What does all this tell us about social relations in the past?

Even though our sample is small, there does appear to be some general trends in the distribution of obsidian artifacts across the region and through time; these trends likely represent social/economic relations. The oldest site in our sample is the Lang Bay site. All other sites probably dates within the last few thousand years. Lang Bay and the Lasqueti sites are at the southern end of our “study area”. The five pieces of obsidian from these two sites come from Oregon and Mt. Garibaldi (Squamish). A mix of Oregon and Garibaldi obsidian is typical of obsidian found in Central Coast Salish sites. These two Oregon sources are less well known at more southern sites, however, suggesting different social connections.
Chart summarizing sources of obsidian artifacts from
Sliammon & surrounding area

Collectively, these results suggest that the people who lived in Lasqueti and Lang Bay were “southward-looking” in their social/economic interactions, and probably also their identity. That is, based on this very small sample of obsidian, people were more closely affiliated with folks further south than to the north. This pattern fits, somewhat, with the social-linguistic break between the Tla’amin and the Sechelt.

Moving northward, the pattern changes, however. At Grief Point we have both Garibaldi obsidian, but also the Kingcome Inlet source, which lies well within what is now Kwakwakwakw territory. The Grief Point artifacts are undated, but based on the style of artifacts, they come from deposits within the last 2000 years. The preference towards Kingcomb obsidian is strongly expressed in Desolation Sound.

The relative abundance of Kingcome artifacts in Desolation Sound, and the mix of sources at Grief Point, suggests that there is a shift in focus of kin/trade connections somewhere around what is now Powell River. We suspect that people living north of Powell River looked more northerly for their social/economic relations, while the folks to the south of Powell River were more connected socially/economically with people further south. Of course, we are basing these interpretations on relatively few samples. As we dig more, and get more time depth on our knowledge, we'll be able to see if this pattern holds, and how it changes through time and across the landscape.