UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY

The Lake Minnewanka Site: Patterns in Late Pleistocene Use of the Alberta Rocky Mountains

by

Alison J. Landals

A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

DEPARTMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY

CALGARY, ALBERTA

August 2008

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While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. Canada ABSTRACT

A five year excavation program at the Lake Minnewanka site, near Banff, Alberta (totaling 87 square meters) yielded 26 occupations, including eight, well defined, well stratified occupation floors, dating between 10,000 and 10,800 radiocarbon years before present (ca. 11,300 to 13,150 calibrated years B.P.). Individual floors were sealed by a rapidly deposited blanket of aeolian loess. Some of the oldest floors in the site contained the remains of mountain sheep, hearths, red ochre, and pieces esquillees associated with small, enigmatic, blade-like flakes. Slightly later floors exhibited quite different patterns of lithic reduction and raw material preference, more typical of plains Paleolndians. The concordance with some aspects of the Vermilion Lakes site (Fedje et al. 1995) is striking, verifying the presence of at least two closely subsequent early cultural traditions, typified by very different patterns of raw material use and reduction strategies. The earliest groups at both sites were hunting mountain sheep in the expanded alpine zone during the cold, dry Younger Dryas climatic interval.

The ice-free corridor has been increasingly portrayed as a desolate waste, incapable of allowing the passage of humans until after populations were established south of the ice (Dixon 2001, Mandryk et al. 2001, Stanford and Bradley 2002). However, recent study of mountain sheep genetics (Loehr et al. 2006) indicates the existence of at least two cryptic refugia that supported populations of mountain sheep within the ice-free corridor throughout the last ice age. Deglaciation permitted a rapid expansion of sheep into newly available, highly productive ranges. A consideration of the calibrated radiocarbon dates suggests that the "late" dates for Pleistocene sites within the ice-free corridor has been somewhat exaggerated. This evaluation suggests that the corridor was a suitable route for migration coetaneous with the current earliest known Alaskan Complexes. This does not negate the potential of the coastal route for migration, nor is the possibility for earlier human occupation obviated. It simply seems as though the ice-free corridor should not yet be discounted as a potentially important variable in the first peopling equation.

in ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The completion of this research is due to the help of so many people, both within and outside of the University of Calgary, that it will be impossible to list them all here. At the University of Calgary, I owe my greatest thanks to Dr. Brian Reeves, whose incredible knowledge and passion for the archaeology of Alberta has been an inspiration to me for my entire career. If Barney had not agreed to act as my graduate supervisor and been so open to allowing me to pursue my research interests, this work would simply never have been undertaken. I would also like to thank the other members of my graduate committee, Dr. Brian Kooyman, Dr. Gerry Oetelaar, Dr. Scott Raymond, Dr. Len Hills and Dr. Jonathan Driver. In particular, I thank Gerry for many stimulating discussions, continually challenging my perceptions and helping me obtain some radiocarbon dates, personnel and field equipment, and Brian for his encouragement to pursue this topic, and some very good advice many years ago in Ecuador.

Also at the University of Calgary, I would like to thank Dr. Dale Walde, who provided me with greatly appreciated free labour on the part of his field school students. Miss Lesley Nicholls is also owed considerable thanks for helping me deal with the intricacies of the contracts, as well as her encouragement and support throughout graduate school. Dr. Gerald Newlands is also thanked for his help with equipment and photography. Ms. Lorna Very ably handled the Parks contract each year, and Dr. Scott Raymond acted as the contract supervisor for several years. A number of members of the geoscience department at the University of Calgary also deserve thanks for their help, including Dr. S. Harris, Dr. Len Hills, Dr. A. Limbird, Dr. D. Smith, and Dave Clements.

This work could not have been undertaken without the support of Parks Canada, under their threatened site program. The Banff Warden Service was most helpful each year with logistics and permits, and special recognition is due to Don Mickle, whose support for the project was a very key element in obtaining the excavation funding. In particular, within the Archaeological Services Unit, Dr. Martin Magne and Gwyn Langemann were instrumental in recognizing the significance of the site, giving me the

iv opportunity to excavate, and securing financial support. Also needing many thanks are Bill Perry, Sharon Thompson and Jack Porter, for help expediting the project and volunteering to dig whenever they could. Very special thanks are due to Daryl Fedje and Joanne MacSporran for both visiting and volunteering at the site (before the ice had even melted). Daryl's input on several occasions was extremely valuable and timely; I consider it the most amazing good fortune of my career to have had the opportunity to work with him at the Vermilion Lakes and Eclipse sites, where I became intrigued with Early Period sites in Banff, and observed first hand the degree of dedication necessary to find, excavate and analyze these rare, challenging, and ultimately frustrating sites.

In addition to funding specifically for the excavations provided by Parks Canada, my graduate research was funded generously by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Without this support I would never have been able to stay in school long enough to contemplate the five field seasons necessary to investigate the site adequately. Other greatly appreciated financial support in the form of scholarships was provided by the Friends of Head-Smashed-In and the Province of Alberta Roger Soderstrom award. I also am grateful for financial support from the Department of Archaeology in the form of teaching assistantships during the crucial first year of graduate school.

Although the Lake Minnewanka site is truly one of the most beautiful archaeological sites in the world, all members of the field crews had to be prepared for challenging spring weather in the Rockies, long hours, a bracing walk in and out carrying equipment each day, no time off until the water flooded the units, and abysmally low wages (or even no wages at all). I was continually amazed that so many fine, experienced excavators were willing to work at the site (some for several seasons); their dedication and high spirits provide some of my best field memories. Many thanks to the core field crew of Jennifer Carroll, Emma Farid, Jason Gillespie, Matt Moors, Carmen Olsen, Maureen Reeves, Elizabeth Robertson, Susan Tupakka, and Francois Vigneault. We were joined by so many volunteers, some for a few days and others for what amounted to weeks, that it is a daunting task to even try to list them. Often they were given the

v choicest jobs, such as water screening in the snow, or hauling backfill, and I cannot thank them enough. Many thanks to: Matthew Boyd, Chris Burk, Moya Cavanagh, Pete Dawson, Marty Graham, Stacy Kozakavich, Jeremy Leyden, Annette Milot, Brent Murphy, Rod Pickard, Evelyn Siegfried, Gareth Spicer, Jjena Varsakis, Tamara Varney, Monica Webster, Heidi Wilson, and Stacie Zaychuk.

Various students from different U of C field courses spent anywhere from one day learning how to shovel test to three weeks of intensive excavation at the site; I am especially grateful to the 1999 field school students. Thanks to Tami Brady, Lindsie Bruns, Ann Clegg, Beau Cripps, Deb deLooze, Christine Fischer, Steve Ford, Jean Paul Foster, Tim Gianuzzi, Mandi Gibson, Andrea Gracey, Stan Guenther, Jen Goertzen, Debra Heimbigner, Scott Jones, Cynthia Last, Crystal Lewis, Murray Lobb, Lindsay MacDonald, Jean Pierre Marchant, Michelle Mann, Jill Milner, Deb Meert, Matt Moors, Jay Maxwell, Carmen Olsen, Colleen Parsley, Susan Roe, Laura Rumbolt, Tara Schiewe, Karen Seymour, Leslie-Lynn Sinkey, Candice Stauffer, Ian Tamasi, Shannon Ward, Daryl Whitehead, Alan Youell and Chris Zakotuk.

The production of the maps and figures for the yearly Parks interim reports and this dissertation would not have been possible without the help of Armando Anaya, Brian Beaulieu, Amanda Dow, Mitch Hendrickson, Rick Lalonde, Kevin Thorsen, and Keith Wilford. I would also like to thank Eugene Gryba for looking at the artifacts from Minnewanka and sharing his flint knapping perspective with me. Thanks to Edward van Vliet at the Canmore Museum for allowing me access to the points on display there. I would also like to thank Rick Lalonde for his help re-establishing the grid at the site, as well as drafting many of the figures and keeping Rod busy at the cabin when I was trying to write. Also, a number of other friends and colleagues variously provided me with references, opinions and timely encouragements - for this I would like to thank Tom Arnold, Don Marquis, Christy de Mille, Dan Meyer, Nancy Saxberg, and Tamara Varney.

Bob Steinhauser is owed a great debt for his input and discussions regarding site stratigraphy and artifact distribution during the crucial 1993 field season, when we first began to have the inkling that there were still intact deposits at the site, as well as his loan

vi of water screening equipment in later seasons. I especially thank Bob for reminding me to have the duct tape handy when we were ferrying the power screen across Lake Minnewanka in a very small, rented, inflatable boat, and for steering so calmly when I had to apply the tape to a large, jagged tear on the pontoon, caused by an unfortunate combination of a crosswind, monster boat wake and a shifting load. It was not the only occasion that Bob's wisdom and foresight made a big difference to one of my projects, but probably the timeliest. The entire 1993 FMA crew was instrumental in setting the groundwork for later discoveries at the site, but not able to bask in the later glory- many thanks to George Chalut, Diane Cockle, Kevin Thorson, Kathy Williams, John Albanese and Sheri Dubo.

