Introduction

The objective of our project was to examine spatial and temporal patterns in First Nations land
use at the Scowlitz Archaeological site located in the Lower Fraser Valley. We worked closely
with Doug Brown and his associates in the Department of Archaeology at Simon Fraser University.

Archaeologists from the Department of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia
first started working on this site in 1992. In 1996, Doug and his students joined the UBC
Archaeologists under the direction of Professor Dana Lepofsky.

Our goal was to create a GIS database using ArcView. This would allow us to query the data,
and to construct 3D renderings of various archaeological features such as postholes and firepits.
The 3D renderings, with their ability to be rotated in any direction, would greatly aid the
archaeologists in visualizing the spatio-temporal relationships between features, various stratigraphic
layers and eventually, artifacts.

The resulting database represents just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the amount of
information recovered from the Scowlitz site. There remains over 6,000 artifacts to be linked with
our original database, and there are many more seasons of field work ahead before all the various
features and artifacts are recovered.

Our group's efforts have inspired the Archaeology Department to eventually consider
conducting all future cataloguing and interpretation with the aid of GIS.

(From "Ancient Canada" by Robert McGhee, painting of a Salish house by Paul Kane).

Next >>

Introduction/Background/Site/Methodology/Analysis/Discussion/Links/Home