A ZOOARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDY OF GENERATIONAL DECISION-MAKING: MODELING SUBSISTENCE AND DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGE IN LATE-HOLOCENE OCCUPATIONS OF HOUSEPIT 54 AT THE BRIDGE RIVER SITE (EeRl4), MID-FRASER, B.C.

Author

Matthew Joseph Walsh, The University of MontanaFollow

Year of Award

2015

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Degree Name

Anthropology (Cultural Heritage Option)

Department or School/College

Department of Anthropology

Committee Chair

Anna M. Prentiss

Commitee Members

Jaime Awe, John Douglas, Sarah Halvorson, Meredith Snow

Keywords

Bridge River, Demography, Hunter-Gatherers, Malthus, Subsistence, Zooarchaeology

Publisher

The University of Montana

Abstract

The Bridge River site is a winter pithouse village near the confluence of the Bridge and Fraser Rivers in the Mid-Fraser Canyon that was occupied periodically from as early as 1800BP to the mid-19th century. Prentiss et al. (2008) divide the range of occupations into four Periods: Bridge River (BR) 1, c. 1800-1600BP, BR2, c. 1600-1300BP, a short-lived BR3, c. 1300-1100BP (by the end of this period the village appears to have been largely abandoned), and BR4, a late reoccupation of the site, c. ~500 to 100BP (Prentiss et al. 2008, 2011, 2012). During BR2 and into BR3, between 1500-1100BP, the village experienced punctuated population growth and then underwent dynamic and rapid population decline and abandonment at the end of BR3. This trend continued throughout the Middle Fraser region toward the end of BR3, as major village populations experienced rapid declines and abandonment events leading up to roughly 1000 BP.

Recommended Citation

Walsh, Matthew Joseph, "A ZOOARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDY OF GENERATIONAL DECISION-MAKING: MODELING SUBSISTENCE AND DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGE IN LATE-HOLOCENE OCCUPATIONS OF HOUSEPIT 54 AT THE BRIDGE RIVER SITE (EeRl4), MID-FRASER, B.C." (2015). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 4624.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/4624