Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T13:21:02.318Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Archaeological Evidence for Village Abandonment Associated with Late Holocene Earthquakes at the Northern Cascadia Subduction Zone

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Ian Hutchinson  and
Alan D. McMillan
Ian Hutchinson
Affiliation:
Department of Geography and Institute for Quaternary Research, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, V5A 1S6, Canada Department of Anthropology and Sociology, Douglas College, New Westminster, British Columbia, V3L 5B2, Canada
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Geologic evidence suggests that great (magnitude 8 or larger) earthquakes, or series of such earthquakes, occurred six times in the past 3000 yr at the northern Cascadia subduction zone. The archaeological record, and native oral traditions, demonstrate that native villages along the adjacent coasts of southern British Columbia and Washington State were occasionally abandoned in the late Holocene as a result of these earthquakes and associated tsunamis. We infer the temporal pattern of village occupation and abandonment from midden stratigraphy and from an activity index based on the probability distributions of radiocarbon ages at 30 archaeological sites in three regions of northern Cascadia. Deposits of probable tsunami origin are interbedded with, or bound, cultural strata at several sites. Earthquakes probably predate hiatuses in occupation, or periods of low inferred human activity, at many sites. The strongest correlation between earthquake incidence and site abandonment occurs in the Nootka Sound region. Effects of tsunamis vary with village location, coastal morphology, and late Holocene sea-level history.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 48 , Issue 1 , July 1997 , pp. 79 - 87
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andrade, M.J., (1931). Columbia University Contributions to Anthropology 12, New York. Quileute Texts. Google Scholar
Arima, E. Y., Claire, D. St., Clamhouse, L., Edgar, J., Jones, C., Thomas, J., (1991). Between Ports Alberni and Renfrew: Notes on West Coast Peoples. Canadian Museum of Civilization. Ottawa. Google Scholar
Atwater, B.F., (1987). Evidence for great Holocene earthquakes along the outer coast of Washington State. Science. 236, 942–944.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Atwater, B.F., (1992). Geologic evidence for earthquakes during the past 2000 years along the Copalis River, southern coastal Washington. Journal of Geophysical Research. 97, 1901–1919.Google Scholar
Atwater, B. F., Hemphill-Haley, E., (1997). Recurrence Intervals for Great Earthquakes of the past 3500 Years at Northeastern Willapa Bay. Washington. Google Scholar
Atwater, B.F., Nelson, A.R., Clague, J.J., Carver, G.A., Yamaguchi, D.K., Bobrowsky, P.T., Bourgeois, J., Darienzo, M.E., Grant, W.C., Hemphill-Hailey, E., Kelsey, H.M., Jacoby, G.C., Nishenko, S.P., Palmer, S.P., Peterson, C.D., Reinhart, M.A., (1995). Summary of coastal geological evidence for past great earthquakes at the Cascadia subduction zone. Earthquake Spectra. 11, 1–18.Google Scholar
Clague, J.J., Bobrowsky, P.T., (1994). Evidence for a large earthquake and tsunami 100–400 years ago on western Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Quaternary Research. 41, 176–184.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clague, J.J., Bobrowsky, P.T., (1994). Tsunami deposits beneath tidal marshes on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Geological Society of America Bulletin. 106, 1293–1303.Google Scholar
Cole, S.C., Atwater, B.F., McCutcheon, P.T., Stein, J.K., Hemphill-Haley, E., (1996). Earthquake-induced burial of archaeological sites along the southern Washington coast. Geoarchaeology. 11, 165–177.Google Scholar
Connolly, T. J., (1992). Human Response to Change in Coastal Geomorphology and Fauna on the Southern Northwest Coast: Archaeological Investigations at Seaside, Oregon. Univ. of Oregon, Department of Anthropology and Oregon State Museum. Eugene, OR. Google Scholar
Croes, D.R., (1995). The Hoko River Archaeological Site Complex: The Wet/Dry Site (45CA213), 3,000–1,700 B.P. Washington State Univ. Press, Pullman. Google Scholar
Croes, D. R., Blinman, E., (1980). Hoko River: A 2500 Year Old Fishing Camp on the Northwest Coast of North America. Washington State Univ. Pullman, WA. Google Scholar
Dewhirst, J., (1980). The Indigenous Archaeology of Yuquot, a Nootkan Outside Village. The Yuquot Project: History and Archaeology. Parks Canada, Ottawa. Google Scholar
Drucker, P., (1951). The Northern and Central Nootkan Tribes. .Google Scholar
Duncan, M.A., (1981). Archaeological Investigations at La Push, Clallam County, Washington. Univ. of WashingtonOffice of Public ArchaeologyInstitute of Environmental Studies, Seattle. Google Scholar
