Mid-Holocene river development and south-central Pacific Northwest coast prehistory: Geoarchaeology of the Ferndale Site (45WH34), Nooksack River, Washington

Abstract

Sediments, soils, mollusks and fish in archaeological context are used to deduce mid-Holocene delta positions and reconstruct the paleoenvironment of a southern Pacific Northwest coastline. Recent investigations on the upper Nooksack River delta in western Whatcom County, northwestern Washington State, provide evidence for a temporal delay in delta construction and a model for applying geological evidence to mid- to late- Holocene site location. Geoarchaeological and paleoecological data derived from the 6 mile (10 km) inland alluvial Ferndale archaeological site-complex, including the shell midden site 45W34, are used to test two models of Nooksack delta development in an effort to better explicate the complexities associated with human land use patterns in a dynamic coastal plain river valley.