For the past few years I have been trying to work as a consulting archaeologist overseeing a large reservoir project, as well as finishing this dissertation, an endeavour that would surely have been doomed to failure had it not been for the understanding of both Barney and my employers. Ed McCullough and Dr. Gloria Fedirchuk, of FMA Heritage Inc. deserve many, many thanks for their great flexibility, support and encouragement, as well as use of the photocopier. My fellow managers, especially Kate Peach and Jennifer Tischer, stepped up many times to shoulder extra work on my behalf, for which I am very thankful. Also at FMA, I received moral support from my co­ workers, especially Bonnie Brenner and Barb Neal. Lisa Bohach was especially patient and extremely helpful with my formatting issues.

Life sometimes takes unexpected turns, none more so than becoming a mother in the midst of both a dissertation and a reservoir project. I would like to thank my partner, Rod Pickard, for sharing so many of the burdens and joys of the last few years, and Madaleine, for letting me work sometimes, and keeping me from work at other times. Finally, I would like to thank my parents, Mercedes and Keith Landals, and my sister Donna, for giving me their support and encouragement to pursue my academic endeavors over so many years.

vn TABLE OF CONTENTS

Approval Page ii Abstract iii Acknowledgements iv Table of Contents viii List of Tables xi List of Figures xii List of Plates xv

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1 Radiocarbon Calibration and Archaeological Interpretation 9 Organization 15 CHAPTER TWO: THE REGIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORD 17 Northeastern British Columbia 18 The Peace River/Grande Prairie Region 23 The Upper Smoky 26 Jasper National Park 29 The Harris Creek Sites 30 The First Albertans Project Areas 38 Banff National Park 41 The Sibbald Creek Site 47 The Wally's Beach Site 49 The Indian Creek Site 50 Summary 51 CHAPTER THREE: STUDY AREA AND SITE DESCRIPTION 54 The Study Area 54 Scope of Previous Research 56 The Mountain Environment 60 viii The Bow River Valley and Glacial History 63 The Lake Minnewanka Site 66 CHAPTER FOUR: LAKE MINNEWANKA SITE HISTORY AND METHODS 74 Site History 74 Lake Minnewanka Site Stratigraphy 95 Methods 105 CHAPTER FIVE: OPERATION 17 RESULTS 110 Operation 17 110 Occupation 1 116 Occupation 2 116 Occupation3 117 Occupation 4 118 Occupation 5 123 Occupation 6 128 Occupation 7 132 Occupation 8 139 Operation 17 Summary 147 CHAPTER SIX: OPERATION 18 AND 21 RESULTS 151 Operation 18 151 Occupation 1 160 Occupation 2/3 160 Occupation 4 164 Occupation5 173 Occupation 6 176 Occupation 7 177 Occupation 8 179 Operation 18 Summary 179 Operation 21 181 Operation 21 Summary 195

ix CHAPTER SEVEN: OPERATION 7 AND 19 RESULTS 197 Operation 7 197 Occupation 2 201 Occupation 3 212 Operation 19 214 Occupation 2 216 Occupation 3 227 Occupation 4 227 Summary 227 CHAPTER EIGHT: SITE SUMMARY 231 Potential for Future Research 246 CHAPTER NINE: THE ICE-FREE CORRIDOR DEBATE 253 South American Pleistocene Record 260 The Coastal Route 262 The Ice-Free Corridor: How Closed was Closed? 267 Mountain Sheep and Glacial Environments 272 Ecology, Colonization and Traditional Knowledge 280 CHAPTER TEN: CLOVIS AND NORTHWARD DRIFT 288 Dating 293 Fluted Point Typology 295 A Doomed Way of Life 298 Surface Finds 299 Holocene Lithic Raw Material Utilization Patterns in Alberta 303 Late Pleistocene Lithic Raw Material Use 307 Microblade Cores 310 Summary 312 CHAPTER ELEVEN: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 315 REFERENCES 333 APPENDIX A: FLUTED SERIES POINTS FROM BANFF NATIONAL PARK 363 APPENDIX B: LITHIC RAW MATERIAL TYPES 378 x LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 Operation 17, occupation designation and dating summary 112 Table 2 Operation 17, calibration of accepted dates 112 Table 3 Operation 17, Occupation 4, cultural material summary 120 Table 4 Operation 17, Occupation 5, cultural material summary 125 Table 5 Operation 17, Occupation 6, cultural material summary 130 Table 6 Operation 17, Occupation 7, cultural material summary 133 Table 7 Operation 17, Occupation 8, cultural material summary 141 Table 8 Sheep humerus measurements, selected sites 142 Table 9 Operation 17, occupation summary 148 Table 10 Operation 18, occupation designation and dating summary 155 Table 11 Operation 18, calibration of accepted radiocarbon dates 155 Table 12 Operation 18, Occupation 2/3, cultural material summary 162 Table 13 Operation 18, Occupation 4, cultural material summary 167 Table 14 Operation 18, Occupation 5, cultural material summary 175 Table 15 Operation 18, Occupation 6, cultural material summary 178 Table 16 Operation 18, Occupation 7, cultural material summary 178 Table 17 Operation 18, occupation summary 180 Table 18 Operation 21, Occupation 3, cultural material summary 185 Table 19 Operation 21, Occupation 3, pieces esquillees metrics 188 Table 20 Operation 21, occupation summary 196 Table 21 Operation 7, Occupation 2, cultural material summary 203 Table 22 Operation 7, Occupation 2, flake shape 212 Table 23 Operation 7, Occupation 3, cultural material summary 213 Table 24 Operation 19, Occupation 2, cultural material summary 218 Table 25 Operation 19, Occupation 2, biface descriptions 225 Table 26 Comparison of flake shape, Operation 19 and Operation 7 226 Table 27 Time diagnostic artifacts by collection year, Lake Minnewanka site 230

XI LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 Pleistocene aged sites in and near the study area 4 Figure 2 The IntCal04 terrestrial calibration curve (Reimer et al. 2004) 11 Figure 3 Calibrated and uncalibrated radiocarbon dates for selected sites 14 Figure 4 Ecoregions of Alberta (modified from Strong, 1994) 24 Figure 5 A provisional sequence for the Banff region 42 Figure 6 The study area and major watersheds 55 Figure 7 National Parks and Provincial Parks and Protected Areas 58 Figure 8 The Lake Minnewanka, Vermilion Lakes and Eclipse sites 68 Figure 9 1913 and modern reservoir shorelines, Lake Minnewanka 71 Figure 10 Slab feature on eroded gravel contact, Area 1 84 Figure 11 Eroded stone circle, Area 2 91 Figure 12 The Lake Minnewanka site, final excavation plan 96 Figure 13 Schematic profiles and radiocarbon dates, all excavation blocks 98 Figure 14 Operation 17 profile (hearth is from Occupation 8) 113 Figure 15 Spurred endscrapers 349R17D2:8 and 349R17D2:9, Scale 1:1 117 Figure 16 Operation 17, Occupation 4, in situ cultural material 119 Figure 17 Operation 17, Occupation 4, Endscraper 349R22E4:2 121 Figure 18 Operation 17, Occupation 4, angular slab with incised scratches, 349R22D4:4 122 Figure 19 Operation 17, Occupation 5, in situ cultural material 124 Figure 20 Operation 17, Occupation 5, selected tools 127 Figure 21 Operation 17, Occupation 6, in situ cultural material 129 Figure 22 Operation 17, Occupation 6, selected stone tools 131 Figure 23 Operation 17, Occupation 7, in situ cultural material 134 Figure 24 Operation 17, Occupation 7, selected stone tools 137 Figure 25 Operation 17, 349R17M7:1 138 Figure 26 Operation 17, Occupation 8, in situ cultural material 140 xii LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 27 Operation 17, Occupation 8, selected artifacts 144 Figure 28 Operation 17, Occupation 8, 349R17L8:27 146 Figure 29 Operation 18 stratigraphic profile 153 Figure 30 Error bar chart, statistical separation between occupation floors 159 Figure 31 Operation 18, Occupation 2/3, in situ cultural material 161 Figure 32 349R18E2:1, stemmed point 163 Figure 33 Operation 18, Occupation 4, in situ cultural material 166 Figure 34 Operation 18, Occupation 4, selected stone tools 169 Figure 35 Operation 18, Occupation 5, in situ cultural material 174 Figure 36 Operation 21, stratigraphic profile 182 Figure 37 Operation 21, Occupation 3, in situ cultural material 184 Figure 38 Operation 21, selected pieces esquillees 186 Figure 39 Operation 21, selected pieces esquillees continued 187 Figure 40 Operation 21, Occupation 3, 349R21B3:17, flake tool 195 Figure 41 Operation 7, stratigraphic profile 199 Figure 42 Operation 7, Occupation 2, in situ cultural material 202 Figure 43 349R11B2:9, discoidal core 205 Figure 44 Operation 7, Occupation 2, selected cores 207 Figure 45 Operation 7, selected stone tools 209 Figure 46 349R13A2:16, core tool 210 Figure 47 Operation 7, Occupation 2, blade-like flakes 211 Figure 48 Surface collected point 349R12E1:1 216 Figure 49 Operation 19, Occupation 2, in situ cultural material 219 Figure 50 349R19F2:1, pipestone fabricator 221 Figure 51 Selected bifaces, Operation 19 222 Figure 52 Selected bifaces, Operation 19 223

