Syesis: Vol. 7, Supplement 2

Garland F. Grabert: Okanagan Archaeology: 1966–67 A descriptive account of archaeological surveys in the Okanagan region is given. Sites tested range from a historic matlodge through components of the Kamloops Phase to unstratified components that, typologically, appear much earlier.The latter are expressed in sites at Rawlings Lake, on the Salmon River, at Otter Lake, Tonasket, and Coulee Creek. These components appear earlier than a workshop and dwelling site at Marron Lake, where microblades appear in mid first century BC context.Several museum and private artifact collections indicate a variety of lithic traditions. Comparison suggests only tenuous ties with the Lytton-Lillooet region before the first millennium BC. Nor are there strong indications of a continuum of homogeneous lithic traditions from the Thompson River to the mid-Columbia. However, there is some indication of continuity in the private and museum collections.At the late prehistoric level, many cultural similarities appear. Comparison of the northern valley with the southern extremity suggests a technical gradient with stronger ties of the latter subregion to the southern Columbia Plateau.The exploration presents a body of data from controlled excavations. These data provide a basis for an eventually more precise interpretation of regional prehistory.