The Haida Gwaii Islands off of the northern coast of BC are sometimes called the ‘Canadian Galapagos’ for the scientific interest they inspire.

Recent research undertaken by Rolf Mathewes of the SFU Biology Department, along with other researchers who have backgrounds in earth sciences, seems to confirm this label.

Focusing on the sea cliffs at Cape Ball on the eastern coast of Haida Gwaii, the research team made significant discoveries in terms of dating the penultimate period of glaciation on Haida Gwaii, along with evidence that shows the presence of large grazing animals on this part of the islands approximately 57,000 years ago.

The discovery of large numbers of coprophilous (dung-loving) spores, along with their spore-producing bodies, suggests that during the penultimate ice age, there was probably a watering hole that was frequented by large grazing mammals such as caribou, bison, or mammoths.

“It’s true serendipity. I wasn’t looking for it, wasn’t expecting it because I’d never seen those spores before on Haida Gwaii, but bang, there they were in large quantities,” explained Mathewes. “Finding these was a real crown on the story; to find these things by accident, almost.”

Mathewes was keen to stress that no fossil evidence has been found confirming the presence of mammoths or any of the other large mammals on the islands as of yet in this particular sediment layer.

Later fossil evidence, however, proves that there were indeed caribou on the islands. The presence of fossils would be the only thing that could undoubtedly confirm the presence of these large mammals during this time period.

A possible new direction for research would be to search for evidence that would prove the types of animals present at the site. The location of the site on the coast allows for storms to erode away the cliff-face, which Mathewes says could lead to the discovery of fossils in the future.

If the sea level during this penultimate ice age lowered as much as it did during in the final ice age, large mammals that were present on the mainland could have migrated across Hecate Strait to the islands. There is evidence from previous research that shows that during the last ice age, the Hecate Strait was dry land. This dry land would have served as both a refuge from the glacial ice sheets and a bridge to the island.

Mathewes also discovered fossilized pollen of Calder’s lovage (or licorice root) in the same peat layer as the coprophilous fungi, which was dated to 57,000 years. The presence of pollen from the lovage — which is an endemic plant to Haida Gwaii — strongly suggests that there was at least a portion of the islands that was not covered with ice.

This contradicts the theory that some geologists have that the islands were completely covered with ice, and indicates that the natural history of Haida Gwaii is not quite as we thought.

The SFU library can add one more special item to its catalogue with the recent acquisition of a medieval manuscript from London that dates back to 1296.

The manuscript is an anthology of legal texts, containing historical texts such as the civil law code of emperor Justinian, along with the laws of Frederick II, the then-emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.

Written in Latin, it was apparently preserved by a French family for centuries until their recent decision to auction it at Christie’s, an auction house in London.

The acquisition, which cost $65,000, was successfully initiated and led by SFU humanities professor Paul Dutton to fill a gap in the library’s collection of early written materials.

The funding came in part from Dutton’s Jack and Nancy Farley Endowment, the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Dean John Craig, and the library itself.

Among the other manuscripts on offer at the auction was a ninth-century manuscript that was eventually sold for three million dollars. However, it was this manuscript that to Dutton seemed to best capture both the rise of medieval universities and students.

It comes from a period representing the peak of Medieval civilization during the 13th century, when Gothic culture was reaching its greatest heights.

The manuscript will serve SFU as a specimen medieval codex, or bound book, to represent and capture that period’s print culture. It will sit among other medieval texts in the Special Collections section of the library, such as an extremely rare leaf, or single page, of one of the original Gutenberg Bibles, to the many books from the Aldine Press of the 1500s, which were among the first printed volumes small enough to be portable.

The manuscript is in surprisingly good condition, but this is consistent with the qualities of parchment as a medium, despite being essentially untanned leather, said Dutton. He added, “[the manuscript] will long outlive our modern paper and digital [content].”

Dutton plans to make a detailed catalogue entry of the manuscript to further examine the contents of the anthology, taking some time to examine the notes made by actual students on the margins of the manuscript. This will allow visitors and researchers to more efficiently use the manuscript for research purposes. He will be assisted by the Special Collections staff in this process, who will also make sure it easily accessible for students and will be well maintained given its age.

While Dutton understands that the manuscript’s content — which describes the laws of the Holy Roman Empire along with a commentary — is not unique to this specific piece, the comments, notes, and even doodles made by students using the manuscript have never before been accessible to current academic medievalists.