A Geochemical Approach to Understanding Raw Material Use and Stone Tool Production at the Richardson Island Archaeological Site, Haida Gwaii, British Columbia
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A Geochemical Approach to Understanding Raw Material Use and Stone Tool Production at the Richardson Island Archaeological Site, Haida Gwaii, British Columbia By Nicole Fenwick Smith B.A. University of Victoria, 1997 A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of Anthropology We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard Dr. Q. Mackie, Supervisor (Department of Anthropology) Dr. A. Nowell, Departmental Member (Department of Anthropology) Dr. D. Canil, Outside Member (Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences) Dr. M. Magne, External Examiner (Parks Canada) © Nicole Fenwick Smith 2004 University of Victoria All rights reserved. This thesis may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without the permission of the author. ii Supervisor: Quentin Mackie ABSTRACT Archaeologists often base their classifications of rock type on informal visual assessments of the material which, unfortunately, can be erroneous. At the Richardson Island archaeological site in Haida Gwaii the raw material assemblage is diverse, and accurate rock type classifications can be used to explain possible behavioural relationships between raw material and selected stone tool types, and determine whether these relationships change through time. Thus, in this thesis, classifications for the most commonly occurring raw materials are established using macroscopic visual assessment of the lithic materials, major element compositions as determined through Electron Microprobe Analysis (EMPA), trace element compositions as determined through Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), and geological discrimination diagrams. Correlation matrices are used to show that both raw material and tool types vary through time. Bifaces, scraperplanes, scrapers, unimarginal tools, and microblades are then examined more closely for significant trends in raw material use. Analysis shows that patterns of raw material use vary between tool classes and through time, but that the patterns are not the same for all rock types. From this evidence we can postulate that formal tool categories have strict raw material requirements which influence the raw material used to manufacture less formalized tools. Examiners: Dr. Q. Mackie, Supervisor (Department of Anthropology) Dr. A. Nowell, Departmental Member (Department of Anthropology) Dr. D. Canil, Outside Member (Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences) Dr. M. Magne, External Examiner (Parks Canada) iii TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS……………………………………………………………...iii LIST OF TABLES………………………………….………………………………….vi LIST OF FIGURES…………………………….….…………………………....……viii LIST OF APPENDICES……………………….….………………………………......ix ACKNOWLEDGMENTS…………………….….………………………………….....x 1. INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………..1 2. RAW MATERIAL STUDIES IN ARCHAEOLOGY AND THE CLASSIFICATION OF STONE IN BRITISH COLUMBIA…………….. .6 Raw Material Studies in Archaeology……………………………….…6 Effects of Raw Material on Tool Typology…………….…..6 Availability of Raw Material………………………….……8 Physical Characteristics of Raw Material…….…………....8 Commonly Used Raw Materials in British Columbia and Area ….....11 Chemical Analysis of Lithic Material in Northwest Coast Region...…14 Issues Associated with Raw Material Classifications…………………16 Benefits of Chemical Analysis to Archaeology......................................18 Implications for Richardson Island……………………………………20 3. RICHARDSON ISLAND: CONTEXT AND SITE DESCRIPTION……...22 Archaeological Context of Haida Gwaii……………………………….22 Culture History……………………….…………………....24 Transition from Kinggi Complex to Early Moresby Tradition…………………………………………………...27 Richardson Island Site Location………………….……………………28 History of Research at 1127T…………………………………………. 30 Site Formation Processes and Stratigraphy…….……………………..30 Study Sample……………………………………………………………37 Suitability of Richardson Island Site for a Study of Raw Material….39 4. RAW MATERIAL CHARACTERIZATION………………………………41 Introduction……………………………………………………………..41 Petrography: Visual Differentiation of Materials...........……………..43 Sample Selection for Chemical Analysis………………………………45 Chemical Analysis………………………………………………………51 Sample Preparation……….……………………………….52 Results……………………………………………………...54 What kind of Rock? Separating the Igneous from the Non-Igneous..59 Ranges of major elements in the average igneous rock….59 Igneous versus Non-igneous: log SiO2/Al2O3 vs. log (CaO + Na2O)/K2O.…61 iv Igneous versus Lutites: Na2O/Al2O3 vs. K2O/Al2O3……….