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Reconsidering the Cause of Cultural Collapse in the Lillooet Area of British Columbia, Canada: A Geoarchaeological Perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Ian Kuijt
Ian Kuijt*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, The University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, 46556
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Abstract

The potential interconnections between human settlement systems, subsistence practices, and rapid, high-magnitude transformation of the physical landscape (e.g., earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and landslides) is an important issue of discussion in archaeology. This paper critically examines the argument that prehistoric abandonment of Classic Lillooet pithouse villages of south-central British Columbia, Canada, at approximately 1200-1000 B.P., was linked to one or more catastrophic landslides at Texas Creek that blocked the Fraser River, destroyed salmon resources, and caused the abandonment of this area. Examination of the location and depositional condition of several excavated archaeological sites within the Fraser Valley, as well as reflection on the expected environmental and cultural responses to a catastrophic landslide, challenge previous interpretations of the existence, location, and magnitude of such a landslide event, and indicate that archaeologists need to reconsider deterministic environmental explanations for the abandonment of pithouse villages in the interior of British Columbia.

Résumé

Résumé

La posible interactión entre sistemas de asentamiento humano, prácticas de subsistencia y la transformatión rápida y de altamagnitud del paisaje físico (debida a, por ejemplo, los terremotos, las erupciones volcánicas, y los deslaves de tierra) es un punto de discusión importante dentro de la arqueología. Este artículo examina el abandono prehistórico de los asentamientos “pithouse“ de Lillooet Clásica en la región central y sur de British Columbia, Canadá, datando aproximadamente entre 1200 y 1000 antes del presente, y arguye criticamente que este abandono estuvo relacionado a un (quizá mas) derrumbe catastrófico en Texas Creek, el cual bloqueó el Río Fraser y destruyó recursos de salmón, resultando en el abandono del área. Tomando en cuenta la localización y condiciones de depósito de varios sitios arqueológicos excavados dentro del Valle de Fraser, y cómo se espera que responderían el medio ambiente y el sistema cultural a un derrumbe, encontramos desacuerdos que desafian previas interpretaciones sobre la existencia, localización y magnitud de dicho evento catastrófico. Esto indica que los arqueólogos deberemos de reconsiderar y cuestionar el determinismo ambiental que implican existentes modelos de explicatión del abandono de los asentamientos “pithouse “ en el interior de British Columbia.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 66 , Issue 4 , October 2001 , pp. 692 - 703
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 2001

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