THE PLATEAU INTERACTION SPHERE AND LATE

PREHISTORIC CULTURAL COMPLEXITY

Brian Hayden and Rick Schulting

The Plateau culture area o f northwestern North Americafits the criteria of an interaction sphere. Understanding the general
cultural dynamics responsible for the creation of interaction spheres has been poorly developed in archaeological and eth­
nological theory Data from the Plateau Interaction Sphere are used to argue that the main factor responsible for the emer­
gence of interaction spheres in transegalitarian societies is the development of an elite class. Elites who seek to maximize
theirpow,er and wealth at the tribal level do so in part by establishing trading, marriage, ideological, military, and other ties
to elites in other communities and regions. They use these ties to monopo1i:e access to desirable regional prestige goods and
to enhance their own socioeconomic positions. In conformity with e.rpectations derived-from this model, the datafrom the
Plateau demonstrate that interaction sphere goods are predominantly prestige items and that these concentrate in communi­
ties that have the greatest potential to produce surplus and to develop socioeconomic inequalities. These same features also
seem to characterize well-known interaction spheres elsewhere in the world.

El area cultural del altiplano del noroeste de Norteamerica cumple con 10s criterios de una :ona de interaccicin.
Generalmente, la comprensicin de 1asfuer:as que crean [as :onas de interaccicin no ha sido suficientemente desarrollada en
la teoria arqueologica y etnologica. Los datos de la Zona de Interaccidn del Altiplano se utilizan para mostrar que elfactor
principal responsable por el surgimiento de estas zonas en [as sociedades "trans-igualitarias es el desarrollo de las elites.
"

Las Plites que deseun aumentar sus poderes y sus riquezas, cumplen sus deseos, en parte, por medio del intercambio, del ma­
trimonio, asi como a traves de alianzas ideologicas, militares y de otro tipo con elites de otras comunidades y regiones. Las
elites utilizan estas relaciones para monopolizar el acceso a 10s objetos de valor de estas regiones y para asegurar sus
propias posiciones socioeconomicas. De acuerdo con [as expectativas de este modelo, 10s datos del Altiplano muestran que
10s productos dentro del sistema de interaccion son pricipalmente objetos de valor; ademas estos datos muestran que esos
productos son mas abundantes en las comunidades con ma,vorpotencialpara producir e.rcedentes y para establecer desigual­
dades socioeconcimicas. A1 mismo tiempo, estos aspectos parecen caracterizar otras :onas de interaccidn muy conocidas en
otras purtes del mundo.

he northwestern Plateau of North America Sahaptian speakers with different origins, while

T has long been recognized as a coherent and

relatively homogeneous culture area with a
distinctive hunting and salmon-based economy
including significant food-storage capabilities,
logistical residential patterning, and many com-
mon social and cultural traits (Kroeber 1939; Ray
1939; Sanger 1968a; Swanson 1962; Willey 1966;
Wood 1980:105-106). The cultural similarities
between groups on the Plateau may be due to a
number of factors. Common historical origins
may have played a role since the area is domi-
nated by Interior Salish speakers. However, the
southern part of the Plateau was inhabited by
outlying groups such as Athapaskan, Shoshonean,
Chinook, and the possibly Algonkian-related
Kutenai speakers provide still more historical
diversity.
Thus, other factors besides common historical
origins must be invoked to explain similarities
among Plateau groups. The homogeneity of the
Plateau communities may also be viewed as a
product of similar subsistence adaptations by dif­
ferent groups to the same basic Plateau type of
environment. While this ecological perspective
certainly can account for a significant amount of
similarity in basic subsistence technology, it pro-

Brian Hayden m Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia V5A IS6 Canada
Rick Schulting Department of Archaeology, University of Reading, Reading RG6 2AA England

American Antiquity, 62(1), 1997, pp. 51-85.

Copyright D by the Society for American Archaeology
52 AMERICAN ANTIQUITY [Vol. 62, No. 1 , 1997

vides less compelling explanations for similarities subsistence technology and local crafts, but which
in nonsubsistence domains such as art and ritual share a common set of supralocal values, rituals,
of groups with divergent origins. Moreover, nei- behavior, styles, and materials. These supralocal
ther the culture historical nor the subsistence eco- cultural aspects are maintained by interactions
logical perspective adequately accounts for the and exchanges between communities. Much later,
variability that does exist in the area: the similar- Dalton (1975) suggested that interaction spheres
ities among some widely separated centers and were also characterized by pre-state politics and
the differing natures of intervening groups. population levels, lineages or clan organizations,
In order to better understand the nature of the the use of primitive valuables for the establish-
similarities and differences among Plateau com- ment of alliances, and by endemic conflict. High
munities, we propose to examine the Plateau as a levels of conflict were reported ethnographically
distinctive interaction sphere during Late for many Plateau groups (Bouchard and Kennedy
Prehistoric times, particularly during what 1985:58-61; Cannon 1992; Dawson 1891:25;
Richards and Rousseau (1987) have termed the Kent 1980; Teit 1909:540, 550, 1928); there were
Plateau and Kamloops horizons in British fortified settlements (Lamb 1960:80-82; Teit
Columbia (2400-200 B.P.). For heuristic pur­ 1906:235-236, 239); and archaeologists have
poses, the complex of relatively similar Plateau found substantial evidence for violent conflict
cultures will be referred to as the "Plateau (Chatters 1989; Lynch 1978; Rice 1978;
Interaction Sphere." We will refrain from using Schulting and Oliver 1997; Smith 1977).
acronyms. Caldwell (1964) defines an interaction Although J. Caldwell (1964) does not empha-
sphere as involving several distinctive cultures size the role of elites, it is clear from the examples
that may retain their distinctiveness at the level of that he, Dalton, and others provide that interaction
Site Identifications for Figures
fh.unz h r ~ replr,sent tho se i ~ s e don m i ~ p , :hlrtcX p o h y t r s iniiic,rtrr,the prr,srncr of'un uriifuci ripe.)
Wildcat Canyon. 3 8 Fish Hook Island 80 Priest Rapids l 15 McNary Reserioir.
35GM9 45FR42 Uhnapurn 45 WW6
UBhluke. 45GR306 North Yakima 82 Cache Creek. EeRhl 1 17 Rock Creek
Okanagan area Sntl'exueneu ixu tn. 83 Shusaap 1 18 Kamloops. EeRb I0
Lktton 450K355 84 Botticelli Creek. 120 Karnloops
Chase. EeQwI Hayes lsland EfQu2l 12 1 Bridge R n e r
Dalles Moha M ~ l e8 86 Skaaam Baq. EgQu 1 122 EdRl I0
Bell. EeRk4 Large 87 Tucannon. 45CO1 B 123 Miller's Creek
Keatle). EeR17 Nicoamen. EbR17 89 Bradford Island 124 L~llooet
Wells Resen oir Nicola Lake 91 kliller's Island 125 Narroas. 45OK1 I
Priest Rapids Loner Nicola 93 John Da) 126 Loaer .Arro\\ Lake.
Vantage Go\ ernment 94 Republic DIQrn4
Chief Joseph Grand Forks 95 Keller Ferry. 45LI27 127 Old Urnatilla.
Herzog Snehurnption Creek 96 Fountain Bar 35LM35B
Wakemap. 45KL26 Whitestone Creek. 97 EcRc 44 (Karnloops) I28 Mile 28 Ranch. EdRk3
Lochnore-Nesikep 45FE24 98 Green Acres. EeQu 6 129 Freeland J F E l
localitq Palouse R i ~ e r 99 Shuswap. EfQ\ I9 130 45FE7
Willamette Valleq and Capta~nJohn Creek 100 Neah Bay 131 450K66
Pleasant Hill Kouse Creek 10 1 Beek's Pasture 132 450K112
B o n n e ~ille Berrian's lsland J B N 3 102 O'Sull~\anReser~oir. 133 Selah
McMinm ille Bead Patch 45GR27 134 Natches
Arlington Maybe 103 Ksunku. 45FE45 135 Tampico
Crab Creek Indian Well. 45KL42 105 Kamloops. EdRa9 136 Deer Park. DiQrn4
Potholes. 45GR13 1 Oli~erD. hQ~26 107 Sheep Island 137 Vallicarn. DjQj l
Roaring Springs Ca\ e Deschutes area 45BN5 138 Skaha Lake
Basket Maker I1 Big Leap 108 Spences Bridge 139 45ST47
Humboldt C a ~ e B. Stewart 109 Monte Creek. EdQxl5. 140 Sheep Creek. 45ST46
Dalles Crernat~on Sundale 43 141 D h Q I
Colonesh Bottom Rabbit Island 45BNl5 1 10 Texas Creek. EdRkl 143 Seaside
Leachman Coeur d'.Alene Ri\ er 1 I 1 klurraq Ranch. EeR118 144 45SJ24
Congdon II.45KL4l Page 1 13 Sahhaltkurn. EeQu30
Atlatl Valle! 45AS2 (Asotin) 1 14 Shus\vaps. EeQw I5
Hayden and Schulting] CULTURAL INTERACTION ON THE LATE PREHISTORIC PLATEAU

Figure 1. The presenceiabsence distribution of plain and incised dentalium shells on the Plateau (see Table 1). Note the
strong clustering of occurrences in The Dalles region of the Columbia River between the Deschutes and Yakima con-
fluences and the Lillooet-Lgtton region around the confluence of the Thompson River with the Fraser River.
is primarily promulgated and maintained by the ethnographically and has been demonstrated
elites or high-ranking individuals of communities archaeologically for the Late Prehistoric period of
(cf. Earle 1990 and McGuire 1992). Thus, the the Plateau by Schulting (1995) and Hayden
existence of significant socioeconomic inequality (1 996; Hayden and Spafford 1993). Following
is implied for interaction spheres. For conve- Dalton, it can be argued that because interaction
nience we refer to people at the top of these hier- between communities primarily involves elites,
archies as "elites" (see Blau 1977 for definition the supralocal similarities between communities
and discussion). The existence of these elites involve elite goods and rituals more than common
within Plateau communities is amply documented utilitarian items.
 AMERICAN ANTIQUITY [Vol. 62, No. 1 , 1997

Figure 2. The presenceiabsence distribution of nephrite on the Plateau (see Table 1). Despite sources large11 restricted
to the northern Plateau, note the concentrations on the Middle Columbia Ri\er.
In order to examine Plateau communities as a ences and similarities behveen communities in
possible example of an interaction sphere in the interaction patterns and exchanged goods. Our
above sense, it is necessary to identify items that approach assumes that wealthier communities
can be reasonably viewed as elite, or prestige, with more powerful and richer elites should be
goods. It is also necessary to identify basic sub- more similar to each other in terms of prestige
sistence items and styles and to determine the rel- goods and styles, even at considerable distances,
ative development of wealth and socioeconomic than to poorer communities lacking the ability to
inequality within various communities. At the support strong or wealthy elites. In taking this
regional and culture-area levels, it is also neces- perspective, we view the emergence of elites, as
sary to identify factors that can explain differ- well as the interaction and exchange between
Hayden and Schulting] CULTURAL INTERACTION ON THE LATE PREHISTORIC PLATEAU 55

them, as the product of relatively abundant but cultural origins probably also account for the
spatially restricted resources that are not suscepti- slight degree of regional stylistic variation that
ble to overexploitation (Hayden 1990, 1992). occurs in virtually all artifact types. Given the
varying cultural origins of the Plateau groups,
Regional Subsistence Item Traditions however, when attention is turned from subsis-
Because of the general homogeneity of the tence artifacts to those related to ideology, pres-
Plateau environment, the basic subsistence adap- tige, and art, similarities can no longer be
tations do not differ as dramatically as they do in explained in terms of the environment. Other fac-
interaction spheres with more heterogeneous tors must be invoked to explain the similarities in
environments. Nevertheless, there are some strik- the domain of nonsubsistence ideological materi-
ing regional differences in subsistence technolo- als. We will first document the similarities within
gies and their associated styles. For instance, the this class of materials on the Plateau, and then
very long pestles and associated mortars found in elaborate on explanations as to why we believe
the southwestern and central part of the Plateau there are such strong similarities in these objects
are generally absent from the Canadian Plateau. on the Plateau.
Styles of shorter pestles also vary regionally.
Similarly, although fish is an important staple Sampling
everywhere, several styles of net weights com­ Unfortunately, the quality of the archaeological
monly occur in varying relative frequencies in the data that can be used for examining distribution
southern region, including perforated, notched patterning across the Plateau is extremely vari-
and girdled varieties. Most of these varieties able. Some reported occurrences are not even
appear to be absent from the Canadian Plateau, associated with sites, but only localities or
although Smith (19 10:144) remarks casually that regions. Some excavations were conducted by
notched sinkers are found in the Thompson area. amateurs and lack coqtextual or temporal associ-
The use of harpoons, leisters, and multi- ations; some excavations constitute small tests or
pronged fish spears is similarly variable, with a opportunistic discoveries; some excavations are
number of regional stylistic variants of each type of very large magnitude or are part of regional
(harpoons can have composite valved heads or salvage surveys; some sites are residential, while
single-piece heads that occur in a number of basic others are burial sites (ranging from single graves
styles). Fish-processing technologies also display to entire cemeteries). Given this much variability
stylistic differences by region, with ground-slate in the limited database available, no meaningful
fish knives reported for the Lytton, Thompson, sampling design seemed possible. On the other
and Shuswap areas (Sanger 1968a:107; Smith hand in terms of the broad distributional perspec-
1899:140, 1900:414), but not elsewhere. Finally, tive that we were adopting in this heuristic exer-
atlatl weights are found in the Middle Columbia cise, it seemed that the broad presencelabsence
region (Butler and Osborne 1959; Schulting distributions of various cultural items at these dif-
1995:45) but are lacking on the Canadian Plateau, ferent types of sites were meaningful. Clearly,
while basic projectile point styles differ consider- substantial areas might lack observations, but the
ably from region to region. Shiner (1961:246), for broad range and spectrum of activities of both
example, notes few similarities between the point amateurs and professionals along the length of the
types of Lytton and the Lower Snake River. In Columbia and Fraser river drainages over the past
explaining such differences, Sanger (1969) points 50 to 100 years leads us to expect that the pres-
out the very different cultural origins of groups encelabsence data we have gathered is generally
occupying the Fraser vs. the Columbia drainages. reflective of real distributions.
Distinctive linguistic and technological vari-
ability existed on the Plateau, indicating that a Prestige Items: Materials
number of local traditions maintained some of Prestige items can be defined either in terms of
their original cultural heritage despite the need to the raw material from which they are made or the
adapt to similar environments. These distinctive amount of labor and skill involved in their manu-
 AMERICAN ANTIQUITY [Vol. 62, No. 1 , 1997

