The 2010 Field School
The 2010 Field School
During the summer of 2010 an Archaeological field school was conducted at the current site of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Babine River salmon counting fence by Dr. Farid Rahemtulla of UNBC. There were fifteen students involved, six of whom were Lake Babine Nation members. This was an initial step in the process of excavating the archaeological site located at the fence. It is well known in LBN oral tradition and in documentary history that this was the site of one of the major traditional fishing weirs used by Lake Babine members for centuries to obtain their supply of salmon. The associated village site was the target of the work in 2010. The site had been noted in previous surveys, but no concerted effort was made to determine the area or nature of the site.
This field school was something of a survey, laying the ground work for future excavations of the site. Students performed several shovel tests to determine the density of artifacts in certain areas of the site. Areas that had a high density had one meter by one meter excavations done in a search for artifacts and other cultural material. In addition two of the cultural depressions were excavated in an attempt to determine the uses and types of artifacts that might be located within them. One of these depressions appears to have been an earth oven. As part of this excavation several artifacts were collected and sent away for carbon dating. The dates rage from 145 years ago to over 1300 years ago, indicating a long history of use at this site. To view the full report on the dig click here.
