The pattern of faunal exploitation in the earlier deposits appears broadly similar to that documented in the slide layer itself, suggesting that the maritime orientation of the Ozette community was already established and consistent across the longer span of the site’s occupation.

This longer temporal perspective situates the 500-year-old slide layer in its proper context: not as the beginning of Makah occupation at Cape Alava but as one moment in a much longer story of continuous occupation.

The slide preserved one moment.

The deeper deposits document the trajectory that led to that moment.

The Rain That Falls and the Water That Stays

The Olympic Peninsula of Washington State receives some of the highest annual rainfall of any location in the contiguous United States.