Estimating Volumes of Coastal Shell Midden Sites Using Geometric Solids An Example from Tseshaht Territory, Western Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada

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dc.contributor.authorGustas, Robert H.
dc.contributor.authorMcKechnie, Iain
dc.contributor.authorMackie, Quentin
dc.contributor.authorDarimont, Chris T.
dc.date.accessioned2022-06-28T17:30:43Z
dc.date.available2022-06-28T17:30:43Z
dc.date.copyright2022en_US
dc.date.issued2022-05-26
dc.description.abstractCoastal shell midden deposits are a quintessential component of the archaeological record on the Pacific Northwest Coast. Despite their importance in informing the cultural and environmental histories of Indigenous peoples, research on shell middens has largely not sought to address the physical extent of these cultural deposits, which requires estimating shape, depth, and volume. Here, we present a new scalable geospatial model, designed to work with legacy survey data, for estimating midden volumes based on applying a regular geo- metric solid to sites with known extent and depth. We evaluate the accuracy of this technique using percussion core, total station, and lidar data from eight sites in Tseshaht territory on western Vancouver Island and three sites on the north coast of British Columbia (Canada). As part of the evaluation process of our results, we calculate uncertainty using subsurface core depth data and then compare generalized and modeled midden volume estimates. We demonstrate an accurate general model applied at the regional scale across a systematically surveyed landscape. This work presents the first landscape-scale measure of midden extents and volume within our study area, with relevance to historical ecology and settlement patterns.en_US
dc.description.reviewstatusRevieweden_US
dc.description.scholarlevelFacultyen_US
dc.description.sponsorshipThis article was supported in part by a SSHRC-CGS Fellowship and MITACS–Hakai Institute Accelerate Internship awarded to R. Gustas, and a NSERC-Discovery Grant (2017– 06821) awarded to I. McKechnie.en_US
dc.identifier.citationGustas, Robert H., Iain McKechnie, Quentin Mackie, and Chris T. Darimont (2022) Estimating Coastal Shell Midden Site Volumes Using Geometric Solids: An Example from Tseshaht Territory, Western Vancouver Island, British Columbia Canada. Advances in Archaeological Practice 10(2):200–214.en_US
dc.identifier.issn2326-3768
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1017/aap.2022.9
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1828/13997
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherSociety for American Archaeologyen_US
dc.rightsAttribution-NonCommercial 2.5 Canada*
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/ca/*
dc.subjectcoastal archaeology
dc.subjectgeospatial methods
dc.subjectgeometric volume estimation
dc.subjectshell midden
dc.subjectNorthwest Coast
dc.subjectGIS
dc.subject3D modeling
dc.subject.departmentDepartment of Geography
dc.subject.departmentDepartment of Anthropology
dc.titleEstimating Volumes of Coastal Shell Midden Sites Using Geometric Solids An Example from Tseshaht Territory, Western Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canadaen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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