Preamble

I had the fortuitous opportunity to begin archaeological work in the Fort St. John area in 1987, and have been conducting fieldwork throughout this region continuously thereafter. Heritage North Company Limited, as well as other heritage resource consulting companies, have found and recorded locations where people living in the past have left behind tools and other evidence of their presence on the landscape (archaeological sites). Many of the studies undertaken have been carried out with the assistance of individuals from local First Nations communities. These numerous recordings attest to the fact that people have lived in this region for a very long time.

The study area for this report is presented in Figure 1. As part of the Royal BC Museum's Living Landscapes program, I initially proposed to compile an archaeological reconstruction of the Peace – Northern Rockies. However, due to the fact that our fieldwork is related to petrochemical developments, I felt that it was important to include a brief geological history of the region as well. Because of plate tectonics, the Rocky Mountains were formed over sixty million years ago. Due to the uplifting of underlying rock, which formed this mountain chain, significant fossil beds have been exposed along the eastern flank of the Rockies. As archaeologists periodically come across fossil beds during the course of their field assessments, I have also included a brief palaeontological overview as well.

Figure 1

Usually, archaeological reporting only provides the end result of fieldwork. In this presentation I provide a glimpse of how and why field assessments are carried out, with a focus on the human element involved in these studies. As archaeological sites are often suseptable to damage from illegal relic hunting , I do not provide information on exact site locations.

Acknowledgements

The archaeological component of this reports is dedicated to the T'q Chii Dq? Wadanaa Ne, or ‘Before A Long Time Age People'. The palaeontological section is dedicated to the late Dr. Elizabeth (Betsy) Nicholls (1946-2004). Betsy (Plate 2) was a marine reptile specialist with the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller , Alberta . She excavated the now famous Triassic Ichthyosaur fossil from a bedrock exposure on the Sikanni Chief River , which Heritage North recorded in the early 1990s. Finally, the dedication is also given to the many people who have helped me in the bush for last 20 years, especially Sam Acko (Plate 3) of the Doig River First Nation (DRFN), whose knowledge, insights, and stories of the Dane-zaa people, is, and always will be, gratefully appreciated.

Plate 2	plate 3

I would also like to thank Chandra Wong, B.A. who provided the initial editing, Tim Malcolm, B.A. who provided the graphics and Big Pine Heritage Consulting & Research Ltd. for providing examples of artifacts for use in this document.

Keary Walde