Temporal and Spatial Shifts in Resource Acquisition Patterns as Seen in the Fish Remains at T'ukw'aa, Barkley Sound, B.C.

Conference Paper

Temporal and Spatial Shifts in Resource Acquisition Patterns as Seen in the Fish Remains at T'ukw'aa, Barkley Sound, B.C.

Megan Caldwell

Abstract

The Nuu-Chah-Nulth site of T'ukw'aa at the mouth of Barkley Sound , British Columbia, appears to consist of three different residential areas. Were the residents of these three areas socially differentiated? A preliminary examination of fish remains will assess whether or not differential use of resources may have existed between these three areas. As well, did use of fish resources shift through time, either between these three areas or at the site as a whole? Evidence from two other sites in Barkley Sound has shown a change in resource acquisition from mainly rock fish to salmon around 500 - 600 years ago, running counter to the common date of NAC salmon intensification (3,500 to 5,000 BP). Does this shift occur at the outer harbour site of T'ukwa'a, and is it seen across all three site areas?