The Čḯxʷicən Mammal Bone Project

Banner photo credit: Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe on Canoe Journey, 2019, photo used with permission by Keri Ellis and LEKT

Overview

The Čḯxʷicən site is a Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe (LEKT) village in Port Angeles, WA, U.S.A., at the base of Ediz Hook on the south shore of the Strait of Juan de Fuca that was occupied for the past 2,700 years (Larson 2006). In 2004, Larson Anthropological Archaeological Services (LAAS) and LEKT members excavated the site with large open blocks of 1 x 1 m units by finely defined stratigraphic layers (Reetz et al. 2006). In 2012, Kristine Bovy (University of Rhode Island), Virginia Butler (Portland State University [PSU]), Sarah Campbell (Western Washington University [WWU]), Michael Etnier (WWU), and Sarah Sterling (PSU) initiated a research project focusing on Čḯxʷicən’s faunal remains and geo-archaeological records from the 2004 mitigation. As part of project design, we selected to study excavation areas that were linked to two possible plankhouses, to include interior and extramural deposits.

The Mammal Bone Project includes a report on the sample selection and processing decisions, taxonomic and taphonomic summaries, and analysis criteria for taxonomic identifications; and the primary data set generated from the analysis. The Mammal Bone Project is part of a larger zooarchaeological-geoarchaeological project, The Čḯxʷicən Project.

Support

Funding for this project came largely from the National Science Foundation [grant number 1219483].