November 2010 - BC Hydro

4.2 Sampling Design
Duncan Dam Reservoir Archaeological Overview Assessment Final Report
The objectives of the present survey sampling design were to identify components of the
landscape likely to have associated pre-contact archaeological remains, to stratify the sample
objectively to yield optimal coverage of target landforms, and to examine these via field survey
to confirm and describe relationships between archaeological remains, components of the
landscape and the reservoir processes that affect them.
The pre-contact human land settlement models (Sections 3.1.1; 3.1.2; 3.1.3; 3.2.4) formed the
basis for stratification of the overall reservoir sampling universe. The sampling universe was
defined via the convergence of two data streams of landscape evolution and pre-contact human
land and resource use models. This was accomplished by identifying geomorphological criteria
relevant to the settlement patterns of the four models (Table 4-1). Consideration of the
evolution of the landscape over time utilizes the predominant geological processes that gave
rise to the topography and the particular suite of landforms and sediments in the Duncan
Reservoir area. The models comprise proprietary syntheses of the evolution of regional biota
with hypothesized patterns of pre-contact human activity and settlement developed from
analyses of assemblages from the archaeological sites in the Duncan Reservoir and in the
regional archaeological record. In combination these allow for the definition of where survey
should be focused in the reservoir and what types of data should be collected.
Within the context of the urgency of identifying the surviving remnants of the archaeological
record within the drawdown zone, the sampling strategy employed was a combination of
subjective and objective to target settings that were likely to yield positive results and maximum
amounts of contextual data.
Eagle Vision Geomatics & Archaeology Ltd. 28 November 28, 2010