xiii LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 53 Selected bifaces, Operation 19 224 Figure 54 Vegetation reconstruction for the study area, 12,000 B.P. and 10, 000 B.P. (modified from Strong and Hills 2005) 259 Figure 55 Bighorn and Thinhorn sheep ranges (Valdez and Krausman 1999) 275 Figure 56 Map of Pleistocene aged archaeological sites, reproduced from Roosevelt etal. (2002:160) 289 Figure 57 Fluted point distribution in Alberta (modified from Gryba 1988; Gillespie 2002) 301

xiv LIST OF PLATES

Plate 1 Harris Creek sites, view to the east 32 Plate 2 The Lake Minnewanka site, view to the south 67 Plate 3 The Lake Minnewanka site, view to the north 67 Plate 4 Aerial photo views of 349R in June (upper) and August (lower) showing typical low and high water levels 73 Plate 5 Operation 7, view to the south 89 Plate 6 Eroded stone circle, Area 2, view to the south 89 Plate 7 Operation 7, May 30 1998, view to south 93 Plate 8 Lingering ice pan over site, May 9, 2001, view to south 93 Plate 9 Deteriorated bone that has been pierced and dissolved by drop features 103 Plate 10 Discontinuous regosols faintly visible in massive loess unit 103 Plate 11 Operation 18, eroded profile 152 Plate 12 Operation 18, Occupation 4. Note hearth, in situ projectile 152 point and remnant drop features Plate 13 Diagnostic artifacts from Operation 18 170 Plate 14 Stratigraphic profile showing location of occupation floor in truncated Bm horizon, Operation 19, north wall 215

XV 1

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

Despite fifty years of archaeological investigations, the first occupation of the province of Alberta remains cloaked in mystery. How, where and when the first people arrived is unknown, and their subsequent adaptations to the newly evolving post-glacial landscapes are only poorly understood. First peopling and subsequent adaptations and technological change have been commonly addressed in Alberta by means of comparisons to findings elsewhere in North America, which are extrapolated to produce a series of assumptions about what may have happened here. These comparisons are usually based on surface finds of projectile points. It is not until the mid-Holocene and later times that the archaeological record in the Province is robust enough to begin to address major interpretive issues with large quantities of data obtained from excavated sites (e.g. Vickers 1986, Reeves 1990).

The increasingly impoverished nature of the archaeological record extending further and further back in time is certainly not unique to Alberta, since it is one of the most fundamental problems of archaeology. Preservation issues and archaeological visibility together account for much of the time biased nature of our record. In general, however, the northern Plains appear to have a much poorer record for early human occupation than other parts of the Great Plains (Vickers 1986: 28). The instability of early post-glacial landscapes due to paraglacial processes and less extreme erosion during the Holocene than further to the south may certainly be invoked as explanatory mechanisms for this pattern (Wilson and Burns 1996). Similarly, the very small number and small scale of archaeological surveys directed specifically towards investigating early sites in Alberta must also be considered a factor in limiting our knowledge of this time period (Magne and Ives 1991, Ronaghan 1993, Beaudoin et al. 1996). 2

The sparse and equivocal nature of the archaeological record in Alberta for first peopling is of considerable interest on a continental scale. The timing and route of entry for the first people has been and continues to be one of the major scientific controversies in North American archaeology (Bonnichsen and Turnmire 1999). Until recently, the opening of the Ice Free Corridor by deglaciation was the primary explanatory model for the entry of people into the New World, with a smaller, but significant minority of researchers favouring earlier entry, before the last glacial maximum. Fladmark (1979) was one of the first to seriously challenge the ice-free corridor paradigm with a detailed model for coastal entry, and in the past twenty years the coastal route has seen increasingly widespread acceptance. The reasons for the whole scale jumping off the ice- free corridor bandwagon are complex, and have been summarized by Meltzer et al. (1997), Bonnichsen and Schneider (1999), Mandryk et al. (2001), and Dixon (2001), among many others.

The apparent human occupation in Chile (Dillehay 1989) dated between 12,000 to 12,500 rcybp (radiocarbon years before present, uncalibrated) means that for the corridor to have been a viable route for first entry, it must have been capable of supporting first plant and then animal populations for some time prior to that date. In addition to Monte Verde, a number of South American sites show good evidence for contemporaneity with Clovis (Kelly 2003a). Similarly, a small handful of sites in North America have yielded pre-Clovis dates, although all remain controversial, and Meltzer et al. (1997) note that most early sites do not stand the test of time, when subjected to rigorous scrutiny [for local examples see Wilson et al. (1983), Osborn et al. (1999) and Gillespie et al. (2004)]. Recent work focusing specifically on the ice-free corridor in Alberta has overwhelmingly supported both physical and biotic closure of the corridor during the Late Wisconsin glacial maximum, suggesting that the corridor would not have been viable for human use until sometime after ca. 12,000 rcybp (Mandryk 1992, Young et al. 1994, Mandryk and Rutter 1996, Jackson and Duk-Rodkin 1996, Dyke et al. 2002).

There are no unequivocal radiocarbon dates from palaeontological or archaeological contexts in the corridor between ca. 22,000 and 12,000 rcybp, and a rapid 3 increase in dates after approximately 11,600 rcybp [for a summary see Burns (1996) and Arnold (2006)]. Many of the lake core dates suggesting earlier opening of the corridor have been rejected based on error introduced by contamination from dissolved carbonates. In particular, acceptable post glacial maximum dates obtained on bone from potential game species in Alberta all post-date ca. 11, 600 rcybp or pre-date ca. 22,000 rcybp (Burns 1996).

The scarcity of Clovis sites in western Canada has proven to be a major stumbling block to the "Clovis First/Ice Free Corridor" model of first peopling, as has been pointed out numerous times by proponents of the coastal alternative (either early or late) and proponents of very early human entry. For many years, the only satisfactorily dated, excavated Clovis site published from western Canada was the Charlie Lake Cave site in northeastern British Columbia (Figure 1), which yielded a small, reworked triangular point with multiple flutes in conjunction with a series of dates averaged by Fladmark et al. (1988) to ca. 10,500 rcybp. Fladmark considered this date to be past the tail end of the Clovis continuum, and it is often cited as evidence for a south to north drift of the Clovis culture, together with the presumed "degraded" point style (e.g. Bonnichsen and Turnmire 1999:10, Dixon 2001:189, Hamilton and Goebel 1999: 185).

Other western Canadian sites in the potential ice free corridor (Figure 1) containing in situ fluted or basally thinned points have not provided acceptable dates, e.g. the Sibbald Creek site, (Gryba 1983), the Pink Mountain site, (Wilson 1996), the Smuland Creek site (Bereziuk 2001), FfQh 26 on Harris Creek (Meyer et al. 2007). All of these sites are located in the Rocky Mountains, foothills or foothills periphery, and all are plagued by shallow or compressed stratigraphy, and a lack of clearly associated hearths or bone, such that no good dates were obtained. Both the Sibbald Creek and Pink Mountain fluted points are considered by their finders to be similar in style to the Charlie Lake Cave Clovis point. However Bereziuk (2001: 388) considers the Smuland Creek point to be more similar to classic Clovis types. 4

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Recently Kooyman et al. (2001) have reported the presence of protein residue identified as horse on two surface collected Clovis points from the Wally's Beach site in southern Alberta. Nearby surface exposed horse skeletons with associated stone tools and evidence for butchering have been dated to between 11,000 and 11,300 rcybp (Hills et al. 1999). Although the dated horse skeletons were not associated specifically with Clovis points in an excavated context, the very strong circumstantial evidence for association indicates that Clovis people were hunting now extinct Ice Age fauna in the southern parts of the Province by ca. 11,300 rcybp. The discovery of the site was due to illegal artifact collectors bringing it to the attention of archaeologists; it is estimated that between one and two meters of sediment were wind-scoured from the original surface prior to discovery (McNeil et al. 2004).

The inability of archaeologists working in the Alberta portions of the Corridor to secure unquestioned dates for Clovis from well stratified contexts has proven to be frustrating in the extreme, especially given the comparatively common appearance of fluted projectile points in surface contexts. Gillespie (2002:48) estimates that over 200 fluted points are known from surface collections in Alberta, based largely on Gryba (1988, 2001). Although many of these points are smaller, so called "stubby" varieties, other, more classic Clovis forms are also present. Clovis points in surface contexts appear to be far more common in Alberta than to the west in British Columbia (where they are restricted to the extreme northeastern corner of the province) or to the east in Saskatchewan (Dyck 1983), or indeed even to the south in Montana. However it is unclear to what extent this pattern is due to sampling bias, particularly in comparison of the Alberta points to Montana and Saskatchewan. Gryba (1988) in a detailed report has carefully and exhaustively catalogued fluted points from surface collections in Alberta, to a degree that has not been replicated in the surrounding provinces and states. Davis (1993) states that there are 30 surface collection localities with fluted points in Montana, all east of the continental divide, mirroring the Canadian distribution. However, in both Montana (Davis 1993) and Saskatchewan (Dyck 1983), Folsom points are far more 6 common than Clovis points, a reverse of the pattern seen in Alberta, where Folsom points are rarer. Bonnichsen and Turnmire (1999: 3) note: "Site reports are the essential building block for developing realistic models for understanding early American prehistory. Sites with l4C dated cultural sequences are regarded as essential to developing a temporal framework for making comparisons within and between regions". In Alberta, until the mid 1980s sites with any good chronological sequences for early Paleolndian times were lacking. For example, the Sibbald Creek site in the Rocky Mountain Foothills west of Calgary (Gryba 1983) was an extremely rich and intriguing site, containing a cultural sequence with diagnostic artifacts spanning virtually every named phase from historic through Clovis times. Unfortunately, the shallow nature and slow deposition of the sedimentary profile combined with tree root disturbance resulted in very poor stratigraphy and unacceptable radiocarbon dates. The Lake Minnewanka site, within the Front Ranges of the Rocky Mountains, was known to contain a similar temporal sequence, but excavations by Reeves (Mclntyre and Reeves 1975, Reeves 1976) demonstrated that massive disturbance as a result of reservoir construction had resulted in mixing of the cultural sequence. Other Paleolndian sites contained dateable individual components, such as the Fletcher site (Forbis 1968, Vickers and Beaudoin 1989) or the Lindoe site (Bryan 1968), but these tended to be slightly later in time.

