Colin Grier (center) discusses a find with graduate students Chris Arnett (left) and Kelly Derr (right).

STEVE EMBER: Mister Grier’s team wants to understand what caused a tribe that moved from place to place to settle and develop a more complex society.

In many cultures, the rise of village life is linked with the start of farming.

COLIN GRIER: “But of course, here no one invented agriculture.”

STEVE EMBER: Instead, the Salish people depended on fish, clams, wild animals and plants.

BARBARA KLEIN: The archeologists have identified the ruins of six large houses, which formed two neighboring villages. The largest house could shelter as many as ten families. Experts say the buildings were occupied about one thousand five hundred years ago.

Professor Grier and his team can study objects in and around the ruins to learn about economic changes in the tribe. They can also learn about how tribe members gathered wealth and established a social class system.

One possible theory about why ancient tribes settled down and formed villages is because of population pressures.

STEVE EMBER: The researchers have worked closely on this project with a local Indian tribe. Penelakut tribal member Robert Sam says he believes ancestors of his lived in the village. He says he supports the dig.

ROBERT SAM: “It is really interesting to me to see the work that is being done. It shows more of where we were, all the sites that need to be catalogued for our people, our younger generation.”