Late Pleistocene and Holocene vertebrates and palaeoenvironments from Charlie Lake Cave, northeast British Columbia

Excavations outside Charlie Lake Cave, Peace River District, British Columbia, revealed deposits dating from ~10 700 BP to the present. The earliest fauna (10 700 – 10 000 BP) was deposited when the newly deglaciated landscape was largely unforested and included bison (Bison sp.), ground squirrel (Spermophilus sp.), a large hare (Lepus sp.), snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus), and a variety of birds, including the Cliff Swallow (Hirundo pyrrhonota). By 10 000 BP snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) was the most numerous mammal, indicating the development of forested conditions. By 9000 BP the fauna resembled the modern Peace River fauna prior to European settlement, typical of a largely forested landscape, with wetland areas indicated by aquatic avian species. Subsequent Holocene climatic fluctuations are not evident in the faunal record.