In the mid 1980s, Vickers (1986:28) summarized the situation regarding the archaeology of the earliest occupation of Alberta as uniformly dismal, with no discernable difference across any of the various environmental zones of the Province. Vickers candidly noted that archaeologists working in the Province were indebted to "American colleagues" for almost all of our knowledge of this time period. Luckily, at around the same time as Vickers' summary, the situation regarding very early, stratified sites was beginning to change.

Based on the pioneering work of Christensen (1970, 1971) and Reeves (1972, Mclntyre and Reeves 1975, Reeves and Dormaar 1972), it was known that the Rocky Mountains of Alberta contained evidence for Paleolndian occupation, but in comparison 7 to the Paleolndian finds made in the cultivated portions of the province (Wormington and Forbis 1965), the record for the mountains was somewhat overlooked. However, initiation of a major mitigation program by Parks Canada in conjunction with the twinning of the TransCanada Highway through Banff National Park resulted in new discoveries of a series of Paleolndian sites, including the Vermilion Lakes site, Christensen site, Second Lake site, Norquay site and Eclipse site (Fedje 1986). Fedje's landmark work throughout the 1980s demonstrated that the Bow River Valley in Banff National Park contains the highest density of intact Paleolndian sites yet known in the Province. In particular, the Vermilion Lakes site yielded a series of well-stratified components spanning the period from 10,800 to 9000 rcybp (Fedje et al. 1995). Partially in response to these findings, the Archaeological Survey of Alberta initiated its "First Albertans" survey project in 1987 (Ives 1991). This multi-year project resulted in the discovery and investigation of several other early mountain sites in the general region of Banff, including the Exshaw area (Newton 1991) and the James Pass site (Ronaghan 1993).

In 1993, TransAlta Utilities Corporation applied to Parks Canada for a renewal of its fifty-year licence to operate the Cascade Hydro Facility on Lake Minnewanka. An archaeological consulting firm, Fedirchuk McCullough & Associates Ltd. was contracted to conduct a Historical Resources Impact Assessment for the project (Landals 1994). This assessment involved surveying the entire lakeshore for any newly eroding sites and re-evaluating the Lake Minnewanka site (349R, EhPu 1). One new Paleolndian site (1752R) yielded a spurred endscraper and an Agate Basin or Mesa-like point in disturbed context. Most of the program was directed towards a surface collection and limited excavation of the Lake Minnewanka site, which had received only cursory attention since the major program conducted by Reeves in the mid 1970s.

The 1993 excavation program verified that most of the site had been destroyed by catastrophic flooding as indicated by Mclntyre and Reeves (1975), but also resulted in the identification of an undisturbed component at the Lake Minnewanka site that was believed to date in excess of approximately 9,000 rcybp on the basis of stratigraphic 8 analysis. A dense lithic reduction area yielding unusual, large, blade-like flakes and a possible blade core fragment typified the component. Unfortunately, no dateable material or diagnostic artifacts were associated, and the presumed age of the find was not verifiable. Due to stipulations placed by Parks Canada on the scope of the program, no additional mitigation was required by the proponent prior to licence renewal approval.

In 1997, Parks Canada determined that the rate of erosion at the site, in conjunction with its high archaeological potential, warranted further investigation under its threatened sites program. A five-year excavation program was conducted by the author for the purpose of this dissertation. The Lake Minnewanka site proved suitable for intensive excavation due to its stratigraphic integrity and diversity of cultural material. A series of discrete occupation floors containing dateable organic material and diagnostic artifacts pre-dating 10,000 rcybp was discovered over the course of the excavation program. These qualities make the site quite rare in the regional record, and provide an opportunity to examine human adaptation and technological change in the rapidly evolving landscapes of the late Pleistocene and early Holocene. Regardless of whether the first Albertans were the founding population of the continent, they were certainly the first to know the newly ice-free landscape of the Alberta Rockies, and their technologies and adaptations were key in later cultural developments in the region.

Jochim (1996:332) writes of the Pleistocene/Holocene transition: "It is clear to me that this period of world prehistory is inherently interesting because it witnessed so many profound changes in human distributions and lifeways. I anticipate that archaeological research will continue in each area to reveal the diversity of cultures and patterns of cultural change during this period. At the same time, I hope that we will embark upon a new stage, systematically comparing regional histories to test and refine ecological theories and to explore the role of social interaction and historical constraint in culture change."

Jochim also notes that perhaps of all the groups around the world at the end of the last Ice Age, the New World Paleolndians have suffered the most from "over-generalized, simplistic stereotypes" (1996:358). The sequence from the Lake Minnewanka site, 9 together with data obtained from a number of excavations on the eastern slopes of the Rockies, can be used to begin to synthesize a regional prehistory based on actual data, rather than presumptions from sites located hundreds or even thousands of kilometers distant, with completely different environmental constraints and historical contingencies. Although the early record from the Eastern Slopes is still very sparse, it is important to understand what is truly represented by the work done in Alberta to date, in order to permit broader regional comparisons in future.

This dissertation thus has two goals. The first is to describe the results of excavation at the Lake Minnewanka site and place the findings in context by comparing the site to others of similar, Late Pleistocene age in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta and surrounding regions. Secondly, the implications of the Late Pleistocene record for the Alberta Rockies will be considered relative to the ice-free corridor debate, including the development of a new model for corridor use, based on recent findings.

The time period under consideration is restricted to the Late Pleistocene and transition to the earliest Holocene, thus only sites and components with records extending prior to 10,000 rcybp will be considered. Chronometric dating of sites of this age has proven to be extremely difficult in the past due to considerable fluctuation in atmospheric carbon caused by the dramatic climatic changes at the end of the last ice age. These difficulties persist, and the potential effects of more subtle, regional variations remain very difficult to assess. However, very recent extension of the tree ring and varve chronology for the northern hemisphere to encompass the Late Pleistocene has relatively dramatic implications, and some previously dated sites will be re-evaluated in this study as a result. Due to the critical import of radiocarbon dating, it is necessary to clarify the new findings in this introductory chapter.

Radiocarbon Calibration and Archaeological Interpretation

The publication of the Vermilion Lakes study (Fedje et al. 1995) provided a clear, definitive archaeological example of the increasingly apparent problems in dating late 10

Pleistocene archaeological sites, that is, the presence of distinct radiocarbon "plateaus" or long periods of time during which the radiocarbon clock effectively stopped. The combination of excellent stratigraphic separation of distinct living floors by colluvial flows, extremely meticulous excavation methods, rigorous evaluation of dates, and running of multiple dates, combined with their interdisciplinary approach, permitted Fedje et al. (1995:105) to document radiocarbon plateaus at ca. 9,600 and 10,000 rcybp. They also cautioned that "Eventual extension of the dendrochronological calibration curve back from its present limit at ca. 10,100 B.P. may have similar consequences for interpretation of earlier events", a prediction that has proven to be only too accurate.

Radiocarbon calibration is still in a period of considerable flux; good recent summaries are provided by Fiedel (1999, 2002). The results of radiocarbon assays require constant re-assessment with further scientific advancement. This discussion is somewhat simplified, and borrowed completely from Fiedel, based on the INTCAL 4.0 calibration, extending back to ca. 12,500 rcybp (Reimer et al. 2004). There are three major difficulties in dating terminal Pleistocene and early Holocene sites; firstly, the radiocarbon clock becomes progressively too young further back in time, such that the divergence is in the magnitude of approximately 2000 calendar years by the late Pleistocene. Secondly, there are a number of radiocarbon plateaus; of most significance to this study is the Younger Dryas plateau, between approximately 10,300 and 10,600 rcybp (Figure 2). Finally, and perhaps most importantly to this study, the Younger Dryas plateau is followed by an extremely rapid jump, or "hill", but within this "hill" some dates can actually show reversals.

These oscillations can have dramatic effects on radiocarbon chronology and archaeological interpretation. Fiedel (1999) advocates the use of calibrated, real time dates to discuss the archaeological record of the Late Pleistocene, due to these complexities, and a similar recommendation was made by Campbell and Campbell (1997), but many archaeologists appear to be ignoring this advice. Reasons frequently cited include avoiding confusion due to the number of uncalibrated dates that are already published and the constantly changing nature of calibrations, as well as the perception 11

calBC 12050 11550 11050 10550 10050 'I ' ' I •>'• 13000

12500

12000 R

03 Pif 11500

11000

10500

14000 13500 13000 12500 12000 calBP

Figure 2 The IntCal04 terrestrial calibration curve (Reimer et al. 2004: 1052) with one standard deviation error bars. Note the effects of the radiocarbon plateau, reversal and jump at the lower right of the curve. 12 that as long as everyone uses uncalibrated dates and is aware of the pitfalls, it should not affect archaeological interpretation in the long run.