of Exotic Materials

Material and S ~ t e Context Reference hlaterlal and Slte Context Reference

hiathe copper Steatite
Dalles cremation bur~al Butler 1959 Dalles-Deschutes burlal Strong et al 1930 PI I Id
Colowesh Bottom bur~al Butler 1959 Indlan &ell burlal Butler 1959
Congdon burial Butler 1959 B I I~eap burlal Butler 1959
Atlatl Valley bur~al Strong 1959 Bead Patch burlal Seaman 1946
Old Lmatllla burlal Bergt 1978 Congdon burial Butler 1959
Fish Hook Islar~d burlal Combes 1968 32 'via! be I1 burlal Butler 1959
Vvahluke burlal Krleger 1928a 13 l n d ~ a nb e l l I1 bur~al Butler 1959
North I a k ~ r n a burlal S m ~ t h1910 95 B Stemart bur~al Butler 1959
Sntl'ex~\enev.~xv.tn burlal Chatters and Z\$e~iel1987 Sundale bur~al Bergen 1989
Hajes Island burlal Stapp 1984 Rabblt Ibland I1 bur~al Crabtree 1957
Lytton bur~al Schultlng 1994b. Smlth 1899 Old ilmat~lla burlal R ~ c e1978
N~coamen burlal S k ~ r ~ nand
e r Copp 1986 Palouse R ~ \ e r bur~al Perrq 1939
Lochnore housep~t Sanger 1970 Selah burlal Bergen 1989
hloha 'vl~le8 burlal Schultlr~g1994b Ksunku mldden Chance and Chance 1985 61
Keatley Creek housep~t Hayden 1990 Sheep Creek burlal Collier et al 1942
Large burlal S m ~ t h1900 Oll\cr bur~al O l ~ ~ 1991
er
Bell housep~t Stryd 1971 Lytton burlal S m ~ t h1899, Dawsor~1891
\ lcoamen bur~al S k ~ n n e ar nd Copp 1986
hephrite hlurray burlal Stryd and Baker 1968
Maq be bur~al Butler 1959 Texas Creek burlal Sanger 1968b
Indian &ell burlal Butler 1959 hllle 28 Ranch bur~al Sanger 1970
Bead Patch bur~al Seaman 1946 Bell bur~al Stryd 1973
R a b b ~ Island
t I1 burlal Crabtree 195- L~llooet burlal & lgen 1984
Berr~an'sIsland burlal Osborne 1957 Mlle 28 Ranch bur~al Sarlger 1968a, 1970
Flsh Hook Island burlal Combes 1968 Chase burlal Sanger 1968a
Wahluke bur~al Krleger 1928a 12
Crab Creek bur~al Sprague 1967 Obsidian
Pot Holes burlal Crabtree 1957 Vv~llamette bur~almldden7 hlackey 1974 75
Palouse RI\ er bur~al Perry 1939 \alley
Capta~nJohn Creek burlal Splnden 1964 Dalles (-5O0 of m~dden Strong et al 1930 84
Kouse Creek bur~al Splnden 1964 I~th~cs)
& h~testoneCreek burlal Collier et al 1942 Yaklma \alley bur~al Smlth 1910 26
Sheep Creek burial C olller et al 1942 Wahluke burial Krieger 1928a l i
45ST47 (Upper bur~al Coll~eret al 1942 'vlcharb Reserko~r m ~ d d e n S h ~ n e r1952 13
Columbia) F ~ s hHook lslartd bur~al Combes 1968

Narrows burlal Sprague and B~rkbb1973 Rabblt Island burlal Crabtree 1957

Grand Forks burlal Barlee 1969a Okanagan m~dden Grabert 1974 68

Deer Park burlal Harrlson 196 1 Snehumptlon Creek bur~al Barlee 1969b

Snehumptlon Creek burlal Barlee 1969b blcola Valleq HP mldden Vvqatt 1972

Skaha Lake bur~al Caldmeli 1954 Bell housep~t Str>d 1973

Nlcola Lake burlal Smlth 1900 Keatley Creek houseplt Haqden 1996

Lamer N ~ c o l a bur~al \ o n Krogh 1976

Go\ err~mer~t bur~al S m ~ t h1900 Graphite

I arge burlal S m ~ t h1900 blldcat Canqon b u r ~ a l Dulnond and Mlnor 1983 61

Chase bur~al Sanger 1969 bells Reser\o~r bur~al" Chatters 1986 204
Bell housep~t Stryd 1973 Keatley Creek housep~t Ha\ den 1996
Keatleq Creek housep~t Hayden 1996
Llllooet bur~al b l g e n 1984 Galena
Texas Creek bur~al Sangsr 1968b Dalles­ burlal Butler and Osborne 1959
M ~ l e28 Ranch burlal Sanger 1968a 1970 Deschutes mldden9
Lochnore housep~t Sanger 1970 Congdon bur~al Bergen 1989

Lyttorl burlal Smlth 1899. Da\\ son 189 I Coeur dtAlene R n e r ) Strong 1958

N~coamen bur~al Sklnner and Copp 1986 L~llooet bur~al' Smlth 1899 159

7
DhQl1 Harrlson 196 1

Hayden and Schulting] CULTURAL INTERACTION ON THE LATE PREHISTORIC PLATEAU

Material and Site Context Reference Material and S ~ t e Context Reference

Marine shells Keatley Creek housep~t Hayden 1996
Willamette m~ddeni Mackey 1974:77-79 Texas Creek bur~al Sanger 1968b
Valley burial? Mile 28 Ranch burial Sanger 1970
Congdon burial Bergen 1989 Lochnore burial? Sanger 1970
Beek's Pasture burial Bergen 1989 N ~ c o l aValley burial Smith 1900
Sundale burial Bergen 1989 Cache Creek burial Pokotylo et al. 1987
Kl~ck~tat bur~al Bergen 1989 Kamloops bur~al Smith 1900
W~ldcatCanyon HPIburlal Dumond and Minor EeRb 10 housepit Richards and Rousseau
1983:183 (Kamloops) 1982. 1987

Old Umatilla burial Rice 1978 EeRc8 (Kamloops) burial Wilson 1976

Wahluke burial Krieger 1928a: 12 Shuswap Lake HPIburial Mohs 1980

Page burial Krieger 1928b: 138 Botticelli Creek housepit Ant~quus1993: 158

45AS2 (Snake River) burial Daugherty and Dammel Chase burial Sanger 1968a: 123

1952: 128 Skwaam Bay bur~al H ~ l l s197 1

McNary Reservoir m ~ d d e n Shiner 1952:32, 1961:2 12

(only one fragment of dentalium shell found) Incised dentalia

Berr~an'sIsland HP1burial Osborne 1957:107-110 Berr~an'sIsland burial Osborne 1957

(vast majority of m a r ~ n eshell found w ~ t hbur~als) Rabbit Island burial Crabtree 1957
Rabbit Island bur~al Crabtree 1957 Wahluke burial Krieger 1928b:137
Tucannon burial lverson 1977 Tamp~co burial Smith 1910: 126
Tampico burial S m ~ t h1910:126 Naches River burial Smith 1910
Naches River bur~al Smith 1910 Tucannon burial lverson 1977:29
Selah burial Bergen 1989 Pot Holes burial Crabtree 1957:97
Pot Holes burial Crabtree 1957 Upper Columbia burial Coll~eret al. 1942:93
Priest Rapids- housepit Greengo 1986 Freeland bur~al Sprague and Birkby 1970
Wanapum Grand Forks bur~al Barlee 1969a

Wh~testoneCreek burial Collier et al. 1942:43 Snehumption Creek burial Barlee 1969b

Keller Ferry burial Collier et al. 1942 Lillooet burial Stryd and Hills 1972

45FE7 (Upper burial Collier et al. 1942 Bell bur~al Stryd 1973

Columbia) Lochnore burial? Sanger 1970

Freeland burial Sprague and B~rkby1970 Merritt (Nicola lake) burial Her~tageConservation
Sheep Creek burial Collier et al. 1942 Branch 1979-378
45ST47 (Upper burial Coll~eret al. 1942 Green Acres burial Johnson-Fladmark 1973
Columb~a)

Wells Reservoir burial Sloan and Creengo 1963: Domesticated dogs

Chatters 1986: 190 Wildcat Canyon r ~ t u a l Dumond and M ~ n o r1983

Okanogan burial Grabert 1970:2 18 Snake R ~ v e r 9 Cressman 1977.136
Vallican burial Mohs 1982 ? Leonhardy and Rlce 1970
Deer Park bur~al Harrison 196 1 Wahluke burial? Krieger 1928a: 15
Okanagan buriallm~dden Grabert 1974:68 Yakima Valley burial Smith 19 10: 154
Skaha Lake bur~al Caldwell 1954 Whitestone Creek burial Coll~eret al. 1942:43
Snehumption Creek b u r ~ a l Barlee 1969b N ~ c o l aValley burial S m ~ t h1900
Nicoamen burial Skinner and Copp 1986 EdRllO (L~llooet) burial Sanger 1968a
Lytton burial S m ~ t h1899; Dawson 1891 Keatley Creek HPIritual Hayden 1996
Bell burial Stryd 1973 Bell housepit Stryd 1973
Murray Ranch burial Stryd and Baker 1968 Bridge River housepit Stryd 1973
Moha 8 M ~ l e burial Schultin 1994b Monte Creek houseplt Wilson 1992

facture. In either case, it is generally difficult for
lower ranking members of communities to obtain
prestige items. Context must also be considered if
the arguments presented for the recognition of the
following prestige items are to be accepted.
Unfortunately, there has been considerable loot-
ing of many Plateau burial sites, particularly in
what we suspect to be the richest regions-The
Dalles region (at the confluences of the Deschutes
River with the Columbia River) and the Lytton-
Lillooet region (at and immediately north of the
confluence of the Thompson River with the Fraser
58 AMERICAN ANTIQUITY
River). Thus, for many specimens little contextual
information is available. Still, in general, it seems
fairly clear that items within the majority of the
artifact classes discussed below tend to be found
in burial contexts (Schulting 1995; see also Tables
1 and 2). When these items are found in housepit
or midden contexts, they are often broken.
A wide range of prestige materials circulated
on the Plateau, including copper, dentalia and
other marine shells, whalebone, nephrite,
graphite, galena, and fine silicious lithics. It
seems likely that certain bird feathers were also
widely exchanged. Table 1 presents an initial
appraisal of the distribution of these materials
from sites in the core area of the Plateau. Some of
the items, such as dentalia shells, and to a lesser
degree nephrite, (Figures 1 and 2) are very wide-
spread, although both materials are quite
restricted in terms of their origins: dentalia from
restricted locations in California and on the west
coast of Vancouver Island; nephrite from the
Fraser and Thompson rivers and also from the
Rogue River in Oregon (Strong 1959; Smith
[1900:406] also recorded some "float" nephrite
boulders along the Nooksack River in
Washington).
Other materials such as copper, graphite, and
galena are distinctive enough to indicate special
and similar cultural values associated with these
materials, but occur much more sporadically.
Because of the low frequencies of these objects, it
is difficult to determine whether their occurrence
is governed by accidental finds, regional differ-
ences in values, varying access of communities by
reason of wealth differentials, or simply sampling
biases and sizes. No source is indicated for
graphite, while the only sources of galena of
which we are aware occur on the western slopes
of the Cascades (Butler and Osborne 1959:216)
and in the Kamloops area (Cole and Lockner
1989). Native copper is reported by Smith
(1899: 1 13) to occur in the mountains around
Lytton and by Dawson (cited in Sanger
1968a:125) as occurring at Copper Creek at the
west end of Kamloops Lake. Boas (1890:85)
writes: "Copper was obtained, partly by trade, but
some was dug by the natives themselves. There
was a digging at Kamloops Lake, which was
worked up to the last generation, when a man was
[Vol. 62, No. 1 , 1997
killed by a fall of rocks which buried the mine.
Since that time it has never been worked." Teit
(19 12b:3434) reports another source at Green
Lake between Lillooet and Squamish. Native cop-
per nuggets also occur as placer deposits in the
Bridge River near Lillooet, and another source
may be present at Copper Creek in southwestern
Washington. Whatever its origins, materials from
these sources must have been traded over consid-
erable distances (Figure 3). The alacrity with
which groups all over the Northwest sought out
copper from the first European traders is testi-
mony to the prestige and value that this material
must have conferred in pre-contact times (see
Stapp 1984).
Obsidian was available from a number of
sources (the best in central Oregon), was widely
traded (Carlson 1994; Nelson et al. 1975), and
also may have been a material with considerable
prestige attached to it, at least in some parts of the
Plateau. While obsidian surely had a more practi-
cal role in early prehistoric periods when more
egalitarian hunter-gatherers foraged over very
large ranges, it seems to have acquired more of a
status role in Late Prehistoric times when band
ranges were much more restricted and many raw
materials such as obsidian had to be obtained by
exchange. In Late Prehistoric times, large obsid-
ian blades and large finely made points are par-
ticularly associated with high status (Butler 1959;
Crabtree 1957; Krieger 1928a; Seaman 1946).
Crafted Prestige Items
There is a wide array of distinctively crafted pres-
tige items that display remarkable similarities
across the Plateau, or at least between communi-
ties with similar population and wealth profiles.
These items include bone and antler combs,
incised tooth and bone gaming pieces, antler dig-
ging-stick handles, bone tubes, L-shaped awls,
fine tubular pipes, zoomorphic and nipple top
mauls, zoomorphic bowls, bone and stone clubs,
eccentric chipped-stone pieces and pendants,
shaped slate pendants, rock art motifs, thinned
incised decorative bone, incised dentalia shells,
bird and predator claws, and perforated elk
canines. And we would add nephrite celtsladzes,
dogs, and slaves as prestige items. We will not
deal at length with all of these categories since the
Hayden and Schulting] CULTURAL INTERACTION ON THE LATE PREHISTORIC PLATEAU

Figure 3. The presencelabsence distribution of native copper on the Plateau (see Table 1). Known sources are indicated
by triangles. Note the strongly concentrated occurrences in The Dalles region around the Deschutes and Columbia river
confluence and in the Lillooet-Lytton region around the Thompson and Fraser river confluence.

full documentation of the distribution, frequency, items are presented in Table 2.

and emic importance of Plateau prestige items
and styles is a topic more appropriate for a doc-
toral dissertation. However, we will briefly draw
on the major archaeological and ethnographic
works of the area in order to comment on some of
these categories since it may not be evident why
all of them should be considered prestige items.
The major occurrences of the crafted prestige
The carefully crafted ground-stone and sculp-
tured bone prestige objects are the most distinct in
the area. In general, they exhibit shapes other than
those that are created for use, shapes that are time
consuming to make and cumbersome or delicate
to handle. Unusual elaborations such as careful
symmetry, carved features such as zoomorphs or
anthropomorphs, and adjunct geometrical designs
Hayden and Schulting] CULTURAL INTERACTION ON THE LATE PREHISTORIC PLATEAU

Table 2. Continued

Itern and Site Context Reference

Item and Site Context Reference

Berrian's Island burial Osborne 1957

Selah burial Bergen 1989

Rabbit Island burial Garth 1952:44;

Berrian's Island burlal Osborne 1957 57-59

Crabtree 1957
Sheep Island bur~al Garth 1952 40, 43

Sheep Island burial Garth 1952:49

Pot Holes burial Crabtree 1957

Vantage 9 Nelson 1969:Fig. 93

Priest Rapids- housep~t Greengo 1986

Snake River 9 Cressman 1977: 136;

Wanapum

Leonhardy and Rice 1970

O'Sullivan housepit Daugherty 1952:381-382

Pot Holes bunal Crabtree 1957

Reservoir (basalt?)

