ISSN 0228-4111

NEWSLETTER OF THE LONDON CHAPTER, ONTARIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY c/o Museum of Ontario Archaeology OAS 1600 Attawandaron Road, London, ON N6G 3M6

January & February 2010 10-1 & 2

WELCOME BACK!!

The next Speaker's Night is the 14th of October. Dr. Claude Chapdelaine of the University of Montreal will speak on his 2001-2009 work in the Megantic region of southern Quebec. His presentation is entitled: A Quebec Tale of Two Sites: Early Paleoindian Cliche-Rancourt Site and the Late St. Lawrence Iroquoian Droulers Site.

In case the next issue of KEWA is delayed (how likely is that!!), the November 11th speaker is Dr. Peter Sheppard of the University of Auckland, New Zealand. He will speak on his research on the initial peopling of the Pacific islands in a presentation entitled: Fast Trains, Slow Boats, Waves of Advance and Leap-frogs: Arguing about the Settlement of Oceania.

Speaker's Night is held the 2nd Thursday of each month (January to April and September to December) at the Museum of Ontario Archaeology, 1600 Attawandaron Road, near the corner of Wonderland & Fanshawe Park Road, in the northwest part of the city. The meeting starts at 8:00 pm.

Chapter Executive President Vice-President Nancy Van Sas Darcy Fallen ANNUAL RATES [email protected] 32 Pleasant Ave., Delaware, ON NOL 1EO Student $15.00 Treasurer Editors Individual $18.00 Christopher Ellis Christopher Ellis (858-9852) [email protected] [email protected] Institutional $21.00 Christine Dodd (434-8853) Subscriber $20.00 Secretary [email protected] Chris Dalton Arthur Figura afigura @ tmhc.ca Director Lindsay Foreman SOME SITES AND ARTIFACTS I HAVE KNOWN: THE WEED (AfHl-1) EARLY PALEO-INDIAN SITE

D. Brian Deller and Christopher Ellis

This report represents the fifth in a Kewa series, instigated in 1997 by the junior author, which is designed for the most part to put into the published record data on small, incompletely investigated, but nonetheless informative, sites. Kewa is an ideal outlet for such reports. In fact, we are firm believers that academic-based excavators of sites are ethically responsible to put into the written record, especially the formally published record, reports on all of the sites they have investigated, no matter how small or insignificant they may appear at first glance (of course, we are not alone in believing this...see Lynott 1997:596). After all, no matter how good one's field records are, the people who actually do the work first hand know it better than anyone else. All too often archaeologists meet their demise not having reported on sites they have excavated (Pagan 1995). Unfortunately, part of the problem is that certain academic archaeologists equate "excavating" with doing archaeology when in fact the excavating is useless in terms of knowledge contribution without a published record. Also, we believe it is unfortunate, at least in academia, that detailed site reports are often devalued versus publishing focussed problem-oriented or lab-oriented articles in refereed journals. The ethical academic field archaeologist should be writing both and not have to make excuses for doing detailed reports. We have made it our goal to publish reports on every Paleoindian site we have excavated, even if only through a few test pits. Although it often takes some time, we are well within striking distance of reporting on all of these projects undertaken since the early 1970s -- with a few notable exceptions such as the subject of this paper. hi the report we provide a summary of work we carried out as naive but energetic students almost 30 years ago at the Weed site (AfHl-1), a small multi-component site in southwestern Ontario. The site obviously was of interest to us as part of our long-term investigations of fluted point (Early Paleo- indian) sites in Ontario. Although the site and recovered information is unimposing, along with a large number of other small sites in Ontario it has contributed to our overall, more synthetic views of the distribution and nature of the Paleo-Indian occupation of the province (e.g. Deller 1988; Deller and Ellis 1988; Ellis and Deller 1990, 1997). Moreover, in some respects, the Weed site is unique, notably in the raw material preferences evident at the site. We did produce a detailed archaeological licence report on our work at the site some time ago (Ellis and Deller 1980), and some details of the site can also be found in Deller (1988). Much of the following is abstracted from those sources, as well as the original field records housed at the University of Western Ontario, updated to take into account knowledge gained since that time.

