Kathryn Bernick, a British Columbia–based archaeologist and basketry expert with four decades of experience in coastal archaeology of the Pacific Northwest, has assembled an impressive cast of Northwest Coast archaeologists for this volume focused on the archaeology of wet sites and their contents. Wet sites are submerged archaeological sites that contain preserved organic materials, such as plant fibers, basketry, wood chips, planks, and other plant-based artifacts. The uncovering of the Ozette site, a Coast Salish village preserved by a catastrophic mudslide in approximately AD 1700, awakened archaeologists to the fact that up to 85% of a coastal site assemblage may be vegetal and that comparable materials are likely missing from typical sites found on dry land.
Ten chapters in Waterlogged document the methods and analyses necessary to tackle investigations of wet sites, through case studies from southeast Alaska, British Columbia, and Washington State. The book is divided into three sections: Part I, “Discovery and Recovery”; Part II, “Fresh Perspectives”; and Part III, “Unexpected Finds.”
Part I begins with a chapter by Morley Eldridge, who summarizes 50 years of findings from Northwest Coast wet sites and outlines the environmental conditions that typically promote their preservation. He implores us to conduct survey and testing in saturated or submerged areas adjacent to dryland sites. The second chapter is a practical guide by Bernick, based on her extensive experience removing and treating fragile artifacts from wet sites in British Columbia. Her instructions accentuate the difficulties in keeping perishable artifacts wet, structurally sound, and mold free, while ensuring that labels stay dry.
Part II includes four chapters on recent projects within wetland and coastal settings. Two chapters contextualize the modern history of land reclamation, often based on the misconception that wetlands are not habitable or culturally relevant places. Genevieve Hill highlights the biodiversity of interior wetlands and Cowichan traditional knowledge surrounding wetland plant management, ritual bathing, and other spiritual pursuits. Stan Copp and colleagues collaborate with Katzie First Nation community members to understand the cultural history of wetland mounds plowed to make way for blueberry farms in the Lower Fraser River Valley of British Columbia. A 2,000-year-old wet site in this area suggests that mound topography may have offered residents dry places to construct raised house platforms while maintaining proximity to diverse wetland resources.
Grant Keddie's chapter examines Salish Sea fishing technologies that are preserved primarily in wet sites. His analysis of northern- and southern-style self-armed hooks suggests that these hooks reflect functional and regional differences related to local fisheries. Jenny Cohen pursues a “plant-centered” interpretation of the Kilgii Gwaay site, dating to approximately 10,700 cal BP, the oldest site on the Northwest Coast known to contain significant quantities of faunal and botanical materials. Cohen's analyses offer rare insights into early berry processing and the antiquity of split root technology—techniques still used today by Haida basket weavers.
Part III focuses on exceptional artifacts, features, and sites. Duncan McLaren and coauthors examine a 750-year-old cedar bark-rimmed cradle from southwestern British Columbia that exhibits Interior Salish technology and Coast Salish provenience, suggesting that river travel facilitated strong connections between Coast and Plateau peoples. Farid Rahemtulla describes a multiyear collaboration between the Lake Babine Nation and the University of Northern British Columbia, commendable for its First Nations–focused inquiry into riverine fishing weirs and fish-smoking locales.
McLaren and colleagues present findings from two sites in coastal British Columbia with long occupation spans: the Triquet Island site (ca. 11,300–5600 cal BP) and the Kildidt Narrows site (ca. 13,500–2700 cal BP). They paint a vibrant picture of early, watercraft-dependent coastal societies that hunted and fished with wooden bipoints, fish barbs, and atlatls. Pollen analysis enables the authors to construct botanical profiles to differentiate resource procurement camps from residential settlements.
Deidre Cullon and Heather Pratt examine wood traps and weirs on the east coast of Vancouver Island. They propose that longshore weirs were constructed not only near rivers and estuaries but also by coastal communities that had a deep understanding of beach and stream physiology, fish behavior, and spawn habitat.
The guidelines and case studies in Waterlogged outline multifaceted approaches to the challenges inherent in wet-site archaeology. Particularly welcome are emphases on community partnerships, historical ecologies, and paleoenvironmental reconstruction, as well as the breadth of research from academic, consulting, tribal, and museum professionals. Although theoretical perspectives are not well developed or articulated in the book, the empirical finds and material analyses are instructive, and they fill in many gaps left by a historical focus on dryland sites in the Northwest. This compilation is certainly useful for archaeologists working in other coastal and riparian settings, but it is particularly welcome in the Northwest Coast, where wet sites and wetlands are ubiquitous and where paleoethnobotany often gets short shrift.
