some Thule entrances suggests that their builders sought to create a distinction between the entrance tunnel and main room, not unlike the Inupiat dwellings in 19th-century Tikigaq. The significance of this architectural phenomenon is rooted in the Inupiat, and to some extent Inuit, association between women, the house and the bowhead whale. It is also suggested that whaling status may be reflected in differential access to bowhead whale bone.

The Warsaw Quarries of Coshocton County, Ohio, virtually ignored since Holmes' landmark papers of 1919, are investigated to achieve several goals: 1) to create a revised general typology of the material culture of bedded-chert lithic procurement sites; 2) to demonstrate that the occurrence of radiocarbon samples at lithic procurement sites is the norm rather than the exception; 3) to clarify the nature of activity at the site through a synthesis of functional and attribute analyses of material recovered from a peripheral spoils ridge; 4) to demonstrate that data collected at procurement sites by surface collection constitutes an insufficient database for analysis; 5) to test an hypothesis that the presumed absence of classic site elements (stratigraphy, diagnostic artifacts, dateable material) is incorrect. Since the completion of late 19`h and early 20`h century work in the field, analysis of quarry sites in North America has been limited to sporadic and usually very subject-specific research. By neglecting to evaluate the overall nature and function of lithic procurement sites, recent work has relegated lithic procurement to a sub-field of only secondary interest to archaeologists. / Department of Anthropology

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wyoming, 2008. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on August 9, 2009). Includes bibliographical references (p. 44-55).