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f 
 
 SkctionII., 1895. 
 
 [103] 
 
 Tranh. R. S. C. 
 
 VI. — Lntir Preliistorir Man in liritish ('uluiuliiii. 
 \W ('iiAHi.Es Hill-Tout. 
 
 ({'oniiminicated hy Dr. (i. M. I)iiw-!o:i, May 15, lrtl>."i.» 
 
 The lollowinijj nolos ami observations on some aneient IJritish Col- 
 umbian middens and lumiili in the viuiiiity of the Lowei- Kraser are 
 offered in the hope that thev may be found to possess some ethnologieal 
 value, and also with the (hisire to call forth a wider and more uilive 
 intei-est in these vanishing and, for the most part, unrecorded vestiges of 
 u distant past. Tlie writer's explorations among these melaneholy monu- 
 ments have led him to believt' that we jtossess in them valuable reeonls ot 
 the prehistoric conditions of the aborigines of this section of the i'aeitic 
 slope and of their anti(piity in that region. The middens of Hurope and 
 of the Atlantic seaboard, and the mounds of the great central and tnist- 
 ern valleys, have long been classic ground to the arclneologist. and much 
 labour and attention luive been profitably bestowed upon them ; but the 
 middens and tumuli of British ('olumbia are as yet but little known to 
 him. and have not up to this time, I think, n-ceived any serious or sys- 
 tematic attention at his hands. Vet the tumuli herein described consti- 
 tute a distinct type of I heir own, with many inleresling and uniqiu' fea- 
 tures about them ; and the midden from which the relics figured in the 
 accompanying plates, I.. II.. III., were taken exceeds in mass and area 
 the largest middens of Denmark, and abounds in interesting ethnological 
 data. This particular midden, for which the name -(Ireat Fraser .Mid- 
 den " has been suggested by the writi'r. is upwards of 1.400 feet in length 
 and 3t>(t feet in breadth ; and covers to an average depth of about .'). and 
 to a maximum depth of over !.">. feet an area ex(!eeding 4A acres in extent. 
 It is composed of the n-mains of shells, mostly ot' the clam {Trulacna, s|>.) 
 and mussel {ATytilus edulis .■), intermingled with ashes and other human 
 refuse nuitter. It is situated on the right bank of the uoitli arm of tho 
 Fraser a few miles up from its present mouth and opposite the alluvial 
 islands called Sea and Lulu Islands, The existence of so extensive a 
 midden, composed so largely of the remains of shellHsh that belong to 
 salt water, at such an unusual distance from the nearest clam and 
 mussel-bearing beds of to-day. was for a time a puzzle to me. I could 
 perceive no satisfactory reason why these midden makers should have 
 chosen this paiMicular site for their cum ping-ground insteatl of one five or 
 six nnles farther down the bank and nearer to the present so\irce of suj)- 
 ply of these muchcoveted dainties of (heir larder. .\nd upon discovery, 
 u little later, of other middens still higher up the river by tifteen (u* si.\- 
 
 1 2253-''^ 
 
lO^ 
 
 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 
 
 tofii miles, tlic |iiiy./,l(' liecaim' |tr<)i)()rlioimtoly <{r('utor. I found it «lirti- 
 cult to Imlievc tliiil tlio i'lionnons mass of sl»ell-Hsli wlioso remains enter 
 so largely into the composition of these great piles had l)een lahorifMisly 
 bi'ought u)i against the stnnim in canoes or ' paeke(l " mi the hacks of 
 the patient • kliitchi'ians. " It was too contrary to the genius of tiie 
 j)eo|>le to suppose this. Making a hrief survey of tin- district, a little 
 later, the fact \va> disclosed that the nu)uth of the I'iver was formerly 
 sonii' twenty miles higher up than it is at present, and that the sail, 
 waters of tlie (iulf nf (J-eorgia had in hygone days laved the hase of the 
 <leclivity on which the city of \ew Westminster now stands, and had 
 passed on from thence and met the fresh waterof the Kra.ser in the neigh- 
 hoiirhood of the little wayside village of Port lEammoml. And, further, 
 that the largi' islands, now inhahited l»y ranchers, which liar in mid- 
 stream the onrush of the annual freshets, nnist once have had no exist- 
 ence at all. and even after their formation had begun must have exist«'d 
 for a very considerahle period as tidal tiats. such as are seen today stret,;li- 
 ing heyond the whole dcltii fur a distance of tive oi- six nnles. That thi.se 
 islamls wen- once tidal Mats is certain from the fact that the water from 
 the wellsflugon them liy the ranchers is so ltra(d<ish that tlu- waterof the 
 I'rascr is preferred to it. And. further, that when in this condition tliey 
 atl'orded slu^lter to sheli-tish similar to those whose ren\ains are found in 
 the middens near hy. is clearly evidence<l hy the tact that beds (d similar 
 .shells are frci|nently met with. /// sUn. as I have been credibly informed, 
 when iligging for water in the interior parts of the islands. Hut as this 
 discovery seemed to point to a rather remote ]>ast for the formation of 
 these ndddens. I was reluctant to admit the obvious inference, until I had 
 ascertained that the enormous slumps ot ceilar and rir which I found pro- 
 jecting froiii the midden — se\ei'al of which have a diameter of from six 
 to eiu^ht teel. and indicate by their rinu's from live to seven centuries' 
 growth — had their i-ools actually in the midden itself; and had obviously 
 •frown there siuce the mid<len had been formed. Ascertaining this by 
 personal excavation, and realizing that nearly three-ijuarteis of a millen- 
 Jiiuii- had passed away, for certain, since the middt'us had bei'n ai.)andone(l, 
 J could no longer resist the inference that they had been formed when the 
 islan<ls opposite and below them were tidal shell-bearing tlats ; and I have 
 since found no reason for questioning that eonchision. 
 
