Environment and Archaeology of the Lower Columbia

This chapter, included in Chinookan Peoples of the Lower Columbia, published by the University of Washington Press in 2013, explores the environment and archaeology of the Lower Columbia. The Columbia is the great river of the American West. The interplay of river, ocean, mountains, and climate produced a rich and productive but dynamic environment, and people have lived in and adjusted to this environment for at least 12,000 years. The Lower Columbia generally refers to the river\u27s final 196-mile (315-kilometer) run from the western edge of the Columbia Plateau to the Pacific Ocean