Abstract

Bony skeletons of salmon encased in clay nodules eroding from glacial lake sediments along Kamloops Lake, in the southern interior of British Columbia, have been AMS radiocarbon dated to 18,110+90 and 15,480+60 BP. These are the only known salmonid remains of Late Wisconsin age in the Pacific Northwest, and are significant in demonstrating the presence of salmon in the river drainages during the late glacial maximum. On the basis of morphological size of the specimens, and on measurement of the low delta C13 value in the bone (-22.2 o/oo and -23.8 o/oo), it is argued that these were probably landlocked Oncorhynchus nerka (the Kokanee form of sockeye salmon). An experimental study of the ancient salmon DNA on these specimens is presently underway and has promise for resolving the species determination issue. This paper will discuss the salmon specimens and their geological source with the purpose of reconstructing the paleozoogeography of salmon in the Pacific Northwest including the implications for early human subsistence and migration patterns. Also addressed are the questions of the extent and timing of glacial lakes and ice retreat, and drainage patterns, in the southern interior of British Columbia in the Late Wisconsin.