Abstract

A reanalysis of collections from the Trout Lake area of the northern Yukon challenges the integrity of what has become known as the type site of the British Mountain culture. The main Trout Lake site (NfVi-10) is seen as a mixed, multi-component deposit and its so-called British Mountain component is interpreted as lithic workshop debris. The collections from both NfVi-10 and the Northeast site (Ne Vi-9), the other main so-called British Mountain site in the Trout Lake area, feature artifacts assignable to a number of different prehistoric cultures; the most easily recognizable of these are local variants of the Denbigh, Choris and Norton western Palaeo-Eskimo cultures.