Notes Clarifying The Culturally Modified Trees Of British Columbia Handbook

DATED the 17th of April, 1999.

BE IT RESOLVED as an ordinary resolution of the members of the Society passed in accordance with the provisions of the Society Act and the bylaws of the Society that notes attached to this resolution as Schedule "A", be adopted as an Operational Standard of the Society. These notes supersede those passed as a resolution 19th February 1999 and take precedence where a conflict occurs.

SCHEDULE A

NOTES CLARIFYING THE CULTURALLY MODIFIED TREES
OF BRITISH COLUMBIA HANDBOOK

B.C. ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL CONSULTING ARCHAEOLOGISTS

A.

INTRODUCTION

  1. These standards were adopted by the B.C. Association of Professional Consulting Archaeologists at an Annual General Meeting on 17th of April 1999.
   

B.

APPLICATION

  1. A member shall record Culturally Modified Trees (hereafter referred to as ‘CMT’) as an archaeological site in accordance with the standards contained herein.
   

C.

WHEN TO RECORD CULTURALLY MODIFIED TREES
  1. A member shall record CMTs, not been previously recorded to the standards of the association, as an archaeological site when such remains or evidence are encountered during the course of his or her work as an archaeological consultant.
  2. The member is encouraged, but not obliged, to record previously unrecorded CMTs encountered at times other than during the course of his or her work as an archaeological consultant.
     

D.

KINDS OF REMAINS AND EVIDENCE TO BE RECORDED
  1. A member shall, under the circumstances stated above, record as an archaeological site any modified trees meeting the definition of a CMT presented in the Handbook. Any CMT site, with features estimated to have been modified 50 or more years prior to investigation, shall be recorded as stated in ‘E’.
     

E.

SITE RECORDING
  1. During Preliminary Field Reconnaissance or Archaeological Inventory Survey members shall, at a minimum, complete Level I CMT Recording Forms presented in the Handbook for clusters of CMTs;
  2. During Impact Assessments, where impacts to CMTs are likely, Level II site recording forms (standard British Columbia Site Inventory Recording Forms) accompanied by CMT Feature Recording Forms will be completed as defined in ‘F’, and the location and type of each CMT within a development area shall be recorded, unless excluded by a sampling strategy approved under a Heritage Conservation Act Permit, or an equivalent permit issued by a First Nation.
  3. Level I CMT Recording Forms, Level II site recording forms, and CMT Feature Recording Forms can be substituted by alternate forms if approved by the Archaeology Branch;
  4. Site maps shall be attached to the site form and prepared in accordance with the standards of the Society;
  5. The site forms shall be completed and submitted for entry into the Provincial Heritage Register;
     

F.

WHEN TO USE CMT FEATURE RECORDING FORMS
  1.

The number of CMT Feature Recording Forms completed in accordance with ‘E2’. will be the minimum stipulated below, unless otherwise specified under the conditions of a Heritage Permit:

a. all aboriginally logged trees. A sketch of the feature will be included;

b. all features present for sites with up to 10 CMTs;

c. either of the sampling approaches presented below for sites with more than 10 CMTs:

i.the first 10 and every second CMT for sites with more than 10 CMTs, until a sample of 40 is reached, and subsequently for apparently rare or particularly significant features.

ii. A spatially representative sample of CMTs.
  2. CMT Feature Recording Forms will be completed for any CMT marked for stem-round sampling.
  3. If CMTs are to be harvested, consideration will be given to complete recording of every CMT that is felled. For harvested aboriginal logging features, consideration will be given to mitigative work including detailed mapping and excavation, and collection of clear examples of traditional tool marks (non-axe or saw).
     

G.

CLARIFICATIONS TO HANDBOOK.
  1. Handbook pages 11-13,88,94. Toolmarks, particularly those other than axe or saw, must be carefully recorded. Tool bit width, degree of curvature, and other non-metric features must always be recorded.
  2. Handbook, page 89. If icons are used on feature recording forms they should be changed to lettered abbreviations for data entry, to facilitate data transfer, sorting, and searching.
  3. Handbook, page 92, 93, 96, 130. The Handbook states that scar width of bark strip scars on cedar trees can only be obtained from stem round wood samples, other than recent or unusual circumstances, due to lobe growth. It also recommends that lobe depth and scar window width not be recorded. However, an acceptable estimate of scar width can be calculated from the window width added to the combined healing lobe thickness. This allows for calculations of percentage and area of bark removed from the original tree, and aids in placing increment core samples for dating. The data also can assist relocation and identification of the tree in the field or samples cut from the tree after falling. The window width and average healing lobe thickness should be recorded in the width and thickness fields, and a separate field added (in a spreadsheet) for calculation of original width and area, if desired. If markedly different lobe thicknesses are present on a single scar, the average should be recorded in the thickness field and both measurements should be recorded in the ‘remarks’section.
  4. Slope recorded for CMTs should be recorded as the average slope in the area of the CMT.

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