SITE CHRONOLOGY

Location and Environment * Chinookan Culture * Chinookan Material Culture
Site Chronology * The Plankhouse * The Meier Site Excavations * Features * Artifact Photo Gallery
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Some common artifacts of the Multnomah II or Late Pacific period of the Lower Columbia. A=chipped stone projectile points (for hunting land animals). B=composite toggling harpoon head (for hunting sea mammals). C=chipped lithic scraping tool (for processing hides). D=chipped stone 'mule-ear' knife (outline indicates shape before re-sharpening, which produces the illustrated shape), used for a variety of cutting tasks. E=ground stone net weight (for sinking fishing nets). F=ground stone maul (hafted to a wooden handle, used for a variety of tasks).

Several radiocarbon dates were used to date the Meier site. The dates were obtained from charcoal from hearth fires. These dates place the Meier site within the Multnomah II period, also known as Ames' 'Late Pacific' period, as in the following illustration (the black dot indicates the Meier site).

Specifically, Meier dates to between 1400AD and about 1830AD. With European contact at 1792, this indicates that the site was occupied both before and after contact. This has important implications for understanding the site, and we are interested, of course, in the differences between pre- and post-contact life at Meier.

This website created and maintained by Cameron M. Smith.



csmith@sfu.ca