Friedman, E., (1976). An Archaeological Survey of Makah Territory: A Study in Resource Utilization. Washington State Univ.Washington Archaeological Research Center, Pullman. Google Scholar
Friele, P.A., Hutchinson, I., (1993). Holocene sea-level change on the central-west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 30, 832–840.Google Scholar
Guinn, S. J., (1963). A Maritime Village on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington. Washington State Univ. Pullman, WA. Google Scholar
Haggarty, J. C., (1982). The Archaeology of Hesquiat Harbour: The Archaeological Utility of an Ethnographically Defined Social Unit. .Google Scholar
Hill-Tout, C., (1978). The Salish People: The Local Contribution of Charles Hill-Tout: The Sechelt and the South-Eastern Tribes of Vancouver Island. Maud, R., Talonbooks, Vancouver. Google Scholar
Hutchinson, I., (1992). Holocene Sea-Level Change in the Pacific Northwest: A Catalogue of Radiocarbon Dates and an Atlas of Regional Sea-Level Curves. .Google Scholar
Hutchinson, I., Clague, J.J., Mathewes, R.W., (1997). Reconstructing the tsunami record on an emerging coast: A case study of Kanim Lake, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Journal of Coastal Research. 13, 545–553.Google Scholar
Josza, L. A., Parker, M. L., Johnson, S. G., Bramhall, P. A., (1983). Ozette Dendrochronological Studies. Gleeson, P. F., 27, 56, Laboratory of Anthropology. Washington State University, Pullman, WA. Google Scholar
McMillan, A. D., (1969). Archaeological Investigations at Nootka Sound. Vancouver Island. Google Scholar
McMillan, A. D., (1996). Since Kwatyat Lived on Earth: An Examination of Nuu-chah-nulth Culture History. .Google Scholar
McMillan, A.D., St. Claire, D.E., (1982). Alberni Prehistory: Archaeological and Ethnographic Investigations on Western Vancouver Island. Theytus Books, Penticton. Google Scholar
McMillan, A. D., Claire, D. E St. ., (1992). The Toquaht Archaeological Project: Report on the 1992 Field Season. .Google Scholar
McMillan, A. D., Claire, D. E. St., (1994). The Toquaht Archaeological Project: Report on the 1994 Field Season. .Google Scholar
McMillan, A. D., Claire, D. E. St., (1996). The Toquaht Archaeological Project: Report on the 1996 Field Season. .Google Scholar
Meyers, R., Smith, D.G., Jol, H.M., Peterson, C.D., (1996). Evidence for eight great earthquake-subsidence events detected with ground-penetrating radar, Willapa barrier, Washington. Geology. 24, 99–102.Google Scholar
Minor, R., Grant, W., (1996). Earthquake-induced subsidence and burial of late Holocene archaeological sites, northern Oregon coast. American Antiquity. 61, 772–781.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nelson, A. R., Kelsey, H. M., Hemphill-Haley, E., (1994). A potential record of tsunamis generated by great earthquakes along the southern Cascadia subduction zone. Proceedings of the Workshop on Paleoseismology. 18–22 September, 1994, Marshall, California. Google Scholar
Ng, M.K-F., LeBlond, P.H., Murty, T.S., (1990). Simulation of tsunamis from great earthquakes on the Cascadia subduction zone. Science. 250, 1248–1251.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Seigel, S., (1956). Nonparametric Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences. McGraw-Hill, New York. Google Scholar
Sproat, G.M., Lillard, C., (1987). The Nootka: Scenes and Studies of Savage Life. Sono Nis Press, Victoria. Google Scholar
Stuiver, M., Becker, B., (1993). High-precision decadal calibration of the radiocarbon time scale, AD 1950–6000 BC. Radiocarbon. 35, 35–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stuiver, M., Reimer, P.J., (1993). Extended14 14 . Radiocarbon. 35, 215–230.Google Scholar
Swan, J.G., Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge. 16, (1870). Google Scholar
Wessen, G. C., (1991). Archaeological testing at the Presbyterian Church in Neah Bay (45CA22). Washington, Makah Cultural and Research Center. Neah Bay, WA. Google Scholar
Wessen, G. C., (1993). Archeological Activities at and Near Sand Point (45CA201). Olympic National Park, Washington. Google Scholar
White, W.R.H., (1966). The Alaska earthquake—its effects in Canada. Canadian Geographical Journal. 72, 210–219.Google Scholar
Whitmore, P.M., (1993). Expected tsunami amplitudes and currents along the North American coast for Cascadia subduction zone earthquakes. Natural Hazards. 8, 59–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, I. R., (1990). Archaeological investigations at DgSl 61. Chesterman Beach. west coast Vancouver Island. Google Scholar
Wilson, I. R., (1994). Archaeological investigations at DgSl 67. Chesterman Beach. west coast Vancouver Island. Google Scholar
Woodward, J., White, J., Cummings, R., (1990). Paleoseismicity and the archaeological record: areas of investigation on the northern Oregon coast. Oregon Geology. 52, 57–65.Google Scholar