Research at Keatley Creek over the past 15 years has demonstrated that a large complex transegalitarian community of hunter/gatherers existed at the site from 1000-2000 BP. We have also documented the socioeconomic and political dynamics of the unusually large residentail corporate group structures at the site ( Keatley Creek - a plateau pithouse site).

Some of the theoretical results of the initial investigations led to the expectation that feasting and secret societies ought to have been central features of most complex transegalitarian communities, and therefore might well be important features in the Keatley Creek prehistoric community. Therefore, working with Sara Mossop, Jesse Morin, and Suzanne Villeneuve, I began to investigate roasting pit features and several small structural depresssions on the periphery of the site. These small structural depressions appeared to be potential secret society meeting locations. To date, we have documented several unusual internal features in these structures (including special hearths), unusual bone and stone artifacts, and unusual characteristics of the lithic and faunal assemblages that indicate probable ritual use of these structures. In addition, the largest roasting pits also seem to be associated with these structures. Thus, I feel that a good case can be made for feasting and secret society structures at the site. Details are being published in articles by Hayden and Adams (see below), Hayden and Mossop (see below), and various authors in Hayden (2004).

References:

2004 Hayden, B., and Ron Adams

"Ritual Structures in Transegalitarian Communities." In William Prentiss and Ian Kuijt (Eds.) Complex Hunter-Gatherers: Evolution and Organization of Prehistoric Communities on the Plateau of Northwestern North America. University of Utah Press: Salt Lake City. Pp. 84-102.

2004 Hayden, B., and Sara Mossop Cousins

"The social dimensions of roasting pits in a winter village site." In William Prentiss and Ian Kuijt (Eds.) Complex Hunter-Gatherers: Evolution and Organization of Prehistoric Communities on the Plateau of Northwestern North America. University of Utah Press: Salt Lake City. Pp. 140-154.

2004 (Ed.)

The ancient past of Keatley Creek. Volume III: Excavations. Archaeology Press: Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC.

2000 (Ed.)

The ancient past of Keatley Creek. Volume II: Socioeconomy. Archaeology Press: Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC.

2000 (Ed.)

The ancient past of Keatley Creek. Volume I: Taphonomy. Archaeology Press: Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC.

1997

The Pithouses of Keatley Creek. Harcourt, Brace: New York.

1992

A complex culture of the British Columbia Plateau: Traditional Stl'atl'imx resource use. B. Hayden (editor). University of British Columbia Press. Vancouver.

1997

"Observations on the prehistoric social and economic structure of the North American Plateau." World Archaeology 29: 242-261.

1997 Hayden, Brian, and Rick Schulting

"The Plateau Interaction Sphere and Late Prehistoric cultural complexity." American Antiquity 62: 51-85.

1996 Hayden, Brian, Edward Bakewell, and Rob Gargett

"The world's longest-lived corporate group: Lithic analysis reveals prehistoric social organization near Lillooet, British Columbia." American Antiquity 61: 341-356.

1996 Hayden, Brian, Gregory Reinhardt, Richard MacDonald, Dan Holmberg, and David Crellin

"Space per capita and the optimal size of housepits." In, Gary Coupland and E. Banning (editors), People who lived in big houses: Archaeological perspectives on large domestic structures. Prehistory Press: Madison, Wisconsin. Pp. 151-164.

1996 Lepofsky, Dana, Karla Kusmer, Brian Hayden, and Ken Lertzman

"Reconstructing Prehistoric Socioeconomies from Paleoethnobotanical and Zooarchaeological Data: An Example from the British Columbia Plateau." In Journal of Ethnobiology 16(1): 31-62.

1991 (Hayden, B., and June Ryder)

"Prehistoric cultural collapse in the Lillooet area." American Antiquity 56: 50-65