The Weed site was discovered by the late Mr. Leroy Weed on his family farm and reported to Deller in!975 during his Paleo-Indian site surveys (e.g. Deller 1976, 1979, 1988). The site is located in Lambton County, north of the modern town of Alvinston (Figure 1). The site is specifically located about 500 metres from a small creek on the south and east and is at the northeastern edge of a cultivated field. The north and western parts of the site consist of a slight curving ridge while the remaining southeastern portion is a slight depression. The site has yielded diagnostic materials ranging in age from Paleo-Indian (fluted point and Hi-Lo) to Late Woodland and primarily from the ridge area. The fluted point materials are restricted to the depression at the southeastern part of the site and included a fluted point and several unifaces. The site is just above and adjacent on its western margins to several pro-glacial lake strandlines attributable to pro-glacial Lakes Arkona and Warren. Given that those lakes dates in excess of 12,500 B.P. (Eschman and Karrow 1985:82-84), and that estimates of Early Paleo- Indian site age are closer to 11,000 B.P., the site must have been occupied by these peoples long after the lakes had drained to lower levels and is yet another instance of a fluted point site associated with an abandoned strandline (see Ellis and Deller 1990:51). Figure 1: Location of Sites and Chert Outcrops. The depression yielding the Paleo- Indian materials covered some 750 m2 and since the surface collected material lacked precise provenance, it was difficult to pinpoint its exact location. However, during the spring of 1979 a fluted point was recovered from the site surface and marked with a stake. This recovery suggested to us the site was worthy of some more extensive investigations and we put the site on a list of small sites we thought we might test-pit as part of Deller's 1978 field survey project. Unfortunately, before our test-pitting the stake was dislodged by subsequent cultivation, but we used its recovered location as a rough guide for our fieldwork in 1979. This field work was carried out over three days between July 19 and August 19, 1979 with a small volunteer crew and exclusively on weekends as we were involved on weekdays in other projects that summer.

A grid of one metre squares was established over the site off of a north-south and east-west base-line that had been laid in with a transit. The intersection of those main base-lines was placed adjacent to the stake's location and was arbitrarily deemed 300N/300E (Figure 2). Squares were referred to by the inter-section of the grid lines at their southwest corners. The stake formerly marking the fluted point find fell within square 299N/299E using this scheme. The 16 to 28 cm thick plowzone was removed and screened through 1/4" mesh. Once the plowzone was removed the subsoil was trowelled off and examined for cultural features but none were found during our work. If the plowzone of squares yielded material we thought had the best probability of being associated with the Early Paleo-Indian component (largely flaking debris on Upper Mercer chert; see below), the subsoil was excavated with trowels and the matrix screened down to a 20 cm depth below the plowzone-subsoil interface. Given the age of these sites we believe that the visible outlines of cultural features such as pits can be easily leeched away (see Deller and Ellis 1984,1992; Deller et al. 2009; Storck and Spiess 1994). Although we began by excavating squares in the location with the best estimate of the fluted point surface find, during excavation it became clear that the materials most likely associated with the Early Paleo-Indian component (Upper Mercer and Onondaga chert debris) were concentrated 303N- more to the east and south so subsequent excavations were made in that direction. In all, we were able to excavate only 13 one metre squares (Figure 299N- 296E 304E 2).

PALEO-INDIAN TOOLS

Only five definite or suspected 295W- Paleo-Indian tools are known from the site and all of these came from surface collection prior to the excavation. Most notable are two fluted points. 29TW- One of the fluted points is on Onondaga chert and is essentially complete (Figure 3b, 4b). It measures 45.5 mm long 2S7N- 29SE 303E 307E by 21.5 mm wide (maximum width occurs at the base) by 6 mm thick. Maximum width on the fore-section is 21.0 mm. metres The basal concavity is a moderately deep 3.5 mm, grinding extends up the lateral basal edges for 23.5 mm, and

280N- the sides are roughly parallel 303E (face-angle of 90°; see Deller and Ellis 1992: Figure 25B). Figure 2: Distribution of Flaking Debris per Unit. Upper number The tip is complete but provides Paleoindian totals and lower number includes other debris. differences in flaking character between the apex and the lateral edges suggest the point has been reduced in length by resharpening to correct tip damage. The ears flare slightly or are 'fish-tailed' and ignoring that ear-flaring the side edges are roughly parallel ("face-angle" [see Deller and Ellis 1992: Figure 25] of 90°). In longitudinal section the point is actually slightly curved and in transverse cross-section it is plano- convex. These two attributes suggest it was made on a relatively small flake not much larger than the finished product. In fact, manufacture on a flake is confirmed by the presence of a facet of the flat original interior flake surface on the incurved or piano (depending on viewer orientation) face. In the succeeding descriptions, these faces are referred to as dorsal (convex face) and ventral (piano face).

