A Greenville Burial Ground: Human Remains and Mortuary Elements in British Columbia Coast Prehistory

Richard W. Parker is an assistant professor of classics at Brock
University in St. Catharines.

This is an analysis of prehistoric burials that were recovered in the
excavation of an ancient shell midden on the Nass river in west-central
British Columbia. The Nass was and is inhabited by the Nisga’a, a
subgroup of the Tsimshian aboriginal peoples. The midden (refuse heap or
dump) appears to have been used exclusively for burials, which can be
(roughly) dated back to two discrete periods: A.D. 600–1000 and A.D.
1200–1300. These burials are of special interest to Northwest Coast
prehistorians, for they constitute a substantial addition to the known
prehistoric burials on the B.C. coast and represent 70 percent of the
currently known burials from the last cultural stage before European
contact.

The book contains detailed studies on the excavations and chronology
(by calibrated radiocarbon), faunal remains, human biology, and
paleopathology, as well as a meticulous investigation of the fascinating
burial practices. The more remarkable features of the burials include
secondary use (as coffins) of food storage boxes, several apparently
packed with elderberries (“rich food” associated with mortality in
Tsimshian myth); a very high incidence (possibly 100 percent) among
women of the use of the labret, an ornament worn through the perforated
bottom lip or cheek; the gender exclusivity of labret use; the
intentional inclusion in one or two burials of a dog’s head, perhaps
associated with a secret society known as the “Dog Eaters.” These
and other features suggest that the midden was reserved for high-status
individuals or members of a single lineage.

In seizing the opportunity to integrate the Greenville material into
the broader context of Northwest Coast mortuary practices, Cybulski has
rewritten a chapter in the region’s prehistory. His observations on
social status and the phenomenon of shell-midden burials are
particularly acute. The presentation of the data is meticulous and
comprehensive, the research methodical and well-supported, and the
conclusions eminently reasonable. Not for the amateur, this is a
scholarly, scientific work of physical anthropology that will appeal
mainly to serious ethnographers, prehistorians, anthropologists, and
archeologists, although a vast array of relatively easy-to-interpret
maps, plans, tables, and photographs of high quality greatly enhance the
presentation of the data.