 The (piestion now naturally arises. When and for what reasons was 
 this ancient camping-ground abandoned? Was it at a period shortly 
 befoi-e the appearant'c upon them of those forest giants whose size and 
 approximate age I have just mentioned, oi- was it at a much earlier date ; 
 and was it abandimeil because the ]>articular communit)' dwelling there 
 had been exterminated by their enemies, or was it because the clams and 
 mussels gave out in consequi-nce of a sudden or a gradual rise in the level 
 of the neighbouring Hats? In seeking an answer to these queries, the 
 
fiiii.L-ToinJ l-nKHISTOltlC MAN IN lilUTlslI COLUMIUA 
 
 106 
 
 t;au8t' of till' iibaniloiiim'Ml of so iiiicient a (•ampiiiirifnuiiKl may iKissiMy 
 l»<> found in tliis last vcason. Tliat is a irntiliial. nr |»()ssil)ly a siKidon. 
 deposition <»f rivcc d«'trit»is <>n tiit'sc flats raist-d lluMii aiiovc tlio ivach of 
 oniinaiy tides, and so brought about tiic t'xtinctif)n of the slu'ii-tish at this 
 (loint, and made it desirable for tbe natives to seek a canip lower down 
 tlie I'iver, where tbe molluscs were able, as now, to maintain an existence. 
 This explanation has tlie advantai^e of simplicity, and seems |)lausil)lc ; 
 but the former cause sun'ifcsted is not unlikely tbe truer one. The aban- 
 donment, many centuries ago. of so nwmy other middens elsewhere in tlie 
 district alonii' the neiifbbouriny l)ay> and iidets. where no such cause as this 
 can Ik.' as.si^iied — wbci'c clams and mussels still exist in y-rcal i|uantitics. 
 und have .so existed from time imnu'tntuMal. as the extensive inidden-piles 
 now testify — seems to call for a more comprehensive and less local explan- 
 ation. And further evidence and a moi'c tborouii'h inv('sti<fation than I 
 have thus far been able to ijive them nuiy contirm the conjecture, which 
 certain other evidence would seem to su|(|iort, that the intrusion of the 
 Salishan emiu:rants into this district, ami the inevitable extirmination of 
 many of the former inhabitants, is more likely the ival cause of the deser- 
 tion of this an<l the many other ancient campiny-n'roiuids of this retfion. 
 Should this conjoeture hereafter prove to be the truth, the results of 
 Dr. Boass study of the Cowilchin tongue will receive an intcrcstiui;' ami 
 indept'udent contirmation. The discus.-ion and settlement of this (pies- 
 lion. however, must needs be left till further t-vidcnce has bt'cn li'athered. 
 In considerini;' the time ir/,rn the abandonment look place, the phys- 
 ical chan<;e.- which have clearly taken place in the estuary since the 
 shells which enti-r so lurn'cly into the comjiosition of the miildens were 
 _i;athi'red from the tidal flats that have simc become tree-clad and cul- 
 tivable island.s. afford us .some clue to work upon in the case of the mid- 
 den under consideration. If we can ari-ive at an estimati- of the ai;e of 
 the islands, we shall uet some idea of the period ot' abandonment ; for 
 there is little iloubt. I think, that these Fraser middens were wholly formed 
 Itcforc those physical chanifcs which transformed the shclibearin;,^ flats 
 into islands, took place. In seekini; to form this estimate, we are assisted 
 in some measure by the independent. I'xtrancous evidence of the enormous 
 tree-stumps now found in the miilden ; and although l*rofes.sor CyruK 
 Thomas has shown, in his investigations among the mounds east of the 
 llockies, that no great reliance can be placed upon the eviilence of the age 
 of trees based upon the number of their rings, the sizi'. condition and other 
 characteristics of I hi'se stumps, all warrant one in saying that many of 
 them are from 500 to 700 years old. The age of the islands, then, cannot 
 be less than the age of the midden trees, though it may not be very con- 
 siderably greater. Hxactly bow much older they are it seems impo.s.sible, 
 from the evidence at bund at present, to say with any certainty. There 
 is nothing in their tbrnuition, as far as 1 have been able to learn, for 
 
106 
 
 KOYAL SOCIKTY OK CANADA 
 
 whii'li it is lU'ccs'iiry to assiifii a j^n-iitfr loui^tii i»t' tiiin' than 1,000 jvarn. 
 Tiioy aiT wliolly alluvial, ami only just aliovt- llm li'vel of tin- IVt'sIi»'t(< 
 and liif^li litlfs. ami wi'iv olU-ii. In-loro tht'V wciv ilylci'd. <luriii<^ tlio 
 aniuial firslu'ts. cxtt'iisivcly imiiidatiMl. And altlioni;li tlwy are in their 
 higher parts now thirkly coviTod with tiniln'r, I haw not hoen ahU- to 
 Hnd ov iicarol" a tree nioir tiian a tow foot in diainotor or of nioro than 
 throo or fonr conlurios irrowth at most. It mij^ht oocMir to somo lioro 
 that tho host waj* to irot at tho ayo ot' the islands would ho to ascortaiH 
 the rato at whioli tho do]M)sits iti tho Krasor aooumulato at this i)oint, ; 
 hut a littlo oxpoiioiioo of tho ways of the Frasor would soon oonvinoe 
 tlioin that this would ho no oasy task. To lio;j;in with, thoro is no uni 
 form rato of doposit ; tho amount of detritus hrou;Ljht down hy tho rivor 
 doponds altoixolhor upon oausrs hoyond our oontrol or oaloulation ; the 
 quantity hrouyht down somotimos in ono year oxeooding th.at of any 
 other half dozen. Last yoar was an instunoo of tho kind ; and oasos like 
 last y«'ar happen every now and aij;ain at unoortain intervals, ff amount 
 of matter hrought down hy the water counted for anything, then i.sland8 
 as largo or larger tlwin those now existing might have hoen formed, if oir- 
 oumstanoes had hoen favourahlo. during last year's freshet. It will easily 
 be seen from this statement how useless it is to go' to tho rivor for infor- 
 mation. If, then, 1 am oorroet in estimating the period which has olapsoi' 
 since tho flats ceased to support shell-tish and took on tho form of islands 
 at a thousand years, something liki' this period has, in all prohahllity, 
 elapsed since this oamiiing-ground was ahandoned by its ownei's, if on 
 account of the extinction of their chief food su])ply at this point; and 
 po.ssihly a very much longer jieriod if from tho other cause suggested, 
 which much of tho ostoological evidence gathered from those middens 
 seems to support, viz,, iho invasion of a hostile pooi»li'. ihit placing the 
 abandonment at the latest possible date consistent with tho presence and 
 condition of tho stumps, say 500 years ago, when to this has been ailded 
 the period covered by the formation of tho midden mass, wo still tind 
 oui-selves in tho possession, in this extensive pile of refuse, of a monument 
 of the past second to none in tho country in antifiuity. That tho accu- 
 mulation of such a heap of human refuse as this midden presi'iits. to make 
 no mention of others almost as largo, occupied a very considerable period 
 of time there can be no doubt, I think. It possesses many features of the 
 Danish hjiicldu'ii-inocildltdji r. which led such eminent invostigatoi-s as 
 AVorsaao. Stei'iistrup and TiUbbook to regard the period of formation of 
 those well-known piles as extending, in the wonls of the learned author of 
 tho " Origin of tho Aryans." over • many centuries at least, more probably 
 several millenniums. ' I am not unjustified, therefore, in claiming a very 
 considerable period of time for tho accumulation of these similar and 
 much larger heaps of Mritish Columbia. Viewing it, thcroforo, from the 
 most conservative standpoint, it may bo reasonably conceded, I think. 
 