While these viewpoints are certainly valid, the extreme complexity of the dating variability, including a long stretching of the clock followed by a short contraction, can be quite disorienting and profoundly affect overall archaeological perceptions. Most archaeologists in Alberta, for example, will tell news reporters or undergraduates that people have lived in the Province for "at least 10,000 years", rather than "at least 13,000 years", even though the calibrated record from several different sites extends that far. However, far more serious is the scholarly comparison of different Late Pleistocene sites for lag times, human movements, culture change, etc. based on uncalibrated dates.

Fiedel (1999:76) notes that due to the plateau effect, radiocarbon dates from the three hundred year span between 10,000 and 10,300 rcybp have calibrated dates in the six hundred year calendar range between 11,400 and 12,000 calendar years B.P. Radiocarbon dates in the two hundred year span between 10,400 and 10,600 rcybp have real ages in the eight hundred year span between 12,000 and 12,800 calendar years B.P. This jerky translation of six hundred radiocarbon years to 1400 calendar years is profoundly significant in terms of the real time it implies for factors like population growth, technological change, environmental change and landscape learning. These disorienting effects increase exponentially with the quick radiocarbon leap that follows the long plateau. Radiocarbon dates from the relatively long, 700 year radiocarbon interval from 10,700 to 11,300 rcybp actually compress down to a brief, 400 year calendar span between 12,800 to 13,200 calendar years B.P.

Although these effects are known, their implications are often poorly understood. Essentially, they may introduce a high degree of uncertainty when comparing sites of Late Pleistocene age based on single or even multiple radiocarbon dates. For example, in this study, the oldest acceptable radiocarbon date obtained from the Lake Minnewanka site was 10,610 ± 220 rcybp (Beta-165692). This date, at the junction of the "hill" and "plateau", and with a large (but not excessive) standard deviation, yields a calendar 13 calibration (at two sigma) between 11,840 and 13,150 B.P. Since Fiedel (2002:413) suggests the current best date for earliest Clovis is 13,200 calendar years B.P., this initially disappointingly "late" date could actually indicate an early Clovis cultural affiliation. However, its 1300 year calendar range essentially overlaps most of the Younger Dryas climatic period and presumably incorporates a period of rapid cultural change.

A move up the radiocarbon hill can have an interesting effect on calibration. For example, the earliest date for the Vermilion Lakes site, 10,780 ±180 rcybp (Fedje et al. 1995:90) can now be calibrated at two sigma to between 12,170 and 13,100 B.P., still extending well within the range for Clovis but encompassing a comparatively smaller calendar range of only about 900 years. Although the date is 170 radiocarbon years "older" than the Minnewanka date, its calibrated range at the oldest end is essentially identical, or very slightly younger (dating of various sites is illustrated on Figure 3).

The desirability for dates with smaller error factors becomes apparent; the very similar earliest date from Charlie Lake Cave with only a slightly smaller error (10,770 ± 120 rcybp) provides a calibrated estimate at two sigma of 12,400 to 12,950 B.P. Again, this date extends into the tight Clovis range established by Fiedel (ca. 12,800 -13,200 calendar years B.P.); however, it represents a comparatively smaller, 600 year calendar range.

Finally, another early archaeological date discussed in a later chapter is from a more recently discovered site in the Mountain Park area, east of Jasper (Landals et al. 1995, Kulle and Neal 1998a, b). The date from FfQh 27 is near the top of the radiocarbon "hill" and has a small standard deviation, at 11,270 ± 50 rcybp (Beta-104738). Recent calibration of this date at two sigma yields a comparatively tight, four hundred year calendar estimate between ca. 13,020 and 13,450 B.P., fully within and even extending past the current range for earliest Clovis. This extremely early date is of considerable interest, especially when compared to the similar very early dates obtained from the Wally's Beach Site (Kooyman et al. 2001). 14

11,400

11,300

11,200

| 11,100

•o ^ 11,000

!,£. 10,900 Statistical average of all reliably dated Clovis Sites $ | 10,800 . (Roosevelt et. al. 2002: 168)

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11,800

11,600 &f <& €+ V 4&

Figure 3 Uncalibrated (top) and calibrated (bottom) radiocarbon dates for various sites discussed in text. 15

Roosevelt et al. (2002:164) have recently scrutinized all of the dates available for Plains Clovis, according to a series of seven "criteria of validity". This has resulted in their rejection of many of the earliest dates for Clovis. They suggest that the only dates to withstand scrutiny range between 11,200 and 10,800 rcybp, but also note that the statistical average date for Clovis sites is only 10,840 ± 20 rcybp. In addition to calibration problems, Taylor et al. (1996) have pointed out that bone collagen dates from Pleistocene aged sites can only be considered as limiting dates, due to problems with collagen depletion over time. This adds another layer of complexity to dating Pleistocene aged sites, although recent improvements to bone collagen dating of very early samples should make these dates more reliable in future.

In summary, the newest calibrations of accepted dates suggest that the early Clovis phenomena was very short lived, with most dates falling within a restricted range of about 400 calendar years between ca. 13,200 and 12,800 calendar years B.P., and that regional variation began almost immediately after its first appearance. The nature of that variation is enormously complicated by radiocarbon plateaus, and requires stratified sites to explicate. Also, the chances that anyone has found the "earliest" Clovis remain difficult to pinpoint, and even slight fluctuations in dating techniques or a single new, well dated site can have considerable implications, given the very small number of reliably dated sites. The extreme peturbations in the radiocarbon record mandate the reporting and use of calibrated ranges for Late Pleistocene and early Holocene sites; despite the possibility that they may be subject to constant fine-tuning. The presence of these fluctuations is a reminder of the critical importance of building regional sequences from stratified sites with good chronological control; without these the broader archaeology of this time period will always be somewhat speculative.

Organization

The first goal of this study is to describe the results of excavation at the Lake Minnewanka site and place the findings in context by comparing it to others of similar 16 age in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta and surrounding regions. Chapter Two summarizes the regional archaeological record for the late Pleistocene. Chapter Three describes the environmental setting of the larger study area and the specific environs of the Lake Minnewanka site. Chapter Four describes the history and methods of research at the Lake Minnewanka site. Chapters Five, Six and Seven present the results of the excavation program. Chapter Eight is a summary and comparison of the findings.

The second goal of this study is to consider the implications of the Late Pleistocene record from the study area relative to the ice-free corridor debate, including findings of interest for the development of a new model for ice-free corridor use. Chapter Nine includes a brief summary of the ice-free corridor debate, as well as a summary of pertinent new data from the field of mountain sheep genetics. Chapter Ten summarizes the evidence for northward drift of Clovis, including a brief consideration of surface finds of Pleistocene aged lithic materials. Finally, Chapter Eleven consists of an overall summary and concluding statements, including recommendations for future research. 17

CHAPTER TWO : THE REGIONAL ARCHEOLOGICAL RECORD

The primary goal of this research is to examine the Late Pleistocene archaeological record of the Lake Minnewanka site, and to determine how it compares to the larger record for the eastern slopes. In order to meet this goal, some consideration of the broader record for the Late Pleistocene in western North America will be provided here for comparative purposes. Although some of these sites are quite distant from Lake Minnewanka (for example, Charlie Lake Cave site in northeastern British Columbia or Indian Creek in west central Montana) they all overlap in age and contain either unique artifact types, features or evidence for adaptive strategies that are quite relevant. Although the focus here is on dated, excavated components, some consideration of relevant undated components and surface finds will also be provided. Some of the most interesting of these data derive from the so-called "grey" literature of archaeological consulting. A more general consideration of fluted points in Alberta from surface contexts is undertaken in Chapter 10. Site locations are illustrated on Figure 1.

This chapter is organized in geographic progression from north to south, beginning at 60°N latitude. There are some potentially interesting finds further north; for example Clark (1991) documents the recovery of a fluted point from the eastern slopes of the Mackenzie Mountains in the extreme southwestern Northwest Territories, but does not describe it in detail. The eastern slopes of the Mackenzie and Richardson Mountains are of considerable interest to the model presented in Chapters 9 and 10 for early use of the Rockies, but this vast area is remarkably difficult to access due to the absence of roads, and extremely little archaeological research has been undertaken there, primarily focused on recording more recent sites in the Mackenzie Valley. A large geographic gap thus exists between the fluted points of the south and the earliest sites in northern Alaska and Yukon. Site KaVn 2, in the west central Yukon (Heffner 2002), has recently yielded 18 a series of dates extending past 10,100 rcybp. A projectile point recovered from the site is quite similar to the earliest point recovered from Lake Minnewanka, but unfortunately it was not recovered from the same stratigraphic association as the early dates, possibly due to taphonomic factors.

Northeastern British Columbia

Although the continental divide marks the western boundary of much of the Province of Alberta and Yukon, as a result of an historical quirk this natural divide was ignored in favour of the artificial line of 120°W longitude in the northern third of the province. As a result, a large portion of what should rightfully have been included in Alberta has ended up in northeastern British Columbia. This corner of British Columbia includes the upper headwaters of the Liard River, which flows north into the Mackenzie, as well as the upper headwaters of the Peace River. East of the Rocky Mountain front and foothills the area is largely comprised of relatively flat boreal forest. Surface finds of fluted points are known from this area (Fladmark 1981), but two Paleolndian sites in northeastern B.C. are of particular interest.

