Iain McKechnie

PhD Student

MA in Archaeology, Simon Fraser University (2005)
BA in Anthropology, University of California, Santa Cruz (1999)

Co-Supervisors: Dr. Michael Blake, Dr. Andrew Martindale

Email: ii[at]interchange.ubc.ca

Research Interests: Zooarchaeology, Animals and People, Historical Ecology, Marine Resource Management, Northwest Coast

I am an archaeologist who is interested in food both as a substance and a medium for understanding human organization in the past. My research has focused primarily on investigating the ancient food harvesting practices of coastal First Nations using bones and shells recovered from pre-contact archaeological sites in British Columbia and Alaska. I have been fortunate to work on First Nation driven research projects with Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations on Western Vancouver Island as well as elsewhere on the coast as a consultant and a zooarchaeologist.

I am currently involved in a research partnership between the Tseshaht First Nation and Pacific Rim National Park Reserve investigating the archaeology of ancient village communities in the Broken Group Islands in Barkley Sound.

Selected Publications:

Mackie, Quentin, Daryl W. Fedje, Duncan McLaren, Nicole Smith and Iain McKechnie (2011) Early Environments and Archaeology of Coastal British Columbia. In Trekking the Shore: Changing Coastlines and the Antiquity of Coastal Settlement, N. F. Bicho, J. A. Haws and L. G. Davis, eds, Pp. 51–103. New York: Springer.

McKechnie, Iain, and Rebecca J. Wigen (2011) Toward a Historical Ecology of Pinniped and Sea Otter Hunting Traditions on the Coast of Southern British Columbia. In Human Impacts on Seals, Sea Lions, and Sea Otters: Integrating Archaeology and Ecology in the Northeast Pacific. Todd J. Braje and Torben C. Rick, eds. Pp. 129-166. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Iain McKechnie and Sarah Whitcher Kansa (2011) Transformations in Digital Communication and Collaboration: Recent Perspectives From Zooarchaeology. SAA Archaeological Record 11(1):10&29. (introduction to a special issue)

McMillan, Alan D., Iain McKechnie, Denis E. St. Claire and S. Gay Frederick (2008). Exploring Variability in Maritime Resource Use on the Northwest Coast: A Case Study from Barkley Sound, Western Vancouver Island. Canadian Journal of Archaeology 32:214-238.

McKechnie, Iain (2007). Investigating the Complexities of Sustainable Fishing at a Prehistoric Village on Western Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Journal for Nature Conservation 15(3): 208-222.

Moss, Madonna L., Dongya Yang, Seth D. Newsome, Camilla Speller, Iain McKechnie, Alan McMillan, Robert J. Losey and Paul Koch (2006). Historical Ecology and Biogeography of North Pacific Pinnipeds: Isotopes and Ancient DNA from Three Archaeological Assemblages. Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology 1(2): 165-190.

McKechnie, Iain (2005). Column sampling and the archaeology of small fish at Ts'ishaa. In Ts'ishaa: Archaeology and Ethnography of a Nuu-chah-nulth Origin Site in Barkley Sound. Alan McMillan and Denis E. St. Claire, eds. Pp. 206-223. Burnaby: Archaeology Press, Simon Fraser University.

Szpak, Paul, Trevor J. Orchard, Iain McKechnie and Darren R. Gröcke (2012) Historical Ecology of Late Holocene Sea Otters (Enhydra lutris) from Northern British Columbia: Isotopic and Zooarchaeological Perspectives. Journal of Archaeological Science. 10.1016/j.jas.2011.12.006 www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440311004444

Memberships:
American Anthropological Association (AAA)    www.aaanet.org
Archaeological Association of British Columbia, Victoria Branch (ASBC Victoria) www.asbc.bc.ca/vicsite
Canadian Archaeology Association (CAA)    www.canadianarchaeology.com
International Council of Archaeozoology (ICAZ)    http://alexandriaarchive.org/icaz/index.htm
Society for American Archaeology (SAA)    www.saa.org
Society for Ethnobiology (SEB)    www.ethnobiology.org
Society for Conservation Biology (SCB)    www.conbio.org