Gender and Status Representation in Northwest Coast Burials

Abstract

<p>I apply a contextual analysis to the mortuary data of the Northwest Coast between ca.6000- 1000 BP to show that there are visible temporal and spatial patterns relating to the ways males and females are represented in burials. I have colleted and analyzed the data from 1044 individual burials from 45 burials sites from the north, south and central regions of coastal British Columbia. I examined variables including: burial mode: position of the body: type of interment and the types of grave goods in relation to gender and age groups. The differences between male and female burials are most reflected by the type of grave good(s) and the frequency and type of interment. Although there is no patterning among the burials from the Northwest Coast as a whole, gender-based differences in mortuary treatment are clearly evident within and between regions when the scale of analysis is reduced.</p>