Whitestone Creek burial Collier et al. 1942:90

Wells Reservoir burial Sloan and Greengo 1963

Okanogan burial Grabert 1970

Sheep Creek burial Collier et al. 1942:43

Snehurnption Creek b u r ~ a l Barlee 1969b

Ksunku HP:midden Chance and Chance 1982

Lytton bur~al Smith 1899: 153

Okanogan burial Grabert 1970

Spences Bridge housepit von Krogh 1978

Lytton burial Srnith 1899:154;

Texas Creek burial Sanger 1968b

Dawson 1891

Nicola Valley HPImidden Wyatt 1972

Nicoamen burial Skinner and Copp 1986

Kamloops burial? Srnith 1900:428

Nicola Valley HPImidden Wyatt 1972

EeRc44 housepit Eldridge and Stryd 1983

Lillooet burial Wigen 1984

(Kamloops)
Texas Creek burial Sanger 1968b

Monte Creek housepit Stryd 1981

Mile 28 Ranch burial Sanger 1970

Keatley Creek housepit Hayden 1996

Lochnore burial? Sanger 1970

Freeland burial Sprague and Birkby 1970

Keatley Creek housepit Hayden 1996

45FE7 burial Collier et al. 1942

Bell burial Stryd 1973

Kamloops burial Smith 1900:429

Sculptured clubs of stone/bone/antler Chase burial Sanger 1968a: 165

Willarnette isolated find Mackey 1974:31, PI. 6

Chase housepit Arcas 1988 (pipe frags)

Valley
Shuswap housepit Johnson-Fladmark 1973

Dalles bur~al? Strong et al. 1930:92

Mrddle Colurnbia? burial? Strong 1959: 143-146

Ground-slate pendantsleffigies
Middle Columbia? burial? Morton 1960
Wildcat Canyon burial? Dumond and Minor
Indian Well burial Butler 1959
1983:183
Old Umatilla burial Rice 1978
Dalles-Deschutes Strong et al. 1930:PI. I l e
Yakirna Valley burial Smith 1910:46, 77-81
LowerIMiddle burial? Strong 1959:203
Texas Creek burial Sanger 1968b
Columbia

Murray Ranch burial Stryd and Baker 1968

McNary Reservoir midden Shiner 1961:214

Kamloops burial Smith 1900:422

McNary Reservoir burial Osborne 1957:65-68

Chase burial Sanger 1968: 1 13

Sheep Island burial Garth 1952:40

Rabbit Island burial Crabtree 1957

Tubular stone pipes Wahluke burial Krieger 1928x28, PI. 6

Wlllamette midden burlal Mackey 1974 75

Yakrma Valley no context Srnrth 1910:93

Valley
Upper Columbia midden Collier et al. 1942:43, 76

Lower Middle burral Strong 1959 133-140

Keatley Creek housepit Hayden 1996

C olumbla

Wakemap m~dden Caldwell 1956

Serrated chipped-stone pendants
Dalles-Deschutes burial Strong et al 1930 PI 24
Dalles Strong 1957a, 1959: 132

B Stewart bur~al Butler 1959

McNary Reservoir midden Shiner 1961 :2 12 (fetishes)

Maybe burlal Strong 1959, Bergen 1989

Skaha Lake burial Caldwell 1954

Wlldcat Canyon bur~al Dumond and Mlnor

Lochnore-Nesikep burialIHP? Sanger 1970:75

1983 183
Mile 28 Ranch burial Sanger 1970

Sundale bur~al Bergen 1989

Keatley Creek housepit Hayden 1996

Beek's Pasture burlal Bergen 1989

Bead Patch burla13 Seaman 1946

Non-serrated bone varieties
B1g Leap bur~al Butler 1959
Karnloops housepit Wilson and Carlson 1980:61

R a b b ~ Island
t burral Crabtree 1957
Wildcat Canyon burial? Dumond and Mlnor 1983

Flsh Hook Island burial Combes 1968 157

Lochnore-Nesikep burialIHP? Sanger 1970:75

Wahluke bur~al Kr~eger1928a 12

Green Acres burial Johnson-Fladmark 1973

Yakrma Valley burial Smlth 1910 112

 AMERICAN ANTIQUITY [Vol. 62, No. 1, 1997

Table 2. Continued. require considerable care, effort, time, and skill to

create. Moreover, virtually all these items could
item and S ~ t e Context Reference
be much more easily crafted of softer materials
Eccentrics such as wood. In fact, there appears to be a largely
Decker (Oregon) '?
Britten 1962. Strong 1958
McMinnville (Oregon) 'I
unrecognized bias in most ethnographies and
S~eberg1967
Arlington
3 Marshall 1958 archaeological analysis that predisposes readers
Bonneville ? Uiedemann 1963. to view illustrated and described objects as "nor-
Strong 1956
mal" equipment for all families in communities.
Lytton bur~al Srn~th1899 136
Careful reading of the British Columbian ethno-
Lochnore-Nesikep burialIHP'? Sanger 1969

Nicola Valley burial Srnith 1900 409

graphies reveals that early ethnographers focused

Keatley Creek housepit Hayden 1996
almost entirely on the more spectacular objects in
Monte Creek housepit Strqd 1981
study communities, that is, objects owned by the
(Shuswap) wealthiest and most prestigious members of the
community. Teit (1900: 186ff; 1906:2 18-220)
Sculpted pestles
Dalles 9 Cressman 1977: 135
makes this very clear in his discussion of cloth-
Dalles-Deschutes Strong et al. 1930:Pl. 26c.d ing. Rich families had buckskin clothes of very
Wakemap midden Caldwell 1956
high quality, and these are the ones that are illus-
Bead Patch burial'? Seaman 1946:78
trated (see Tepper 1987). But such clothing was
Wildcat Canyon burial'? Dumond and Minor
far from the norm. In fact, very few families had
1983:227

Wahluke burial Krieger 1928a:PI. I

buckskin clothes; most families had bark capes

Yakima Valley no context Smith 1910:46
and garments. Significantly, Teit includes no
Berrian's Island burial Osborne 1957:70. PI. 1X
illustrations of these poorer Plateau garments.
Sheep Island burial Garth 1952:43
Similarly, Kennedy and Bouchard (1992:288,
45AS2 (Snake River)burial Daugherty and
290) report that leisters and fish hooks were typi-
Darnmel 1952:128

cally made of hard wood. A few bone examples

Pot Holes burial Crabtree 1957

Okanagan 7 Grabert 1974:68

are known from the archaeological record but the
Lochnore-Nesikep burial:'HP? Sanger 1970:75
numbers recovered are far from what one would
Keatley Creek housepit Hayden 1996 expect of fishing-adapted cultures. Why did some
Kamloops housepit R~chardsand Rousseau people use wood and others use bone, and why are
1982, 1987:28

there so few examples of bone leisters? We sug-

Chase burial Sanger 1968a: 102

gest that bone was much more difficult to work

Stone sculpture than hard woods, and only those individuals who
Willamette Valley no context Mackey 1974:55.
wanted to enhance the prestige of their tools took
Pls. 10-12
the trouble of making ordinary implements out of
Dalles no context Krieger 1928b:137;

bone. The vast majority of leisters, as well as har-

Maryhlll Museum

Dalles- burlalImidden Strong et al. 1930: 106

poons, combs, mortars, pipes, digging-stick han-
Deschutes dles, awls, needles (e.g., Cressman 1960:34), and
Wakernap m~dden Calduell 1956 perhaps even wedges, may all have been made of
Bead Patch bur~al" Seaman 1946 78 hard woods that simply have not been preserved
Blg Leap b u r ~ a l 5trong 1959, Butler 1959
if, in fact, average families even took the trouble
Maybe bur~allmrdden Bergen 1989
Leachman burla1 Strong 1959
to make combs, pipes, and digging-stick handles.
~M~ller's Island 7 Herzer 1942
Results from excavations of wet sites, such as
Kock Creek no contest Burke Museum Seattle
Ozette, on the Washington coast, certainly
(M~ddleColumbra)
demonstrate that the vast majority of most objects
Wahluke burral
Kr~eger1928a 1 1

such as arrow points and wedges were made of

P r ~ e s tRaprds no context
Smrth 1910 126

Karnloops burial'
Smrth 1900 4 13
wood with only a small proportion made of bone
Yale no contest
Srnrth 1907 4 2 6 3 2 8
or stone (Friedman 1975).
Lytton I Smrth 1899
Thus, we argue that to a large extent, the very
Thompson I Tert 1900 204
fact that bone or ground stone was used at all for
Hayden and Schulting] CULTURAL INTERACTION ON THE LATE PREHISTORIC PLATEAU
Figure 4. A decorated antler digging-stick handle from Lytton, British Columbia (Smith 1899:137).
some artifacts can be a good reason for consider-
ing these artifacts as prestige items. A few artifact
types may have required harder materials, such as
stone adzes and grinding stones, but these appear
to be the exception rather than the rule on the
Plateau.
We now turn to consider individual artifact
types.
Digging-Stick Handles
Antler digging-stick handles (Figures 4 and 5) are
one of the most widespread and distinctive items
of the Plateau, although a very few examples have
also been reported from the Washington and
Oregon coasts (Connolly 1992:98; Roderick
Sprague and Ken Ames, personal communication
1995). They are also highly unusual and perhaps
unique features of digging sticks. We know of
nothing quite comparable to them anywhere else
in the world. Cressman (1960:70) indicates that
they had a special status, being made for specific
young female members of a community and given
to them as personal possessions for life. Such
behavior seems far more appropriate for high-
ranking families than it does for more ordinary
families. The central shaft holes must have been
fairly time consuming to make given stone tech-
nology. The white, polished, and often engraved
handle of a digging stick would be highly visible
in any task group and in any encampment. As
Wobst (1977) argues, highly visible objects are
the most effective for communicating social mes-
sages, such as relative rank, to others. Roots were
a very important staple resource on the Plateau.
Women dug roots in task groups that worked in
close proximity, and thus the tools being used
could be displayed to advantage. The ability to dig
many roots was seen as an indication of strong
guardian spirit power and made the successful
woman desirable as a wife (Marshall 1991). Thus
antler digging-stick handles are good potential
candidates for prestige items, especially if ordi-
nary digging sticks had handles made of wood
(Nancy Turner, personal communication 1993;
Cole and Lockner 1989:417; Smith 1910:35; Teit
1909:514) or lacked handles altogether, which is
the usual case elsewhere in the world. Desmond
Peters, Sr., a senior member of the Pavilion Band,
near Lillooet, British Columbia, told us in 1991
that digging-stick handles made of antler or
ocean-spray wood (Holodiscus discolor) were
harder to make than handles made of other woods
and would be traded. He thought that only traders
and hunters' families probably had antler handles.
Moreover, while antler handles are widely distnb-
uted archaeologically, they are also relatively
rare-much rarer, we would argue, than one
would expect if they had been used by every
female throughout the Plateau for every genera-
tion over a period of several thousand years.
Combs
Combs (Figure 6) are also obvious display items
indicative of prestige, particularly striking given
the contrast of white bone on dark hair and the
elaborate carving involved in many specimens.
These items are considerably more labor intensive
to produce than digging-stick handles and are
much rarer in the area. Yet the similarities
between examples from opposite ends of the
Plateau demonstrate strong interactive connec­
tions between families using them, as well as sim-
ilar aesthetics and values involved in their
manufacture and use. Cross-culturally, hair is
often associated with power and status. A distinc­
tive group of antler and stone human figure carv-
 AMERICAN ANTIQUITY [Vol. 62, No. 1, 1997

I - 1

1 DIGGING STICK
HANDLES
i

Figure 5. The presenceiabsence distribution of antler digging-stick handles on the Plateau (see Table 2). Yote the clus-
tering in The Dalles and the Lillooet-L?tton regions as well as some secondary centers on the hliddle Columbia River
and in the Shuswap Lake region.

ings, concentrated in The Dalles-Deschutes area,
demonstrates that elaborate hair styles, some-
times using combs, were part of what was almost
certainly an elite costume and iconography
(Schulting 1995:46-50). On the Columbia
Plateau, many of these carvings also show obvi-
ous connections to Tsagiglalal-a highly distinc-
tive and elaborate rock art image overlooking the
Long Narrows near The Dalles (Butler 1957:
Keyser 1992; Ostapkowicz 1994)
Bone Tubes
The use of elaborately carved bone drinking tubes
during female puberty and menstrual rituals is
another widespread phenomenon. However, given
the lengthy time that women were supposed to
Hayden and Schulting] CULTURAL INTERACTION ON THE LATE PREHISTORIC PLATEAU

stay secluded for these rituals (2-4 years for first

menses [Teit 1906:265]), it is difficult to imagine
that all women religiously adhered to such ideals.
Rather, as in the case of bone artifacts, the elabo-
rate descriptions of training and rituals seem far
more appropriate to the highest ranking and
wealthiest families of a community who could use
such events to display their wealth, leisure, and
superior spirituality. Teit (1900, 1906), Nastich
(1954) and Romanoff (1992b) all repeatedly
stress the importance of proper training and
upbringing for elite families. It is proper training
and conduct that largely distinguished the elites
from other families in the communities. And we
suggest that it is predominantly the idealized elite
view of how things should be done that has been
recorded in most Plateau ethnographies. As with
other prestige classes, bone drinking tubes tend to
be rare archaeologically and we suspect, were not
even used by most families prehistorically.

