The Archaeology of Brabant Lake

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF BRABANT LAKE A Thesis Submitted to the College of Graduate Studies and Research in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon By Sandra Pearl Pentney Fall 2002 © Copyright Sandra Pearl Pentney All rights reserved. PERMISSION TO USE PERMISSION TO USE In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for a Postgraduate degree from the University of Saskatchewan, I agree that the Libraries of this University may make it freely available for inspection. I further agree that permission for copying of this thesis in any manner, in whole or in part, for scholarly purposes may be granted by the professor or professors who supervised my thesis work or, In their absence, by the Head of the Department or the Dean of the College in which my thesis work was done. It is understood that any copying or publication or use of this thesis or parts thereof for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. It is also understood that due recognition shall be given to me and to the University of Saskatchewan in any scholarly use which may be made of any material in my thesis. Requests for permission to copy or to make other use of material in this thesis in whole or part should be addressed to: Head of the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (S7N 5B 1) ABSTRACT Boreal forest archaeology is costly and difficult because of rugged terrain, the remote nature of much of the boreal areas, and the large expanses of muskeg. As a result of these conditions, northern areas have not been subjected to the same amount of fieldwork as the plains regions. What research has been done has largely focused on the major waterways. The neglect of research in northern Saskatchewan has left researchers with many gaps in the archaeological knowledge of the north. A rare set of environmental circumstances left a region of Brabant Lake devoid of vegetation and organic soils. This exposed a series of archaeological sites on the surface and presented an excellent research opportunity to study archaeology in an area of which little was known.. This thesis is the result of three seasons of survey and excavation in this region. The Brabant region has been shown to have a rich culture history extending back to the Early Side-Notched era. A series of recoveries from deep into the clay at one site hints at a much earlier occupation, however no diagnostic artifacts were recovered. Diagnostic recoveries from Early Taltheilei, Laurel, and Selkirk are identified, as is extensive post-contact use of the area. The exposed nature of the archaeological sites also yielded a wealth of information regarding site distribution and land use. These data may be used to enhance predictive modelling and research sampling strategies in other boreal areas. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many people contributed to this project. Funding and support was provided by Northern Affairs, Cameco, Kitsaki Development Corporation, Lac La Ronge Indian Band, The Royal Saskatchewan Museum, Saskatchewan Archaeological Society, Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, Boreal Dental Clinic,and the Saskatchewan Heritage Foundation. I would like to thank Dr. David Meyer, my advisor for his patience and guidence; and Dr. Margaret Hanna, for