Skip to main content

A multi-disciplinary study of Port Eliza cave sediments and their implications for human coastal migration

Resource type
Thesis type
(Thesis) M.Sc.
Date created
2005
Authors/Contributors
Abstract
A multi-disciplinary study at Port Eliza cave on Vancouver Island has refined the timing and character of late Wisconsinan environments and has significant implications for the Human Coastal Migration Hypothesis. Loss-on-ignition, paleomagnetic and sedimentological data show that there was continuous sedimentation through the last glacial maximum, implying a warmbased Cordilleran Ice Sheet. Radiocarbon dating supported by paleomagnetic data and U/Th ages constrain the time of maximum glaciation to between ca. 16 and 12.5 ka BP. Terrestrial floral and faunal data indicate a pre-Last Glacial Maximum, cold, dry, steppe environment with rare trees but a diverse fauna. Marine fossils represent a rich, dominantly nearshore fauna and suggest the sea was close to the cave. These data indicate that ice-free conditions lasted until at least 16 ka BP, and suggest that prior to the late Wisconsinan glacial maximum, humans could have survived on a mixed marine-terrestrial diet in the Port Eliza area.
Document
Copyright statement
Copyright is held by the author.
Permissions
The author has not granted permission for the file to be printed nor for the text to be copied and pasted. If you would like a printable copy of this thesis, please contact summit-permissions@sfu.ca.
Scholarly level
Language
English
Member of collection
Download file Size
etd1535.pdf 3.27 MB

Views & downloads - as of June 2023

Views: 29
Downloads: 0