The Pink Mountain site, HhRr 1 (I. Wilson 1996) is the most northerly, located on a high ridge (1160 masl) in the easternmost foothills of the Rockies, at the strategic divide separating the Liard and Peace drainages. The artifacts were found during a pipeline survey exposed along a one kilometer road cut, and include two microblade cores, several retouched macroblades, five Paleolndian projectile points, one side notched point fragment and over 130 pieces of debitage, primarily manufactured from black chert. Soil deposition was very shallow and no organics were recovered, so the site could not be dated. Excavation was minimal.

Wilson (1996:30) describes the Paleolndian point assemblage as including a leaf- shaped bipoint, a basally thinned Plainview point, a Scottsbluff point and the bases of two fluted points. Although the fluted points are not described in detail, they have very deep 19 concave bases and exhibit multiple flutes; Wilson suggests they are similar to the Charlie Cave point and Sibbald Creek points (described below).

Even more interesting than the fortuitous discovery of the Pink Mountain site are the results of an additional survey in the area; the following year the area was revisited by Wilson and Carlson (1987), who briefly examined some additional road exposures near convenient access points and viewed some private artifact collections. They recorded ten new sites, of which three could be assigned to definite Paleolndian age and at least half were suspected to be Paleolndian; point types are described as bearing similarities to Agate Basin, Alberta and Northern Piano. Wilson (1996:33) notes that the private artifact collectors were "secretive", but the presence of several more Paleolndian sites in the immediate area was suggested during examination of collections. One of the private collections contained the base of an additional fluted point, but it is not described in detail.

Due to the very high frequency of Paleolndian sites containing very early diagnostics (Clovis, Plainview and Agate Basin) in a very small area, this manifestation might more properly be described as the Pink Mountain Paleolndian site complex. Given the very cursory level of archaeological investigation in this area, combined with the relatively low levels of development and dense vegetation cover, the high concentration of early Paleolndian sites is astonishing.

The Charlie Lake Cave site (HbRf 39) is the best known Clovis site in western Canada (Fladmark et al. 1988, Driver 1988, Fladmark 1996, Driver 1996, Driver et al. 1996). The total area excavated was small, but very deep, and the stratigraphic sequence, radiocarbon dates, diagnostic artifacts, complete faunal record and in-depth publication of results remains unparalleled in the local record. Unfortunately, the lithic assemblage from the earliest component was extremely small, comprised of only 19 items, including a fluted point, a schist bead, some retouched flakes, a uniface, an unusual type of boat shaped core tool, and small pieces of debitage. The lithic artifacts in this and subsequent components are primarily made from grey, black and mottled cherts presumed to be 20 locally available. Fladmark (1996) noted the unusual boat shaped core tool has few parallels in published Paleolndian assemblages of this time period. A similar boat shaped core tool was recovered from the early levels at the Lake Minnewanka site, and is described in Chapter Five.

The dates from the earliest stratigraphic deposits at Charlie Lake Cave during the initial excavation program were obtained from bone; Fladmark et al. (1988) chose to average the dates to ca. 10,500 rcybp. Later, Fladmark (1996:16) reported four dates for the fluted point stratum that do not overlap at two standard deviations, nevertheless he chose to average them to obtain a mean date of ca. 10,425 rcybp for the earliest component. The dates range from 10,770 ± 120 to 10,100 ± 210 rcybp.

Driver conducted more extensive excavations at the site in 1990 and 1991 and has since published additional dates and revised this interpretation somewhat, moving the 10,100 ± 210 date into a higher stratigraphic subzone, containing Component 2 (Driver et al. 1996:269). He provides six, overlapping bone collagen dates for Component 1, ranging between 10,290 ±100 and 10,770 ±120 rcybp. Driver also averages the dates to ca. 10,500 rcybp; however, he provides more detail on the stratigraphic association and complexity of Component 1. He notes that due to the dipping of the stratigraphy and excavation of the lowest levels by pick, chisel and pry bar in ten cm levels, no attempt has been made to tease out individual occupations within the larger stratigraphic subzones, hence the summaries as components, rather than as individual occupations. Furthermore, Driver (1996:21) describes the fauna from this subzone as having been deposited between 10,700 (at 10,770 this date might more rightly be expressed as 10,800) and 10,000 rcybp.

Although the distinction seems petty, it is unclear whether it is appropriate to use a single average date of 10,500 rcybp for the Clovis occupation of the Charlie Lake Cave, or whether a range of 10,300 to 10,800 for the overall component should be used. That is, it is possible that the earliest date in the range, on cut-marked bison bone, could be more appropriate for the fluted point, rather than an average date. Also, Taylor et al. (1996:552) recommend that bone collagen dates for samples of Clovis and Folsom age 21 can only be interpreted as minimal dates. Given that the faunal assemblage is consistently described as representing a range of time, rather than a single event, and the nature of the excavation, it is unclear where the fluted point really fits in the range.

The oldest date from Charlie Lake Cave can be currently calibrated between 12,400 and 12,950 calendar years B.P. at two sigma, and between 12,700 and 12,900 B.P. at one sigma, overlapping with the tight age range for Clovis (12,800 to 13,200 B.P.) recently established by Fiedel (2002) and others (Roosevelt et al. 2002). Even a date from the Charlie Lake group closer to the average, such as 10,560 ± 80 rcybp, overlaps with Clovis at two sigma, ranging from 12,200 to 12,800 calendar years B.P.

The fluted point from Charlie Lake is heavily resharpened, and was probably re­ used as a knife, obscuring details of its original form. It has an indented, V-shaped base and exhibits thin, multiple fluting scars. Fladmark (1996:19) compares it to the Sibbald Flats fluted points (Gryba 1983) stating that it dates to the same time period as that site (10,000-10,500 rcybp), and concludes that the "Charlie Lake Cave Paleolndian assemblage is clearly 500 to 1000 years too late to have been left by any early "proto- Clovis pioneers" penetrating southwards from Beringia via the ice-free corridor". The newest calibrations, unavailable to Fladmark, add a level of uncertainty to this assertion, or at least shave this margin down considerably, particularly given that the dates are limiting, bone collagen dates. Similarly the Sibbald Creek site (discussed below) has never been satisfactorily dated, so it should not be used to establish or confirm an acceptable range of dates for the Charlie Lake point style.

The stratigraphic zone that contained the fluted point was typified by a very sparse fauna relative to later layers. Driver (1996, Driver et al. 1996) notes that it contained bones from a high number of ground squirrels, snowshoe hare, a possible arctic hare, collared lemming, migratory cliff swallows, a raven, one duck, another wading bird, one fish bone (sucker) and some bison bone. With the exception of cut marks on the bison bone, there was no evidence for cultural modification (such as burning) on any of the bone, and based on a number of different lines of evidence, Driver suggested that the 22 assemblage may have been accumulated over time by large raptors (except for the bison bone). This faunal assemblage is indicative of an open environment very different from the later Holocene environment of the site (for example ground squirrel and collared lemming are no longer found in the site after the early Holocene). The presence of fish at this early date suggests rapid migration of aquatic species into recently deglaciated river systems. Of interest was a near complete raven skeleton, with no signs of cultural modification or carnivore/predator damage.

Component 2, immediately above Component 1, contained 32 lithic artifacts and a denser faunal assemblage, but no diagnostic artifacts. This stratigraphic zone is interesting since the fauna become far more diverse (Driver 1996:23), including many more waterbirds, but also less indicative of an open environment (an abrupt decline in ground squirrels with an accompanying sharp increase in snowshoe hare). Driver et al. (1996) provide four dates for Component 2, ranging between 9670 and 10,100 rcybp which they average out to 9850 rcybp. This suggests that the end of the Younger Dryas climatic event and the onset of warmer, drier Holocene climatic conditions are reflected in the fauna.

Component 3, dated with a single date to ca. 9500 rcybp (calibrated at two sigma to 10,400 - 11,200 B.P.) yielded an extremely intriguing find, a second complete raven skeleton, with a microblade core nestled at the raven's feet. Fladmark (1996:11) suggests this core is only "superficially similar" to early Holocene microblade cores from Alaska, but Driver et al. (1996) note that the microblade core resembles the wedge shaped cores of Alaska more than the conical or irregular microblade cores of later periods in northern British Columbia. They also note its similarity to the microblade core from the Vermilion Lakes site, dated by Fedje et al. (1995) to ca. 9900 rcybp. They note that the Charlie Lake cave and Vermilion Lakes cores are the most southerly dated wedge shaped microblade cores outside of Alaska, and the oldest examples known in Canada.

The presence of the articulated raven skeletons in Component 1 and Component 3 are suggested by Driver et al. (1996) and Driver (1999) to potentially represent ritual 23 activity, due to the probability that the skeletons were deposited complete and tissue covered, the absence for any evidence of predation, and the position of the microblade core next to the raven's feet in Component 3. Driver notes that in some northern oral histories, Raven is associated with the beginning of the world; thus ravens may have had special significance to people who first arrived in the region at the end of the Pleistocene. At the same time, however, he discounts the site as being of little interest for the First Peopling debate, due to its late date (Driver 1999).