[hiu.-toitI PKEiriSTOUIC MAN IN HIUTISII COLUMIUA 
 
 I07 
 
 lliiil tlif tii>t liiytTs (tf tliis ihiiliU'ii nml'l lianlly liavc Ipcfii laiil down 
 iiiiich liittr iliiiii tilt' iH'niniiinj; of om- own era. Tlial tliis |iarticiilar 
 iniddrn-pilt' was slowly torint'<| tliroiiu;li tiic ci'iitunos. and was not the 
 rapid aocuniidalions of a larni- liody of iicoplc, is more llian proliaiilc 
 from tin- liii'l that liiert' arc on its snrfacc, at sonic distance fnmi cadi 
 otiicr. fonr or live crowns or eminences — dnc as I have pcrsonalU' ascer- 
 tained, not to any local elevation of the snlisoil, Imt wholly to an increase 
 in the midcU'n-mass ilself — which, from what we know of the mode of' 
 more recent accumnlations of the kind, we may rcasonalilv infer were old 
 fannly centres. Kmm these feat nri's. as well jis tVom many other nanor 
 ones, sU(di as the scarcity of relics, in comparison with otln'r campinif- 
 ^rounds where laru;o communilies are known to have once dwelt, it mav 
 fairly he coiichided that this midden was the refuse-heap of a few families 
 only; and when it is reinemhcred wiiat an enormous nuiss (d' stntV there 
 is in ii. wt' are honnd. on any reasonalile hypothesis, lu allow a very con- 
 sidorahlo time for its accumidatioii. .\nd from the fact liiat the midden 
 is found to overlie with a siiarp line ot' division the (dean, coarse gravel of 
 the Drift — which, as far as I have been ahlo to discover, shows little or 
 no t nice of vegetal lie matter, wdicreasthe soil in the immcdiati' vicinity of 
 tlie midden and all along this hank is rich, dark and loamy to a depth of 
 from a few inches to over a foot — it is pretty certain there was a set- 
 tlement on this hank hefore the a|ipearance of [lost -glacial vegetation in 
 that district. Then the midden-mass itself hears unmistakable testimony 
 to its extreme age, nearly everything taken from it. except the stones, 
 being in the last stage of decay ; an instance of whitdi is the condition (d' 
 the shell remains, tieiierally speaking, the shells when taken out whole, 
 which haiipcns rareh', all crumble to pieces at the tomdi, even when tliey 
 bear no marks of tire on them. And that the clam shell, at any rate, is 
 exceedingly endurable is clear from the fact that trees of over half a mil- 
 lennium's growth arc re|ieatedly found along Hurrard Inlet growing over 
 refuse-lieaps and gripping with their roi)ts whole clam shells, as |)erfecl 
 and tirin as the day they were thrown out. 1 have shells in my pos.sc,s. 
 sion that cannot be less than five centuries oltl, from the position in which 
 they w»'re found, but yet it would pii/zle anyboily to [)ick them out from 
 a number of others of the same kind from whi(di the tish wen- taken only 
 a few years ago. There arc numerous other signs besides this I hat speak of 
 extreme age. It rarely happens that a skull is taken out whole; it generally 
 falls to i)ieces in handling. Then again, not a particle of wood has been 
 found in the midden so tar. unless it be the rotting rootlets of the trees 
 that penetrate the mass to a depth of several feet. Axe- and tomahawk- 
 heads, which were undoubtedly once fastened into wooden hatts or 
 Iiandles, are ipiite common ; but where they arc found there is never any 
 trace of their woodiMi hafts to be seen. These and sundry other uninis- 
 tukal)le evidences all seem to the writer to speak clearly of the auli(j[uity 
 
108 
 
 KOYAL SOCIKTY OF CANA1>A 
 
 of the iii-fuiiiultilioii. I am anxiourt not to exaj^fjoralf this anli(iuity, 
 t's)Kicially in tin- f'aco of the concliixioii airivccl at by I 'rot. Cynis Thomas 
 alter long and can'fiii iiivt-stif^atioiis in tlio nioumi and niiddon districts 
 oasi of till' l{o('l<ii's.' I nieroi}' dt'siiv to stati- the fads of tin- case as thoy 
 appear to tiioso wlio iuivo visited and examined tiiis midden; and think 
 it possible that further investigation will make it nect'ssary ti» i-xteiid 
 rather than to curtail the ago liere indicateij. 
 
