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- Title
Assessing Sea Level Changes in the Southern Gulf Islands of British Columbia Using Archaeological Data from Coastal Spit Locations.
- Authors
Grier, Colin; Dolan, Patrick; Derr, Kelly; McLay, Eric
- Abstract
An understanding of sea level change is critical for modelling past settlement on the Northwest coast. While the complex relationship between land and sea has been documented for the Late Glacial and immediate post-glacial period in the Strait of Georgia, limited data exist to characterize more recent changes. Here, a relative sea level model generated for the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve by Fedje et al. (2009) is evaluated with archaeological data from two coastal spit sites in the southern Gulf Islands of British Columbia. Data accord well with the roughly 1.5 meters of sea level rise Fedje et al. posit for the last four millennia. However, sea level change, while substantial over the long term, appears more gradual than punctuated. Moreover, the role of coastal landform development and archaeological site formation processes must be considered to adequately establish relative sea levels changes and how these relate to past human activity in the southern Gulf islands.
- Subjects
GULF Islands (B.C.); BRITISH Columbia; SEA level; HISTORICAL archaeology; GLOBAL environmental change; COASTS; ISLANDS; HOLOCENE paleoceanography
- Publication
Canadian Journal of Archaeology, 2009, Vol 33, Issue 2, p254
- ISSN
0705-2006
- Publication type
Article