The Peace River/Grande Prairie Region

The Peace River/Grande Prairie region of northwestern Alberta is an unusual, environmental "oasis", consisting of a grassland/parkland geographic isolate (Figure 4) surrounded by boreal and foothills forests (Charlie Lake Cave, discussed above, is near the western limit of the region). Catto et al. (1996) suggest that Laurentide and Cordilleran ice did not coalesce in this area during the late Wisconsin, resulting in a temporally and spatially shifting ice-free corridor throughout the glacial maximum, albeit a very harsh one, probably capable of supporting plants, and small animals, but not capable of supporting large animals. Recent mitochondrial DNA studies (Loehr et al. 2006) confirm the potential for ice-free terrain in this general vicinity; this finding will be discussed in Chapter Nine. A good description of the area and its glacial history is provided by Beaudoin et al. (1996). They note that that the Boone Lake core, from the Saddle Hills, provides evidence for a shrub/herb vegetation by 12,000 rcybp, poplar woodland by ca. 11,700 rcybp and open coniferous forests by ca. 11,000 rcybp. These dates are considerably earlier than the dates for the same vegetation transition suggested by radiocarbon dated faunal assemblages from Charlie Lake Cave; it is unclear if this is simply a function of elevation or whether the charcoal dates from the pollen cores are more accurate than the bone collagen dates from Charlie Lake Cave.

Cultivation has revealed a concentration of fluted points in this part of the Province (Gryba 1988, Gillespie 2002). The points are located both in the basin once 24

60° N

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Figure 4 Ecoregions of Alberta, modified from Strong (1992). 25 occupied by Glacial Lake Peace, as well as on uplands that would have been above the highest strand line. Apparently, the lake drained rapidly, limiting the development of clear beach ridges, and this drainage remains undated. Of interest is the appearance of distinctive macroblades in surface collections from a number of sites in the area; Leblanc and Wright (1990) suggest that these blades exhibit strong similarities to Clovis blades from Blackwater Draw, but are unlike any succeeding technologies in Alberta. Also, Wormington and Forbis (1965) report the discovery of at least four artifact caches by early settlers during initial cultivation. They note that in at least one cache large bifaces in excess of 22cm in length and large, unfluted lanceolate point preforms were recovered. Illustrated specimens appear to be dominated by good quality, locally available black chert (Peace River Chert). In general, the fluted points from the Peace River/Grande Prairie region exhibit considerable stylistic variability, including triangular forms with deeply indented bases, similar to the Charlie Lake Cave specimen, as well as more classic, single fluted forms (Gillespie 2002).

Although sites dating to the early Holocene have been excavated in the area, particularly in upland locales (Beaudoin et al. 1996), no intact Pleistocene aged sites have been located until quite recently. The Smuland Creek site (Bereziuk 2001) is located in the modern boreal forest south of Grande Prairie, immediately north of the Foothills transition zone. Previous work in the area has consisted primarily of pipeline surveys that typically yield very low numbers of significant sites; Holocene settlement in the area tends to focus on the shores of lakes. However, Bereziuk (2002) designed his methodology specifically to focus on high strandlines of the earliest phase of Glacial Lake Peace; remarkably, he discovered a Clovis point during shovel testing one of these landforms, at an elevation of 805 mask The site was spatially restricted to a small landform and tested with a total of 41 shovel tests and a single one meter square test over the point find spot.

Cultural material was limited to the projectile point base, a flake graver and ten pieces of debitage. No features or dateable material were discovered, and all of the cultural material was confined to the upper 15 cm of the profile, above basal 26 glaciolacustrine deposits. Since no further excavation was undertaken it is possible that cultural features could be present. Bereziuk (2002:388) notes that the point base, made from a honey coloured quartzite, does not exhibit the deeply indented base typical of the triangular, Charlie Lake variety, rather it has a slightly concave base and parallel, excurvate lateral edges suggestive of a lanceolate shape. He suggests that the point is more reminiscent of the Lake Minnewanka fluted points than the Charlie Lake specimen.

Bereziuk further notes that the black chert unifacial flake graver is typical of many gravers found in Paleolndian sites across North America. He does not describe the debitage in detail or discuss material types, with a single fascinating exception. One flake was manufactured from a distinctive, white welded tuff that he believes originates in the Tertiary Hills source reported by Cinq-Mars (1973). This source is located between the Mackenzie Mountains and the Mackenzie Valley near the Keele River confluence, over 1200 km north of the Smuland Creek site. It is rarely identified in Alberta, but has been reported in the Birch Mountains and Lesser Slave Lake areas (Ives and Hardie 1983). Apparently, the Tertiary Hills quarry is a unique source, so its appearance in central Alberta is of considerable interest. Most lithic analysts in Alberta are more familiar with exotic sources from the south, due to later Holocene patterns of lithic exchange; Bereziuk (2002) and Ives and Hardie (1983) both note that this unique lithic source might go unrecognized in local sites due to a lack of familiarity with more northern lithic sources. A similar problem exists with ubiquitous black cherts; some may be exotics from further to the north.

The Upper Smoky

Very limited archaeological investigations have been undertaken in the upper Smoky River portion of the eastern slopes. Brink and Dawe (1986) have provided the only comprehensive summary, based on a series of field programs undertaken in the 1970s; they noted that the area was the least studied and least known archaeological region in the eastern slopes. Since their work, piecemeal impact assessments have been 27

periodically undertaken in the eastern parts of the region, primarily in conjunction with oil and gas and highway developments, but their evaluation remains true, particularly at higher elevations. Most of the area is encompassed by the Willmore Wilderness Park, a protected area of 1775 square miles with no road access or motorized vehicle access of any kind. The upper Smoky watershed has the most extensive tracts of subalpine forests in the eastern slopes; but they are fronted by rugged foothills covered and fronted by extensive boreal forests rather than montane foothills and grassland, as in the south, making access extremely difficult. Also, the northern climate restricts access at higher elevations to a brief period in July and August. A Montane isolate east of Grande Cache is partially maintained by occasional winter Chinooks.

Brink and Dawes' (1986) summary documents considerable success in finding many small and a few larger archaeological sites in the Grande Cache region; their judgmental approach utilizing shovel testing to depths of ca. 30 to 40 cm allowed them to prioritize high potential areas, particularly south facing terraces and lakeshores. The sites they found were typically small lithic scatters and campsites, with a strong dominance of sites dating to the Middle Precontact Period, between ca. 5000 and 1500 B.P. (1986: 240).

They describe the characteristic soils in the region as comprised of a thin LFH or Ah horizon over a distinctive buff-red to orange Bf horizon, usually about 20 cm in thickness. This red soil in turn overlaid what they describe as a "silty or sometimes gravelly Cca horizon which may extend for many meters". They also note that "in our experience, cultural materials were always contained in the reddish brown Bf horizon". They interpreted the red horizon as a loess unit, and the sharply defined difference in coloration between the red loess and the grey silts beneath as a "discontinuity" over glacial deposits. Thus, their shovel tests and excavations were designed to penetrate only to the base of the red soil.

Of interest to this study are their excavations at GaQs 1, the Smoky site. The site is situated at the extreme eastern end of the study area, in a small pocket of Montane 28 ecoregion at the junction of the Smoky and Muskeg rivers. It was first recorded by Bonnichsen and Elliot in 1969, during a hunting trip, rather than a purposeful survey. A complete, classic Clovis point made from a high quality, glossy black chert was found in a bulldozer cut that had been excavated deeply enough to channel runoff into a culvert. Good quality black chert is common in the Peace River District, extending north to the Liard drainage. Such high quality glossy black cherts are extremely rare further to the south in the Alberta Rockies. Unfortunately, the point was subsequently lost, but Bonnichsen described it as similar to a Classic Clovis point, rather than a basally thinned triangular ("stubby") point.

The excavations at the Smoky site were extensive and meticulous; all excavation was undertaken by trowel with artifacts individually piece plotted, and a total of 140 square meters were excavated over two years. Two natural levels were used; the first comprised of the upper LFH/Ah and the second comprised of the Bf horizon. Brink and Dawe (1986: 214) note that "initially" units were excavated into the "sterile alluvium" beneath the red Bf horizon to confirm the absence of any deeper cultural material, but subsequently units were terminated at the contact point between the base of the Bf and the C horizon. It is unclear how many deep units were dug.

Not surprisingly given the shallow depth of excavation, time diagnostic projectile points were dominated by side and corner notched specimens, although two lanceolate points described as similar to Agate Basin or Lusk were recovered. Based on the strong signature for Middle Precontact use in the region, they seem skeptical about the context of the original find, noting that "the recovery of a Clovis style point from the Smoky site suggests but does not confirm the occupation of the area in Paleo-Indian times", perhaps inferring that the point could have been curated by later peoples (Brink and Dawe 1986: 241).

The dating of the Bf horizon in the Upper Smoky watershed is unclear due to the absence of visible tephras or any well stratified excavated sites in the region. However, the red soil expression presumably reflects the onset of Holocene warming as it does 29 elsewhere in the eastern slopes; any Clovis or earlier material would be expected to lie stratigraphically beneath the Bf horizon. Brink and Dawe's shovel testing and excavation strategy, penetrating only to the base of the red soil but not into the massive loess units beneath, virtually guaranteed that earlier Pleistocene material would not be encountered.