 In the accompanying i'lales 1., II., 111. are tigured a fair sample of 
 the relies thus far taken from this miilden. There is nothing particularly 
 8trikingeithorin the utensilsor weapons recovered from it. They are mostly 
 simple in make and design, and such as are found among othei- primitivt^ 
 poopli elsewhere. No pottery of any kind has been found in these mid- 
 dens; indeeil the ceramic art appears to have been wholly unknown to 
 the aborigines ol' Mritish ("olumbia. The mortars or bowls and pestles 
 figured in the plates were not. ius is often snp|)osed, for corn-grinding 
 purposes. They do not seem to have pos.scssed such ; no grain of any 
 kind being known, as far as the Avriter has been able to discover, among 
 the "NVest Coast Indians north of the Columbia. Nor have the midilens thus 
 far s>ipplied Ibc smallest evidence of horticulture of any kind. Some of 
 their tools and utensils, such as the pestle, or. more pi-operly, stone-hammer, 
 tigured in plate II.. and tlu' instrunu'Ut ri'si'inbling a belaying-pin, tigur«'d 
 in jtlate III., arc beaut il'ully made and polished. These are wrought from 
 a kind of granite of a hard- and clo.se-grained quality. Others again an- 
 rough and rude in their make. It aj)pears to havi- been customary to 
 fashion their bowls after the likeness of some animal. The tish-head j»al- 
 tei'n appeal's to have been the mo.st common. That shown in plate II. is 
 of an unusual type. It has a bird's head with a (luadruitcd's body, the 
 back being hollowed out in basin form. There was one taken from the old 
 campinggrounds at Port Hammond which had a human face carved on 
 one of its .' U's. the top of the head rising si'veral inches above the edge 
 or rim of the recei)tacle. oi a type that in no way resemb!e(l or suggested 
 the face of an Indian, and of a character wholly dilforent from any the 
 writer has seen elsewhere in British Columbia. Large numbers of barbed- 
 bone sjjear-points are found. The stone adzes, axes, knives and chisels 
 are generally of Jade ; and one or two have been fountl with edges as shar[» 
 and keen as if they were made of steel. Bone needles, with the eye some- 
 times in the centre, at other times in the end. are often found. A favourite 
 weapon among these midden people seems to have been one formed from 
 the young horn of the elk. These horns in their first growth are rimmi 
 and pointed, and at this stage are selected by the warriors for their poqa- 
 mangans or skull-crackers. The horn was apj>ai'ently insei-ted in a stick 
 or otherwise secured to a haft. They are ajttly termed skull-crackers, for 
 
 ' Vide Twelfth Annual Report of Hureau ot Ethnology, 181K)-91. 
 
[mii.-Ti.rr] I'UEIlISToinc MAN IN lUUTIf^ll COLLMUIA 
 
 1 09 
 
 I. 
 
 «i#' 
 
 10 
 
 I'l.ATi-; I. Bom-; Imim.e.ments i-iiom Middkn. 
 
no 
 
 ROYAL SOriKTY OV CANADA 
 
 Plate II.— Stone Implements from Middkn 
 
Eiiii.i.-Toi I] I'lJKIIISTOlilC MAN IN lilMTISlI (ulUMIUV 
 
 HI 
 
 Pi.ATK in.— Bonk and Siom; I.mpi.dment; 
 
112 
 
 ROYAL : XIETY OF CANADA 
 
 three adult skulls have already been taken from tliis midden with circidar 
 perforations in their crowns evidently made l»y these h()rn tomahawks 
 and as clean cut as if the piece had heen taken out witli a mechanic's 
 punch. Another and sii;-niticant point ahout the recovered crania of this 
 midden is that they represent two distinct types : one decidedly braehy- 
 cephalic, the other no less decidedly doliciiocephalic. The former do not 
 <liti'er greatly from the crania of the Indians liviiin- round the estuary at 
 the present time, and their presence in this midden may be due to intru- 
 sive burials ; but the latter are wlioUy unlike the crania to be found 
 aniou!^ the Cowitchin tribes to-ilay ; nor have 1 seen any so markedly 
 dolichocephalic ani<>n>f the collected crania of the province accessible to 
 me. They are too decidedly dolichocephalic to be classitied among any 
 of the typical gmu])S of this region as given by Dr. Franz Hoas, and 
 sufii-ot attinity rather with the Kskimo or eastern stocks, or with the 
 southern dolichoeephali than with any in this irgion north of California. 
 Tlie cephalic index of one in the jiosscssioii of the .Vrt and Scientitic Asso- 
 ciation of Xew Westminster. H.C., is TSS'), and that of one in the writer's 
 possession is practically the same, being 73S-1 ; while the orbital indices 
 of these two are ^'.i'.Vii and !)l(](» resjiectively. IJoth these crania tira 
 undeformed and normal and those of adults. .V l)rief glance at the tables 
 of thi' physical chara( teristics of tlu' Indians of the Xorthwest Coast com- 
 piled bv Dr. Franz Boas, and jjarticuiarly those of the Fiower Fraser River 
 Indians will clearly show that those (k'ichocephali of the middens form 
 a distinct type of their own and tind no jilace among any of the eleven 
 groups there distinguished by him.' 
 
 Other striking features of these midden crania which ditVerentiate 
 them further from the Lower Kraser grouj) are the extreme narrowness 
 i»f the forehead and the lofty swee]» of the cranial vault. This is particu- 
 larly seen in tlii' height of the transverse are. which as measured in the one 
 in my possession, anil which is not an extreme tyjie, from on.e auditory 
 fora.nen to the other across the sagittal suture is exactly thirteen inches, 
 and the length of a line joining the glabella and the occipital foramen 
 is 14-40 inches. These dolichoceithalic crania are the osteological evidence 
 J hinted at just now which seemed to support the hy])otliesis that the 
 middens td' this region wi're formed by a pre-Salishan people. Whether 
 this is so or not. this much, at any rate, seems certain, that a people of 
 marked dolichocephaly once lived somewhere in this region, for their 
 crania have been found at one or two other points on the Kraser betwi^en 
 Port llamm<»nd and the estuary. 
 
 So far no copper or other metal insti'uments of any kind have been 
 fouiul in these nnddens ; all the ri'lics recovered being either of hone, 
 horn, ivorv or stone. Of these by far tlu' most numero\is are bone; very 
 
 I Vide Seventh Report on the Northwestern Tribes of Can. of tlie British As.so- 
 fiiition, IHitl. 
 
