Perspectives on the organization of lithic technology at the Punchaw Lake site---FiRs-1.

The Punchaw lake village site, FiRs-1, is in the north central interior of British Columbia, a rarely researched region in terms of the archaeological record. A small area of the site was excavated in 1973 the finds of this excavation are the subject of this analysis. The lithic assemblage is classified and a technological organization approach is used with design theory to attempt to determine what activities were occurring at this site and how they fit into past lifeways. A community-based approach is attempted by bringing the finds to the Nazko First Nation, whose claimed traditional territory encompasses Punchaw Lake. Their knowledge and stories regarding these artifacts and this region are woven in to bring their voice and perspective to the interpretations. This enriched analysis determined that this village and its diverse tool assemblage could have been the centre of a complex subsistence strategy that ranged far across the landscape to best utilize the available resources. --P. ii.