Bone Awls

Originally published in The Midden, 44(1), 10-12. 2012. By Grant Keddie We can all applaud the fact that some archaeologists are asking more theoretical questions, having moved beyond basic artifact description. However, it is clear that research un­dertaken to espouse new ideas often depends on poorly classified assemblages. Our knowledge of the timing and distribution of even some of the most common artifacts remains uncertain. The precise use of many of the artifacts that are found is often unknown, and sometimes, mistakenly, a correlation is assumed between archaeological and ethnographic artifacts. In order to judge the accuracy of ethnographic informa­tion, archaeologists need to be aware of the process of how ethnographic information builds upon and interacts with the ethnographic and … Continue reading “Bone Awls”

Bone Body Armour?

Originally published in The Midden, 44(2), 22-23. 2012. Grant Keddie A unique artifact from the collection of the Royal British Columbia Museum (RBCM), DhRs-1:9482, is made from a ground and shaped piece of whale scapula (Figures 1 and 2 above). It was part of a collection originally donated in 1950 to the Saskatchewan Museum of Natural History by P.T.O. Menzies. Menzies had collected these artifacts from the Eburne or Marpole site in 1931. I suggest that this is another example of the unique pair of whale bone armlets (DgRw-4:3012) found at the False Narrows site on Gabriola Island. These armlets were extremely fragmented when uncovered but were meticu­lously reconstructed by the conservation unit at the RBCM (Figure 4). Before reburial, … Continue reading “Bone Body Armour?”

An Archer’s Wrist Guard

Originally published in The Midden, 42(1-2), 12-13. 2010. By Grant Keddie This unique artifact from the collection of the Royal B.C. Museum has never been identified. The 8cm by 21 cm object is made from a thin one-centimetre piece of whalebone. Dr. Charles Newcombe found the artifact (DcRu-32:22) in 1914, during the construction of the Ogden Point breakwater at the entrance to Victoria’s Outer harbour. An archaeological shell midden (DcRu32), which now lies buried under Dallas Road, was once the location of a small village site at the head of the now filled in Ogden Bay. The small assemble of artifacts, which includes bone tools made using an iron file, and the lack of any oral tradition or other historic … Continue reading “An Archer’s Wrist Guard”

The Early Introduction of Iron Among the First Nations of British Columbia

2006. By Grant Keddie This article documents both the historical and archaeological evidence for the movement of European manufactured iron goods across Canada from the 16th to 18th centuries and overviews the late 18th century accounts of Iron observed in the possession of First Nations in British Columbia. Introduction It is a commonly held belief that iron was not used by aboriginal peoples of British Columbia before the arrival of Europeans in the late 18th century. The evidence indicates that this is not the case. The following is an overview of the evidence for the movement of iron from various directions toward British Columbia in the period before European contact and during the very early contact period. After 1799 the … Continue reading “The Early Introduction of Iron Among the First Nations of British Columbia”

A New Look at Northwest Coast
Stone Bowls

Originally Published in Archaeology of Coastal British Columbia: Essays in Honour of Professor Philip M. Hobler. SFU Archaeology Press. 2003. By Grant Keddie Introduction One morning in the spring of 1969, I went with my field-school professor, Phil Hobler, to re­discover the Bella Coola village of Anutcix (FaSu 10) near the mouth of the Kwatna River. When we located the site and its distinct shell mound features, Phil commented on how each site is different and can tell us different things. His teaching style was to have us ask questions rather than just listen to answers. When I found the first donut stone, Phil asked me to look at the evidence and tell him what it was. Today when I … Continue reading “A New Look at Northwest Coast
Stone Bowls”

Projectile Points from Southern Vancouver Island

Originally published in Projectile Point Sequences in Northwestern North America, 79-86. 2008. By Grant Keddie Introduction Although projectile points can only be fully under­stood in the larger context of all forms of projectile heads, this chapter will focus on chipped stone points. Unfortunately the lack of enough detailed radiocar­bon sequences that include sufficient samples of com­plete stone projectile points are lacking. Some of the information presented here must of necessity be based on before and after dates. Projectile points of a variety of types are found among the buried cultural debris in First Nations sites on southern Vancouver Island. These include the arming points for spears, harpoons and arrows. Spears with fixed point(s) include types that can be hand-throw, or … Continue reading “Projectile Points from Southern Vancouver Island”

The use and distribution of labrets on the North Pacific Rim

Originally published in Syesis, 14, 59-80. 1981. By Grant Keddie This paper deals with the definition, categorization, and distribution of labrets. or lip plugs, and gives a regional synthesis of their history as known from both archaeological and ethnological studies on the Pacific Rim. from the Gulf of Georgia region in Canada to northern Japan. Key Index Worms: archaeology, categorization, distribution, labrets. North Pacific Rim Many problems are encountered when interpret­ing ethnographic, archaeological, and other written sources on labretifery. At present there is no consis­tent classification system used in describing labrets. A system of mutually exclusive terms is a necessity for entry into a computerized data base Part of the problem in the development of a classification sys­tem has been … Continue reading “The use and distribution of labrets on the North Pacific Rim”

Labrets in the Collection of the Royal B.C. Museum

2007. By Grant Keddie Introduction In my publication: “The Use and Distribution of Labrets on the North Pacific Rim” (Syesis 14:59-80, 1981), and paper: “Symbolism and Context: The World History of the Labret and Cultural Diffusion on the Pacific Rim” (Keddie 1989 – this web site), I presented an overview of the geography, timing, gender relations and symbolism pertaining to labrets or lip plugs. I have argued that Labrets are artifacts of significant importance in the interpretation of past human behaviour. As highly visual body adornment, labrets provide evidence of relationships between and among people. Labrets have taken on complex symbolic meanings beyond the obvious indicators of group membership, age, gender and class identity. Once they become established in a … Continue reading “Labrets in the Collection of the Royal B.C. Museum”

Symbolism and Context: The World History of the Labret and Cultural Diffusion on the Pacific Rim

Paper originally presented at the Circum-Pacific Prehistory Conference Session VIII Prehistoric Trans-Pacific Contacts, Seattle Washington, U.S.A., August 1-6, 1989. By Grant Keddie Introduction The question of whether or not Asiatic cultures have influenced cultures of the New World is linked with the problem of how we tell whether cultural charge is internal or external. As Hodder points out “all change incorporates continuity and the archaeologist can emphasize one or the other at will”. The problem he suggests has been “the failure to identify continuity and change as social-symbolic processes”. There is, he argues, a “need for archaeologists to examine the origin and divergence of long-term cultural traditions” (1987a:8). I will present an overview of my ongoing studies on the long-term … Continue reading “Symbolism and Context: The World History of the Labret and Cultural Diffusion on the Pacific Rim”

A Chinese Coin to raise Canadian Dollars.

By Grant Keddie I was walking along a back lane in Edmonton, Alberta one day at the age of ten, when I noticed that the McLaughlin’s garbage can was knocked over. Spilled on the ground were three coins, two 19th century French and Portuguese coins and a Chinese brass, one cash piece with a square hole in the centre. I kept these coins, and later because of an interest in Chinese history, I took a special interest in collecting Chinese coins. When I searched further through the garbage can I found a signed blank check for fifty dollars. My mother suggested I should take the check back and to stop searching through garbage cans. Dorothy McLaughlin gave me 25 cents … Continue reading “A Chinese Coin to raise Canadian Dollars.”