[Hii.L-Toir] rUEinSTORIC MAX IN lUaTISil COLUMIUA 
 
 113 
 
 fVnvof sUmi' are rocovcred. Witli the middens on the shores of Burrard 
 Inlet the vi'vei-se is the case, (ireat numbers of stone instruments, par- 
 ticularly arrow- and syiear-heails. have been ])icked up from the heach 
 which have been washed from the old middens by the tides; tlu- shore 
 at several ])oints here having sunU a]»parentiy some feet iu-low its fonner 
 U'vel. In addition to the spear- and arrow-heads thus found. I have dis- 
 covered at more than one point aloui!; these shores — which seem to be an 
 old armoury of the middi-n jieopjc of that neiifhiiourhood — several maga- 
 zines or stores of ilesiyMieil but nntinished s]ieiir- and arrow-heads, all bear- 
 ing the undoul)ted marks, in the method of their cleavage, of the skilled 
 and ex|»erienced stone worker. A few well-directed blows from a skilful 
 hand have divided lai'gcr masses of desirable stone into numbers of tri- 
 angulai" and ovate pieces, easily transported and worked u|) into finished 
 })oint8 at the arrow-maker's leisure. 'I'lie stune cmnmoidy thus broken 
 up WHS either a dark argillaceous boulder of crystalline (diaracter or 
 boulders of dark gray basalt : and as 1 have been unable to tind any of 
 the former in whole bloeUs or lioiilders. mi the shores of 15urrard Inlet or 
 elsewhere in the lU'ighbourhooil. the breaking bad probably been done at 
 some other point by others; from whom tluy were not unliUely bartered 
 for dried clams, of which they had an inexhiuistible supply here, and 
 which, we" know, were highly prized by inlanil-dwelling tribes. And as 
 the arrow- and spear-lieails I possess, taken from the rAttmi burial ln-aps, 
 are of the same nuiterial it is not unlikely that thi-^ is the direction trom 
 whiidi these stones came, as also the jade tools — ■Jade boulders being occa- 
 sionally I'ounil in the Thompson. 
 
 . li may now !).■ interesting to pass from the nuildens and oH'er a few 
 remarks on the tiuuuli or burial mounds of this n'gion. As tar as is 
 known at present the mounds of Hritish Columbia seeni to be contiucd to 
 llu' ( 'owitchin area. This nuiy not be so in I'eality. It so happens that 
 on account of that area being the most settled and accessible it has re- 
 ceived the most attention from explorers : and this seeming restriction of 
 area may thus be acco'.inted for. .\s the country becomes more wid(i|y 
 settK'dand openi'd up otlu'i's will most probal>ly bi' found in other ])arts of 
 the province. In ordi'r to de>eribe lliese mounds the ln-tter 1 .-liall divid*' 
 them into two groups — the ALdidand group and the Vaneouv(u- Island 
 group. Those on tiie islaiul were tirst discovered some twenty years ago ; 
 and the late Mr. .himes liichardson. of the Dominion Geological Survey^ 
 and Mr. .lami's De;ins. of Victoria. H. C. opeiu'il u]» soiue of them ; hut 
 the result of the investigation was lU'ver ]Hiblished, I thiidi. 1 shall defer 
 a descrijjtion of these for a later occasion, my knowledge of them at the 
 jiresent tinu' being too limited for me to speak with any exactitude 
 about them, and contine my remarks to the Mainland group, which seems 
 the nu)re "'iteresting of the two and which recc'ived its tirst svslematie 
 I'xamimition at the writers haiuls, and upon which he feels he nuiy with 
 
 more proiirietv speak. 
 
 ' ' "^ .S'C. II.. is!t.-i. ■<. 
 
 . 
 
114 
 
 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 
 
 While tlio Vancouver Island group seoms to extend more or less 
 along the coast throughout the Cowitchin area, ft'oni beyond Hooke on 
 the southwest to Comox on the east, that on the mainland is confined 
 at present to a narrow strip on the banks of the Frascr extending from 
 the village of Ilatzic to Port Hammond.' Those opened and examined 
 by myself are found in a cluster on a ranch at Hatzic, on the right bank 
 of the river. These sepulchres, with their ancient mode of burial, belong 
 to a comparatively distant past. The Indians now dwelling in the neigh- 
 bourhood ap4)car to know nothing of them ; disclaim all knowledge of the 
 people who built them and are quite unconcerned at their being opened 
 or disturbed. This indifference in the face of the zealous vigilance they 
 exercise over their own old burial grounds or depositories of the dead is 
 the more striking. The ilitticulty of procuring osteological data from 
 any of the burial grounds of the moilern tribes is well known to any who 
 have attem])tcd to do so, and this unusual indiffei-cnce displayed towards 
 these mounds by the Indians of the district would socin to suggest that 
 they belong to .some antecedent and ;' -gotten tribes. Indeed, an aged 
 Inilian of the i)lace informed the writer that his ])eople called them 
 " Ghost heaps " ; that they were there when they Hrst came into those 
 parts; that no one knew who made them and that no Indian would 
 approach them on any account. Indian traditions, one knows, are not 
 veiy reliable data, but in this instance they support the evidence of the 
 mounds themselves anil may have a basis of trutli in them. Whether 
 they antedate the present tribes or not ibej' were undoubtedly built 
 when a mode of burial jtrevailed very diti'ercnt from that practised by 
 their ancestors when the whites first came in contact with them ; and the 
 osteological data they have yielded reveal a habit of cranial deformation 
 of a kind very unlike that known to have been |)racti8od in this region. 
 
 These tumuli are intt;re.sting, too, apart from the question of their 
 antiquity as they seem to present to us, either a deveiopuient from 
 simple conceptions and ideas concerning the dead to more advanced and 
 complex ones ; or else they mark in a most interesting manner the dif- 
 ferent degrees of honour their builders were wont to i)ay to their dead. 
 For they show a inarkeiily gradiuited transition from simple interment 
 of a body beneath a pile of clay to the construction of comparatively 
 elaborate tombs, composed of a great number of boulders arranged in 
 ])recise and geometrical order and covered with layers of different kinds 
 of sand and clay. But I shall best describe them if I take them in what 
 seems to me from the evidence their natural order, which I find nuiy be 
 with propriety arranged in a fivefold series. The simplest and Hrst of 
 the .series, and. as I am led to believe the oldest, was forme.l by placing 
 the dead body on the ground somewhat below the level of its surface and 
 
 ' Since tlie above was written tlie writer Ims leurnud of tlic uxistence of unother 
 uroup ffvrther .south near tlie houndary line. 
 
