Vertebrate Faunal Analysis of The Anderson Creek Site (45KP233)

The Anderson Creek archaeological site (45KP233) was excavated by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) in 2015, as part of a fish passage replacement project in Puget Sound. Faunal analysis of remains from this excavation was completed by the author in collaboration with Dr. Megan Partlow. Analysis documented a variety of mammal and fish remains, consisting primarily of salmon, flatfishes, deer and elk. In addition to general faunal results reported to WSDOT, I discuss bone fragmentation, herring in regional sites, and the value of 1/16” fine screen sampling and analysis. To address the last, I compared fish identifications from excavation unit DR3 between the 1/8” and larger mesh fraction and the 1/16” fine mesh fraction. The fine mesh sample yielded larger numbers of bones identified, and a small but statistically significant difference in proportions of different fish groups. Given the high cost of recovery, sorting, and analysis of 1/16” samples, I recommend that it be used for only a small sample at shell midden sites like 45KP233 in the Salish Sea.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science (MS)

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Cultural and Environmental Resource Management

Year dc:date.available

2017

Author dc:creator

• Holstine, Robert

Contributors dc:contributor

• Patrick M. Lubinski
• Steven Hackenberger
• Roger Keirs

• Faunal analysis
• screen size
• fragmentation
• fish vertebrae
• salmon
• herring
• Puget Sound
• Salish Sea
• Archaeology
• Shell midden
• Coastal
• Anthropology
• Archaeological Anthropology
• Social and Behavioral Sciences

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/etd/708

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.cwu.edu:etd-1722