The Keatley Creek site is an unusually large prehistoric housepit village site located on the terraces of the Fraser River, about 20 km upstream from the town of Lillooet, British Columbia. Archaeological investigations were undertaken at the site by Dr. Brian Hayden of Simon Fraser University between 1986 and 1996. The results of this research have provided insight into the lives and times of early residents at Keatley Creek.
Although Keatley Creek is the largest and most impressive site used by the prehistoric community of Keatley Creek, it was only used during the harsher winter months. During other seasons, residents moved to the mountains, leaving large root roasting pits.
From the mountain slopes behind the site, the housepit depressions are visible. In the valley bottom is the incised valley of the Fraser River and in the background are the terraces on the other side of the gorge. The Clear Range mountains that rise abruptly behind the site culminate in alpine meadows where residents would hunt and gather geophytes such as lilies and mountain potatoes during the summer.
