Seasonality and Intensity of Shellfish Harvesting on the North Coast of British Columbia

ABSTRACT

Biogeochemical and growth increment analyses show contrasting seasonal patterns of butter clam collection and rates of harvest intensity between archaeological shell midden sites from the Dundas Islands archipelago and the mainland coast in Prince Rupert Harbour, northern British Columbia. Growth increment analysis shows more intensive clam harvest in the Dundas Islands in comparison to the residential sites in Prince Rupert Harbour. Stable oxygen isotope analysis shows multi-seasonal collection of clams in the Dundas Islands and a more seasonally specific emphasis in Prince Rupert Harbour. Comparison of these results to those of similar studies in the Namu region on the central coast of British Columbia provides a basis for broader regional understanding of variation in shellfish harvesting intensity and seasonality on the Pacific Northwest Coast.

Keywords:

• seasonality
• subsistence
• settlement
• stable isotope analysis
• Pacific Northwest Coast
• multi-site/multi-regional analysis

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Funding for this research was provided by the Social Science Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) in the form of a scholarship to Meghan Burchell and a research grant (410–2004–0618) to Andrew Martindale. Funding was also provided by the German Research Foundation (DFG) to Bernd R. Schöne: SCHO 793/3. The analytical facilities at the McMaster University Fisheries Archaeology Research Centre were developed with a Canada Foundation for Innovation grant (CFI) to Dr. Aubrey Cannon. Dr. Katherine Patton and Dr. Gary Coupland kindly provided materials from Prince Rupert Harbour, and Stacy Girling Christie and Kevin Jenkins facilitated the loan of shell materials from the Canadian Museum of Civilization. Neil Bourne from Fisheries and Oceans Canada gave valuable insight into shell growth rates and provided hard-to-find references on the intertidal clam surveys of British Columbia. Dr. Henry P. Schwarcz and Katherine Cook provided helpful editorial comments and Miranda Brunton is thanked for preparing and processing shells from several of the sites in the Dundas Islands. Three anonymous reviewers are thanked for their insightful comments and critique.

Notes

Additional shell growth increment data from four sites from the Dundas Islands (GcTq-1, GcTq-5, GcTq-7, GcTr-8) were incorporated from Brunton and Burchell (2008).