Abstract

Faunal evidence from five middle to late period prehistoric village sites at Prince Rupert harbour, British Columbia, reveals an extremely high level of dependence on one food resource, salmon. At some of these sites, it appears that little else in the way of vertebrate fauna was consumed. Comparisons with faunal data from other parts of the Northwest Coast show that the Prince Rupert villagers were unusual in this regard. The reason for this extreme subsistence specialization cannot be absence of other vertebrate fauna. Rather, a cultural explanation is suggested.