inviting me into this project and working so closely with me. Dr. Urve Linnamae, Dr. Bob Bone, and Dr. Ernie Walker who helped my defence go smoothly. I would especially like to thank Sally Milne, who taught me so much, to Barbara Sinclair, Zane Petersen, Jeho McKenzie, Ben McKenzie, Mary McKenzie, Robert McKenzie, Barbara McKenzie, Lori McKenzie, Wally McKenzie, and Rodney McKenzie, who took interest in the project, and contributed much more than just field hours. Special thanks to Courtney Cameron for her guidance and her help on the site, as well as to Georgeanne Andersen, Kiela Johnston, Allison Hill, Laurie Carson and Steve Kastan for help in the field and in the lab. Doug and Carina Chisholm for helping in the field and the use of this piloting skills, Lois Dalby, Tomasin Playford, Debbie Fidler Parker, Kit Krozser, Gil Watson, Jack Trusty, Joan Kannigan-Fairen, Dennis Moore, and Mark Clacksen for volunteering on the project. Carrie Allen provided all of the art work in this thesis for which I am greatly indebited, and thank-you to Bruce Low for encouragement, advise and guidance over the past years. This thesis is dedicated to my loving and supportive parents, and to Tom whose infinite patience has been my salvation. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF BRABANT LAKE i PERMISSION TO USE i ABSTRACT , ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv TABLE OF FIGURES vii LIST OF TABLES ix 1.0 IN"TRODUCTION 1 1.1 INTRODUCTION ~ 1 1.2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 4 1.3 THE ENVIRONMENT 6 1.3.1 Geology 6 1.3.2 Glacial History 7 1.3.3 Climate 8 1.3.4 Flora 9 1.3.5 Fauna 11 1.4 ME11IODOLOGIES 13 1.4.1 In The Field 13 1.4.2 In The Lab 14 104.3 Faunal Identification 15 1.4.4 Inter- and Intra-Site Distributions 15 104.5 Illustrations 16 1.5 SUMMARY 16 2.0 Ethnographic and Archaeological Background 17 2. I INTRODUCTION 17 2.2 ETHNOGRAPHIC BACKGROUND 17 2.3 CULTURE CHRONOLOGY 20 2.4 HISTORY OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN NOR11IERN SASKATCHEWAN 22 2.5 SUMMARy 27 3.0 Results ofThree Years of Survey and Excavation 28 3.1 INTRODUCTION 28 3.2 GLMw-2, THOMAS MCKENZIE SITE 30 3.3 GLMw-3, THE MUSKWA SITE 35 304 GLMw-4 - NESO BARB SITE, AND GLMw-5 - ALL OF US SITE 39 3.5 GLMw-6, NAPEKAN SITE 44 IV 3.6 GLMw-10, JEHO MCKENZIE SITE 49 3.7 SUMMARY 57 4.0 Paleo-Indian and Middle Forest Period 59 4.1 INTRODUCTION 59 4.2 PALEo-INDIAN TRADITION 59 4.3 INTRODUCTION TO THE MIDDLE FOREST PERIOD 60 4.3 EARLY SIDE-NoTCHED (MUMMY CAVE SERIES) 6150 - 5000 B.P 61 4.3.1 'Early Side-Notched Presence at Brabant Lake 62 4.4 SHIELD ARCHAIC TRADITION (6,000-3,500 B.P.) 63 4.5 OXBOW (6300 - 4400 B.P.) 64 4.6 OLD COPPER CULTURE (5000 - 3000 B.P.) 65 4.7 MCKEANlDuNCANIHANNA (4000-3000 B.P.) 66 4.7 PELICAN LAKE PHASE (3000 - 2000 B.P.) 67 4.8 THE TALTHEILEI SHALE TRADmON: EARLIEST, EARLY AND MIDDLE (2,570 B.P. - 1,300 B.P.) 68 4.8.1 Spatial and Temporal Parameters 69 4.8.2 Earliest (ca. 2,570 - 2,450 B.P.), Early Talthei1ei (2,450 - 1,800 B.P.), and Middle Taltheilei (ca. 1,800 - 1.300 B.P.) 71 4.8.3 The Herd-Following Debate 73 4.9 SUMMARY 77 5.0 The Woodland Period 78 5.1 INTRODUCTION 78 5.2 LAUREL 43 B.C. TO A.D. 1340, MANITOBA 78 5.2.1 Laurel in Saskatchewan 81 5.2.2 Laurel Recoveries at Brabant Lake 84 5.3 BLACKDUCK A.D. 700 TO A.D. 1000 86 5.3.1 Blackduck in Saskatchewan 88 5.3.2 