Mountain of glass: Archaeology of the Mount Edziza obsidian source, British Columbia, Canada

Abstract

Results of a first‐stage archaeological reconnaissance of the Mt Edziza obsidian source area in northwestern British Columbia, Canada, are described. Mt Edziza obsidian has been utilized by native people for 9–10,000 years and widely distributed throughout surrounding regions. Archaeological investigations reveal primary concentrated obsidian outcrops and quarry sites at high elevation, as well as lower and more dispersed areal scatters of raw material. Preliminary excavation results and paleoenvironmental reconstructions suggest that the concentrated alpine obsidian sources were probably most intensively exploited prior to 3000 B.P. and the onset of cooler Neoglacial climates. Site ‘trains’, or series of functionally differentiated workshops and campsites are distributed around the primary obsidian sources at lower elevations near the tree‐line. Many of these sites appear to have emphasized manufacture of ovate biface‐preforms as the main form in which obsidian was redistributed beyond the mountain source.