glaciation - Grant Keddie

Originally published in the Journal of Mammalogy, 81(3), 666—675. 2000. By David W Nagorsen and Grant Keddie Abstract Although Oreamnos americanus is absent from most Pacific Coast islands, including Vancouver Island, 12,000-year-old skeletal remains were recovered in 2 caves on northern Vancouver Island. The specimens may represent early postglacial immigrants or a relict population derived from a coastal glacial refugium. Limb bones of the fossils are within the size range of modern specimens, suggesting a postglacial origin. O. americanus probably became extinct on Vancouver Island during the early Holocene warming, but inadequacies in the prehistoric faunal record prohibit a determination of a terminal date. The modern distribution of O. americanus on Pacific Coast islands reflects both prehistoric extinctions and low … Continue reading “Late Pleistocene Mountain Goats (Oreamnos Americanus) from Vancouver Island: Biogeograhic Implications”

Originally published in The Midden 11(4), 16-22. October 1979. By Grant Keddie A radio carbon date of 17,000 B,P. on a mammoth bone, the first date from the Saanichton Gravels north of Victoria, provides new evidence that alters the previously suggested timing of glacial events on southern Vancouver Island. The precise timing of these glacial events is of importance for archaeologists because the events define the times during which animal and human populations could have inhabited the Island. The purpose of this paper is to give a brief overview of what is known about the last stages of the Wisconsin glacial period on southern Vancouver Island; to show how the new radiocarbon date fits into the sequence of events; and … Continue reading “The Late lce Age of Southern Vancouver Island”