ALBERTA ARCHAEOLOGICAL REVIEW Email: [email protected]
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M SiiS* !8Siys| yyplfe Jlftty'-' 9mm Alberta ;¥**- Archaeological Review NUMBER 34 ISSN 0701-1776 SPRING 2001 Table of Contents: Alberta Fieldwork News 2000 Page 4 SCAPE: Study of Cultural Adaptations in the Prairie Ecozone Page 9 Final Research Grant Report Wally's Beach - DhPg-8 Investigations at Fort Vermilion I (1798-1830): Sorting Out the Facts y»i^iy;Niy-v Public Archaeology Programs Upcoming Conferences 'ec.cen.tric Yik-'scn-triki ek-Y«*// 2 : deviating from an ' accepted pattern or from accepted usage . .. (Wcbsters New Collegiate Dictionary. 1974; p.359j ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF ALBERTA Charter #8205, registered under the Societies Act of Alberta on February 7,1975 PROVINCIAL SOCIETY OFFICERS 2001-2002 President: Marshall Dzurko Peace River Archaeology Society 147 Woodfern Place Sw President: Clarence Christenson Calgary AB T2W 4R7 PO Box 144 Phone:403-251-0694 Valhalla AB T0H 3M0 E-mail: soniadzurko(S)home.com Phone: 780-568-2367 Past President: Neil Mirau South Eastern Alberta Archaeological Society 2315 20*81 President: Veronica Blocksage Coaldale AB TIM 1G5 11 Chow Avenue SE Phone: 403-476-0561 Medicine Hat AB TIB 2S9 E-mail: [email protected] Phone:403-526-0581 Email: [email protected] Executive Jim McMurchy Secretary/ 97 Eton Rd West Strathcona Centre Treasurer Lethbridge ABT1K4T9 President: George Chalut Phone:403-381-2655 147 1665 St E-mail: [email protected] Edmonton AB T5A-2E1 Phone: 780-476-0561 ALBERTA ARCHAEOLOGICAL REVIEW Email: [email protected] Editor: Lesley Nicholls Department of Archaeology All members of the Archaeological Society of Alberta receive University of Calgary a copy of the Alberta Archaeological Review. Non-members Calgary AB T2N 1N4 and institutions may subscribe to the AAR for $15 per calendar year. Cheques should be made payable to the Alberta Phone:403-220-7131 Archaeological Review and should be sent to the Distributor, E-mail: [email protected] Carol McMcreary.. Distribution: Carol McCreary The AAR welcomes submissions concerning Alberta Box 611 archaeology lor that are of special interest to practising or Black Diamond AB TOL OHO avocational archaeologists in Alberta. Contributions may be Phone:403-933-5155 submitted to the AAR Editor at the address given. Articles may E-mail: [email protected] be submitted by e-mail, or on disk accompanied by a hard copy. A clean, typewritten copy is also acceptable. Figures and REGIONAL CENTRES AND MEMBER photographs may be embedded in the text or can be submitted separately for scanning. Formatting should be kept to the SOCIETIES minimum. Please contact the Editor for further information. Calgary Centre: Communications regarding membership in the Archaeological President: Brian Vivian th Society of Alberta or other matters should be addressed to the 216 29 Ave NW Executive Secretary/Treasurer. Calgary ABT2M2M1 Phone 403-276-5910 Views expressed in the AAR are those of the writers and do not E-mail: [email protected] necessarily reflect those of the Archaeological Society of Lethbridge Centre: Alberta. President: Judy Sturgeon Cover artwork: Shane Tolman, Lethbridge Centre 92 McGill Blvd W Lethbridge ABT1K4C4 Clip Art © 1994-97, RT Computer Graphics Inc. NM Phone:403-381-1998 Letter Also in this issue is information on the Rocky Mountain Anthropological Conference to be held in Waterton in from the Editor late September. This should be a good conference and the entertainment and other events sound like a great time. Lesley Nicholls At the Provincial Executive Meeting in March, I informed the Executive of my intention to relinquish my post as Editor of the Review effective the Spring issue in 2002. I took over the Review in December 1996 and I On the Move feel strongly that 6 years is long enough for any one person to do the job. So we are now looking for a new Editor. I have suggested to the Executive that it would THE ARCHEOLOGICAL SURVEY AND THE be preferable if someone were found early enough that HERITAGE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT they could help me put together the Fall and/or Spring BRANCH issues. Please see the notice on page 5 for details of the position. With recent changes, members of the Archaeological Society of Alberta might be wondering what has The joint CAA/ASA meetings were held in Banff in May. happened with the Archaeological Survey and its staff The weather cooperated and a great time was had by all. members. Jim Henderson was the public speaker and talked about applying his photographic techniques to two well known From 1973 to 1990, the Archaeological Survey of Alberta rock art sites. was a separate branch responsible for historical resource management. For most its existence, the Survey featured Thanks to a grant from the Provincial Society, Jim was a Research Section and a Resource Management Section. able to spend some time in Alberta to photograph the The research section handled professional archaeological degraded rock art at the Big Rock in Okotoks and at matters that ranged from assessment of development Grotto Canyon near Canmore. As many of you are impacts on archaeological