Incised Dentalia and Other Marine Shells

Geometrically incised dentalia shells are found in
widely dispersed places (Figures 1 and 7) and
seem well established as a prestige item. While no
examples have been reported archaeologically
from The Dalles, Spier and Sapir (1930) note that
for the Wishram (the group occupying The Dalles
in the ethnographic period) the addition of fine
incised designs considerably enhanced the value
of the shells. The designs would often be rubbed
with red ochre to bring them out (Weld 1963).
And unlike plain dentalia shells, incised speci-
mens are relatively rare, although they are wide-
spread (Erickson 1990). The incising simply
strengthens the inference that similar aesthetics
and values accompanied the use of these shells
within the Plateau, making it distinctive from the
neighboring Northwest Coast interaction sphere.
Many species of marine shell-including
Olivella, Haliotis, Glycymeris, Aletes, and
Pecten-were used as beads and pendants on the
Plateau. Large shell rings are much rarer; exam-
ples are known from the Upper Columbia (Collier
et al. 1942:97, 155) and from Skwaam Bay on the
shores of Adams Lake in the Shuswap (Hills
1971). At Keatley Creek we recovered fragments
of a shell bracelet, and there may be other exam-
ples of these in Washington (James Chatters, per-
Figure 6. Bone combs from the Bell site (left) near Lillooet
and Neah Bay (right) (Stryd 1981a; Bergen 1960).
sonal communication 1989). These too, are
undoubtedly part of the Plateau elite complex.
Teeth and Claws
The use of raptor and predator claws, as well as
the use of pierced teeth (most presumably as dis-
play items), is also widespread. However, we have
not documented archaeological occurrences
because we wanted to concentrate on more dis-
tinctive artifact types. It is interesting to note that,
with very few exceptions, only the canine teeth of
elk were perforated for use as pendants-only two
such teeth are present per animal, and thus a neck-
lace of 20 or more teeth (not at all uncommon)
would seem to indicate and advertise considerable
hunting success (Schulting 1995:37). Sprague
(1959) even reported a child burial with 230 elk
teeth. Occasionally incised designs would be
added to the teeth (Collier et al. 1942:89;
Pokotylo et al. 1987:5).
 AMERICAN ANTIQUITY [Vol. 62, No. 1. 1997

Figure 7. Examples of incised dentalium shells from Kamloops. British Columbia (Smith 1900:131).

L-Shaped Awls ha\ e been primarily used by elite families in ways

that would enhance thelr \ isibihty within commu­
Bone awls are not usually considered prestige nltles The most probable activities Include tattoo-
Items, and mdeed, the more typ~calulna awls are ing and or the plerclng of ears or nasal septa
easy enough to make and efTectibe in basket mak- Nastich (1954 64) records that sharply polnted
ing and other pierclng funct~ons IIowever, the pieces of bone were m fact used for pierclng nasal
elbow, or L-shaped shoulder blade awl 1s some- septa It would be log~calto expect elites to use
what different (F~gure8) Not only are these awls more elaborate ~mplementsthan others for such
made from scapulae, whlch must be greatly operations. ~f In fact ordinary families even
reduced in size and carefully worked, but they pierced t h e ~ r noses or used tattooing
also have a d~stlnctivethln lateral protrus~onat the Ethnographically, plerclng of the ears and or nose
prox~malend for whlch few functional purposes can be llnhed w ~ t hhlgh status for a number of
can be suggested It appears to be more a d~stlnc- Plateau groups (Cllne et a1 1938 49, Curt~s
tive ~conolog~cal m o t ~ meant
f to convey Informa- 191 1 93, Spler and Sapir 1930 261, T e ~ t
tlon One other attribute of these awls 1s 1900 32 1, 1930 236) In many ranked cultures,
noteworthy their generally needlel~ke polnts these displayed prlr~legesare reserbed for the
o n the highest ranklng families (e g , Handy 1924,
Desp~te thelr w~despread d ~ s t r ~ b u t ~on
Plateau and some parts of the Great Basln, they Kedd~e 1981 60, Krause 1956 166, Murdoch
are comparatively rare archaeolog~cally Because 1892 139, Olson 1967 49, Paine 1979)
of the unusual amount of bone reduct~onrequ~red
for t h e ~ manufacture,
r and because of thew rarlty, Gaming Pieces
t h e ~ runusual styllstlc features, and the sharpness .hother extremely widespread artifact type that
of their pomts, we suggest that these awls may m ~ g h be
t expected to be used differentially by the

Figure 8. Examples of L-shaped awls from Wildcat C a y o n (Dumond and llinor 1983:223).
Hayden and Schulting] CULTURAL INTERACTION ON THE LATE PREHISTORIC PLATEAU
Figure 9. Examples of Iahal gaming pieces from The Dalles (three at right), the Thompson River (three at left) and
Keatley Creek (center) (Smith 1900:428; Strong 1959:201).
wealthy is the decorated gaming piece (Figures 9
and 10). These were short sections of bone about 5
cm in length, some of which were decorated with
incised geometric lines (generally zigzags), and
some of which were plain. Decorated and undeco-
rated beaver or woodchuck teeth appear to have
been stylistic variants. Gambling was a popular
activity on the Plateau, and The Dalles in particu-
lar was known as ". . . a gambling mecca second to
none" (Butler 1957:160). The object of the lahal
contests in which these bones were used was to
guess which hand the decorated piece was in.
Because playing often entailed substantial wagers,
the game in its more elaborate forms must be
viewed as one played by and between elites who
probably used relatively impressive display pieces.
Commoners might also play, but the stakes as well
as the gaming pieces were likely much less sub-
stantial. Among the Wishram, Spier and Sapir
(1930:267) note that "Not all women had nicely
marked dice." We suggest that, prehistorically,
ordinary gaming pieces, similar to those we have
seen used in informal lahal games in the Lillooet
area, were probably made of wood. Almost identi-
cal bone specimens from the farthest corners of
the Plateau (Figure 9) indicate strong interactions
between elites from these regions in which gam-
bling and playing lahal for substantial stakes was
undoubtedly a hallmark of elite behavior. It was an
ostentatious display of elite rank, much as high-
stakes gambling is a display of status among some
elites of our own era.
Decorated Thinned Bone
Minor pieces of bone also showed many similari-
ties among Plateau communities, especially
thinned bone sheets decorated with incised geo-
metric patterns (James Chatters, personal com­
munication 1991). These are somewhat generic
and certainly seem to fit into elite decoration;
however, more work is required to adequately
describe the context and variation of these objects
within Plateau society and archaeology. We will
not deal with them in detail here.
Sculpted Clubs
Carefully carved and sculptured bone and stone
clubs can be reasonably assigned to elite contexts
(Figure 11). In fact, it is a relatively common trait
in cultural evolution throughout the world for
emerging elites to express their position, wealth,
and power by means of elaborate clubs or maces.
The first elites of Egypt, the Near East, Neolithic
England and Oceania come readily to mind, and
there are undoubtedly many more examples. The
generally high quality of sculptured clubs on the
Plateau (see Boas 1907; Smith 1907; Wingert
1952) clearly indicates their elite context, as does
their rarity, and the high cost of producing them
and acquiring most of the materials (including
whalebone in the Willamette, The Dalles. Upper
Columbia, Lillooet, and Kamloops/Chase areas).
Stylistic similarities between the Lytton and The
Dalles examples can leave little doubt that elites in
 AMERICAN ANTIQUITY [Vol. 62, No. 1 , 1997

GAMING PIECES

Figure 10. The presencelabsence distribution of luhal gaming pieces on the Plateau (see Table 2). Vote the strongl? clus-
tered occurrences in the region around the Snake and Columbia r i ~ e rconfluence and in the Lillooet-L?tton region
around the Thonlpson and Fraser ri\er confluence. as well as a felt secondar) centers.

both areas shared very similar aesthetics and values
and were using clubs in comparable social contexts
to convey similar messages to their respective com-
munities. A striking example involves two nearly
identical copper clubs with incised human faces on
their blades: one was found near The Dalles
(Bergen 1959) and the other at Spuzzum on the
Fraser River below Lytton (Smith 1899:ljO). Both
were in burial contexts. While these specimens
undoubtedly date to the protohistonc period, their
form and the added designs are paralleled in pre-
historic stone and whalebone clubs from the same
regions (Boas 1907).
Stone Bowls
Another artifact type that seems to occur fre­
Hayden and Schulting] CULTURAL INTERACTION ON THE LATE PREHISTORIC PLATEAU

quently in the context of emerging and early elites

is carved and sculptured stone bowls (e.g., Gero
1989: 104; Schmandt-Besserat 1977). These, too,
make good objects for displaying special status
and rank on formal occasions when others are
attending. Both plain and sculptured stone bowls
are extremely characteristic of the Plateau, and in
some areas grade into zoomorphic or anthropo-
morphic sculptures without any apparent utilitar-
ian function. Because of the great variability in
the bowls' forms, and indeed in other stone sculp-
ture as well, further documentation and analysis
of similarities and differences in style and mean-
ing-an effort beyond the scope of this paper-is
required. Nevertheless, the general similarities of
numerous examples from throughout the area are
evident and in conjunction with the geometric
incising of bone, constitute a distinctive Plateau
artistic style.
Strong et al. (1930: 114) remark on the consid-
erable similarities between the ground stone of
The Dalles and the Lytton area, as opposed to that
of central Washington. These two areas exhibit a
large and elaborate stone-carving industry, one
which is not expressed to nearly the same degree
over the intervening area (cf. Duff 1956: 11 1). An
excellent example of a strong stylistic similarity is
seen in two anthropomorphic stone-head bowls,
one from the vicinity of The Dalles (Maryhill
Museum, Catalog No. 101- 15) and the other from Figure 11. Examples of sculpted whalebone clubs from
Kamloops (left and center, Smith 1900:422) and The
near Yale, British Columbia (Smith 1907:428, Dalles area (right, Burke Museum, Unirersit? of
Figure 192b).The highly distinctive seated human Washington, Seattle).
figure complex of British Columbia (Duff 1956,
1975) has strong parallels at The Dalles (Figure ure complex. Some bird-headed (owl?) mauls are
12). Buehler (1956) describes a seated human also stylistically identical in the two regions
steatite figure (the majority of the bowls found on (Figure 12).
the Fraser River, possibly the center of the style,
are of steatite). While the figure in Buehler's Pipes
accompanying photograph does not cradle a bowl, Other ground-stone artifacts that might be associ-
it does assume the familiar posture of a seated ated with elites include finely shaped nipple-top
human figure, arms folded on drawn-up knees, and sculptured zoomorphic mauls, nephrite
the head tilted back, and the prominent eyes star- celtsladzes, and steatite tubular pipes. Of these, the
ing upward. Skeletal imagery, another common finer examples of tubular pipes (Figure 13) were
element in the style, is present in the form of clearly prized possessions. Many specimens are
incised ribs. Stylistically, this sculpture is nearly finely incised with geometric designs (Butler
identical to those of the Fraser River. Although 1957; Sanger 1968a; Strong 1959), and some are
less readily recognizable, there is another stone fully sculptural (Crabtree 1957); one particularly
figure from The Dalles area that also exhibits cer- fine example, the Moses Coulee Pipe (Strong
tain features reminiscent of the seated human fig- 1959:137-1 39), was found near Wenatchee,
 AMERICAN ANTIQUITY [Vol. 62, No. 1 , 1997

Figure 12.Top: Examples of stone sculpture from The Dalles (left) and Lltton (right), the polar extremes of the Plateau,
displajing remarkable stjlistic similarit) (Buehler 1956; Duff 1975.74) (C o u r t e q Hancock House Publishers). Bottom:
Examples of sculptured mauls displaling similar stlles from Lillooct (left) (photo from the Lehman site collection b?
A. S t r l d ) and The Dalles (right) (Ttrong 197650, 133).

Washington, complete wlth its carved wooden
case-reminiscent of the specla1 cases that were
made for European meerschaum pipes in the last
century Ethnograph~cally,Teit (1906 250) notes
that only men, mostly older men and shamans
smoked tobacco, whlle on the coast high-status
males \led with each other in tobacco potlatches
(Turner and Taylor 1972) Spler and Sapir
(1930 269) report that only chiefs and shamans
smoked among the Wishram m The Dalles area
Hayden a n d Schulting] CULTURAL INTERACTION ON THE LATE PREHISTORIC PLATEAU

Figure 13. The presenceiabsence distribution of tubular stone pipes on the Plateau (see Table 2). Note the strong clus-
tering of pipes around the confluence of the Deschutes and Snake rivers with the Columbia Ri\er and in the Lillooet-
L ~ t t o nregion (around the confluence of the Thompson and Fraser r i ~ e r s as
) well as a few secondary centers.

There is some question over the prehistoric pres-
ence of native tobacco on the Plateau. Recent
attempts to identify nicotine or its byproducts in
pipe residues fi-om the Keatley Creek site have thus
far yielded negative results, and today many
Lillooet or Thompson men still smoke a wide
range of native plant materials without tobacco
(Turner et al. 1990:24; Hayden, personal observa-
tion). But whatever the substance used, there is lit-
tle doubt that smoking using prestigious-loolung
and costly pipes was an elite-associated ceremony
and confirmed that participants shared the same
set of cultural values and were of approximately
equal status, capable of performing as elites
should. Men of lower status also may have smoked
tobacco or other herbs on occasion, but more likely
72 AMERICAN ANTIQUITY [Vol. 62, No. 1, 1997

