Vertebrate Faunal Analysis of The Anderson Creek Site (45KP233)

The Anderson Creek archaeological site (45KP233) was excavated by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) in 2015, as part of a fish passage replacement project in Puget Sound. Faunal analysis of remains from this excavation was completed by the author in collaboration with Dr. Megan Partlow. Analysis documented a variety of mammal and fish remains, consisting primarily of salmon, flatfishes, deer and elk. In addition to general faunal results reported to WSDOT, I discuss bone fragmentation, herring in regional sites, and the value of 1/16” fine screen sampling and analysis. To address the last, I compared fish identifications from excavation unit DR3 between the 1/8” and larger mesh fraction and the 1/16” fine mesh fraction. The fine mesh sample yielded larger numbers of bones identified, and a small but statistically significant difference in proportions of different fish groups. Given the high cost of recovery, sorting, and analysis of 1/16” samples, I recommend that it be used for only a small sample at shell midden sites like 45KP233 in the Salish Sea