Both faces have been fluted once form the base. The flute on the dorsal face is 30.5 mm long and 9 mm wide and terminated by hinging out short of the tip (Figure 3b). The base of the flute has been widened by the subsequent removal of a small basal flake from the base which overrides the right lateral edge of the flute and obscures its intersection with flakes removed from the lateral edge. Roosa (1965:97) called this technique "Barnes finishing" although it occurs on various fluted point types. The ventral flute is 21.5 mm long by 9.5 mm wide (Figure 4b). Instead of running straight up the centre of the face, this flute was detached at a slight angle so its leading edge runs off towards the right lateral edge (when the point is viewed with tip to the top). As a consequence of this slightly angled flute, there was an area not thinned by the flute adjacent to the left lateral edge of the point as one moves away from the base. This area was subsequently thinned by the removal of two flakes from the left lateral edge prior to edge finishing retouch. There is some suggestion the ventral or piano face was the first face fluted. In particular, there is a slight remnant of a bevel at the base overlapping the flute scar which may have been part of the platform preparation for fluting the opposite face. As previously noted, beyond the ventral flute is a facet of the original flake blank. Beyond this facet, adjacent to the left lateral edge 0 near the tip are three heat fractures.

Figure 3: Fluted Points, Obverse View The second point recovered is represented by a base (Figure 3 a, 4a) on what has been identified as Upper Mercer, Ohio chert (James Payne: personal communication, 1982) from about 350 km south from Weed (see Figure 1). The point has been broken at an angle across the mid-section either through use or manufacture (i.e. it is an "old" weathered break and also has some slight heat damage. More than likely the item broke in use as the base has lateral grinding and a refined outline indicating the basal area at least had been a finished. The character of the break suggests the point broke along an incipient flaw in the material. This base measures 26.5 mm wide, the maximum thickness is 4.5 mm and the basal concavity is a relatively shallow 2.5 mm. The lateral edges Figure 4: Fluted Points, Reverse View. are parallel or slightly contract from the base, having an 89° face-angle. The lateral grinding extends for 18+ mm from the basal extremity. This item has a very slight ear flaring or fishtail and the lower side edges above the fishtail are roughly parallel, having a face-angle of 90°. As with the previous item, in longitudinal section, and even though we only have the base of the point, there is a longitudinal curvature. The transverse -section is plano-convex. Once again, such traits suggest the point was made on a flake not much bigger than the finished product.

The ventral (more piano) face (Figure 3a) has three overlapping hinge-terminated flutes, which were 16 mm, 12 mm and 9.5 mm long. Maximum flute width of 16.5 mm occurred on the second flute removal. Since length of these flake scars does not exceed basal width it might be better to refer to this as basal thinning rather than as flutes. These flutes may have been intentionally hinged out only a short distance from the base due to the atypical and curved section (i.e. the point actually curves up in front of the leading edge of the flute). As with the previous point there is a bevel remnant at the base of this face produced by several flake removals initiated at the base of the opposite face. This bevel may be a remnant of the platform preparation designed to allow fluting of the opposite face and in turn, suggests the opposite or dorsal (convex) face was the second face fluted. Regardless, examination of lateral flute edges does suggest the ventral face was fluted first. The initial flute scars will not be parallel-sided for their entire lengthy but rather, will expand rapidly from the point of impact (striking platform) to point of maximum width and from where the fluted will be parallel- sided. Even near the base the flutes on the ventral surface are parallel- sided rather than expanding suggesting the point had been reduced in length at the base after that face was fluted and presumably due to subsequent preparing of the base to flute the opposite face. Consistent with this fact, the flute scar on the opposite or dorsal face (Figure 4a) does expand from the base indicating the base had not been reduced much since that face was fluted and that it was the second face fluted. This dorsal face only exhibits one flute. The flute has a maximum width of 12 mm at the break and was at least 13.5 mm long but its maximum length is unknown due to the break. In addition to the flute, the lateral edges of the flute have been trimmed by the removal of several small flakes from the base.

Besides the points, two trianguloid end scrapers were recovered with what can be interpreted as spurs at corners of the working edge. In form, these items are typically Paleo-Indian. One such item is made on Upper Mercer chert (Figure 5b). It measures 28.5 by 25.5 by 7.5 mm, the thickest portion being towards the proximal end. The steeply retouched (80-85°), thick (7.5 mm) bit is 25.5 mm wide by 4.0 mm deep for a bit width to depth ratio of 6.3. In dorsal view the scraper is relatively squarish with sides that only expand slightly from the proximal end (30-35°). There is little or no curvature in longitudinal section, which is atypical for trianguloid scrapers. In transverse section, the scraper appears asymmetrical, one side edge (the left edge when viewed dorsally with the bit to the top) being much thicker than the other. This thick edge has some steep continuous dorsal retouch but as well, a few small flakes have been removed along the underside of that edge, probably in an attempt to thin the end so it will properly seat in a handle or haft. The thin edge has short, less abrupt retouch. Besides the simple lateral retouch, slight notches occur just behind the bit, presumably for hafting, so the bit itself appears to have spurs at the corners. However, there is no evidence these were purposeful working edges and it is very possible the spurs are fortuitous and a product of bit encroachment during resharpening upon the lateral or side notches. At the proximal end, the platform of the flake blank has been removed or trimmed away by blows directed at the dorsal or back surface. In addition, near the proximal end a large flake has been removed across the bulbar or underside surface to thin that area, probably also to allow hafting.