they would have used cruder verslons of steatite Unfortunately, ~t 1s difficult to document the
plpes, or perhaps wooden pipes (documented for presence of slaves m the archaeological record
the Lower Columbia [Strong 1959 139]), or per- (although see Schulting 1995 for possible examples
haps not even smoked at all but snuffed (Strong In the bunal record of the Plateau) other than by
1959) or chewed vanous botanicals Inferences such as these However, early ethnogra-
ph~esdemonstrate that slaves were integral parts of
Nephrite CeltsIAdzes el~ted~splaysof power In some Plateau communl-
As ment~onedearlier, sources of nephr~te(F~gure tles, particularly the wealthlest such as the Wlshrarn
2) are relatively restr~ctedon the Plateau, the most of The Dalles and the Fraser h v e r r Lillooet
important source belng centered along the M~ddle
Fraser River Nephnte art~factsalmost lnvar~ably Pendants
occur In the form of ground- and polished-stone Pendants are prominent display items with little
adzes or celts As has long been recogn~zed pretension for any other function. Distinctive
( S m ~ t h1910 63, Mackie 1995), whereas nephr~te Plateau pendants that plausibly fit into the elite
celtsladzes on the coast tend to be found In m ~ d - complex include the raptor and predator claws and
den contexts and only when near the end of their pierced teeth already mentioned as well as several
use llves, those in the interior are more often very distinctive and widespread chipped-stone
found in bur~alcontexts and are often very large varieties. The chipped-stone pendants are serrated
and polished over their entire surfaces (Danvent and grade into point styles with extreme curvilin-
1996, Schultlng 1995) The manufacture of ear edges that were clearly never meant to be func-
nephr~teadzes w ~ t htrad~t~onal technology is so tional (Figure 14). In fact, their positions in
labor Intensive that ~t may be one of the best excavations have indicated they were used as
archaeolog~calindicators that we have for slavery "bangles" rather than as arrowheads (Strong
At a cuttlng rate of only one or two millimeters 1959: 132). Another possibility suggested by a
per hour (Danvent 1996, Johnson 1975), ~tis dif- number of researchers is that these items func-
flcult to lmaglne anyone maklng one of these tioned as nose ornaments, to be inserted through a
adzes unless they were generously compensated pierced septum (Dumond and Minor 1983; Strong
for their efforts or unless they were forced to 1959: 160-161). This may be supported by the
Nevertheless, nephr~te adzes are w~despread smoothed edges found on many specimens. Rather
although rather low In frequency Moreover, on unique bone variants of the serrated pendants, also
the Plateau, adzes Included in burials are often so with smooth edges, occur at the two extremes:
long that they do not appear to be made for use A Wildcat Canyon (Dumond and Minor 1983: Plate
s ~ m i l a r development occurred In Neolith~c 3Fi) and the Lochnore-Nesikep locality near
Europe and In ethnograph~c New Gulnea Lytton (Sanger 1970:94). Ground-stone pendants
Ethnograph~caccounts of long nephr~te"bars'' also occur at least at one site (Keatley Creek).
used exclusively as wealth items on the Plateau Multinotch points appear to form a typological
support the inference that nephrite adzes, espe- continuum with these clearly nonfunctional
c~allythe long ones, were important wealth Items pieces, and it is worthwhile considering the possi-
(Emmons 1923) Even today, nephr~te adzes bility that multinotches were not primarily func-
recovered archaeologically from the lower Snake tional parts of projectile points as much as
Rlver are v~ewedby Nez Perce informants as hav- iconological stylistic elements meant to convey
lng strong power (Roderick Sprague, personal social information. These pendant and point
commun~cat~on 1995) At Keatley Creek and else- styles are so unique and distinctive that they
where on the Plateau, antler ch~selsw ~ t hham- clearly represent strong interactions on the part of
mers, chipped-stone adzes. or ground-stone adzes their makers and users; and they likely had simi-
made of softer Igneous rocks const~tutedalter- lar meanings in their respective societies. They
nate, lower-cost technolog~calstrategies for cut- again occur at the extremes of the Plateau area:
tlng wood (Darwent 1996, T e ~ t 1900 183, Lytton and The Dalles. The use of bear baculae,
1909 644) whether slotted for suspension or as more utilitar-
Hayden and Schulting] CULTURAL INTERACTION ON THE LATE PREHISTORIC PLATEAU

Figure 14. Examples of serrated stone pendants, serrated points, and chipped-stone eccentrics from Keatley Creek (D,
V),The Dalles (4-C, P-T), Lytton (E-J), Nesikep (K, L, 0 ) , Oregon (M), and Bonne\ille (N) (Harris and Galbraith 1958;
Sanger 1970; Smith 1899:136; Strong 1959:132, 159; Wiedeman 1963).

ian pieces, is equally distinctive and occurs at
widely separated locations on the Plateau such as
the Thompson-Shuswap area and McNary
Reservoir (Sanger 1968a: 122).
Eccentrics
Even more striking is the poorly reported occur-
rence of carefully chipped, almost identical small
eccentric pieces in the Lillooet-Lytton-Thompson
area of British Columbia and the Arlington-
Bonneville area of Washington state (Figure 14).
Once again, these types of objects are strongly
associated with the emergence of early elites in
various places in the world. Such objects require
74 AMERICAN ANTIQUITY [Vol. 62, No. 1, 1997

