The Archaeological Society of British Columbia presents a lecture today by David Schaepe of the Dept of Anthropology, UBC:
“Housepits and Households: 3,000 Years of Community Development among the Sto:lo”
Thursday, November 15th at 7:30 pm
Vancouver Museum, Early History Gallery
1100 Chestnut Street, Vancouver, BC
“Hundreds of ancient housepit features populate the mainland Gulf of Georgia Region, southwestern B.C. – homeland of the Halkomelem-speaking Stó:lō (‘People of the River’). Archaeologists have documented housepits in the region for over 60 years, yet little remains known about their range of shapes and sizes, how these feature are arranged within settlements, or how such settlements have changed through time. Building on work from the collaborative Fraser Valley Project, this presentation describes current research exploring 114 housepit features from 11 different settlements located between the Central Fraser Valley and lower Fraser Canyon. These results provide insight into the formation of Stó:lō pithouses, households, and community organization over the last 3,000 years (ca. 500 B.C. – 1850 A.D)”.