The second end scraper is on Bayport, Michigan chert (Figure 5a) and is similar in size and morphology to the first example. It measures 27 mm long by 25.5 mm wide by 6.5 mm thick. Since maximum width and thickness occurs at the bit end, the bit also measures 25.5 mm wide by 6.5 mm thick. The bit is 8.2 mm deep, has an overall bit width to depth ratio of 3.1, and is steeply retouched (75-80°). The lateral edges expand at a 30-35° angle from the proximal end. Both those edges have been continuously retouched, probably to shape the tool for hafting purposes. As with the previous scraper, this item has lateral notches, most likely for hafting purposes. Two closely spaced notches occur on both edges just behind the bit. As with the previous item, the notch close to the bit produces, probably fortuitously, spurs at each corner of the bit edge. The transverse section is triangular and in longitudinal section there is only slight curvature. The tool retains the striking platform of the original flake blank. This platform is heavily ground, faceted, reduced and relatively acute-angled (55-60°). Such characteristics suggest the tool is made flake from a large biface core. Use of these kinds of flake blanks for unifacial tools is common on Paleo-Indian sites (e.g. MacDonald 1968; Wright and Roosa 1966) and at some sites there seems to be a preference for using such flakes as blanks for trianguloid end scrapers (e.g. Deller and Ellis 1992:55). Figure 5: End Scrapers (A-B) and Uniface Fragment (C)

The final probable Paleo-Indian tool is incomplete (Figure 5c). It consists of a fragment of a unifacial tool that has been impeccably flaked along one lateral edge. This tool is on the same Upper Mercer variant as the fluted point and trianguloid end scraper. Based on workmanship and raw material it is most likely associated with the fluted point occupation of the site and especially since no Upper Mercer items occur on the later site materials.

FLAKING DEBRIS

The excavations at the site recovered 44 pieces of debris (Figure 2). Thirty-three of these are flakes or flake fragments made on Kettle Point chert while one is a tabular core on the same material. Kettle Point is common amongst the later diagnostics from the site and we assume it is associated with those occupations. The remaining ten pieces of debris are believed to be associated with the Paleo- Indian occupation as they are on materials only represented by Paleo-Indian diagnostics from the area of the depression at the site. Two of these pieces are on Onondaga chert while eight are on Upper Mercer. All were recovered from the plowzone except for one Upper Mercer item from 0-10 cm into the subsoil in square 291N/303E. The two Onondaga specimens include a uniface/scraper retouch flake (see Prison 1968; Deller and Ellis 1992:86-87) from square 287N/303E and an amorphous chunk that could be apiece esquillee (see MacDonald 1968:85-90) fragment recovered from square 303N/299E. The eight Upper Mercer items include five small flake fragments (<.05 8 gm) and three thicker, more blocky pieces. The blocky fragments are also uniformly small (under .05 gm each) and although such items lack any evidence of retouch, comparable fragments at more extensively excavated sites at some distance from the lithic sources used invariably with artifact cross-mending turn out to be tool fragments.

DISCUSSION

Given the small size of the reported assemblage and the minimal amount of work done at the site, obviously any discussions are going to be preliminary and subject to revision. Nonetheless, there are some notable aspects to the Weed site assemblage.

The two fluted points are of note in that they are relatively parallel-sided and are comparatively large, having wide bases (>20 mm). Such characteristics are typical of a wide range of forms referred to types such as Clovis, Gainey, Gainey-Clovis, Remington, Enterline and so on in the Great Lakes- Northeastern literature (see Brose 1994:65-66; Gramly 1999; McNett 1985:88-89; Morrow and Morrow 2002; Stoltman, 1993; Witthoft 1952) and which Ellis (2004; Ellis et al. 2003) in his most recent work prefers to call "Clovis-like." Most people suggest these point forms represent the earliest dating fluted bifaces in the area (Curran 1999:10; Deller and Ellis 1988; Keenlyside 1991:164; Spiess et al. 1998:235) but there is considerable variation in these forms beyond their outline shape and larger size, such as in degree of basal concavity depth, presence or absence of fishtails and extent of fluting.

