Mamquam Ridge :

The Mamquam ridge site is a moderate sized lithic scatter located on top of a ridge overlooking Mamquam Lake. Located approximately 10 kilometers from Elfin Lakes along the "Opal Cone to Mamquam Lake trail" this site has a spectacular view of the surrounding terrain (see figure 13).

Figure 13. Photograph of the Mamquam Ridge site, looking north.

Measuring 50 meters north to south and 25 meters east to west the types of artifacts found at this site include an number of flake tools and approximately 30 micro-blades (see figure 14). All of the artifacts found at the site lay on top of a bed of a weathered and cryoturbated cinder flat. Lithic raw material types present on site include Garibaldi Glassy Ryodacite (see appendix 2) and Ring Creek Basalt. All the micro-blades found on site are found in a 1x1 meter cluster located at the edge of the ridge (see figure 15). The cluster of micro-blades may represent a single reduction event. No micro-blades cores were found at the site. It is possible that lithic materials were exhausted at the site during or after hunting related activities.

Figure 14. Map of the Mamquam Ridge Site. Also see figure 15.

Figure 15. Photograph of the Mamquam Ridge site Microblade Cluster, looking south.
(near the baseball cap at lower center of picture).

Other tools and debitage at this site indicate cutting and scraping activities took
place. All most all the tools and debitage appear to be in final forms of lithic reduction.
Many of the flake tools are small and appear to be either extensively reduced or re-
sharpened. A total of three micro-blades and one flake tool were collected from the surface
of this site (see figure 16 and 17).

Figure 16. Photograph of the Mamquam Ridge Artifacts.

Figure 17. Drawings of the Mamquam Ridge Artifacts.

It is possible other formed tools and cores are present on site in buried contexts. No faunal or human remains were found on site. A cut bank exposure located 20 meters off site suggest the depth of deposits to be approximately10-20 cm. No sub-surface testing was conducted at the site due to Parks concerns of the fragile ecology of the area.

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Conclusions and Recommendations