This book presents the archaeological evidence for the first 5,500 years of prehistory in British Columbia, from about 10,500 to 5,000 years ago. As this period is poorly known even to specialists, Early Human Occupation in British Columbia is a vital contribution to current knowledge about an enigmatic time in a crucially important area of western North America.

New data and syntheses have been integrated with previous data about the period, making this the most comprehensive and up-to-date book on the subject. Chapters cover the evidence for the earliest human occupation in all areas of the province: the Subarctic, the Columbia-Fraser Plateau, and the Northwest Coast.

Contributors to the volume approach the archaeological record from a cultural-historical perspective in which five major cultural traditions are defined, and provide an organizational framework. Although these traditions are based on the distribution of stone tool types, considerable interesting paleoenvironmental data are incorporated throughout the book. The concluding chapter summarizes the later prehistory of the province from 5,000 years ago to the time of European contact.

Early Human Occupation in British Columbia will be an important source for all professional and lay people interested in the prehistory of the Pacific Northwest.