considerable skill to make, they are delicate, and able studs were loaned out (Post 1938:33). On the
they have no obvious technological function. other hand, dogs deemed useless for these elite
Moreover, they are so unique that they clearly purposes were probably left to scavenge wastes
attest to intimate interactions on the parts of theirand constituted a separate class of vagrant
users and makers. An interesting note by Atkinson "garbage" dogs.
(1937) may refer to an eccentric: he observed that Dog remains are sometimes found with human
an "unusually shaped chipped agate piece burials (Collier et al. 1942:43; Sanger 1968b;
belonged to an Okanagan chief and was sacred." Smith 1900:438439, 19 10: 154); these, however,
may simply represent the killing of dogs on the
Domestic Dogs deaths of their owners. A wider ritual importance
Before turning to the broader implications of this is indicated for dogs by the curation of their skulls
interaction sphere model, we would like to men- and by what appears to be ritual deposition of dog
tion one other type of archaeological occurrence remains. At Keatley Creek, near Lillooet, we
not generally associated with hunterlgatherer uncovered a total of eight separate skulls in the
elites but which may prove important in this con- bottom of two large internal storage pits adjacent
text: domesticated dogs. to each other, as well as the cranial and postcra-
Although we cannot as yet determine the exact nial remains of one whole dog in each pit (Crellin
role of dogs in Plateau society, there is now abun- 1994). In addition to this, a single dog skull was
dant evidence that domesticated dogs did play an left in the middle of the living floor at the time of
important role in the rituals of some Plateau com- final abandonment of this structure. In another
munities and that they were strongly associated pithouse, the articulated postcranial remains of an
with elites. In at least some respects, dogs func- immature dog were left in the middle of the floor
tioned like slaves to display individual power and at the time of final abandonment. Far to the south,
wealth through sacrifice. Both dogs and slaves, at Wildcat Canyon, six dogs were buried in a sin-
for example, could be killed on the death of their gle pit (Dumond and Minor 1983:104, 130) in
owner (Curtis 191 1:99; Ray 1939:32; Spier and what was clearly a ritual context: projectile point
Sapir 1930:2 12, 271; Teit 1900:328, 1906:270, fragments were found embedded in the thoracic
1909:592), and both were used to perform drudge regions of two dogs, at least one had been decap-
work (Crellin [I9941 documents the use of dogs itated, and the backs of all the dogs had been bro-
for packing heavy loads prehistorically). ken. Three of the bodies had been carefully placed
Similarly, on a cross-cultural basis, domesticated in a circular arrangement around the perimeter of
dogs and slaves only appear ethnographically the pit, with another dog in the center. (This is, in
(and archaeologically where determinations can fact, somewhat reminiscent of the treatment given
be made) in complex vs. generalized hunter-gath- to a group of six human burials at Rabbit Island
erers. For example, elaborate dog burials are on the Middle Columbia [Crabtree 1957;
known from the complex hunter-gatherers of Schulting 1995: 110-1 111). Other dogs were
Mesolithic southern Scandinavia (Larsson 1989, placed singly in pits, and one skull was found in a
1990). Complex hunterlgatherers are character­ pit (Dumond and Minor 1983: 116). In other parts
ized by socioeconomic inequality and prestige of the Plateau, Collier et al. (1942:43) and Smith
display technologies (Hayden 1990, 1995). The ( 1 900:439) report the inclusion of dog skulls with
association of dog breeding with elites continues human burials.
to occur even after domestication, as in the Celtic Clearly something quite unusual was occurring
elite breeding of prime hunting dogs as prestige on the Plateau in relation to dogs. Why would
items, and even the breeding of dogs by pre- eight dog skulls be kept and then ultimately
Industrial and Industrial elites. On the Northwest buried? Why kill six dogs and then elaborately
Coast, a special breed of dog was developed, bury them? Why leave dogs or dog skulls in the
probably by the elites, for the use of their wool in center of house floors upon abandonment? A sim­
the manufacture of blankets (Schulting 1993). ilar role for dogs appears to have existed on the
Plateau hunting dogs, too, were bred, and desir- Northwest Coast as well (Cybulski 1992:83;
Hayden and Schulting] CULTURAL INTERACTION ON THE LATE PREHISTORIC PLATEAU
Arnoud Stryd, personal communication 1994).
Whatever the answer, we feel that there is a good
chance that dogs were closely associated with
elites-if only because relatively wealthy people
would be the ones who could afford to feed dogs
and maintain them in their households and sacri-
fice them in prestige displays. In general, it is
estimated that families in the Northwest had to
supply at least a kilogram of salmon to each dog
on a daily basis (Hewes 1973:140). Dogs might
have acted to protect their owners or their prop-
erty and certainly seemed to aid in hunting-a
benefit but also an extravagance. On occasion,
they may have been killed and eaten at special
feasts (some evidence for eating dogs is found at
sites on the Canadian Plateau [e.g., Antiquus
1994:1301). Dogs also would be very obvious
objects of public display and seem to have been
an integral part of the elite complex of accou-
trements at certain echelons.
Plateau Ideology:
Columbia (for example, the "rayed arc" human
Guardian Spirit Power, Myth, and Death
figure) (Keyser 1992:57-87).
The Plateau as a whole shared similar beliefs in
guardian spirit power (Anastasio 1972; Ray
1939). Considerable ethnographic evidence
shows that attempts were made to maintain spe-
cific guardian spirit powers within certain high-
status families (see summary in Schulting 1995).
The arrangement of marriages between elites of
different communities would ensure that a shared
set of ideas and possibly even specific spirit pow-
ers were promulgated among high-status families
throughout the region.
Plateau ideology is also united by a body of
myth centered around the culture hero Coyote
who would not allow coastal transformer spirits to
operate in the interior (Teit 1912a:295,
1912b:288). Similar oral traditions existed over
much of the Plateau. For example, nearly identi-
cal myths involving cannibal ogresses with
vagina dentata vanquished by Coyote are found in
Shoshone (Pavesic and Studebaker 1993:53),
Wishram (Strong 1959:50), Shuswap (Teit
1909:650), Thompson (Teit 19 12a:366), and
Nicola (Teit 19 17:17) oral traditions. Recall that
these myths occur in at least three quite different
language families. Other Coyote stories in The
Dalles vicinity are the same as those of the
75
Thompson and other Plateau groups (Boas
1898:13, 15).
While the guardian spirit quest and certain oral
traditions were widely disseminated throughout
the Plateau, possibly regardless of the status of the
communities, it is argued here that the highest
levels of understanding were more restricted,
specifically to high-status families (cf. York et al.
1993:227; see also Earle 1990). Thus the elite of
widely separated communities may have shared in
esoteric knowledge denied to the more common
members of their respective communities.
Moreover, this knowledge could have been at
least partially communicated nonverbally through
meaningful designs incorporated onto elite arti-
facts. Specific designs relating to guardian spirit
power were known to have been placed onto
important tools, such as digging-stick handles and
weapons (Sanger 1968a; Teit 1900). Similarities
have also been noted between the rock art of The
Dalles area and that of south-central British
Mortuary behavior, since it is often associated
with elite status display, is another area that can
be profitably examined for evidence of interac-
tion. The burial practices of the Plateau peoples
are highly varied (Schulting 1995; Sprague 1967)
and are largely distinct from those of the sur­
rounding regions. The variation that exists within
the Plateau, however, seems to be related less to
regional differences than to temporal change and
to socioeconomic status distinctions (Schulting
1995). Cremation was a dominant form of burial
near The Dalles during the Late Prehistoric period
and extended for some distance upriver (Garth
1952; Strong 1959; Strong et al. 1930); while
rare, cremation also occurs in south-central
British Columbia (Richards and Rousseau 1987;
Smith 1900). Talus burials are common through-
out the Plateau where suitable slopes exist. More
striking is the occurrence of wooden plank cist
burials. This distinctive burial form is found along
the lower reaches of the Middle Columbia,
including The Dalles (Crabtree 1957; Osborne et
al. 1961; Strong et al. 1930), on the Upper
Columbia (Collier et al. 1942), in the Okanagan
(Caldwell 1954), and along the Fraser River
(Pokotylo et al. 1987; Sanger 1961). Moreover,
76 AMERICAN ANTIQUITY
very similar funerary ceremonies seem to be
involved including the burning of the portion of
the planks left above ground possibly in conjunc-
tion with the burning of grave offerings.
Synthesis
All elites need to distance themselves from more
ordinary community members. They purposefully
undertake actions that will place themselves in
special positions emphasizing their abilities to
acquire items and accomplish things that ordinary
people cannot. Elites seek to control resources for
their own benefit and to reduce access by others
to those resources. They seek to obtain exotic
items through trade, travel, and privileged con­
tacts (e.g., the "trading partnerships" of the
Plateau). Elites seek to produce highly crafted
labor-intensive prestige objects that ordinary indi-
viduals would have great difficulty in acquiring.
Elites seek out other elites-through trade and
intermarriage-who have similar attitudes and
goals, and they establish symbiotic relationships
whereby each supplies others in the group with
exotic materials and esoteric knowledge that can
be used to impress or engage people in their
respective communities through contractual reci-
procal feasting or other means (Hayden 1995). On
the regional scale, elites form fraternities in which
the ability to acquire and properly use certain
symbols and rituals is a prerequisite for member-
ship (Brumfiel and Earle 1987). Because of this
broad regional integration, there develops a need
for comparable measures of prestige for exchange
(Earle 1990:74). The elite of various communities
form ties outside their kin groups as a means of
expanding their influence and power beyond that
of the kin-based unit (McGuire 1992; Schortman
and Urban 1988). We would argue that this is the
real underlying force behind the formation of the
Plateau Interaction Sphere and other similar
transegalitarian interaction spheres in the world
such as the Northwest European Neolithic inter-
action sphere. Sherratt (1990) and Lewis-
Williams and Dowson (1993:59-62) have
discussed some of the dynamics involved in the
generation of these interaction sphere ideologies
and art styles, and their interpretatoins are gener-
ally similar to ours.
Given this model, the richest, most powerful
[Vol. 62, No. 1 , 1997
communities on the Plateau should have the
greatest similarities in prestige goods and styles.
On the other hand communities at the poor end of
the spectrum should exhibit a much smaller range
of these items and many of the stylistic traits
might be aberrant. If we turn to the ethnographic
record there is ample evidence for considerable
inequalities between communities in terms of
wealth and power and socioeconomic standing. It
is apparent that marked differences in inequality
existed on the Plateau ranging from the extreme
stratification associated with the richest fishing
and trading groups, such as the Wishram,
Umatilla, Canyon Shuswap, and Lillooet, to
extreme egalitarian communities lacking slavery,
such as the Sanpoil. Spokane, Kalispel, and the
eastern Shuswap (Curtis 191 1; Ray 1932, 1939;
Spier and Sapir 1930; Spinden 1964; Teit 1900,
1906:254, 1909:576). Similarly, in the richer
communities, important resource locations such
as fishing sites were owned by corporate groups,
and private property was a strong cultural value
(Cressman 1960:35; Romanoff 1992a; Spier and
Sapir 1930; Teit 1900:293-294, 1906:255-256),
while among the more egalitarian communities a
sharing ethic prevailed (Ray 1939:25). At The
Dalles, ownership of fishing sites was hereditary
and six to 10 men usually held the rights jointly
(Curtis 191 1:95; Spier and Sapir 1930:175). At
Keatley Creek, we interpret the unusually large
prehistoric housepits as expressions of residential
corporate groups, which probably held rights to
the most productive fishing locations that were
administered by household lineage heads or
"chiefs." In the richest Plateau localities, elite sta-
tus was hereditary and slavery was prominent.
These localities also had the highest population
concentrations on the Plateau (Kroeber 1939:138),
a variable that has been strongly correlated with
sociocultural complexity.
Given these factors and the general model of
interaction spheres, it should come as no surprise
that the distribution of the prestige items (Figures
1-3, 5, 10, 13) suggested to have been part of the
Plateau Interaction Sphere clearly demonstrates
that most of these items were more concentrated
in the two richest fishing and trading localities of
the Plateau: The Dalles locality on the Columbia
River and the Lillooet-Lytton locality on the
Hayden and Schulting] CULTURAL INTERACTION ON THE LATE PREHISTORIC PLATEAU
Fraser River. Some occurrences also arise at sec-
ondary centers of surplus salmon production,
such as the Snake River confluence with the
Columbia River, Kettle Falls, the Adams River at
Shuswap Lake, and the Chilcotin River conflu-
ence with the Fraser River; however, the pattern
that is most salient in all of these distributions is
the clustering of occurrences separated by signif-
icant large blank zones.
It might be argued that for some items origi-
nating on the coast, such as shells (Figure 1) and
whalebone, or that have sources mainly in the
coastal mountain ranges such as copper (Figure
3), the concentrations at The Dalles and Lillooet-
Lytton are due simply to their greater proximity to
these sources and that the overall distributions on
the Plateau represent nothing more than distance-
decay from the sources along the major prehis-
toric routes of access to the coast (the Columbia
Valley and the Anderson-Seton-Lillooet Lake sys-
tem). While this factor undoubtedly played some
role in creating the distributions of these materi-
als, examination of other materials not related to
coastal origins shows essentially the same type of
distribution. There are no known sources of
nephrite near the Columbia River; most nephrite
sources are in the Lillooet region. Yet nephrite
artifacts cluster at The Dalles and other important
Middle Columbia River centers. This distribution
exhibits a "polar" characteristic consistent with
the use of nephrite in communities with relatively
powerful elites, but not in intervening areas with
elites of less wealth and power (Figure 2). In a
recent study, Danvent (1996) documents this
polar distributional characteristic in greater detail
for the Canadian Plateau, where it is clear that
major concentrations of nephnte occur at 0-50,
100-150, 200-250, and 500-550 km from the
nephrite sources with little in intervening areas.
Moreover, while a wide range of nephrite adze
sizes occurs at sites within 50 km of the nephrite
sources, the longer size adzes predominate at
many of the more distant sites, emphasizing their
role as trade and status items.
Digging-stick handles, tubular stone pipes, and
bone gaming pieces (Figures 5, 10, and 13) all
were made from materials widely available on the
Plateau. Yet their distributions display as pro­
~iounced a polar clustering as dentalia and
77
nephrite artifacts, especially around the Lillooet-
Lytton and The Dalles localities as well as a few
secondary centers. Although not illustrated here,
the distribution of obsidian artifacts, whalebone
clubs, L-shaped awls, serrated points or curvilin-
ear pendants, and chipped-stone eccentrics dis-
play similar clustering. In all of these
unillustrated cases (as well as marine shell arti-
facts), the clustering of occurrences is even more
highly concentrated around the Lillooet-Lytton
and The Dalles localities than the materials shown
in Figures 2,5, 10, and 13 (nephrite, digging-stick
handles, gaming pieces, and pipes). While we
have not quantified the elaborate use of dogs,
styles of stone sculpture, or carved grave markers,
we feel that there is a strong case to be made for
these, and possibly many more traits, as also con-
forming to this same polar distributional pattern
(Dawson 1891:lO; Strong et al. 1930:121; Teit
1906). This pattern is pronounced enough and
duplicated in so many different types of prestige
goods that it constitutes very strong support for
the elite-based model of the Plateau Interaction
Sphere that we have proposed. In fact, the most
important Plateau centers might even be por-
trayed in terms resembling Polyani's (1963) Ports