Site distribution in Saskatchewan 89 5.4 THE SELKIRK COMPOSITE 90 5.4.1 The Evolution of the Concept of the Selkirk Composite 90 5.5 COMPLEXES OF THE SELKIRK COMPOSITE 93 5.5.1 Clearwater Lake Complex 93 5.5.2 Kame Hills Complex 94 5.5.3 Pehonan Complex 95 5.5.4 Kisis Complex 97 5.5.5 Cultural Affiliations and Origins 98 5.5.6 The Selkirk Presence at Brabant Lake 99 5.6 SUMMARY 101 6.0 Contemporary and Post Contact Occupations of the Area 103 6.1 lNTRODUCTION ~ 103 v 6.1.1 Travel Corridors: 103 6.2 RECENT HISTORY 104 6.3 STANLEY MISSION 105 6.4 THE FUR TRADE: A BRIEF OVERVIEW 109 6.4.1 Fur Trade Presence and Exploration in Northern Saskatchewan 111 6.4.2 Revillon Freres Company 114 6.5 POST CONTACTlFuR TRADE ARTIFACT RECOVERIES FROM 1998/1999 FIELDWORK 116 6.5.1 GIMw-l0 116 6.5.2 GIMw-4 118 6.5.3 GIMw-3 119 6.5.2 GIMw-2 120 6.6 SUMMARY 121 7.0 Discussion and Interpretations 122 7.1 INTRODUCTION 122 7.2 DISCUSSION 122 7.2.1 Which archaeological cultures were in the area? 122 7.2.2 How were these cultures using the area? 123 7.2.3 How do archaeological theories and suppositions regarding site location and landform use compare to the actual distribution of sites visible across the Brabant area? 126 7.3 SAMPLING STRATEGIES 126 7.4 THE POTENTIAL USE OF FOREST FIRES IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH: SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH 127 7.5 CONCLUDING COMMENTS 127 References Cited 129 Appendix 1: Plant Resources Identified in the Immediate Study Area.* 144 Appendix 2: Archaeological Sites Identified in the Survey Area 147 Appendix 3: List of Abbreviations for Appendicies 4 and 5 149 Appendix 4: Vessel Attributes 150 Appendix 5: Unifacial Tools Metric Attributes 154 Appendix 6: Projectile Point Metric Attributes 162 Appendix 7: Biface Metric Attributes 163 Appendix 8: Vessel Profiles 164 vi TABLE OF FIGURES Page Figure 1.I:Study Area 2 Figure 1.2: Location of Study Area 3 Figure 3.1: Site Distribution Along Doerksen Bay 29 Figure 3.2: Close-up of Site Distribution 30 Figure 3.3: GIMw-2, Thomas McKenzie Site 31 Figure 3.4: Flintlock Mechanism from the Northwest Gun 34 Figure 3.5: Serpent Side Plate from the Northwest Gun 34 Figure 3.6: Markings on the Gun's Butt Plate 35 Figure 3.7: GIMw-3, The Muskwa Site 37 Figure 3.8: GIMw-3, Vessel 1 38 Figure 3.9: Antler Tool (GIMw3:232) 39 Figure 3.10: GIMw-4 Map 40 Figure 3.11: lliustrations of some Vessels recovered from GIMw-4 (all profiles are presented in Appendix 8) 41 Figure 3.12: Tourmaline Crystal from GIMw-4 43 Figure 3.13: Map of GIMw-6 45 Figure 3.14: Possible burin (left) and bi-polar core (right) 46 Figure 3.15: Early Taltheilei Point from GIMw-6 47 Figure 3.16: Clearwater Lake Punctate 48 Vessel from GIMw-6 48 Figure 3.17:GIMw-l0 Map 51 Figure 3.18: GIMw-l0, Vessel 10 52 Figure 3.19:GIMw-l0, Vessel 9 52 Figure 3.20: GIMw-l0 Pipe fragments 53 Figure 3.21: Feature 17 at GIMw-lO 55 Figure 3.22: Stone Slab and Stratigraphy of GIMw-l0 56 Figure 4.1: Possible Early Side-Notched Point from GIMw-6 63 Figure 4.2: Chitho recovered from GIMw-6 73 Figure 5.1: Approximate Distributions of Laurel and Blackduck sites 79 Figure 5.2: Laurel Ceramics from GIMw-4 85 vii Figure 5.3: Approximate Geographic expanse of Selkirk Complexes Based on Paquin 1999 91 Figure 5.4: GIMw3, Vessel 5.

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