Keatley Creek and Bridge River: Complex Hunter-Gatherer Villages of the Middle Fraser Canyon

Introduction

Complex hunter-gatherers depart from the traditional model of hunter-gatherers as small relatively egalitarian groups, engaged in frequent residential moves, employing little formal storage and consuming a very broad diet drawn from non-domesticated food sources (Lee 1968). In contrast, complex hunter-gatherers often live in large groups, are typically characterized by social status distinctions, move residences somewhat infrequently, rely upon storage, and typically specialize in select non-domesticated food sources (Sassaman 2004). Archaeologists have been interested in better understanding variation in the evolution and organization of these societies. The archaeological record of complex hunter-gatherers is widespread and includes such archaeological entities as the Middle Jomon culture of Japan, the northern European Mesolithic, the Natufian of the Near East, the Thule Eskimo tradition of North America’s Western Arctic, the Marpole phase of British Columbia’s...