The causes of such variation are debateable and it is possible this variation reflects raw material variation, spatial "social" or "functional" variation, or, for whatever reason, temporal change within the general "Clovis-like" category (e.g. Curran 1996; Ellis 2004:232-239; Ellis et al. 2003; Simons 1997:110-111). For example, Ellis et al. (2003; see also Curran 1999) carried out a detailed comparison of "Clovis-like" points from many sites throughout the Great Lakes-Northeast and suggested that there were two groups of such points. One group, represented by examples from sites like Shoop, Pennsylvania (Witthoft 1952) and Hiscock, New York (Ellis et al. 2003), is characterized by relatively smaller items (ca. 20-25 mm in maximum width) with shallow concavities (<5 mm) and slight fishtails and another group, represented by sites such as Lamb, New York (Gramly 1999), Gainey, Michigan (Simons 1997) and Bull Brook, Massachusetts (Byers 1954), is characterized by a larger size, deeper concavities and a lack of fishtails. Ellis et al. (2003:232-233) suggested the contrast between the two forms may be due to change over time with the smaller items dating later as they more closely resembled apparently later dating fluted point types such as Barnes. However, others think or suggest the reverse is true with the Shoop group points and their poorer fluting and shallower concavities indicating they are more "Clovis-like" and earlier in time than the points seen at sites such as Lamb, Gainey and Bull Brook (e.g. Curran 1999:10-12; Roosa 1965; Witthoft 1952).

It is possible therefore that the smaller Weed site items, with their shallow concavities and slight fishtails contrast with the larger items seen at other Great Lakes sites due to changes over time, 9 whatever the causes of those changes may be and whatever form is the earliest. However, the Weed situation is complicated by the fact the two points were apparently made on thin flakes only slightly larger than the finished products, a strategy referred to by Knudson (1983) as "direct thin flake manufacture." Most fluted points seem to have been made by serial biface reduction whereby the blank selected to be made into the point is much larger than the finished product and is reduced gradually through a series of intermediate and gradually smaller biface forms to the finished product - what Knudson (1983) calls "serial biface reduction." Thin flake manufacture is apparently atypical and rare in most Ontario assemblages (e.g. Roosa and Ellis 2000:83-84) because it makes it hard to control the size and shape of the finished product, which could negatively affect the point's fitting to a shaft and performance characteristics. It seems to be employed largely where there is a shortage of available larger blanks and in turn, access to raw material, or perhaps as a "shortcut" to the finished product due to a lack of skill and experience on the part of a knapper. As noted earlier, the plano- convex cross-section, slight longitudinal curvature and relatively poor fluting on at least one face in both Weed site examples can be explained as due to thin flake manufacture. It might also account for the shallow basal concavities. If the blank used is small, particularly short, a concavity that is deep would limit the amount of the point tip that could project beyond the shaft end, thereby limiting the weapon's effectiveness (see Ellis 2004:227-229). In other words, the point variation we see maybe related to more situational considerations associated with the Weed site occupation, such as a shortage of raw material, and not to grander temporal changes.

Regardless, the larger size and relatively parallel-sided nature of the Weed points suggest the site dates amongst the earliest fluted points as a whole in the area. A characteristic of these earlier sites as a whole is evidence for a larger settlement and specifically range mobility than amongst later groups in the area. Indeed, across the Great Lakes-Northeast, sites with Clovis-like points are often dominated by exotic raw materials from over 200 km away (for example, Jackson 1996; Loebel 2005; Simons 1997; Wortner and Ellis 1993) whereas it is rare to find later fluted point sites where the main raw material used is from over 200 km away (e.g. Ellis 2008; Ellis and Deller 1997:14). The Weed site assemblage although small and limited to five items plus a handful of recovered flaking debris supports such a scenario as the most common material is Upper Mercer from 350 km away in Ohio (3 of 5 tools; perhaps six if the Onondaga fragment is apiece esquillee). Weed is the only known Ontario site where this material predominates although isolated finds of Upper Mercer fluted bifaces are known from several locations in Ontario such as one from near Fernhill, Ontario (Deller 1988:119-120; Deller and Ellis 1992: Figure 29a), another near Kitchener (Deller 1988:123- 124) and still another from near Wallacetown (Deller 1988: 121-122). Sites where Upper Mercer dominates are also known in adjacent Michigan (Simons et al. 1984). We know of no later fluted point sites of the Parkhill or Crowfield phases dominated by Ohio materials and in fact, we know of no fluted points on Ohio materials at all from Ontario that can be assigned to the fluted point types such as Barnes and Crowfield associated with those later phases (Ellis and Deller 1997:12). The other two definitive Paleoindian artifacts from the site include one item, an end scraper, on Bayport chert from the Saginaw Bay are of Michigan and along with the Upper Mercer and more local Onondaga item from near Lake Erie, suggest individuals were highly mobile or were interacting with others over a large area. The use of Bayport, however, is actually rare on Ontario sites with Clovis- like points, and it more usually appears on subsequent fluted point sites with Barnes type 10 points (Ellis and Deller 1997:14). Nonetheless, the odd Clovis-like point on Bayport does occur in Ontario, as in the case of the Jaegers fluted point from Elgin County near Lake Erie (Deller 1988:122-123), and Bayport was used extensively at Michigan sites such as Butler and to a lesser extent at Gainey (Simons 1997) — so it should be no surprise to find the odd item, such as the Weed example, on this material.