of Trade (cf. Cannon 1992 and Cressman 1960) or
Jackson's (1991) trade fair sites. To some degree,
elite artifacts from the broader Plateau tradition
should be found wherever salmon permitted com-
munities to acquire, store, and exchange sur­
pluses, even on an occasional basis. However, the
major centers for wealth should be much more
closely connected to each other in terms of elite
styles and artifacts than they are to intervening
poorer communities.
The ethnographic literature further supports
the general model outlined above. While we do
not suggest that there was an "elite merchant
class" (as one reviewer had supposed), the rich
and powerful elites do appear to have been far
more heavily involved in the long-distance
exchange of prestige goods than poor or non-elite
individuals, and rich elites did try to concentrate
access to prestige goods in their own hands. There
is little doubt about the widespread movement of
elite and possibly other wealthy traders on the
Plateau. Simon Fraser saw Yakima Indians near
Lillooet in 1808 (Smith 1910:144), and Teit
78 AMERICAN ANTIQUITY
(1930:121) notes that "large, well-armed and
well-equipped" parties of Wenatchi and Columbia
Indians traveled annually to The Dalles. Spier and
Sapir (1930:225) add that Nespelem and Spokan
would also travel to The Dalles. Unfortunately,
most ethnographers do not provide profiles of
precisely who carried out such trade. Still, there is
some information available. Teit (1909:576)
observed that the upper classes of some groups on
the Canadian Plateau had special trading privi-
leges. These privileges may have been held on
behalf of supporting corporate groups, but they
were clearly aspects that elites tried to control as
well. Spier and Sapir (1930:225) note that it was
only chiefs and shamans who came from Lower
Columbia groups to trade at The Dalles. Cline et
al. (1938:74) state that a Sinkaietk chief con­
ducted frequent trading expeditions across the
Cascades to obtain highly valued marine shells.
Cressman (1960:40), Cline et al. (1938), and
Romanoff (1 992a:253) note that intervillage trade
was carried out by "trading friends," who estab-
lished special relationships with each other.
A special trade language, derived from a mod-
ified version of Wishram Chinook, was in use
throughout much of the Plateau in the early his-
toric period, and it makes sense that knowledge of
this "trade jargon" would have been largely
restricted to the elites who were so heavily
involved in the long-distance trade of prestige
items (Teit 1906:202, 23 1-232). The "high" lan-
guages of the Lillooet and the Okanagan were
only used by high-ranking individuals (Desmond
Peters, Sr., personal communication 1994;
Hudson 1994) and appear to have functioned on
the Canadian Plateau in a fashion similar to
Chinook on the Columbia Plateau. These "high"
languages may even have contained a strong
admixture of Chinook words. Significantly,
Chinook was spoken better by the Lillooet than
any other Interior group (Teit 19061202).
Presumably, it was the elites that knew this lan-
guage. The emphasis on speaking Chinook in
Lillooet communities highlights their central role
in trade and parallels the bipolar similarity of elite
material items between The Dalles and the
Lytton-Lillooet regions previously documented.
Plateau ethnographers have also noted the
strong tendency for high-ranking families to inter-
[Vol. 62, No. 1 , 1997
marry between communities and with trading
partners (Wood 1980:105). A similar pattern has
also been documented for the Coast (Rosman and
Rube1 1971:72, 144; Sproat 1987:72) and is possi-
bly a general characteristic of all complex transe-
galitarian societies (Hayden 1995). In many
Plateau groups, conscious efforts were made by
elite families to arrange marriages so as to main-
tain and increase their wealth and social standing
(Curtis 19 1 1 : 89; Nastich 1954; Ray
1932: 137-139; Spier and Sapir 1930:217; Teit
1900:325. 1909:591-592). And even where an
effort to arrange marriages between social equals
was not explicitly made (or recognized as such by
informants), the common practice of reciprocal
gift exchange certainly acted to encourage the
marriage of socioeconomic equals (Curtis
19 1 1 :SO; Spier and Sapir 1930:2 17-2 18). Related
to this, the elite were also far more likely to seek
marriage alliances outside their communities
(Spier and Sapir 1930:2 17). These features again
emphasize the mutual regional involvement and
exclusive fraternalistic tendencies of elite families.
Finally, to return to our point of departure, the
Plateau Interaction Sphere, it may well be asked to
what extent this was really a distinctive phenome-
non, especially since many artifacts like dentalia
and other marine shell beads, dogs, and ground-
stone artifacts were shared with coastal groups.
Indeed manifestation of the Plateau Interaction
Sphere could be expected to be far stronger were
it not for the great distance separating the two
most highly developed areas-The Dalles and
Lytton-Lillooet---particularly since the interven-
ing region can be characterized as largely lacking
in communities displaying equivalent levels of
socioeconomic complexity. This in conjunction
with the relative proximity and ease of access to
the materially wealthy groups of the lower
Columbia and Fraser rivers, and through them the
groups of the Northwest Coast proper, meant that
much of the focus of the Plateau elite on these two
rivers was directed downstream. This provides
another level of interaction, one involving both the
Plateau and the Northwest Coast. This is not sur-
prising-one might well expect elites to seek con-
federates appropriate to their own degree of
development no matter what environmental zone
they happened to live in (cf. Flannery's [I9681
Hayden and Schulting] CULTURAL INTERACTION ON THE LATE PREHISTORIC PLATEAU
ideas on Olmec-Oaxacan interaction).
However, it also seems that the Coast and
Cascade mountain ranges created enough of an
impediment to travel (or that basic adaptations to
different environments created distinctive enough
backgrounds) leading to somewhat separate inter-
action spheres on the Northwest Coast and on the
Plateau. Some artifact types on the Plateau are
extremely rare or do not occur at all in most
Northwest Coast regions, and vice versa. These
include chipped eccentrics, serrated and curvilin-
ear pendants, digging-stick handles, L-shaped
awls, incised dentalia, incised bear bacula pen-
dants (Sanger 1968a:12 l), tubular stone pipes
(very rare on the coast), a n 4 in the protohistoric
period a distinctive regalia utilizing tubular cop-
per beads and dentalia beads (see Chance and
Chance 1985), as well as an elite trade language.
Geometric and naturalistic sculptural and rock art
styles on the Plateau (vs. form-line and Raven
motifs on the Northwest Coast) are also very dif-
ferent and distinctive, as are differences in mythic
characters (Coyote vs. Raven) and language. As
Anastasio (1985) and Wood (1980:105) argue, the
Plateau formed a single social network that Ames
(199 1:940) views as much more culturally unified
than the more balkanized coastal groups.
Thus, not only is it possible to speak of a
Plateau Interaction Sphere, but it is also reason-
able to search for its origins in the development of
socioeconomic inequality and elites on the
Plateau and their need for exotic goods and con-
federates in their attempts to attain and consoli-
date their positions of influence and power. It is
recognized that the emergent interaction sphere
described here was developed only to a moderate
degree. But it is precisely this type of situation
that allows for study of the means by which more
elaborate-and hence easily recognized-sys-
tems develop. One of the important questions that
remains to be addressed is that of the timing of the
emergence of the Plateau Interaction Sphere. It
should be possible to develop an index of the
intensity of interaction and apply it in a
diachronic study. The identification and tabula-
tion of prestige materials and crafted items across
the Plateau is the first step in any such analysis,
and we hope that the present contribution will
facilitate investigations along these lines.
79
Acknowledgn~ents.We are extremely indebted to a number of
people for directing us to sources for this paper and for pro-
viding opinions and information on the distribution of
numerous artifact types. Foremost is Jim Chatters. while Roy
Carlson. Knut Fladmark, Roderick Sprague. David
Huelsbeck, and Mike Rousseau generously shared their con-
siderable knowledge. We also extend our appreciation to
Julie Stein for facilitating access to the collections of the
Burke Museum at the University of Washington in Seattle.
Harvey Steele of the Oregon Archaeological Society kindly
provided us with copies of the society's early publications.
We also thank Anita Mahoney, Jaclynne Campbell. Colleen
Bruchet, and Salal McConnell for helping to assemble the
many parts of this manuscript.
References Cited
Ames. K.
1991 The Archaeology of the Longue Duree: Temporal and
Spatial Scale in the Evolution of Social Complexity on
the Southern Northwest Coast. Antiyuig 65:935-945.
Anastasio, A.
1985 The Southern Plateau: An Ecological Analysis of
Intergroup Relations. ,'orthwest Antl~ropological
Research votes 7(1): 109-229.
Antiquus
1993 The 1992 Archaeological Investigations at the
Botticelli Creek Site (EfQw 21). Adams Lake, South-
Central B.C. Report on file with Archaeology Branch,
Ministry of Small Business, Culture. and Tourism,
Victoria. British Columbia.
1994 The 1992 Archaeological Investigations at the
Woolford Point Site (EfQw 2), Adams Lake. South-
Central B.C. Report on file with Archaeology Branch,
Ministry of Small Business. Culture. and Tourism,
Victoria. British Columbia.
Arcas
1988 Archaeological Excavations at the Sahhaltkum Bridge
Site (EeQw 30), Chase. B.C. Report on file with the
Archaeology Branch, Ministry of Small Business,
Culture. and Tourism. Victoria. British Columbia.
Atkinson. R.
1937 Indian Camp Sites. Manuscript on file at the
Penticton Museum. Penticton, British Columbia.
Barlee, N. L.
1969a Salvage Excavation of a Burial near Grand Forks.
Report on file with the Archaeology Branch. Ministry of
Small Business, Culture, and Tourism, Victoria. British
Columbia.
1969b Journey to the Land of the Shades. Canada U'est
~l-lagazine1(3):28-~31 .
Bergen. H. G.
1959 Unusual Artifacts. Screenings 8(4).
1989 The Bergen Collection. Manuscript on file at the
Burke Museum. University of Washington, Seattle.
Bergt. J. P.
1978 Results of an X-Ray Fluorescence Study of Copper
Artifacts from Old Umatllla. Oregon. In An
.4rcl1aeological Burial Relocation at Old C'rnntilla,
Oregon, edited by D. G. Rice, pp. 91-93. Laboratory of
Anthropology. University of Idaho. Moscow.
Blau. P M.
1977 Inequalig and Heterogeneiv: A Pri~nitiveT h e o n of
Sociol Structure. Free Press. New York.
80 AMERICAN ANTIQUITY [Vol. 62, No. 1, 1997
Boas. F.
1890 The Shuswap: Second General Report on the Indians
of British Columbia. Report o f the Sirtl~.Ilt,etrng of'the
Britrsh dsrociution for. the ..ldvurttement ~f Scienct~.Part
4. pp. 632-647. Newcastle-upon-Tyne. England.
1898 Introduct~on. In Traditions q f tlte T/tontp.\on Rwer.
Indiuns of' Br-itislt Columbiu. b) J. Te~t. pp 1 - 18
-\mencan Folk-Lore Society and bioughton M~fflin.Ne\\
York.
1907 Clubs Made of Bone of Whale. In .41.c.hrreolog1,of the
G ~ r l f ' oGeorgiu
f und P~rgetSormd. by H. I. Smith. pp.
4 0 3 4 1 2 . Meniolrs Vol. 4 No. 6. Amer~canMuseum of
Natural History. Neu York.
Bouchard R.. and D. Kennedy
1985 Lakes Indian Ethnography and History. Eeport on f ~ l e
with the Archaeology Branch. Ministry of Small
Business. Culture. and Tourism. L'ictoria. British
Colunib~a.
Britten. F.
1962 Interesting specimen. Scr.eertirtg.\ I I ( 10).
Brumfiel, E. K.. and T. K.Earle
1987 Specialization. Exchange. and Complex Societies: 4 n
Introduction. In .Ypeciuli;ution, E;cc,htrnge, und Conrplc.r
Sociatias. ed~tedby E . K. Brumf~eland T. K. Earlr. pp.
1-9. Cambridge Unixrrsity Press. Cambridge
Buehler. F.
1956 Stone Sculpture--The Dallrs- C'elilo St) le.
Sertwnings 5(7):3
Butler. B. R.
1957 ,417 of the Lower Colunibia Valley. .lrc,hrreolo~gj
IO(3).158-165.
1959 Lower Colunibia Valley Archaeology: 4 S u r ~ e yand
Appra~sal of Some Major Archaeological Resources.
Ten.ihu 2(2 ):6-24.
Butler. B. R.. and D Osborne
1959 -\rchaeolog~cal Exidence for the Use of Atlatl
Weights in the Northivest. .A~nerictrt~ .Intryrrit~~ Connoll). T.
25.2 15-224.
Cald\\ell. J.
1964 Interaction Spheres in Prehistory. Sciantrfic PLIPCI'.\
12:135-143. Hopeivellian Studies. Illinois State
Museum. Springfield.
Cald\vell. 14; Lt:
1 9 4 An Archaeological Surxry of the Okanagan and
S~niilkanieenValleys of British Columbia. .-lnth~~opoIog~~ hlaster's thes~s.Department of Anthropology. Un~versity
in Britich Colrrmbitr 4:lO-25.
of Uhshington. Seattle.
1956 T/te .lrc/trreologj, of l+irke~~rtr/~.
.A Str.ut!fied Site Leu). Crell~n.D.
The Dul1e.s of'tha (bilinthru. Unpublished Ph.D. d~sserta-
tion. Department of Anthropology. UniLers~ty of
Washington. Seattle.
Cannon. A.
1992 Conflict and Saln~onon the Interior Plateau of British
Columbia. In .,I L'ompler L'rrltirre c!/'thr British Colrrmbicr
Pltrrt~~~r: fi.udrtioriu1 St1 'dtl 'intx-Re.\olrree L'se. edited by Cressman. L.S.
B. Hayden. pp. 506-523. Unilersity of British Columbia
Press. Vancouker.
Carlson. R.
1994 Trade and Exchange in Prehistoric Br~tishColumbia
In Prehictoric E-~chungeS~,crenr.sin .Vorth .4nrrricir.
edited by T. Baugh and J. Ericson. pp. 307-36 1 . Plenum
Press. New Tiark.
Chance. D. H.. and J. V Chance
1982 Kertlt~ Fullc. IY 71.IY74. Anthropological Research
Manuscript Series No. 69. University of Idaho. Mosco\b.
1985 Kt~rtlc~ Full.\; 1978 Frrrthrr .4rchi1cologic~rrl
Invectrgution~ in Luke Roore~,elt.Anthropological
Research Manuscript Series No. 84. University of Idaho.
Moscou.
Chatters. J. C.
1986 Tlla ML.1l.s Re.srr~~oir .Archueological Projact. Report to
PUD No. I. Douglas County. East Wenatchee.
Washington.
1989 Pacifism and the Organizat~on of Confllct on the
Plateau of Northwestern 4merica. In Cu1tlire.s in
C'onf1ic.t: C'rrrr.ent .An.hueological Per.s/~acti~~e.s, edited by
D. Tkaczuk and B. Vixian. pp. 241-52. Archaeological
4ssociation of the Un~xersity of Calgary. Calgary.
Alberta.
Chatters. J. C.. and M K Z\\eiifel
1987 Tire C'e~netc,t:l, ut Sntl 'es~t.ane~t.i.t\vtn.Central
Ll'ashington Archaeolog~cal Surley. Archaeological
Report No. 8 7 1 . Central Washington Unixersity,
bllensburg.
Cline. LV. R. G . Comnions. M. Mandelbaum, R. H. Post. and
I.. L. Lt; Ltalters
1938 T I I Sinkuirth
~ or Southarn Oknnogun of 1Vushington.
General Series in Anthropology No. 6. George Banta
Publishing Mrnasha. LV~sconsin.
Cole. D.. and B. Lockner
1989 The ./o~rr.rtrrlc of George .$I Durr.son . British
C'olrrmhiu, 18-5 1878. Unixrrsity of British Colurnb~a
Press. Va~icou\er
Collier. D.. 4 . Hudson. and 4 . Ford
1 942 .I rchueolog?. c!f' the C,>)per C'olrrmhiu Rt,gion.
Publicat~onsin Anthropology 9(1):I-178. University of
Washington. Seattle.
Combes. .I. D.
1968 B~r~.irrl Pructicer nr un Indicator. of' Cult~ir.alC-/lunge
rrt (he Lon.er Snuke Riwr Region. Unpublished Master's
thes~s. Department of Anthropology. Washington State
Un~\ersity.Pullman.
1992 Ilrrmun Rc~spon.si~s to Cltunga in Coa.stul
Gco~tio,p/tologj,und Frrrrnrr on the Southern .Vort/tir.e.st
C'ou\t: 4rchrraologiculInvestigntion.s nt Seaside. Oregon.
4nthropolog1cal Papers No. 4. Unixers~tyof Oregon.
tugene
Crabtrer. R. H.
1957 EUI Birriul Site.\ in Centrul Mushington. Unpublished
1993 I.\ There ti Dog in the House. Tha Crrlturul
Srgrirficuricr qf' Preltr~torrcDomerticuted Dogs in the
\lit1 I-izrrer R i w r Region c?f' B r i t i ~ h Columhirr.
Linpubllshed Master's thesis. Department of
.4rchaeology. Simon Fraser Unixersity. Burnaby. British
C'olumb~a.
1960 Crrlrrrrtrl Sryuc~rice.\ cit The Dulles. Oregon.
'fransactions of the American Philosophical Society
50( 10). Ph~ladelphia.
1977 P~.rhi\tot:i.of'rhe f i r lG,.st. Unilersity of Utah Press.
Salt Lake City.
Curtis. E. S.
191 1 Thiti. .\orth Anrc~ricunlnditrri. Val. 8. Plimpton Press.
Nonvood Massachusetts.
C'ybulski. J.
1992 1: G i ~ t ~ c ~ n ~Brrriul
~ i l l e G~.ourid.Hrrrttun Remtrins and
Il,~,.rucr,.~. Elemt~r~t.In Bririch Colrrntbiu Cotr,r
Hayden a n d Schulting] CULTURAL INTERACTION ON THE LATE PREHISTORIC PLATEAU
Prehistov. Canadian Museum of Civilization. Ottawa,
Ontario.
Dalton. G.
1975 Karl Polyani's Analysis of Long-Distance Trade and
His Wider Paradigm. In Ancient Civilization and Pade,
edited by J . A. Sabloff and C. C. Lamberg-Karlovsky. pp.
63-132. University of New Mexico Press. Albuquerque.
Danvent, J.
1996 The Prehistoric Use of' .Vephrite on the British
Columbia Plateau. Unpublished Master's thesis.
Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University,
Bumaby, British Columbia.
Daugherty, R. D.
1952 Archaeological Invest~gations in O'Sullivan
Reservoir. Grant County. U7ashington. American
.4ntiquig, 17:371-83.
Daugherty. R. D.. and E. A. Dammel
1952 Preliminary Excavat~onsof a Burial Site on the Snake
River. Research Studies of' the State College o f
Washington 20(3): 122134. Pullman.
Dawson, G. M.
1892 Notes on the Shuswap People of British Columbia.
Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada 2 : 3 4 4 .
Montreal. Quebec.
Duff. W.
1956 Prehistoric Stone Sculpture of the Fraser River and
