Archaeological Evidence
One of the ways we can learn about cultures and civilizations in the past is through the physical evidence that survives. This study of physical remains is a branch of knowledge known as archaeology. Archaeologists examine places where people live and work to try and understand what the daily lives of people were like hundreds and even thousands of years ago.
The sites archaeologists examine are often marked with fire pits, remains of housing, tools, and sometimes shells and the remains of food. From clues like these we can sometimes determine how people lived, what they ate, how they travelled or how they communicated. Our current society is leaving behind remains that may be able to tell people thousands of years from now, how we lived today.
Around 20,000 archaeological sites have been found in British Columbia. Some of them are remains of camp sites, complete villages, rock drawings, and burial sites.
Only a small number of these sites have actually been studied. In fact many sites may exist in the middle of a big city or even in someone's backyard. Two sites that can be visited are:
- East of Vancouver, the Sto:lõ Nation has built Xa:ytem National Historic Site and interpretive centre around the remains of an important cultural site.
- Petroglyph Provincial Park, near Nanaimo, protects rock carvings.