Acknowledgements: The test excavations at the Weed site were supported by a small grant from the Ontario Heritage Foundation to Brian Deller and were part of a broader site survey project to locate Paleoindian sites in southwestern Ontario carried out in 1978-1979. Leroy Weed brought the site to our attention and obtained the permissions allowing site access. The excavations were carried out with volunteers including Leroy Weed and public school students Tim Gray, Mike Heal and Scott Oliver. We are sincerely grateful for this support of the project, which represented our first of many fieldwork collaborations investigating Paleoindian sites. We also thank Ed Eastaugh who produced the publishable map of the test unit distributions and assisted in putting together the photos.

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RESEARCH AT THE CRAWFORD LAKE III SITE (AiGx-371)

James T. Sherratt, Mel Brown and Charles Turton

INTRODUCTION

The research on the Crawford Lake in site (AiGx-371) began as a Stage 1-2 archaeological assessment conducted in 2007 prior to the construction of a drainage swale within Crawford Lake Conservation Area (Sherratt 2007). As part of that assessment, Stage 2 survey of a larger field that is proposed for future parking lot expansion within the conservation area was also conducted. This survey resulted in the discovery of the Crawford Lake m site (AiGx-371). The following outlines the research conducted to date on the site.

As development of the field is a long term goal, permission was sought to conduct research investigations of the Crawford Lake IH site. Permission to continue work on the site was granted by Rod Kennedy. The 2008 research investigations consisted of a controlled surface collection of the site conducted May 26, 2008. An additional 21 stations with a total of 22 artifacts were recovered. The Stage 2 investigations of the site in 2007 resulted in the collection of 7 artifacts. In total, 29 artifacts have been recovered from the site.

The site measures approximately 30 metres north south by 10 metres east-west. The site is hypothesized to be a special purpose site associated with the Crawford Lake site which is situated approximately 60 metres southeast of the Crawford Lake HI site (AiGx-371). The Crawford Lake Metate is located approximately 36 metres southwest of the Crawford Lake IH site and is also interpreted as a special purpose station associated with the Crawford Lake site (AiGx-006). Several other Late Ontario Iroquoian sites are located within one kilometre of the Crawford Lake site which represent the village relocation sequence within the Crawford Lake area and special purpose sites associated with these village locations.

The Crawford Lake m site (AiGx-371) is a significant archaeological site. The investigations of the site were designed to help inform our understanding of the settlement-subsistence system of the Late Ontario Iroquoian peoples who occupied the Crawford Lake are during the Late Ontario Iroquoian period. Future research should focus on clarifying the nature and extent of other sites, both large settlements and small special purpose sites, in the regions and in order to further develop inferences about the relationships between the sites within the region.

ENVIRONMENTAL SETTING

The Crawford Lake HI site (AiGx-371) is located on Lot 1, Concession 4, Town of Milton, Geographic Township of Nassagaweya, Regional Municipality of Halton, Ontario. The site is located approximately 60 metres northwest of the Crawford Lake site and 36 metres northeast of the Crawford Lake Metate site. 15

The Crawford Lake in site (AiGx-371) is roughly 30 metres north-south in length and 10 metres east-west in width. The site is located on gently sloping tableland. The site is located in a former agricultural field that was ploughed in October 2007 in order to facilitate the Stage 1-2 survey of a proposed drainage swale.

The soils surrounding the site have been mapped as being Dumfries Loam, Fox Sandy Loam and Guelph Loam. The Dumfries loam soils are located to the southeast of the site around Crawford lake itself. The Crawford Lake site sits on Fox Sandy loam and Guelph loam soils are to the east of the village (Gillespie et al. 1971).

The Crawford Lake HI site (AiGx-371) is located with the Niagara Escarpment physiographic regions of southern Ontario. The Niagara Escarpment extends from the Niagara River to the Bruce Peninsula. (Chapman and Putnam 1984: 154). hi addition to the physiographic regions, it is also instructive to describe archaeological sites in relation to major and minor waterways. The most significant body of water is Crawford Lake located approximately 400 metres south of the Crawford Lake in site. Limestone Creek is located approximately one kilometre to the east of the site.

