Abstract
Anthropologists have recognized that households may have diverse histories resulting in patterns of unstable membership, a wide array of tactics for production of food and goods, and diverse rules governing the reproduction of cultural traditions and the transmission of rights and resources. Yet archaeologists rarely have the opportunity to test alternative hypotheses about the histories of specific houses and house groups. In this paper, we offer a test of multiple hypotheses regarding the nature of household groups at Housepit 54, Bridge River, British Columbia. Phylogenetic analysis permits us to assess cultural transmission patterns and examine the relationships between household history and socio-economic variables. We conclude that Housepit 54 represents a long-lived house group or “House” that benefited from a well-developed system of inter-generational cultural inheritance. We argue that such groups may have been typical of the Mid-Fraser villages pre-dating 1000 years ago. This in turn allows us to suggest that this pattern was not the result of historically recent borrowing of such concepts from Northwest Coast groups.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 105260 |
| Journal | Journal of Archaeological Science |
| Volume | 124 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 2020 |
Funding
The Bridge River Archaeological Project is a long-standing collaborative partnership between the University of Montana and Xwísten, the Bridge River Indian Band. Susan James, Bradley Jack, and Gerald Michel played critical roles in facilitating the Housepit 54 project. The 2012–2016 field seasons at Housepit 54 were supported by two grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities (Grants RZ-51287-11 and RZ-230366-1 ). Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The 2008, 2009 field seasons at Bridge River that included initial excavations of Housepit 54 were funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation (grant BCS-0713013 ). We thank the many volunteer and field school excavators of Housepit 54. Walsh's participation was made possible thanks to the Environmental Archaeology and Materials Science section at the National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen, and generous support from the Tales of Bronze Age Women project ( CF15-0878 ; PI Karin M. Frei). Finally, we thank Mike O'Brien and two anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful comments. The sponsor (National Endowment for the Humanities) did not play a direct role in determining the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the article for publication.The Bridge River Archaeological Project is a long-standing collaborative partnership between the University of Montana and Xw?sten, the Bridge River Indian Band. Susan James, Bradley Jack, and Gerald Michel played critical roles in facilitating the Housepit 54 project. The 2012?2016 field seasons at Housepit 54 were supported by two grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities (Grants RZ-51287-11 and RZ-230366-1). Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The 2008, 2009 field seasons at Bridge River that included initial excavations of Housepit 54 were funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation (grant BCS-0713013). We thank the many volunteer and field school excavators of Housepit 54. Walsh's participation was made possible thanks to the Environmental Archaeology and Materials Science section at the National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen, and generous support from the Tales of Bronze Age Women project (CF15-0878; PI Karin M. Frei). Finally, we thank Mike O'Brien and two anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful comments.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| National Museum of Denmark | CF15-0878 |
| BCS-0713013 | |
| National Endowment for the Humanities | |
| RZ-51287-11, RZ-230366-1 |
Keywords
- Bridge river site
- Evolutionary archaeology
- Household archaeology
- Indigenous history