[itiLL-ToiiT] PlJRIlISTOinC MAN IN BlUTISII COLUMBIA 
 
 lis 
 
 then lietiping over it the neigh houriiin- soil ; for there are iiollows aroinui 
 these mounds showinjj: that the .soil of which they are formed was taken 
 from the spot. In all Ihest- nio\inds lliroughoiit the whole series, whether 
 simple or otherwise, it should he stated, one hody only was ever interred. 
 Ahout this there is no douht : and this faet of s(>j)arute. individual in- 
 terment is the more strikiiii;' in the more elaboi'ate tomhs, whieh must 
 have occupied many days, if not week-<. in their con.struotion. Many of 
 these simpler and less cons|>icuous mounds have iloulit less heon levelled by 
 the ranchers of that nei^i'lihoui'liood without altractiny attentiim ; as the 
 bones of the hody in these are always fouml wholly decom])osed. witii the 
 single exception at times. ot a iiit of the lower jaw; and their matter has 
 been so closely integrated with the soil that the fact that a body once lay 
 there is only to be discovt'reil by the ju'esence of a darker shade or streak 
 in it : though the enamel casings iit the teeth themselves may generally. 
 1 think, be recovered if the mounds are ojteneil carefully. Absolutely 
 nothing but tlu' teeth, or their remains, or, as stated before, tiny frag- 
 ments of the lower Jaw. which crumble away in the hand, has been 
 found in these clay mounds ; not a vestige of tools, weapons or belong- 
 ings of any kind. And 1 may here add that it is one of the singularities 
 ofthe.se se])ulclin's that not a single relic of stone, not so much as a single 
 Hake of any kind, has been taken from the whole, series, though I have useil 
 the greatest care in seeking for them. In this respect theinternu'nts in these 
 mounds jiresent a strong contrast to thosi' ot' the Shuswaps of the sauil- 
 hills round Lytton, in wbi(di arrow- and s|iear-heads. flakes and other 
 stone relics are fountl in great numbers.' These clay or earth mounds 
 are of varyitig dimensions, some of them evidently tdiildren's graves, 
 being only a few feet high and a yar<l or two in diameter; but like the 
 more elaborate ones are always circular in form, and sometimes have a 
 diameter of 211 to 25 feet. Xext in the series is a class of mounds formed 
 in part like the last but ditfering tVom them in having a pile of bould- 
 ers heaped up ovi'r and around the >pot where the body originally lay. 
 The ])lan of interment in this second class of mounds seems to have 
 been to place the body in the centre of the spot chosen for the grave — 
 whether sitting or prostrate I have not been able to decide, but am in- 
 clined to think it was probalily doubled up in . oino way — and then to 
 surround and heap over it a large pile of boulders; and ovt'r these again 
 to heap up earth to a height of from to !• feet. The third class ditVers 
 from these only in having a stratun\ of charcoal, extending over the 
 whole area of the mounds between the boulders and the outer covering 
 of clav, evidi'idly the remains of a hirge tire. Whether these tires were 
 kindled for sacrilicial oi- for some simpler ceremonial purpose it is impos- 
 sible from the evidence now to say. The slaughter and cremation of 
 
 ' Vide Dr. (J. M. Dawson's Notes on the Sliuswap People of British Columbia.— 
 'I'rans. Roy. Soc., Canmlti, IHiU. 
 
116 
 
 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 
 
 hIiivl's. on thi' death of tlu'ir owner or chief, is not wholly nnknown 
 among the triiu'sof lirilisii Cohnnl)ia ;' hut whether we see an instance 
 of this practice aninng tliese old mound-hnilders, or wlietiier the tires 
 were lighted in the belief that they comforteil the shades of tiie departed 
 on their journey to the nether wi>rld ^ we may never know.' The next 
 order of the series ditfered again from the last in having a large quantity 
 of coarse dark sand in their central pai'ts. It would seem that in con- 
 structing these particular graves, after piling up the boulders over the 
 body the builders had covered them with a deep layer of (juicksand — 
 which in that district underlies the clay top-soil, — and over this again had 
 strewn a layer of this coarse dark sand. Where they procured this latter 
 sand from I am not able to say. There is none like it in the neighbour- 
 hood at present. It is much coarser and darker in colour than that now 
 found in the Fraser near by. But wherever they brought it from they were 
 not sparing of its use. The rancher, on whose farm these tumuli are found, 
 took out from one side of one of these bi'tween twenty and thirty sacks- 
 fid for building purposes ; and when I opened it up later there was still 
 a great ([uantity left in it. This mound is one of the most interesting of 
 the series iiu^smuch as it accidenti}' presents us with some independent, 
 jiositive evidence of their antiquity. On « iie side of its crown the stump 
 of a large cedar tree is seen projecting, the whole in the last stages of 
 decay. To any one who knows anything of the enduring nature of the 
 cedar of liritish Columbia the evidence which this cedar stump offers will 
 be very convincing. A cedar tree will lie on the ground for a thousand 
 years it is estimated by lumbermen and others, and yet its wood will be 
 lirm and good anil tit tr) make up into doors and window-sashes. There 
 is now. not two hundred yards from this mound, a living tir ti'ee growing 
 astraddle ovei- a prostrate cedar log, the age of which, from its dimen- 
 sions, cannot be much less than five centuries; and yet the wood of tlie 
 cedar under it is as solid and firm as if it had been cut down yesterday. 
 It is almost impossible to say how long the cedar of this region will en- 
 dure; and if a claim of one thousand or twelve hundred years bi'maile for the 
 growt h and eompk'te decay of this tree, whose roots have crumbled and moul- 
 dered awa\- amonu; the bones hidden beneath them for manv a lonir vear, 
 most British Columbians will think that a very moderate claim indee«l ; and 
 it is vei-y probable that a much longer jteriod than that has elapsed since 
 the moun<l was constructed. This mound is also interesting from the fact 
 
 I \'i(li Till' Hev. l-'utlier Morice on the IJ«'nes. — Prociu-dings of tlii' Canadimi 
 Institute, lS92-;t. 
 
 '•' Longfellow's Legend of Hiawatha. 
 
 •' Prof. Cyrus Tiioiiias in iiis paper on the mounds in tlie States in the report 
 previon-ly referred to speatjs of a custom wliicli prevailed very extensively among 
 the mound-hnilders of the northern districtsof removing the flesh of the dead bodies 
 before tinal h^'.rial and burning it over the grave when this took i)lace. It i.s possible 
 these tires were lighted for a similar purpose. 
 
