Abstract

Two previously reported early human skeletal remains in Canada are uncertainly dated and immature, precluding useful insights into the physical or biological characteristics of the populations they may represent. An adult male postcranial skeleton from south-central British Columbia has been collagen dated at 8,250 +/- 115 years B.P. In situ parts were recorded below a volcanic ash lens identified with The Mount Mazama eruption of 6,600-7,000 years ago. The clavicle and long bones, metrically and morphologically, suggest a tall, lineal body build, a form often associated with an inland hunting adaptation. The finding might be used to support the construct of a 'Protowestern' cultural tradition populating British Columbia from the south in late Pleistocene - early Holocene times.