Ryan Dickie

Research Interests:

B.C. Prehistory, Interior Plateau, hunter-gatherers, social complexity, Marxism, lithic technology, regional interaction and exchange

Master's Research:

My thesis research will focus on investigating the functional role of microblades through high-powered use wear analysis.  The microblade assemblage that I am working with was recovered during excavations at the Kamloops Indian Reserve aimed at mitigating the development of a golf course and housing complex, on a terrace overlooking the confluence of the North and South Thompson Rivers.  A series of experiments aimed at replicating wear patterns that may be found on the archaeological collection will be carried out on a range of contact materials (e.g. plants, hide, salmon, deer) using a range of lithic raw materials common to the Kamloops locality.  The experimental microblade collection will serve as my reference sample with which I will be able to interpret the variety of subsistence activities associated with microblades at the Kamloops site.

Publications:

Morin, Jesse, Ryan Dickie, Takashi Sakaguchi, and Jamie Hoskins

2008     Big Sites on the Big River: Late Prehistoric Settlement Patterns in the Mid-Fraser Region.  B.C. Studies 160.

Muir, Robert, Jonathan Sheppard, Mykol Knighton, Heather Newton, and Ryan Dickie

2008      The 2006 Investigations of HP 109 at the Keatley Creek Site.  Unpublished report submitted to the British Columbia   Archaeology Branch, Victoria (Permit 2006-149)