Rock Fortifications: Archaeological Insights Into Precontact Warfare and Sociopolitical Organization Among the Stó:lō of the Lower Fraser River Canyon, B.C.

Abstract

Whether or not traditional centralized leadership existed among the central Coast Salish of the Gulf of Georgia-Puget Sound Regions is a topic of ongoing interest and debate among archaeologists, social anthropologists, ethnohistorians, and Aboriginal communities. Recent findings in the lower Fraser River Canyon of British Columbia of a unique class of archaeological site—rock fortifications, newly identified on the Northwest Coast—present an opportunity to address this discussion. Description of these features and analysis of their situation within the physical and social landscapes of the Fraser Canyon provides insight into the nature of Stó:lō warfare and defensive strategy. I propose the existence of a multivillage defensive network aimed at regulating access to the entire “Canyon watershed” rather than simply defending individual settlements. I present a “corporate family group” model of sociopolitical organization through which this defensive system operated—representing a minimum level of intercommunity governance traditionally known to the Sto:Lō of the Gulf of Georgia Region. This proposition provides an alternate view to the long-held belief that individual households were the traditional centers of economy, and by extension, of political authority among the Aboriginal peoples of the Northwest Coast. These results affect the current understanding and reconstruction of traditional expressions of Stó: Lō identity engrained in sociopolitical organization.

Regional Settlement Pattern Studies

“…More problematic is whether warfare was a major factor in the heart of the Hohokam area in the southern Southwest (Rice 2001;Wallace and Doelle 2001). Based on historical and archaeological evidence, Schaepe (2006) suggests that Coastal Salish formed a multivillage defensive network. Billman (1997Billman ( , 2002 evaluates older hypotheses about warfare, population, and irrigation in coastal Peru.…”

Defensibility of large prehistoric sites in the Mid-Fraser region on the Canadian Plateau

“…These include location of habitation sites on defensive landforms (LeBlanc, 1999;Maschner and Reedy-Maschner, 1998;Moss and Erlandson, 1992;Schaepe, 2006), line-of-sight communication between sites (Haas and Creamer, 1993;Jones, 2006;LeBlanc, 1999;Martindale and Supernant, 2009;Moss and Erlandson, 1992), defensive structures, such as palisades, ditches or trenches and prominent lookout points (Angelbeck, 2009;Haas and Creamer, 1993;LeBlanc, 1999;Martindale and Supernant, 2009;Maschner and Reedy-Maschner, 1998;Schaepe, 2006), burned sites (LeBlanc, 1999), skeletal trauma of human remains (Chatters, 1989;Cybulski, 2006;Lambert, 2002;LeBlanc, 1999;Milner, 1999), sex ratios of the deceased (Chatters, 1989;Cybulski, 2006;Lambert, 2002;LeBlanc, 1999;Milner, 1999), and weapons (LeBlanc, 1999). Currently, there is no archaeological evidence that can support factors of defensive structures, burned sites, and sex ratios of the deceased in the Mid-Fraser region due to a lack of systematic investigation.…”

“…5. Line-of-sight alarm systems for communication with surrounding villages and neighboring sites (Haas and Creamer, 1993;Jones, 2006;Kvamme, 1993;LeBlanc, 1999;Martindale and Supernant, 2009;Moss and Erlandson, 1992;Schaepe, 2006).…”

“…300 B.P.) defensive and fortification sites are documented in terms of a coordinated defensive strategy using line-of-sight alarm systems between settlements (Schaepe, 2006). On the Columbia Plateau, fortification sites appeared after ca.…”

AMS Radiocarbon Dates from Prehispanic Fortifications in the Huaura Valley, Central Coast of Perú

“…A particularly useful indicator of ancient warfare is the construction and use of fortified sites, which signal clear preparations for defense (Topic and Topic 1987;Arkush and Stanish 2005;Schaepe 2006;Keeley et al 2007;Parkinson and Duffy 2007;Allen 2008;Martindale and Supernant 2009;Brown Vega et al 2011). Organic material embedded in walls of these ancient forts can be radiocarbon dated to establish the age of construction.…”