………….64 Summarizing Igneous and Non-Igneous separations…….67 Establishing Non-Igneous Classifications……………………………….68 Establishing Igneous Classifications.........................................................71 Confirming igneous classifications and addressing issues of weathering and mobility of major elements………….......…72 Compositional Variations within Rock Types……..…………………....76 Rare earth elements (REE)………………………………...76 Comparison to Tholeiitic Basalt……………..………….....83 Samples 27 and 28……….………………………………………………..85 Summary and Discussion……………………………………………...…86 5. POSSIBLE RAW MATERIAL SOURCE LOCATIONS ON RICHARDSON ISLAND AND IN THE DARWIN SOUND REGION.........90 Introduction……………………………………………………………….90 Geology of Haida Gwaii…………………………………………………..92 Possible source locations…………… ……………………………….…96 Local Sources: Richardson Island.……………………...….98 Regional Sources: Darwin Sound…......................…….…101 Acquisition Strategies………………………………………………..…106 6. TOOL CLASSIFICATIONS…………………………………………………108 Definitions and Descriptions of Tool Categories……………………...110 7. RAW MATERIAL USE AND TOOL MANUFACTURING PATTERNS..116 Introduction…………………………………………………………..….116 Analytical Parameters ……………………………………………….…117 Temporal distinctions……………………………………...117 Sample size and derivation……………………………..….118 Raw material and tool classifications……………………..118 Raw Material Use Through Time……………………………………...119 Temporal variability within shale/argillite, siliceous argillite, dacite and rhyolite classes…........................................……125 Distribution of Tool Classes Through Time………………………..…130 Considering Raw Material and Tools Together………………………131 To lump or split? The question of raw material.……….....136 Dacite……………………………………….………………137 Rhyolite…………………………………….……………….138 Siliceous argillite…………………………….…………..…139 Shale/argillite……………………………………………....141 Examining Raw Material Trends within Individual Tool Types…….143 Bifaces…………………………………………………...…144 Scraperplanes….……………………………………….......146 Scrapers...……………………………………………..……149 Unimarginal Tools…………………………………………151 v Microblades…………………………………………...……154 Summary and Discussion……………………………………………….159 8. SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION…………………………………...……….165 Raw Material Characterization……………………………….……….165 Raw Material and Tool Types…………………………………………167 Culture History................………………………………………………168 Coastal Migration....................................................................................168 Insights into general raw material and tool manufacturing behaviours................................................................................................170 Future Avenues……………………………………………………..….171 REFERENCES CITED………………………………………………………………175 APPENDIX A ………………………………..……………………………………….188 APPENDIX B…………………………………………………………………………189 APPENDIX C…………………………………………………………………………192 APPENDIX D……………………….……………………………………...................198 vi List of Tables Table 3.1 Culture-Historical Sequence for Haida Gwaii…………………………...……25 Table 3.2 Radiocarbon Dates from Operations 10 and 12 at the Richardson Island 1127T site...................................................................................................31 Table 4.1 Visually Distinct Materials................................................................................44 Table 4.2 Visual characteristics of materials selected for chemical analysis....................46 Table 4.3 Major element analysis for selected Richardson samples.................................55 Table 4.4 Trace and rare earth elements for Richardson samples…….............................56 Table 4.5 Range of major elements in average igneous rock............................................59 Table 4.6 Richardson samples divided according to igneous and non-igneous traits............................................................................................................68 Table 4.7 Summary of Richardson rock types...................................................................72 Table 4.8 NIST 613 Rare earth element concentrations....................................................82 Table 4.9 Comparison of chemical variation among Richardson rhyolites to San Juan dacite and Icelandic tholeiite…………………………………...84 Table 5.1 Archaeological materials that have been sourced..............................................90 Table 5.2 Characteristics of geological strata that could contain sources of Richardson raw materials...............................................................................................97 Table 5.3 Geological strata from Richardson Island archaeological materials could have originated............................................................................................98 Table 5.4 Rhyolite and dacite dykes of northeast Moresby Island identified by Jack Souther, 1987/88........................................................................................104 Table 7.1 Raw Material Frequencies per Depositional Unit................... ........................120