Featured: Ark of Secrets - Neolithic spirit alive in the Middle Ages

Ark of Secrets - Neolithic spirit alive in the Middle Ages

Random Image


Salonis Nuraghe

Art as Metaphor: The Prehistoric Rock-art of Britain

Art as Metaphor: The Prehistoric Rock-art of Britain

Who's Online

There are currently, 319 guests and 4 members online.

You are a guest. To join in, please register for free by clicking here

Sponsors

<< Other Photo Pages >> Race Rocks Ecological Reserve - Ring Cairn in Canada

Submitted by AKFisher on Tuesday, 09 January 2024  Page Views: 101

Pre-ColumbianSite Name: Race Rocks Ecological Reserve Alternative Name: Race Rocks Burial Cairns
Country: Canada Type: Ring Cairn
Nearest Town: Victoria BC, Canada
Latitude: 48.299230N  Longitude: 123.53267W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
3 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
3 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
1 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
5

Internal Links:
External Links:

Race Rocks Ecological Preserve
Race Rocks Ecological Preserve submitted by AKFisher : Race Rocks Cairn 6. Photo courtesy Garry Fletcher. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Ring Cairn in Canada

Race Rocks Ecological Reserve is a BC Parks ecological reserve off the southern tip of Vancouver Island in the Strait of Juan de Fuca in Metchosin, British Columbia, Canada.

Description:
Located at a narrow part of the Strait, the area covers 3 km2 (1.2 sq mi) of ocean, rocks, and reefs, but does not include the small envelope of land with the foghorn and the historic Race Rocks Lighthouse itself. That area is leased by the Canadian Coast Guard.

Because of the location in a high tidal current area, there is an exceptional variety of marine life to be found, including marine mammals, sea birds, fish, marine invertebrates, and marine algae and sea grass. It is a haulout area for California and Northern sealions and a birthing rookery for Harbour seals and it is also the most northerly birthing colony on the Pacific Coast of North America for the elephant seal, Mirounga angustirostris.[1]

The configuration of the rocks in several stone mounds at Race Rocks are suggestive of First Nations use of this area for burials in the period AD 500. Investigation into sites on the lower part of Vancouver Island, have shown that over 400 such sites exist on the nearby Rocky Point area.[2]

The following is information from Darcy Mathews, (then MA Candidate) University of Victoria, Department of Anthropology. Supervisor: Quentin Mackie

Topical Areas of Interest: Burial cairns, mortuary theory and monumentality, social identity, wetsite archaeology, Culture history of the Northern Strait of Georgia Geographical Areas of Interest: Greater Victoria, the northern Strait of Georgia

Working Title of Thesis: "The Late Prehistoric Mortuary Landscape of Southern Vancouver Island”

Abstract:
In the southern Strait of Georgia, the symbolism employed in burial practices changed significantly between the Marpole and Late Prehistoric Periods, with flexed midden burials replaced by interments in cairns and mounds. I hypothesize that the new arrangement and use of mortuary space is the material expression of emerging social structures and possibly the concept of a shared Straits Salish identity-a process that is archaeologically visible at the regional, local, and site-specific levels. To explore the multifaceted role of burial cairns as a shared and mutually understood means by which peoples constructed, maintained, and contested social structure, I am employing a multi-scalar analysis of cairn distribution. The three scales of analysis include the macro distribution of cairn sites in the Strait of Georgia, the location of cairn sites within three sample landscapes in Greater Victoria, and the layout and structure of individual cairns within DbRv-3, a very large cairn site at Rocky Point in Metchosin.[3]

References:
[1] Wikipedia.org - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_Rocks_Ecological_Reserve
[2] Fletcher, G. (website current) "First Nations Burial Cairns at Great Race Rocks." racerocks.ca/history-of-race-rocks/first-nations-burial-cairns-at-great-race-rocks/
[3] Matthews, D. 2006, "Burial Cairn Taxonomy and the MortuaryLandscape of Rocky Point, British Columbia" University of Victoria, BC Canada

Further reading and information:
1. Race Rocks.ca website: racerocks.ca/history-of-race-rocks/first-nations-burial-cairns-at-great-race-rocks/
2. Friends of Ecological Reserves: ecoreserves.bc.ca/2006/04/30/first-nations-burial-cairns-at-race-rocks-darcy-mathews/
3. Darcy Matthews thesis (full .pdf): http://www.academia.edu/473371/Burial_Cairn_Taxonomy_and_the_Mortuary_Landscape_of_Rocky_Point_British_Columbia

Directions:
Currently, the islands of Race Rocks are Crown Land of the BC Government. BC Parks administers the island as a Provincial Ecological Reserve. It leases to the Canadian Coast Guard, ( a division of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans,) the envelope of land around the light tower, which also includes the vertical solar panel unit and fog horn. BC Parks has given Lester B.Pearson College a 30 year lease to manage the ecological reserve, and all the facilities not leased by the Canadian Coast Guard on the island. The area still remains a Marine Protected Area—Area of Interest.

