Chronology of housepit occupations at the Keatley Creek Site| An analysis of stratigraphy and dating

The University of Montana Summer Field School conducted excavations at the Keatley Creek site, a large winter pithouse village on the Canadian Plateau, in May-June-July of 1999 One research objective was to refine the occupation chronology of Housepit 7 by testing for a sub-housepit potentially located beneath the northwestern floor and rim deposits of Housepit 7.This sub-housepit had been recognized but never fully examined during a previous field season in the 1980s.The 1999 excavations subsequently uncovered and confirmed the presence of this sub-housepit.Based on the established Housepit 7 occupation chronology, the sub-housepit w as assum ed to be the remains of a pre-Housepit 7 occupation at Keatley Creek.It w as believed to have been associated with Lochnore phase or Shuswap horizon groups that inhabited the Mid-Fraser region ca.2400-5500 years ago.The 1999 excavations uncovered three additional sub-housepits also situated stratigraphically below Housepit 7. Charcoal extracted from a hearth feature on the floor of the bottom-most sub-housepit w as dated to 1580+/-60 BP.Consequently, this date implies that all sub-housepits are chronologically later than the established sequence suggest.Surprisingly, none of them date to Lochnore phase or Shuswap horizon times.This series of sub-housepits appear to date to the cusp of the late Plateau and incipient Kamloops horizons.In addition, the excavations exposed and documented a Middle Holocene, prehousepit occupation that pre-dates all housepit occupations.Two new stratigraphie units conceivably associated with late Plateau horizon Housepit 7 construction and a cultural midden of the early Kamloops horizon were also identified.T hese new findings warrant a refinement of the established Housepit 7 occupation chronology, and a revised model of Housepit 7 occupation is proposed herein.I examine the stratigraphy and radiocarbon assays produced from the recent field program a s well a s excavation records and published and unpublished manuscripts that stem from previous field programs conducted at the Keatley Creek site.T hese data are collectively employed for modifying the occupation sequence.A discussion of research implications concludes my study.