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Refitting and Ritual at the Mount Albert Site, Southern Ontario

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Refitting and Ritual at the Mount Albert Site, Southern Ontario Western University Scholarship@Western Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository 2-3-2016 12:00 AM Buried Dreams: Refitting and Ritual at the Mount Albert Site, Southern Ontario Kyle D. Forsythe The University of Western Ontario Supervisor Dr. Chris Ellis The University of Western Ontario Graduate Program in Anthropology A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree in Master of Arts © Kyle D. Forsythe 2016 Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd Part of the Archaeological Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Forsythe, Kyle D., "Buried Dreams: Refitting and Ritual at the Mount Albert Site, Southern Ontario" (2016). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 3489. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/3489 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship@Western. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Western. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ii Abstract Few intact Middle Archaic sites have been investigated in Southwestern Ontario and attention has focused on large, multicomponent sites, which are difficult to interpret. This thesis focuses on recent work that has been conducted on an undisturbed, single- component Brewerton site in Mount Albert south of Lake Simcoe, where the lithic assemblage presents an unprecedented view of lifeways in the Middle Archaic (ca. 5000- 4500 B.P.). Notable is the presence of high numbers of fragmented formal flaked stone tools - moreso than is consistent with solely tool production activities. The thesis evaluates the possibility that the artifacts were intentionally destroyed as part of previously undocumented ceremonial practices in the region. Refitting of the pieces and experimental breakage of reproduction bifaces each offer insights into strategies for the purposeful breakage of stone artifacts. Key Words Middle Archaic, Laurentian, Brewerton, ritual breakage, ceremonial practices, refitting, lithic analysis, experimental archaeology, bannerstones. iii Acknowledgements The completion of this thesis could not have been executed without the support of many people. I am especially indebted to my supervisor, Dr. Chris Ellis, for his patience and insightful comments over the course of what seemed like a plethora of early thesis drafts. This appreciation extends to his advice and experience with refitting broken stone artifacts, and several of the Mt. Albert fragments owe their reconstitution to him. I am additionally grateful to Dr. Jean-Francois Millaire for his availability and guidance through the frustrations inherent in using GIS software. I wish also to thank the members of my defence committee, Dr. Millaire, Dr. Peter Timmins, and Dr. Elizabeth Greene for their time spent reading the thesis and evaluating its viability. Several individuals at Archaeological Services Inc. gave assistance that is greatly appreciated. Dr. Ron Williamson recognized the significance of Mt. Albert and graciously offered it to be the project of a first time grad student. Mrs. Alexis Dunlop and Ms. Caitlin Coleman provided all of the laboratory services and logistics necessary to facilitate the smooth transition of the collection into the world of academia. Dr. Bruce Welsh, Mr. Andrew Clish, Ms. Erika Range, and Ms. Cindy Phan are also to be thanked for their companionship, experience, and keen eyes while we excavated the site. Funding for this project was supplied by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (CGSM), and from the University of Western Ontario. To my parents, Gordon and Myrna, I offer my thanks for their unconditional support and love prior to, and during, the course of this degree. I very much appreciate the constant encouragement from Anna Flak. My classmates particularly contributed to making my time at Western an enjoyable one, and I owe at least one drink at the Grad Club to Pat Galler, Jordon Munizzi, Diana Moreiras, Amy St. John, Kaitlyn Malleau, Katie Mather, Hallie Tennant, and Ramsay Macfie (whom I credit for the refitting of a particularly vexing biface that had eluded me for some time). Finally, I extend my admiration to the individuals who created and destroyed the artifacts I have had the pleasure to piece back together. Your legacy lives on in the artifacts you have left behind, and I can only hope that this thesis encapsulates an iota of the sentimentality and importance with which you left your mark on this world. iv Table of Contents Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………...ii Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………iii Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………....iv List of Tables…………………………………………………………………………….vii List of Figures…………………………………………………………………………...viii Chapter 1: Introduction……………………………………………………………………1 1.1: Brewerton in Ontario…………………………………………………………2 1.2: Mt. Albert Site………………………………………………………………..2 1.3: Analytical Perspectives……………………………………………………….3 1.4: Thesis Organization…………………………………………………………..4 Chapter 2: Background and Context………………………………………………………7 2.1: The Laurentian Archaic………………………………………………………7 2.1a: Vergennes…………………………...………………………………8 2.1b: Brewerton……………………………………………………………9 2.1c: Vosburg and Duck Bay…………………………………………….12 2.2: The Distribution and Significance of Bannerstones in the Laurentian Archaic and Eastern North America....................................................................................12 2.2a: Geographic Range.............................................................................13 2.2b: Symbolic Roles.................................................................................16 2.2C: Function...........................................................................................17 2.2d: Conclusions.......................................................................................19 Chapter 3: Description of Mt. Albert Artifacts..................................................................20 3.1: Siliceous Artifacts...........................................................................................20 3.1a: Raw Material.....................................................................................20 3.1b: Bifacial Artifacts...............................................................................22 3.1ba: Refined Bifaces...................................................................23 3.1bb: Semi-Refined Bifaces.........................................................26 3.1bc: Early Stage, Unrefined Bifaces...........................................27 3.1bd: Other Bifaces......................................................................32 3.1c: Unifacial Artifacts.............................................................................34 v 3.1d: Other Flaked Stone Artifacts............................................................36 3.2: Non-Siliceous/GroundStone Artifacts............................................................39 Chapter 4: Artifact Breakage Patterns...............................................................................43 4.1: Degree of Fragmentation................................................................................43 4.2: Sources of Breakage.......................................................................................45 4.3: Descriptions of Fractures................................................................................47 4.4: Early-Stage Bifacial Fracture Patterns............................................................56 4.5: Refined and Semi-Refined Biface Breakage Patterns....................................60 4.6: Ovate Biface Breakage Patterns.....................................................................61 4.7: Other Artifact Breakage Patterns....................................................................65 4.8: Experimental Breakage...................................................................................68 4.9: Bannerstones...................................................................................................75 Chapter 5: Inter-site Comparisons.....................................................................................78 5.1: Introduction.....................................................................................................78 5.2: Methods..........................................................................................................79 5.3: Site Comparisons............................................................................................81 Chapter 6: Spatial Analyses...............................................................................................89 6.1: Overall Distributions.......................................................................................89 6.2: Distribution of Artifact Types and Classes.....................................................93 6.3: Distribution of Refitted Artifacts..................................................................102 6.4: Spatial Displacement of Experimentally Broken Bifaces.............................103 Chapter 7: Interpretation..................................................................................................107 7.1: Introduction...................................................................................................107 7.2: Artifact Breakage at Mt. Albert....................................................................108 7.3: Interpreting Intentional Breakage.................................................................111
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