[iiiLL-TOUT] PREHISTORIC MAN IN liRITlSII njI.U.MlUA 
 
 117 
 
 that it is tJK' only oiie tlmt has yii'liiod any osteologicai (hita ol' import- 
 ance. Whethi'i" from the larifi' quantity oi' sand in it wliicii may have 
 acti'd an a drain, or from tlu' fact that this hiryc tree stood over it fni- 
 many centuries, or from the combination of circumstances, th*' luiman 
 ronuiins in tliis mound liave lieen better preserved, in part, than in th»' 
 otliers. The long itones and scveralt others, as well as the skull, were taken 
 out almo.st whoU' ; though, unfortunately, all but the skull soun crumbled 
 away. Tliis, happil}'. 1 have been able in ]»art to preserve, it is a strangely 
 deformed skull, and in its excessive abnormahty is probably without a 
 jmrallel throughout this ivgion of contorted crania. !t docs not appear, 
 moreover, to conform to any ot the three types known to have bt'en |irac- 
 tised in former times on this coast.' .V bit of a second skull was rccovi-red 
 fnmi (me of the other mounds curionslj' enough preserved, when even tlie 
 tooth had decayed, leaving nothing but an outline of their foi'm in eiuuuel, 
 by being saturated with the verdigris from a copper ring buried with and 
 alongside it. This piece, though small, is fortunately an important bit. 
 It formed the upper part of the left orbit with adjoining |)ortions of the 
 fronttil boiu^ which shows the same extraonlinary (le|)ression as is seen in 
 the other. From this evidence it would seiMU that these mound builders 
 practised cranial contortion of a very exaggerated kind ami of a tj'pe 
 unlike any known elsewhere in British < 'olumbia past or present. Whether 
 the custom will throw any light upon llieir iustt)ry or bel]i to identify them 
 I'omains yet to l)o seen. To continue the description of the mounds, I 
 may say, the fourth class differs in several I'ssential features from the pre- 
 coding series. The chief cluiracteristic seen here is an outer rectangular 
 boundary of bonldeis, set side by side in the form of a scpuire. having each 
 of its sides facing towards one of the cardinal jiointsof the (ompnss like 
 the pyramids of .Mexico. This square was apparently laid ofl' before the 
 body was interred, which was placed in the centre and covered as before 
 with a pile of boulders similar to those forming the square. Over these 
 again, and between tiiem ar.d the outei' scjuare. a layer of quicksand was 
 )»laced ; then followed a thin layer of the dark gritty sand found in the 
 otiier - nnd ; over this again came more quicksand, followed by a layer 
 of coarso brown sand over the whole extent of the mound extending to 
 and beyond the outer boulders; and on the lop of this the M'pulchi'al tire 
 was kindled. Ovei- the ashes of this tii'c more (|uicksaii(l was heaped, 
 followed by the capping of day. ( l'i</c section of this in plate IV.) The 
 l»ase or floor ot this mound must have been sunk several feet below the 
 level of the general surtiice of the land. The mound stood about six feet 
 ub«>vo the surrounding soil, but its lu'lghl from top to bottom at thecenti\' 
 was nearly eleven feet. The copper iH'acelot tigureil on |»late VI. was 
 taken from this mound. The copjier awl or spindle shown in tlie same 
 
 I Vide Si.xtli Report of tlie H. A. A. S. on llic North western trMx-s of Canada, 
 
 pp. mm. 
 
118 
 
 KOYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 
 
 o 
 
 . 2 "o 
 
 — fc c 
 
 S8 — CO 
 
 J3 s- t> 
 
 ^i> ^ p £ S '5 
 
 r I I I I I I I 
 
 O 
 
 O O" 
 
[hill-tout] prehistoric MAN IN URITISH COLUMIUA 
 
 119 
 
 
 o 
 . o 
 
 r. a; 
 
 X t" ^ 
 3 s 3 
 
 5 0& 
 
 plulo (.-i) was taken from tin- inomul in wliich (ho .skull and bones were 
 found; and the rectangular oliject (a pair of which was recovered) from 
 a mound of the fifth order. The ring on this plate (4) was taken from a 
 mound of the seeoml class and was the one found in conjunction with the 
 bit of skull before spoken of, inclosed in a fold of hide and wrapped up in 
 u wad of cedar bark. Thest^ live co[i|K'r objects, with tiie addition of .some 
 bits of red ochre, a fragment of coarsely woven blanket of the hair of the 
 mountain sheeii ''"•' 'i small quantity of human hair of two colours, black 
 and brown, form the entire collection of i-elics taken from the^e mounds. 
 
 :«) X :«) fi't't. 
 Pi..\iK v. -Plan of Mounds of Fiirii Seriks. 
 
 The next and eoncludino- cla.ss of the series shows a considerable 
 advance upon the preceding ones. The plan here, as seen in plate V., is 
 much more elaborate and complex. Instead of the one outer square as 
 in the others formed by a single line of boulders, we have three squares, 
 one within the other ; in the innermost of which, beneath the pile of 
 boulders, lay the body; and the outer one is composed in this instance of 
 
m 
 
 120 
 
 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 
 
 G 
 
 Platk VI.- Copper Instkvments from Mounds. 
 
[niix-Ton] PREHISTOlflC MAN IN IHUTISH COLU.MIUA 121 
 
 two punillt'l roNVM of Immi1(U'1's, (!appo(l aiui uiiilfil liy a tliinl. I am sony 
 to say that thu siipt'i-ticial mass of this mound, and another aloiiifsidi! and 
 apparently liUe it, iiad Ik'i'U too much disturlicd in't'oro my attention was 
 drawn to them to allow me to nuike a section plan of iheir structure 
 uhove the houldcrs. or to sjieak witii any certainty of anythiny; heyond 
 iheir i^rouiul |)lan. lint Juda;ini; from tlie others and from the sandy 
 condition of the soil on them. I should i)e inclined to say th'y much rc- 
 .sembled those of the fourth class in this respect, in corniection with this 
 ein])loyment of different sands 1 may state that a numiter of mounds have 
 recently hecn opened up on the St. John's iJiver. I'lorida, the chief char- 
 acteristic of whi(di seems to he tiie emjiloyment ol ditl'erent kinds of sand 
 in distinct layers.' 
 
