Nathan Goodale

Calibrated Radiocarbon Dating at Keatley Creek: The Chronology of Occupation at a Complex Hunter-Gatherer Village

This paper provides an analysis of radiocarbon dates acquired during earlier and recent field seasons at the Keatley Creek site, southern British Columbia. Results indicate that early occupations predating 1900 cal. B.P. occurred, but were not likely associated with population aggregation and large housepits. The aggregated village appears to have emerged by approximately 1700 cal. B.P. and was abandoned at approximately 800 cal. B.P. A break in the occupational sequence is recognized at 1450-1350 cal. B.P. and one other short break may have occurred shortly after 1250 cal. B.P. Peak socioeconomic complexity appears to have been achieved between 1350 and 800 cal B.P. Climatic warming may have provided a selective environment favoring population aggregation and intensification during this time. The final abandonment of the Keatley Creek village appears to have been part of a regional phenomenon suggesting the possibility that climatic factors were important in this case as well.

The emergence of large villages and large residential corporate group structures among complex hunter-gatherers at Keatley Creek. Authors' reply

Prentiss et al. (2003) have argued for a relatively recent, short (1600–1100 B.P.), and noncontinuous occupation of large villages and large housepits on the British Columbian Plateau. They argue that these developments resulted from climatically induced resource impoverishment in the region. I maintain that their database is inadequate for such conclusions and that their interpretations are in conflict with dates that I obtained from large housepits as well as with the distribution of early point styles (dating from 1200–4800 B.P.) that concentrate in the rim middens of large and medium-sized housepits. These data indicate that large villages and housepits that emerged by 2600 B.P., or earlier, were continuously occupied and corresponded more to the development of collector-based technologies rather than any climatic deteriorations or the introduction of the bow and arrow.

The Emergence of Complex Hunter-Gatherers on the Canadian Plateau: A Response to Hayden

Brian Hayden argues that our analysis of Keatley Creek stratigraphy and dates offers inaccurate conclusions. Although our data demonstrate that the village appeared late and was somewhat unstable, Hayden continues to support a model of early emergence and high stability. Hayden offers no new data to support his position. Consequently, we argue that there is no reason to reject our revised view.

The Demography of Prehistoric Fishing/Hunting People: A Case Study of the Upper Columbia Area

The calibrated radiocarbon evidence reveals a bimodal distribution indicating aggregated and dispersed occupations in the Upper Columbia region of North America. Through examining changes in settlement and subsistence in conjunction with dating sequences, we propose a model of population dynamics and their changing amplitude through time. The correlated lines of evidence suggest that population levels show a relationship to changing economic systems as well as social structures. In this paper we map these changes from forager to collector type economic systems as well as generalized to more complex forms of hunter-gatherer socio-systems

Natural Selection and Material Culture

Natural selection is the basis of all evolutionary applications in biology as well as studies of cultural process in archaeology. Natural selection is important because it allows us the tools to talk not only about variation in biological systems but also material culture that are the by-products of the human decision-making processes. In this paper, we provide a baseline of the concept of natural selection and explanatory application in evolutionary archaeology.