Gulf of Georgia. Anthropology in British Columbia
5:15-151.
1975 Images: Stone: B.C. University of Washington Press,
Seattle.
Dumond D. E.. and R. Minor
1983 The 12'ildcat Canyon Site, Anthropological Papers No.
30. University of Oregon. Eugene.
Earle, T.
1990 Style and Iconography as Legitimation in Complex
Chiefdoms. In The Uses of S ~ l in e A ~ h u e o l o g . ~edited
~,
by M. Conkey and C. Hastorf. pp. 73-81. Cambridge
IJniversity Press, Cambridge.
Eldridge, M., and A. Stryd
1983 C.N. Rail Railyard Expansion Project Heritage
Mitigation Study, Kamloops Junction, B.C. Report on
file with the Archaeology Branch, Ministry of Small
Business, Culture, and Tourism, Victoria. Britlsh
Columbia.
Emmons, G.
1923 Jade in British Columbia and Alaska and Its Lse by
the ~Vutives.Indian Notes and Monographs No. 35.
Museum of the American Indian-Heye Foundation. New
York.
Erickson. K.
1990 Marine Shell Utilization in the Plateau Culture Area.
hrorthwest:Inthropologicul Research ,Votes 24( 1):91-144.
Flannery, K.
1968 The Olmec and the Valley of 0axat:a: A Model for
Inter-regional Interaction in Formative Times. In
Dumbarton Oaks Conference on the Olnlec. edited by E.
Benson, pp. 79-1 10. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington. D.C.
Friedman, J.
1975 The Prehistoric Uses of Wood at the Ozette
Archaeological Site. Ph.D. dissertation. Washington
State University, Pullman. University Microfilms. .4nn
Arbor.
Garth, T. R.. Jr.
1952 The Middle Columbia Cremation Complex.
:Imerican Antiquity 18:40-56.
Gerity, T,
1962 Assorted Artifacts, Mostly Bone, from Wakemap
Mound. Screenings 11(7):4.
Gero, J.
1989 Assessing Social Information in Material Objects. In
Time. Energ3 and Stone Tools, edited by R. Torrence, pp.
92-105. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Grabert. G. F.
1970 Prehistoric Cultural Stability in the Okanogun Calley
of 1Va.shington and British Columbia. Unpublished Ph.D.
dissertation, University of Washington, Seattle.
1973 Okanagan Archaeology: 1966-67. S,vesis 7 (supple­
ment 2).
Greengo, R. E.
1982 Studies in Prehistor?: Priest Rapids ant1 Kanapunz
ReservoirAreas. Columbia River: Mshington. Department
of Anthropology, University of Washington. Seattle.
1986 Prehistor? of the Priest Rapids-Wanapun~ Region.
Columbia Rivet: P'ashington. BAR International Series
290, British Archaeological Reports. Oxford.
Hall, C.
1958 Bonework from Wakemap Mound. Screenings 7(5).
Handy, W.
1924 Samoan IIouse Building. Cooking, and Tattooing.
Museum Press, Honolulu. Hawaii.
Harris. J.. and H. Galbraith
1958 Untitled. Screenings 7(9):2.
Harrison. P. D.
1961 Report on the Archaeological Survey of the High
Arrow Reservoir. Unpublished manuscript on file at
Department of Anthropology. University of British
Columbia. Vancouver.
Hayden, B.
1990 Nimrods, Piscators, Pluckers and Planters: The
Emergence of Food Production. Journal of
.4nthropologicalArchaeolog?: 9:3 1-69.
1992 Conclusions: Ecology and Complex HunterfGatherers.
In A Comple,~Culture of the British Colunzhia Plateau:
St1 'at1'imx Resource Ltse, edited by B. Hayden, pp.
525-564. University of British Columbia Press.
Vancouver.
1995 Pathways to Power: Principles for Creating
Socioeconomic Inequalities. In foundation.^ of Social
Inequalify. edited by T. D. Price and G. Feinman, pp.
15-85. Plenum Press, New York.
1996 Tile Pithouses of Keutley Creek. Harcourt. Brace,
New York.
Hayden. B., and J. Spafford
1993 The Keatley Creek Site and Corporate Group
Archaeology. B.C. Studies 99: 106-139.
Heizer. R. F.
1942 A Decorated Mortar in Columbia River Art Style.
American Anthropologist 44(1):534-537.
Hewes, G.
1973 Indian Fisheries Productivity in Pre-contact Times in
the Pacific Salmon Area. .Vorthue.st Anthropological
Research !Votes 7(2):135-155.
Hills, L. \!
1971 A Talus Burial Site (EqQw I), Skwaam Bay. Adams
Lake, British Columbia. In Ahoriginal Mun and
Environments on the Plateau of AVo,thwest America.
edited by A. H. Stryd and R. A. Smith, pp. 27-35.
Student's Press. University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta.
Hudson, D.
1994 IJpper Similkameen Ethnographic and Ethnohistori-
 AMERICAN ANTIQUITY
cal Overliew. Paper presented at the B.C. Studies
Conference. Okanagan University College. Kelowna.
British Columbia.
Huntzinger. D.
1962 Bone Comb. Screenings 1l(3).
Iverson. T. M.
1977 The Tucannon Burial Relocation Project, Columbia
Couno: Washington. Anthropological Research
Manuscript Series No. 43. University of Idaho. Moscow.
Jackson. H. E.
1991 The Trade Fair in Hunter-Gatherer Interaction. In
Behteen Bands and States, edited by Susan Gregg. pp.
265-286. Center for Archaeological Investigations.
Occasional Paper No. 9. Southern Illinois Unilersity.
Carbondale.
Johnson. M.
1975 Identificacion de jade y tecnicas para trabajar el jade
de Mesoamerica. Presentacion a1 Mesa Redonda de la
Sociedad Mexicana de Arqueologia. Tegucigalpa.
Honduras.
Johnson-Fladmark. S.
1973 Shuswap Lakes Archaeological Project. Report on
file with the Archaeology Branch. Ministry of Small
Business. Culture. and Tourism. Victoria. British
Columbia.
Keddie. G.
1981 The Use and Distribution of Labrets on the North
Pacific Rim. St.esi.s 14:59-80.
Kennedy D. I. D.. and R. Bouchard
1992 Stl'atl'imx (Fraser River Lillooet) Fishtng. In .,I
Comp1e.x Culture of the British Coltrnlbia Plateau, edited
by B. Hayden. pp. 266-354. University of British
Columbia Press. Vancouker
Kent. S.
1980 Pactfism: A Myth of the Plateau. .Ibrthit,est
Anthropological Reseawh .%tes 14: 125-34.
Keyser. J. D.
1992 l n d ~ a nRock Art of'the Colunthttr Plateau. Unilersity
of Washington Press. Seattle.
Krause. A.
1956 The Zingit Indian.,. Unilersity of Washington Press.
Seattle.
Krieger. H. W,
1928a Prehistoric Inhabitants of the Columbia River\ralley.
Erplortrrrons anti Fieldwork. pp. 133-140. Smithsonian
Institution. Washington. D.C.
1928b A Prehistoric Pit House Village Site on the
Columbia River at Wahluke. Grant County. Washington.
Proceedrngs oj'the Stnithsonian Institution 73(1 1): 1- 29.
Kroeber. A. L.
1939 C~rlturuland .Vuturul Areas o f . l b t t ~ ~.Vor.th
e ?nterrcu.
University of California Press. Berkeley.
Lamb. W. K. (editor)
1960 The Letter.? and Journals c!fSitnon f.Yaser 1806- 1808.
Macmillan. Toronto.
Larsson. L.
1989 Btg Dog and Poor Man. Mortuary Practices in
Mesolithic Societ~esof Southerti Sweden. In ?pprotrche$
to Swedish Prehistor)., edited by T. B. Larsson and H.
Lundmark. pp. 21 1-223. BAR International Series 500.
British Archaeological Reports, Oxford.
1990 Dogs in Fraction-Symbols in Action. In
Conrribtrtions to the ,Mesolithic in Europe. edited by P
M Ver~neerschand P. Van Peer, pp. 153-160. Leuven
Untversity Press. Leuven. Belgium.
[Vol. 62, No. I', 1997
Leonhardy. F., and D. Rice
1970 A Proposed Culture Typology for the Lower Snake
Riler Region, Southeastern Washington. ~Vorthwest
.-lnthropological Research ,Votes 4(1):1-29.
Lewis-Williams. J. D., and T. Dowson
1993 On Vision and Power in the Neolithic: Evidence from
the Decorated Monuments. Current Anthropolog.~
34:55-65.
Lynch, A. J.
1978 Analysis of Human Skeletal Remains from Umatilla,
Oregon. In Archaeological Burial Relocation at Old
Ciatilla, Oregon. edited by D. Rice. pp. 72-91.
1-aboratory of Anthropology. University of Idaho.
hloscoa.
Mackey. H.
1974 The, Kulapu>.an,. Mission Hill Museum. Salem.
Oregon.
Mackie. Q.
1995 The Ta/~honom?@fGroundStone itoodit,orking Tool.\.
BAR International Series 613. British Archaeological
Reports. Oxford.
McGuire. R. H.
1992 .-l ,Mar.urst .lrchtreolog.~.Academic Press. San Diego.
Marshall. A. G.
1991 Nez Perce Subsistence. Paper presented at the 44th
Northwest Anthropological Conference. Missoula.
Montana.
Marshall. G .
1958 Photographs. Screenings 7(9):2.
hfohs. G.
1980 The Heritage Resources of the Western Shuswap
Basin: An Inventory, Itnterpretation and Elaluation.
Report on file with the Archaeology Branch. Ministry of
Small Business. Culture. and Tourism. Victoria. British
Columbta.
1982 The Vallican Archaeological Project. Heritage Site
D j Q 1. Report on file with the Archaeologq Branch.
Ministry of Small Business. Culture. and Tourtsm.
Victoria. British Columbia.
Morton. C.
1960 Talus Cremation. Screenings 9(8).
Murdoch. J.
1892 Ethnological Results (!f the Point Barrob\
Expedition. Bureau of American Ethnology. 9th Annual
Report. pp. 1-441. Government Printtng Office.
Washington. D.C.
Nastich. M.
1954 The Lilluoet: An Account q f the Basis of'lndi~~iilutrl
Status. Unpublished Master's thesis. Department of
Economics. Political Science, and Sociology. Unilersity
of British Columbia. Vancouver.
Nelson. C. M.
1969 Tile Sunset C'wek Site (45-KT-28) and it.? Place in
Plateau Prehistory. Reports of Investigations No. 47.
Laboratory of Anthropology. Washington State
University. Pullman.
Nelson. D. E.. J. M. D'Auria. and R. B. Bennett
1975 Characterization of Pacific Northwest Coast Obsidian
by X-Ray Fluorescence Analysis. Archaeon~etr,.
17( 1):85-97.
Olit er. L.
1991 Found Human Remains 90-17B. Oliter. B.C..
Archaeological Site DhQt-T26. Report on file wtth the
Archaeology Branch. Ministry of Small Business.
Culture. and Tounsm. Victorta. Brttish Columbia.
84 AMERICAN ANTIQUITY
1961 The ,I//clVary Reservoir: A Study in Plateau
Archaeolog?,. Bulletin No. 179. River Basin Surveys
Papers No. 23. Bureau of American Ethnology.
Washington. D.C.
Siegberg. J.
1966 Herzog Progress Report. Screenings 15(9).
Siegberg, R.
1967 McMinnville. Screenrngs 16( 1).
Skinner. M.. and S. Copp
1986 The Nicoamen River Burial Site (EbRi 7), near
Lytton, British Columbia. Report on file with
Archaeology Branch. Ministry of Small Business.
Culture. and Tourism, Victoria. British Columbia.
Sloan. T.. and R. Greengo
1963 Interim Report, Part 11. to the National Park Servlce
Region Four Archaeological Salvage (Wells
Hydroelectric Project). Report on file. Department of
Anthropology. Unitersity of Washington. Seattle.
Smith. H. I.
1899 Archaeology of Lytton, British Columbia. .Memoirs
2(3):129-161. American Museum of Natural History.
New York.
1900 Archaeology of the Thompson River Region. British
Columbia. Merno~rs2(6):401442. American Museum of
Natural History. New York.
1907 Archaeology of the Gulf of Georgia and Puget Sound.
.Memoir 4(6):303441. Amerlcan Museum of Natural
History. New York.
1910 The Archueolog~ of' the )hkima Ialley
Anthropological Papers 6( 1 ). American Museum of
Natural History. New York.
1925-1930 Field notes on file at the Canadian Museum of
Civilization. Ottawa. Ontario.
Smith. W.
1977 Archaeological E.~plorationsin the Columbia Busrn
.1 Report on the ,Mesa Project, 1973-1975. Central
Washington Surtey. Department of Anthropology.
Central Washington Unitersity. Cheney.
Spier, L., and E. Sapir
1930 Wishram Ethnography. Publications in Anthropolo?g?~
3(3):15 1-300. Unitersity of Washington. Seattle.
Spinden. H. J.
1964 The Nez Perce lndians. Memorrs of' the Amer~cun
Anthropological Assoc~ution 2(3): 165-1 74. Kraus
Reprlnt Company. New York.
Sprague. R.
1959 A Comparative Cultlrral Anal.i,sis of an Ind~ar~ Burial
Site in Southwest Washington. Unpublished Master's the-
sis. Department of Anthropology. Washington State
University. Pullman.
1967 Aboriginal Blrriul Practices in the Plateau Region of'
.Vorth America. Ph D. dissertation. Department of
Anthropology, University of Arizona. Tucson. Uni\ ersity
Microfilms, Ann Arbor.
1971 Annotated Bibliography of Lake Roosevelt
Archaeology. Wushington Archaeologist 1 5( 1 ):2-24.
Sprague. R.. and W. H. Birkby
1970 Miscellaneous Columbia Plateau Burials. Tebiwu
13:l-32.
1973 Burials Recovered from the Narrows Site (450Kl I).
Columbia River. UBshington. Report on file at the
Laboratory ofAnthropology. University of Idaho. Moscow.
Sproat. G.
1987 The .Voorku. Sono Nis Press. Victoria. British
Columbia.
[Vol. 62, No. 1 , 1997
Stapp, D. C.
1984 Late Protohistoric Burials with Copper Artifacts In
the Paccfic :Vorthwest. Unpublished Master's thesis.
Department of Anthropology. University of Idaho.
Moscow.
Strong. W D.. W. E. Schenck. and J. H. Steward
1930 Archaeology of the Dalles-Deschutes Region.
P~rblirutrons rn American Archaeology and Ethnolog~.
29( 1):1-1 54. University of California, Berkeley.
Strong. E.
1956 Cremation Artifacts. Screenings 5(9).
1957a Personal Decoration. Screenings 6(2).
1957b UBkemap Mound Bone Artifacts. Screer~irlg6(5).
1958 Some Facts about OMSI. Screenings 7(9).
1959 Stone ,4ge oo the Col~rmbiaRiver Binfords and Mort.
Portland Oregon.
1976 LVakemap .\found. Binfords and Mort. Portland
Oregon.
Stryd A. H .
1973 The Later Prehistot>. yf the Lillooet Area, Britlsh
Columbia. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department
of Archaeology. University of Calgary. Calgary Alberta.
198 la Prehistoric Sculptures from the Lillooet Area of
Brltish Columbia. Daturn 6(1):9-15.
1981b The 1980 lntestigations of the Monte Creek
Archaeological Site (EdQx 15). Report on file with the
Archaeology Branch, Ministry of Small Business.
Culture. and Tourism. Victoria. British Columbia.
1983 Prehistoric Mobile Art from the Mld-Fraser and
Thompson River Areas. In Indran Art Tradit~onsqf' the
.lorthwt.rt Coast. edited by R. L. Carlson. pp. 167-18 1
Department of Archaeology Simon Fraser University.
Burnaby. British Columbia.
Stryd A H.. and J. Baker
1968 Salvage Excavations at Lillooet. British Columbia.
S ~ . e s ~1 :47-56.
s
Stryd A. H.. and L. V Hills
1972 An Archaeological Site Survey of the Lillooet-Big
Bar Area. British Columbia. Syesis 5: 19 1-209.
Swanson. E. H.. Jr.
1962 Tile Emergence qf'Platearr Culture. Occasional Paper
No. 8. Idaho State College Museum. Pocatello.
Teit. J. A.
I900 The Thompson Indians of Britlsh Columbia. .llt,morrs
2(4):163-392. American Museum of Natural History.
New York.
1906 The Lillooet lndians. Memoirs 2(5):195-292.
American Museum of Natural History, New York.
1909 The Shuswap. .llemoirs 4(7). American Museum of
Natural History. New York
19 12a Mythology of the Thompson Indians. .\femoirs
8.199-4 16. American Museum of Natural History. New
York.
1912b Traditions of the Lillooet lndians of British
Columbia. .lournu/ qfArnerican Folk-Lore 25:287-371.
19 17 Folk-Tules of Salishan and Suhuptin Tribes. American
Folk-Lore Society. New York.
1928 The Middle Columbia Sallsh. Pllblicutions in
Anrhropolog,. 2(4):83~-128. University of Washington.
Seattle.
1930 The Sulishun Prbes of rhe Iksrern Plutealls. 45th
Annual Report, pp. 25-396. Bureau of American
Ethnology. Washington. D.C.
Tepper. L. H.
1987 rite Interior Sulrsh Tribes o f Br.itish Coltrmb~a:A
Hayden and Schulting] CULTURAL INTERACTION ON THE LATE PREHISTORIC PLATEAU
Photographic Collection. Canadian Museum of
C~vilization, Mercury Series No. 1 1 1. Canadian
Ethnology Service. National Museums of Canada,
Ottawa.
Turner, N.. and R. Taylor
1972 A Review of the Northwest Coast Tobacco Mystery.
Svesis 5:249-257.
Turner, N., L. Thompson, 41. Thompson, and A. York
1990 Thompson Etitnohotanv: Knowledge and Usage of
Plants bv the Thompson Indians of British Columbia.
Memoir No. 3. Royal British C o l u m b ~ a Museum,
Victoria.
von Krogh. H.
1976 Archaeological Investigations at the Flood and
Pipeline Sites, near Hope, British Columbia.
Unpublished master's thes~s,S ~ m o nFraser Unkersity.
Burnaby, Brttish Columbia.
1978 Archaeological Imestigations in the Spences Bridge
Locality, British Columbia. Report on file with the
Archaeology Branch. M ~ n i s t r y of Small Business,
Culture. and Tourism, Victorla, Br~tishColumbia.
Weld U:
1963 Dentalium: The Money Shell of the Northwest Coast.
Wshington Archaeologist 7(1):4-18.
Wiedemann, P.
1963 The Willows. Screenings 12(6).
Wigen. B.
1984 Archaeological Salvage and Monitoring Proceedings
at Slte EeR1-192. Report on file with the Archaeology
Branch. Ministry of Small Business. Culture, and
Tourism, Victorla, British Columbia.
Willey. G.
1966 It~troduction to American Archaeology, Vol. I.
Prentice-Hall, Englewood-Cliffs, New Jersey.
Wilson, I. R.
1992 Excavations at the Baker Site: EdQx 43. Monte
85
Creek. Permit 91-107. Report on file with the
Archaeology Branch, Ministry of Small Business,
Culture, and Tourism, Victoria, British Columbia.
Wilson. R. L.
1976 Archaeological Investigations Near Kamloops,
British Columbia. Unpublished Master's thesis.
Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University,
Burnaby, British Columbia.
Wilson, Robert L., and Catherine Carlson
1980 Tite Archaeo1og.v of Kamloops. Publ~cat~on No. 7.
Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University.
Burnaby, British Columbia.
Wingert, P. S.
1952 Prehistoric Stone Sculpture of'the Pacific i\;orthwest.
Portland Art Museum, Portland Oregon.
Wobst, M.
1977 Stylistic Behavior and Information Exchange. In
Papers for the Director: Research Essays in Honor of
James B. Griffin, edited by C. Cleland, pp. 317-342.
Academic Press, New York.
Wood, W. R.
1980 Plains Trade in Prehistoric Intertribal Relations. In
Anthropo1og.v on the Great Plains, edited by W. R. Wood
and M. Liberty, pp. 98-109. Unkersity of Nebraska
Press, Lincoln.
Wyatt, D.
1972 The Indian History of' the Nicola Valley, British
Columbia Ph.D. dissertation. Department of
Anthropology, Brown University. Uni\ersity Microfilms,
Ann Arbor.
York, A,, R. Daly, and C. Amett
1993 The?: U'rite Their Dreams on the Rocks Forever: Rock
U,r~tirlgsin the Stein River Valley of British Columbia.
' '
Talonbooks, Vancou\ er. British Columbia.
Received Alrglrst 14, 1995: accepted April 8, 1996.