sites to planning team work on probably aware, Grotto Canyon has been rumoured for the interpretive development of sites like Fort George- years to contain rock art unlike any other in Alberta; it Buckingham House or Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jumps. closely resembles some of the shamanistic figures from The Resource Management Section provided a single Arizona and Utah. There have also been rumours of a window approach for historical resources concerns for Kokopelli figure. Jim's technique for bringing out the developers, ran the Designation Program, and related hidden layers of paint certainly added grist to the rumour activities. mill and one of the final photos, a close up of the Kokopelli figure brought a collective gasp from the In a major reorganization in 1990, the Research Section packed audience. Having seen many Kokopelli drawings staff and the Site Data Compiler for the archaeological and carvingsall over the American Southwest it sure sites inventory became part of the Provincial Museum of looked like the Fluteplayer to me - and the other Alberta, while Resource Management staff members shamanistic figures would not be out of place on a rock became part of the Historic Sites Service. At that time, face anywhere in the Four Corners Region. Of course the Archaeological Survey was a unit in the Archaeology now the questions come; who did them, how long have & Ethnology Section that I headed within the Museum. they been there, etc. We will probably never know - just This had a number of positive consequences, not the least one of the many mysteries that makes archaeology such of which were the archaeological contributions to the a fun. award-winning Syncrude Gallery of Aboriginal Culture. The photos taken by Jim will become the property of the Archaeological Society of Alberta and will be lodged at Despite such successes, the primary legislative mandate the Provincial Museum of Alberta. Jim's visit, research for the Cultural Facilities and Historical Resources and talk was sponsored by grants from the Archaeological Division (containing branches like the Museum and the Society of Alberta and Alberta Community Development. Historic Sites Service) of Alberta Community Provincial Museum of Alberta staff members with their Development remained the protection of historical requests. In March, Dr. Byrne became the Deputy resources throughout Alberta, including archaeological Minister of Alberta Community Development. Mark sites, as provided by the Historical Resources Act. One Rasmussen as Acting Assistant Deputy Minister of the consequence of the 1990 reorganization was that Cultural Facilities and Historical Resources Division has individuals working on historical resource management succeeded him. issues were scattered across four branches in the Division. When the Division went through a renewal All Heritage Resource Management Branch staff can be exercise in the late 1990s, a common theme staff reached through our Old St. Stephen's switchboard at members remarked upon was the lack of focus the 780/431-2300, and all Alberta Government staff e-mails Division had come to have in historical resource matters. are modeled on the format given [email protected], as in [email protected]. Consequently, Dr. William J. Byrne directed Larry Pearson of the Historic Sites Service, Andy Neumann of the Royal Tyrrell Museum and me to devise a plan of Dr. Jack Ives action that would better focus historical resource Manager, Archaeology & History management activities in the Cultural Facilities and (Provincial Archaeologist) Historical Resources Division. In December of 2000, Dr. Heritage Resource Management Branch Byrne announced the reorganization of the Division based on this planning process. A new branch was UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY created, the Heritage Resource Management Branch. Headed by Les Hurt, this branch is responsible for Dr. Peter Dawson will take up the post of Arctic historical resource management activities in Alberta, Archaeologist in the Department of Archaeology at the including the administration of Alberta Historical University of Calgary in July. Peter obtained his PhD Resources Foundation and the management of in situ from the Department in 1997 After holding a Post- historical resources across the province (Designations, Doctoral Fellowship at the Arctic Institute he accepted a review of development referrals, historical resources sessional appointment at the University of Winnipeg. impact assessment and mitigation, inventories of This position then turned into a full-time appointment. Geographic Names, archaeological sites, and historic Peter's current research has focused on the effects of building, and related tasks). The other branches in the government housing on the lifeways of the native Division are the Historic Sites and Cultural Facilities communities in the North. He hopes to return to the High Branch (now focusing on facilities like the Frank Slide Arctic in the not too distant future to continue and Jubilee Auditoria), the Provincial Museum of archaeological research begun as part of his PhD Alberta, the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, and research.