 To t,'ive an idi'a of the labour involved in the construction of 
 these mounds it may !»• stated that it took a num. with the help of 
 a hand harrow and other suilalilo tools, eight days to remove a few 
 yards off the soil oidy from tlu' underlying houldcrs of the m(uin<l who.se 
 ground ])lan is given in plate X . Wliat time it nuist have taUi'U the 
 huilders to eri'cl oiu' of these more elaborate sepulchres with their inferior 
 tools can easily beimagiiu'd. To bring and place the boulders aloiu^ must 
 have taken a number of men many days ; - and many more nnisl have been 
 consnnu'il in bringing such large quantities (d'sand in their simple receji- 
 tacles, anil in digging the clay which cajis the structure throughout its 
 whole area to a dejtth of several feet. Someof tlu' mounds of the Vancouver 
 Island group are pyramidal in form. AVhetlier any of tlu'se lattt'r ones 
 were of that form originally cannot now be detormined. Kxteriorly they 
 present the ajipearance of truncated cones rather than foiir-sideil jiyra 
 mids. but this may easily lie iliie to time and the elements. The boulders, 
 I may here state, fouiul in tlu-se mounds weigh from 2.') lbs. up to 2(M) lbs. 
 each and were apparently brought from some nf the mountain stream 
 beds, iM) stoiu' of any kind, not even a pebble, being found anywhere on 
 the ranch. There are several of these streams a mile or so liack from the 
 river wJiere they might have come from. 
 
 In concluding my remarks 1 trust it may be conceded that the notes 
 T have been al)l»! to gather show that the mounds an<l middens of i5riti.sh 
 Columbia are worthy of the attention of arclucologists ; and that wt' pos- 
 sess in them jiositive and reliable records of the antiquit}' and culture 
 status of the preliisloric tribes of that proviiu'e. That any degree of 
 civilization higher than that manifested by the llaidas and their neigh- 
 bour.s, the Tsimseans. lias ever existed in that region, I think, is extremely 
 doubtful ; the evidence from the mounds and middens all tending to 
 strengthen and corroborate what has been gathered from other sources, 
 
 ' Vide •' Aicliicolo^ist " for April, ISili"). 
 
 - The total weight of the liouklers in this iiioniid could not he estimated at le.ss 
 than 25 to 'M) tons. 
 
122 
 
 ROYAL HOCIKTY OF CANADA! 
 
 that (ho iiliorijL(inos ol' the Nortliwostorn Slope, fmin the >fiickonzio to tlie 
 Y\ikon and I'roin that river to the (^ohiml)ia, if not lu'vond. had scarwly 
 emertfcd t'roni priinitivo savaict'iy and barbarinni whoii Kiiropeans tii-st 
 canu' in contact witli thoni a little ovor a ci'nti ry ai^o. 
 
 My best thanks arc due to my friend Mr. ( arlylo Kllis, of Vancouv«'i', 
 B. C, for his kiml assistance in preparing the dra\vinfi;s for the plates 
 accomi>anying this paper. 
 
 RKMAHKS ON A SKI LI, KItOM IJUITISII COI/IJMHIA. 
 
 '['lie friiKiin-ril of a Hknil fouiiil l>y Mr. Ilill-'rout consists of this roof of thr, 
 craninin, tlu- rivcht t(Mii|ioriil Ixme, a portion of the face and of tlic lower jaw. Owing 
 to the pressuri' siistaini'il in the moist ground the sknil is very much defornied, so 
 much so that t he ad.joininK fragments can no longer he fitted together. The parietal 
 hones show long transversal cracks on the surface, near the vertex, which prove that 
 the curvature of the hones of this region has heen very much increased. To a still 
 higher degree has this deformation taken place hulovv the ()l>elion. The posterior 
 portion of the frontal hone shows a long crack in anteroposterior direction. The 
 bone is so much llatlened that this crack gapes at its lower end. The lower portion 
 of the frontal hone is broken oil' and is not so much flattened by the pressure of the 
 ground ; therefore, the upper and the lower parts of the bone, when flttcfi together 
 in the middle, do not touch at the sides. The right temporal bone is also broken off. 
 Ills leas deformed liy the pressure of the ground, and is therefore much rounder 
 than the roof of the cranium. The preserved portion of the face includes the malar 
 lK)ne, and, therefore. Joins both the frontal and the temporal bones, but cannot be 
 made to lit accurately on account of the post-mortem deformation of the skull. 
 
 The cracks of tiie hones prove that the pressure of the ground was directed 
 against the foreheail and the occiput and that it brought about a considerable flat- 
 tening of the skull. Hut the lower portion of the foreheail shows clearly that during 
 the life of the individual the skull had been deformed in the same manner as is 
 practised by the present Indians of southeastern Vancouver Island, Puget Sound 
 and Fraser River. Skulls of the same type have been found in the stone burials of 
 .southeastern Vancouver Island. The excessive flattening which makes the skull 
 similar to Chinook skulls is due to post-mortem deformation. What little remains 
 of the face, inciicates that its siiape re.semliled the face of the present Indians of this 
 region. The orbit is high and rounded ; the nasal bones are wide and low. 
 
 The skull seeni:s to have belonged to an elderly woman. Its processes are 
 graceful, and it seems ratlier small. The Jaw is not so large as we are accustomed 
 to find among males of this rej5i()n. On the inner side all traces of sutures have 
 disappeared, while the upper portion ot the coronal suture remains discernable on the 
 outside. The sagittal suture is completely synostosed ; the lambdoid suture is very 
 complicated and remains oi)en ; the siiuanious suture is al.so open. The teeth are 
 not so much worn as might be expected from the advanced slate of synostosis of the 
 skull. Their crowns are somewhat worn down, as is always the case with people 
 who eat much food that is cleaned and cooked imperfectly. They are healthy, and 
 no loss of teeth has occurred during life. 
 
 The inside of the frontal bone shows a number of nodular e.xostoses : ont on the 
 left side, two large ones and one small one on the right side. Others are found on 
 the inner side of the temporal bone, and still larger ones, but not so well defined, on 
 the parietal bone. The whole region of the obelion is much thickened. According 
 to Dr. M. Prudden, these fonnations are not of syphiliatic origin. 
 
 Fhanz Boas. 
 
and