Precontact Native Copper Innovation in British Columbia

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-122
Author(s):  
H. Kory Cooper ◽  
Garett Hunt ◽  
Nicholas Waber ◽  
Carey Gray
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Additional Research ◽  
Northwest Coast ◽  
Native Copper ◽  
Behavioral Archaeology ◽  
South Central ◽  
Wide Perspective ◽  
Final Verdict ◽  
Human Burials ◽  
And Diffusion

Copper has figured prominently in discussions of social complexity among Northwest Coast Cultures. Coppers, shield-like sheets of copper variable in size, were a form of lineage wealth displayed, gifted, or ritually destroyed at potlatches; and copper artifacts have been recovered from human burials. The former use of copper is well-documented ethnographically and historically while the latter phenomenon is less well understood. This paper provides an overview of the occurrence of copper in precontact archaeological contexts in British Columbia using published and unpublished literature. Our investigation is framed within a Behavioral Archaeology approach that elicits ideas on copper innovation and all that it entailed. We find that copper is rare in precontact contexts from a province-wide perspective; there was likely more than one instance of native copper innovation; and contrary to previous suggestions, the copper-rich Dene region of south-central Alaska and southwestern Yukon cannot account for most of the precontact examples of copper use in the province. We offer some hypotheses to explain the precontact distribution of copper in BC, including both local invention and diffusion, not in an attempt to deliver the final verdict on this topic, but rather, to stimulate additional research.

A thermodynamic approach to the understanding of the supergene alteration at the Afton copper mine, south-central British Columbia

1982 ◽  
Vol 19 (12) ◽  
pp. 2378-2386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. T. J. Kwong ◽  
T. H. Brown ◽  
H. J. Greenwood
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Extreme Values ◽  
Porphyry Copper ◽  
Copper Oxides ◽  
Thermodynamic Approach ◽  
Porphyry Copper Deposits ◽  
Native Copper ◽  
Copper Mine ◽  
Supergene Zone ◽  
South Central

A thermodynamic reconstruction of the supergene alteration at the Afton copper mine, south-central British Columbia, demonstrates that the dominance of native copper and the lack of copper enrichment in the supergene zone are related to the relatively mafic composition of the wall rocks and the absence of abundant hypogene sulfides. Supergene alteration of porphyry copper deposits in general can be interpreted in terms of a [Formula: see text] plot. Two arbitary "limiting" curves characterized by extreme values of acidic and basic pH can be drawn. A reacting fluid evolving near the acidic limiting curve will produce a well developed leached cap with an enriched supergene ore blanket underneath. In contrast, a reacting fluid evolving near the basic limiting curve will lead to a spectrum of copper oxides and native copper with little enrichment, as typified by Afton.

Innovation and Prestige Among Northern Hunter-Gatherers: Late Prehistoric Native Copper Use in Alaska and Yukon

2012 ◽  
Vol 77 (3) ◽  
pp. 565-590 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Kory Cooper
Keyword(s):  
Social Complexity ◽  
Late Prehistoric ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Native Copper ◽  
European Contact ◽  
Behavioral Archaeology ◽  
South Central ◽  
Indigenous Innovation ◽  
Recent Origin ◽  
Continued Use

AbstractSeveral different ethnolinguistic groups in south-central Alaska and southwestern Yukon used native copper. This indigenous innovation diffused throughout the region with the majority of use occurring from A .D. 1000 to 1700. The relatively recent origin of this technology and its continued use long after European contact provide an opportunity to examine the process of innovation among hunter-gatherers using archaeology, metallurgy, and ethnohistory. The analysis of these data using a Behavioral Archaeology framework demonstrates that native copper was used for both practical and prestige technology among groups of varying social complexity. Northern Athabascans did not use native copper overtly as prestige technology, but its many supernatural associations suggest it was a “prestigious” material. Furthermore, native copper provided northern Athabascan aggrandizer-innovators the opportunity to acquire prestige and power through their monopolization of trade relationships and subsequent control of the movement of native copper.

scholarly journals Conservation Evaluation of Lemmon's Holly Fern, Polystichum lemmonii, a Threatened Fern in Canada

2004 ◽  
Vol 118 (2) ◽  
pp. 164
Author(s):  
George W. Douglas
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Road Construction ◽  
Montane Forest ◽  
Mountain Area ◽  
Forest Road ◽  
South Central ◽  
Northern Idaho ◽  
Mining Exploration ◽  
Conservation Evaluation ◽  
Forest Road Construction

In Canada, Lemmon's Holly Fern, Polystichum lemmonii, is restricted to the Baldy Mountain area on the eastern side of the Okanagan River valley in south-central British Columbia. This population represents the northern limits of the species which ranges south through northern Idaho, Washington and Oregon to northern California. In British Columbia, P. lemmonii is associated with ultramafic rocky ridges within a montane forest at an elevation of 1900 m. The population in the Baldy Mountain area is relatively small, unprotected and potentially imperilled by mining exploration, forest road construction or wildfires.