•s

Figure 1: Location of Crawford Lake Conservation Area 16

INVESTIGATIONS

The Crawford Lake m site (AiGx-371) was discovered on November 9, 2007 during a Stage 2 surface survey of a portion of the Crawford Lake Conservation Area property proposed for a drainage swale and future parking lot (Sherratt 2007). The pedestrian survey was conducted at a five metre interval. When an artifact was encountered it was marked with a coloured survey flag. A close interval survey at a one metre interval was conducted around each findspot. The Stage 2 field survey resulted in the discovery of one site consisting of a scraper, five pieces of chipping detritus and a possible anvil stone.

• Stage 2 Find location * Stage 3 Find location - Site Datum 4- 5 metre Grid

Figure 2: Location of the Crawford Lake III site (AiGx-371) 17

The 2008 investigations of the Crawford Lake IH site (AiGx-371) consisted of a controlled surface collection of the site. The controlled surface collection of the site was conducted May 26,2008. The investigations consisted of a close interval survey over the entire site area. The visibility for the survey was adequate given that the field had been ploughed in October 2007 and had winter weathered.

As each station was encountered it was marked with a coloured survey flag. Each station was recorded by triangulation from two points on the north-south axis of a site grid. The site grid was established with north being 0 degrees (magnetic north). Two permanent datums were established in the pine reforestation to the south of the site at S17EOO and S19EOO. The datums are 12 inch galvinized spikes set in to ground level.

y^lsiwjf^d(--tial4e- wf^ttN^I/ Oro 25m , • Stage 2 Find location Of ,« Stage 3 Find location 4^-> .*»» Site Datum + 5 metre Grid \e 3: Close-up of Controlled Surface Collection 18

The 2008 research investigations resulted in 21 artifact stations being recorded and 22 artifacts being recovered. These investigations served to further refine the site to an area approximately 30 metres north south by 10 metres east-west.

ARTIFACT ANALYSIS

The 2007-2008 investigations of the Crawford Lake m site (AiGx-371) resulted in the recovery of 22 additional artefacts. In total, 29 artifacts have been recovered from the site to date. The assemblage consists primarily of chipped lithic debitage (N=23), however a fragment of a projectile point and a utilized flake were recovered in 2008. As noted above, a scraper was recovered in 2007. The assemblage include three ground stone artifacts include an adze blank, ground stone fragment and a possible anvil. The artifacts recovered are summarized in Table 1.

Table 1: Frequency of Cultural Remains.

Total Chipped Lithics 2007 2008 No. Percent Projectile Point - 1 1 3.45 Utilized flakes - 1 1 3.45 Tools Scraper 1 - 1 3.45 Subtotal 1 2 3 10.34 Primary - 1 1 3.45 Tertiary - 4 4 13.79 Biface Thinning 3 7 10 34.48 Debitage Biface Finishing - 1 1 3.45 Flake Fragments 2 5 7 24.14 Subtotal 5 18 23 79.31 Adze Blank - 1 1 3.45 Anvil Stone 1 - 1 3.45 Ground Stone Fragment 1 1 3.45 Subtotal 1 2 3 10.34 Total 7 22 29 100.00

The scraper is a side type made on Onondaga chert. The scraper was recovered from Station 1. The specimen has an incomplete length of 19.88mm, It has a width and thickness of 20.04mm and 4.71mm respectively. It has been worked on opposing lateral edges, one ventral lateral and one dorsal lateral. The areas of utilization have incomplete lengths of 13.34mm and 12.58mm respectively and the shape of both is straight.

The chipped lithic assemblage from the site is all made on Onondaga chert. The projectile point tip is too small to classify to type. As such, it can not be considered diagnostic. No other diagnostic artifacts were recovered. 19

The utilized flake is made on Onondaga chert, It is worked on the dorsal lateral edge. The utilized edge is straight in shape and has a length of 19.3mm. The specimen has a maximum length, width and thickness of 19.3mm, 18.6mm and 7.1mm respectively.

In total, the chipped lithic debitage includes ten biface thinning flakes, four tertiary flakes, seven flake fragments, one primary flake and one biface finishing flake.

B

D

?0mm

Figure 4: Selected Artifacts from the Crawford Lake III Site A Station 5, biface thinning flake D Station 8, utilized flake B Station 3, projectile point tip fragment E Station 9, biface thinning flake C Station 20, tertiary flake F Station 15, biface finishing flake

INTERPRETATIONS

The Crawford Lake m site (AiGx-371) is inferred to be associated with the Crawford Lake site (AiGx-6) and is one of several special purpose sites relating to the First Nation community that occupied the Crawford Lake area in the Late Ontario Iroquoian period. Nine Late Ontario Iroquoian sites (Table 2) are located within two kilometres of the Crawford Lake m site including the Crawford Lake site itself and the Crawford Lake Metate both of which are located directly south of the site. 20

Table 2: Late Ontario Iroquoian in the Study Area.

