Similkameen archaeology (1993--2004).

摘要

This thesis provides the first synthesis of Similkameen First Nations prehistory. It is based upon archaeological overview, inventory and impact assessment projects (1993-2004). Three main topics are investigated; (1) construction of a cultural chronology encompassing 200 to 10,000 years of valley prehistory, (2) a critical examination of the Plateau Microblade tradition (PMt), and (3) a discussion of the problem of determining and/or assigning ethnicity to the archaeological record, specifically with regard to protohistoric and pre-contact Similkameen-Athapaskan and Salish-speaking populations.;The results of investigations indicate; (1) that pre-contact populations first inhabited the Similkameen Valley between 7,500 and 10,000 BP, (2) the Plateau Microblade tradition is a valid theoretical construct and (3) determination of ethnicity for Plateau hunter-gatherer and hunter-gatherer-fisher ("foraging") groups within the Similkameen Valley cannot be verified based on current evidence. Keywords. Similkameen archaeology; Plateau Microblade tradition.;The construction of a culture history sequence is a necessary prerequisite to an examination of the Plateau Microblade tradition and its relationship to the ethnohistoric presence of Athapaskan-speaking populations in the Nicola and Similkameen River Valleys. The Plateau Microblade tradition is examined and validated as an important technological Plateau material culture complex. Additional material, and non-material, culture indices are examined in terms of whether ethnicity can be constructed for pre-contact populations in the Similkameen Valley.