See below link for specific location information and access permitting: racerocks.ca/administration-of-race-rocks/regulations-for-using-the-race-rocks-marine-research-centre/permit-for-using-the-facilities-at-race-rocks-ecological-reserve/
You may be viewing yesterday's version of this page. To see the most up to date information please register for a free account.


Do not use the above information on other web sites or publications without permission of the contributor.

Nearby Images from Flickr
KCB_7062-ENR-2
Steller sea lions
Steller Sea Lions
Young Humpback whale airborne while breaching
"Ollie" the Sea Otter floating in the kelp bed
Cormorants and Stellar Sea Lions

The above images may not be of the site on this page, but were taken nearby. They are loaded from Flickr so please click on them for image credits.


Click here to see more info for this site

Nearby sites

Click here to view sites on an interactive map of the area

Key: Red: member's photo, Blue: 3rd party photo, Yellow: other image, Green: no photo - please go there and take one, Grey: site destroyed

Download sites to:
KML (Google Earth)
GPX (GPS waypoints)
CSV (Garmin/Navman)
CSV (Excel)

To unlock full downloads you need to sign up as a Contributory Member. Otherwise downloads are limited to 50 sites.


Turn off the page maps and other distractions

Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 19.3km SSE 165° Tse-whit-zen Barrow Cemetery
 80.6km W 276° Makah Cultural and Research Center Museum
 86.4km NNE 21° Tsawwassen Long House Site* Ancient Village or Settlement
 89.5km W 260° Wedding Rock* Rock Art
 90.0km W 261° Ozette Ancient Village or Settlement
 93.7km NNW 348° Cedar by the Sea Petroglyphs* Rock Art
 94.2km N 352° Degnen Bay Site* Rock Art
 96.5km NNE 34° P'Quals White Rock* Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature
 97.8km SE 131° Haleets* Rock Art
 97.9km NNW 343° Petroglyph Provincial Park (British Columbia)* Rock Art
 101.3km NNW 348° Lock Bay Site* Rock Art
 104.9km NNE 24° Sewqueqsen Settlement at St.Mungo Cannery* Ancient Village or Settlement
 105.4km NNE 24° Glenrose Cannery* Ancient Village or Settlement
 109.7km N 10° Museum of Anthropology - University of British Columbia* Museum
 115.4km NNE 15° Xwayzway Village* Ancient Village or Settlement
 115.4km SE 127° Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture* Museum
 115.6km NNE 14° Skalsh Rock* Rock Outcrop
 115.9km NNE 14° Coast Salish Stone Fish Weir* Stone Row / Alignment
 130.8km NE 49° Sumas Lightning Rock* Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature
 131.3km SSE 159° Qwu?gwes Ancient Village or Settlement
 131.6km N 353° shíshálh Nation tems swiya Museum Museum
 133.5km NE 44° Xaytem Ancient Native Settlement* Ancient Village or Settlement
 148.8km N 354° Salmon Inlet Barrow Cemetery
 149.9km NW 318° Sproat Lake Petroglyphs* Rock Art
 161.9km SE 141° Skystone* Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature
View more nearby sites and additional images

<< West Berkeley Shell Mound

Tasburgh Fort >>

Please add your thoughts on this site

Prehistoric Avebury

Prehistoric Avebury

Sponsors

Auto-Translation (Google)

Translate from English into:

"Race Rocks Ecological Reserve" | Login/Create an Account | 0 News and Comments
  
Go back to top of page    Comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content.
Your Name: Anonymous [ Register Now ]
Subject:


Add your comment or contribution to this page. Spam or offensive posts are deleted immediately, don't even bother

<<< What is five plus one as a number? (Please type the answer to this question in the little box on the left)
You can also embed videos and other things. For Youtube please copy and paste the 'embed code'.
For Google Street View please include Street View in the text.
Create a web link like this: <a href="https://www.megalithic.co.uk">This is a link</a>  

Allowed HTML is:
<p> <b> <i> <a> <img> <em> <br> <strong> <blockquote> <tt> <li> <ol> <ul> <object> <param> <embed> <iframe>

We would like to know more about this location. Please feel free to add a brief description and any relevant information in your own language.
Wir möchten mehr über diese Stätte erfahren. Bitte zögern Sie nicht, eine kurze Beschreibung und relevante Informationen in Deutsch hinzuzufügen.
Nous aimerions en savoir encore un peu sur les lieux. S'il vous plaît n'hesitez pas à ajouter une courte description et tous les renseignements pertinents dans votre propre langue.
Quisieramos informarnos un poco más de las lugares. No dude en añadir una breve descripción y otros datos relevantes en su propio idioma.