Site Name Borden # Site Type Age & Cultural Affiliation

Crawford Lake AiGx-006 Village Late Ontario Iroquoian, ca. A.D. 1350-1400

Indeterminate Late Ontario Iroquoian, inferred Crawford Lake Metate AiGx-215 Metate to be related to Crawford Lake.

Crawford Lake II AiGx-089 Camp Late Ontario Iroquoian, ca. A.D. 1350-1400

Plunge Pool AiGx-009 Cabin Late Ontario Iroquoian, ca. A.D. 1350-1400

Cedar Acres AiGx-159 Camp Indeterminate Late Ontario Iroquoian

G&L AiGx-136 Findspot Indeterminate Late Ontario Iroquoian

Acheson AiGx-146 Village Precontact Neutral, ca 1400 to 1550

Retreat AiGx-066 Village Late Ontario Iroquoian, ca. 1350 to 1400

Strawberry Patch AiGx-067 Indeterminate Indeterminate Late Ontario Iroquoian

The Crawford Lake H site is located southeast of Crawford Lake. The site has been interpreted as a special purpose site associated with the Crawford Lake site (Finlayson et al. 1998: 246). However, there is insufficient published data on the site evaluate this inference.

CONCLUSIONS

The discovery of the Crawford Lake HI site (AiGx-371) furthers our understanding of the immediate area surrounding Crawford Lake. Crawford Lake TTT represents a small special purpose site likely related to the Crawford Lake site itself. Further archaeological investigation is required of this site.

Further research on small, special purpose sites is required to develop our understanding of the relationship of these sites to larger settlements such as villages or hamlets. The special purpose site are often single component, even single events, that capture important information about technology associated with a particular activity such as hunting, fishing, wild plant resource use and horticulture. These data can then be used to understand the patterns observed within the larger village that represent a collage of these activities.

Detailed excavation of sites such as Crawford Lake IH is a necessary next step in developing our understanding of the Late Woodland period. The initial discovery of the Crawford Lake IH site was during an assessment prior to soil disturbance for a drainage swale. The site was located outside the drainage swale, but within an area of a future parking lot. If the area of the site is to be developed into a parking lot, the site should be further investigated. 21

Acknowledgements: This research would not be possible without the dedication of Mel Brown and Charles Turton to the archaeology of the Crawford Lake Area. Permission to conduct the research was granted by Rod Kennedy and Neil Switzer, Conservation Halton. Thanks also to Adam McDowell, Crawford Lake Conservation Area, for his assistance with the Stage 2 survey of the field.

REFERENCES CITED

Chapman, L.J. and D.F. and Putnam 1984 TThJ e Physiography of Southern Ontario. 3rd Edition. Ministry of Natural Resources, Toronto.

Finlayson, William D. 1998 Iroquoian Peoples of the Land of Rocks and Water, A.D. 1000-1650: A Study in Settlement Archaeology. London Museum of Archaeology Special Publication 1.

Gillespie, J. E., R.E. Wicklund and M.H. Miller 1971 Soils of Halton County. Report No. 43, Ontario Soil Surey. Ontario Department of Agriculture and Food and Canada Department of Agriculture.

Sherratt, Jim 2007 The Stage 1-2 Archaeological Assessment of Drainage Swale and Proposed Parking Lot, Crawford Lake Conservation Area, Lot 1, Concession 4, Geographic Township of Nassagaweya, Town of Milton, Halton Regional Municipality, Ontario. Report on file, Ontario Ministry of Culture, Toronto, Ontario.

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OCCASIONAL PUBLICATIONS OF THE LONDON CHAPTER, ONTARIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY

The Occasional Publication Series of the London Chapter, OAS is devoted to publishing full-length manuscripts on the archaeology of northeastern North America and related topics. This award-winning series features manuscripts reporting on important site excavations in the region, as well as major cultural- historical syntheses. The following manuscripts are still available as of October 1, 2010:

#3 - The Adder Orchard Site: Lithic Technology and Spatial Organization in the Broadpoint Late Archaic (1997 - 7 Chapters: 100+pp, 30+ figures), Jacqueline Fisher Cost: $15.00 Sale Price: $10.00

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#7 The Myers Road Site - Archaeology of the Early to Middle Iroquoian Transition (1998 - 6 Chapters: 210+ pp, 75 figures) Ron Williamson, editor Cost: $18.00 Sale Price: $13.00

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