scholarly journals Conservation Evaluation of the Pacific Population of Dwarf Woollyheads, Psilocarphus brevissimus var. brevissimus, in Canada

2006 ◽  
Vol 120 (2) ◽  
pp. 163
Author(s):  
George W. Douglas ◽  
Jenifer L. Penny ◽  
Ksenia Barton
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Coalbed Methane ◽  
Groundwater Levels ◽  
Gas Drilling ◽  
Pacific Population ◽  
South Central ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Recreational Vehicles ◽  
Forest Openings ◽  
Conservation Evaluation

In Canada, Dwarf Woolly-heads, Psilocarphus brevissimus var. brevissimus, is restricted to the Similkameen River valley, south of Princeton in southwestern British Columbia and the extreme southeast and southwest corners of Alberta and Saskatchewan, respectively. This paper deals with the three British Columbia populations which represent the northwestern limit of the species which ranges from south-central British Columbia, southward in the western United States to Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, California and Baja California, Mexico. In British Columbia, P. brevissimus is associated with calcareous vernal pools and ephemeral pond edges in large forest openings. This habitat is rare in the area the few existing populations could easily be extirpated or degraded through slight changes in groundwater levels, coalbed methane gas drilling, housing development or recreational vehicles.

Trap response of cutworm moths (Abagrotis orbis) to a sex-attractant lure in grape vineyards

2010 ◽  
Vol 142 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter J. Landolt ◽  
D. Thomas Lowery ◽  
Lawrence C. Wright ◽  
Constance Smithhisler ◽  
Christelle Gúedot ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Vitis Vinifera ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Sex Attractant ◽  
Early Spring ◽  
South Central ◽  
Tetradecenyl Acetate ◽  
Feltia Jaculifera ◽  
Multiple Field ◽  
Lepidoptera Noctuidae

AbstractLarvae of Abagrotis orbis (Grote) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) are climbing cutworms and can damage grapevines, Vitis vinifera L. (Vitaceae), in early spring by consuming expanding buds. A sex attractant would be useful for monitoring this insect in commercial vineyards. (Z)-7-Tetradecenyl acetate and (Z)-11-hexadecenyl acetate were found in extracts of female abdominal tips. In multiple field experiments, male A. orbis were captured in traps baited with a combination of these two chemicals but not in traps baited with either chemical alone. Males were trapped from mid-September to early October in south-central Washington and south-central British Columbia. Other noctuid moths (Mamestra configurata Walker, Xestia c-nigrum (L.), and Feltia jaculifera (Guenée)) were also captured in traps baited with the A. orbis pheromone and may complicate the use of this lure to monitor A. orbis. Abagrotis discoidalis (Grote) was captured in traps baited with (Z)-7-tetradecenyl acetate but not in traps baited with the two chemicals together.

scholarly journals Identifying and Characterizing Important Trembling Aspen Competitors with Juvenile Lodgepole Pine in Three South-Central British Columbia Ecosystems

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Teresa A. Newsome ◽  
Jean L. Heineman ◽  
Amanda F. Linnell Nemec
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Lodgepole Pine ◽  
Geographic Range ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
Relative Height ◽  
Trembling Aspen ◽  
Ecosystem Productivity ◽  
Height Ratio ◽  
Critical Height ◽  
South Central

Critical height ratios for predicting competition between trembling aspen and lodgepole pine were identified in six juvenile stands in three south-central British Columbia ecosystems. We used a series of regression analyses predicting pine stem diameter from the density of neighbouring aspen in successively shorter relative height classes to identify the aspen-pine height ratio that maximizedR2. Critical height ratios varied widely among sites when stands were 8–12 years old but, by age 14–19, had converged at 1.25–1.5. MaximumR2values at age 14–19 ranged from 13.4% to 69.8%, demonstrating that the importance of aspen competition varied widely across a relatively small geographic range. Logistic regression also indicated that the risk of poor pine vigour in the presence of aspen varied between sites. Generally, the degree of competition, risk to pine vigour, and size of individual aspen contributing to the models declined along a gradient of decreasing ecosystem productivity.

Shackanite and related analcite-bearing lavas in British Columbia

1978 ◽  
Vol 15 (10) ◽  
pp. 1669-1672 ◽  
Author(s):  
B.N. Church
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Great Depth ◽  
Bulk Rock ◽  
Rock Composition ◽  
Bulk Rock Composition ◽  
South Central ◽  
Early Tertiary ◽  
Broad Field ◽  
New Localities

New localities of shackanite and related analcite-bearing lavas have been discovered in a broad field of early Tertiary phonolite and mafic phonolite in south-central British Columbia. The development of primary and secondary analcite in these rocks is probably the result of cooling lava during and shortly after extrusion.The possibility of leucite to analcite transformation in Daly's shackanite is unlikely because of lack of petrographic evidence and a preponderance of Na2O over K2O in bulk rock composition. It is also unlikely that analcite, and particularly groundmass analcite, crystallized at great depth and was transported to surface during eruption.

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