Several folks have asked what’s happening with the archaeology project. Here’s a brief update.

   

Our planning students (Mary, Mads, and Owen) and archaeology student (Vlad) have finished or are close to completing their theses. We’ll send summaries soon. Thank you to the community members who supported this research. Also in the works is Dana K’s research based on interviews with community members about the artifacts/belongings that they have found on the island.

   

In Vlad’s thesis, which he hopes to present to the community soon, we’ve gained insights into where settlements were located, their size, and age. Not surprisingly, places like False Bay and Maple Bay held the oldest and largest communities, whereas places more buffeted by winds or more isolated from their neighbours (e.g., Squitty Bay), were settled later and were smaller.    

   

We also recorded many intertidal features (fish traps and clam gardens) as well as lookout sites. Together with the many artifacts/belongings people have found in their gardens, we surmise that Xwe’etay was one busy place in the Indigenous past.

   

Many Lasquetians have lent us the artifacts/belongings in their possession for analysis by our team. This includes descriptions of form, possible function, and a guestimate of age. The artifacts recovered range from spear and arrow points, hide scrapers, harpoon pieces, fish net weights, salmon knives, blades cores, and so on.

   

Using a non-destructive method called X-ray fluorescence (XRF), our colleague, Dr. Rhy McMillan has analyzed the elemental compositions of about 70 of the belongings recovered here. From these, we can figure out the source location of the toolstone used to make the artifacts. This in turn enables us to understand ancient trade routes and social relations. Based on (incomprehensible to me) statistical analyses, Rhy has determined that most of our toolstone probably comes from Vancouver Island. However, there are also pieces from as far away as southeastern Idaho! Rhy will be at the Archaeology Table at the Fall Fair with his portable XRF machine to “zap” any of your geological or archaeological mystery items.

   

Finally, we’re using ancient DNA of the few recovered doggie bones as another way to understand ancient trade relations. These bones are currently at the Smithsonian Institute where Dr. Audrey Lin is analyzing them to determine the dogs’ breeding lineages and if they came from Coast Salish woolly or hunting dogs. By comparing our doggie lineages to those of other places, we can begin to understand how dogs were traded among communities.

   

There’s more to fill you in on, but we do have a 400-word limit in this newsletter. J - Dana