This type of testing was extremely common in the mountains of Alberta prior to the Bow Valley studies initiated by Fedje in the mid 1980s. In retrospect, and with the better understanding of post glacial soils in the Rockies, it would have been desirable to bottom the excavation units at least to the depth of the culvert and bulldozer cut in which the Clovis point was found. Thus, despite the well thought out excavation plan and meticulous standards, the site cannot be considered to have been assessed for Clovis material and its potential (and that of most other landforms in the area) remains completely unexplored. This evaluation is not intended as criticism; it is included here to point out that prior to the mid 1980s and early 1990s, the distinctive stratigraphy in the mountains of Alberta, combined with conventional wisdom at the time, actually worked against the discovery of Pleistocene aged sites.

Jasper National Park

No definite Pleistocene aged sites have been discovered in Jasper National Park. Although some early survey was conducted at higher altitudes (Elliot 1970, 1971; Anderson and Reeves 1975) most of the archaeological survey in the Park has concentrated on the Athabasca Valley within the main ranges (Osicki 2002). A few surface finds of Plainview and early stemmed points have been made, all clustering near the eastern limit of the Park, within the Front Ranges or foothills. Extremely limited excavations have been undertaken in Jasper National Park in comparison to the southern Parks. Of interest is the Devona Cave site, which may have excellent potential for containing early cultural material. Excavations there terminated arbitrarily at a depth of ca. two meters below surface, in an Oxbow component (Head 1987). It is possible that this site could contain a record extending back to the earliest Pleistocene, however very 30 deep excavation, similar to that undertaken at Charlie Lake Cave, would be required to demonstrate the potential age of cultural material.

The Harris Creek Sites

The abandoned townsite of Mountain Park is situated approximately 220 km northwest of the Lake Minnewanka site, immediately east of Jasper National Park at the latitude of the Jasper townsite. The Rocky Mountains in this area form a broader, slightly more broken chain than further to the south, and as a result, Mountain Park, while just within the Front Ranges, is fully 75 km east of the continental divide (the Lake Minnewanka site, also just within the Front Ranges, is only 32 km east of the divide). The area has recently been subject to intense environmental impact assessments, relative to construction of the Cheviot Coal Mine.

The mine is at a high elevation, entirely within the subalpine and alpine ecoregions, which in this area range between 1620 and 2755 masl. The subalpine ecoregion (ranging in elevation from approximately 1620 to 2040 masl) covers most of the project area. In general, terrain is comprised of northwest to southeast trending ridges and valleys surrounded by high alpine peaks. The Cheviot project area straddles the divide between the Athabasca and North Saskatchewan basins; drained by the McLeod River, which flows into the Athabasca, and the Cardinal River, which debouches in the North Saskatchewan.

The area is of considerable biogeographic interest, since it was recognized very early that it was partially isolated from the most extreme effects of Wisconsinan glaciation as a relatively large nunatak (Packer and Vitt 1974). Packer and Vitt suggested that both alpine and montane bryophytes and flowering plants survived the most recent glaciation in situ, based upon the disjunct distribution of 12 plant species. They also speculated that the distribution of some beetle species in the Rocky Mountains (in addition to plants) might be of interest in establishing the presence and extent of a series of similar nunataks along the eastern slopes (1974: 1407). The presence of these species 31 might indicate that the adjacent areas would become more quickly re-vegetated following deglaciation in a top down pattern, and provide some of the earliest extensive habitat for other key species of importance to later human migration.

As part of the environmental impact assessment for the Cheviot mine project, a vegetation study was conducted for Cardinal River Coal (Strong 1996). Strong (1999) refutes the idea that the Mountain Park area acted as a significant plant refugium, demonstrating that some of the disjunct species described by Packer and Vitt (1974) probably spread from the south in post-glacial times. He believes that the potential refugium would have been restricted to the areas above ca. 2075 masl. However, he also noted that one vascular and six non vascular plants in the area are, in fact, disjunct species of exclusive arctic alpine affiliation, and that a "tundra" type environment may have existed in the area prior to ca 11,400 rcybp.

An Historical Resources Impact Assessment of the 10, 040 hectare mine area was conducted by the author for Fedirchuk McCullough & Associates Ltd. in 1995 (Landals et al. 1995). Since the subalpine ecoregion is generally typified by very low site densities, and because prefield studies indicated very low representation of previously recorded sites in the region, it was assumed that very few sites would be found. However, in addition to a number of other Precontact sites, a distinct cluster of fifteen sites was identified on the high, south facing benches above Harris Creek (Plate 1). The Harris Creek valley is an open, east-west trending subalpine valley typified by a low cover of dwarf willow and birch. The sites were located at an elevation of ca.1800 masl, and represent one of the densest concentrations of non-quarry sites at this elevation yet recorded in the Province of Alberta. Although a number of these sites were isolated finds and small lithic scatters, larger residential campsites were also identified, a surprising finding given the high elevation. 32

Plate 1 Harris Creek sites; view to the east. FfQh 26 on knoll top at center of view, FfQh 27 at far right in distance (extends out of frame). 33

The presence of a series of recently bulldozed access roads for coal exploration provided the first evidence of human activity, in the form of hundreds of lithic artifacts at a site given the Borden designation FfQh 27 (the Harris Creek site). The base of a stemmed Paleolndian projectile point, similar to the Scottsbluff type was found in an erosional exposure at a nearby site designated FfQh 26. A shovel testing program was initiated, and many of the sites in the Harris Creek cluster revealed a stratigraphic profile similar, but not identical to the Bow Valley soil profiles. The major difference is the absence of Mazama tephra. However, a strong red Bt/Bf horizon similar to the 7000 to 9000 year old red soil in the Bow Valley was identified in many of the Harris Creek sites. While generally thinner and not as strongly developed as within the Bow Valley, it is believed that this soil represents a broadly similar temporal/climatic period of development (i.e. early Hypsithermal).

In some sites in the Harris Creek cluster, the entire post glacial soil sequence was compressed into less than 15 cm, but in others a surprisingly deep aeolian profile was revealed, with as much as 60 cm of aeolian sediment present above till. With the exception of the single Scottsbluff point base in an erosional exposure, two other diagnostic projectile points recovered during the initial survey were of Mummy Cave affiliation, including one recovered in situ from within the red soil. However, lithic debitage was recovered from some sites below the strong red soil, suggesting an early Precontact Period cultural affiliation. A mitigation program was developed, including avoidance of some sites and mitigative excavation at others (Landals et al. 1995).

The author did not participate in any of the mitigative excavations at the Harris Creek sites. The mitigation program was initiated by Fedirchuk McCullough & Associates, Ltd. but subsequently Lifeways of Canada Ltd. was contracted to complete the work. Mitigative excavation at FfQh 27, the Harris Creek site, was undertaken by Kulle in 1996 and 1997 (Kulle and Neal 1998a and 1998b). Excavation at FfQh 24 and FfQh 26 was undertaken by Meyer et al. (2007). These studies have verified the great age of human occupation in the Cheviot area. 34

FfQh 27 is the largest site in the Harris Creek cluster. Excavations totaling 132 square meters were completed (Kulle and Neal 1998a and 1998b). Unfortunately, stratigraphy in the site was compressed, particularly to the north, where the units were typified by less than 20 cm of post glacial soil developed directly over the glacial gravels. To the southwest, sediments became deeper, but the maximum depth of the loess is unknown, since the excavation units were arbitrarily bottomed at 50 cm below surface, in a stratum described by the principal investigator as grey clay, but one that still was yielding occasional lithic debitage (Kulle and Neal 1998b).

Separation of distinct natural strata was best in the southern half of the site, with the strong red soil represented by a band as much as 12 cm thick, and the grey aeolian silt beneath this band of nearly equivalent depth. Occasionally, small pockets of material visually identified as tephra, possibly St. Helens Y (ca. 3400 rcybp, Luckman et al. 1986) were encountered at the top of the red soil layer, between five and ten cm below surface.

Kulle recovered an array of diagnostic projectile points and other tools such as bifaces and endscrapers, suggesting that the site was re-utilized many times as a base camp, perhaps to access the adjacent alpine zone. Cores and debitage dominated, including a large number of black chert bipolar cores. Recovered points were dominated by early Middle Precontact Period forms, including several Boss Hill (or Mount Albion) corner notched specimens, some generalized Mummy Cave specimens, two McKean points, an Oxbow point and one large corner notched form identified as Pelican Lake that also may be an earlier form. The site appears to have seen its major use during the warmer and drier part of the Hypsithermal interval.

Only one definite Early Precontact Period point was found, a well made, fine­ grained honey coloured quartzite, straight based, lanceolate point base with heavily ground edges. The point was described as morphologically similar to Agate Basin (Kulle and Neal 1998a: 190). It was recovered from arbitrary five cm Level Three, above the basal gravel, in the compressed northern excavation block. 35

In the southern block, the top of an extremely interesting feature was encountered beneath the strong red soil at ca. 25 cm below surface (Kulle and Neal 1998a: 206-211). Unfortunately, it was not profiled or well described by the excavator. It was comprised of a circular soil stain approximately 30 cm in diameter and 15 cm in maximum depth, which was probably basin shaped. The edges of the feature were well defined and the black, greasy textured soil within the fill stands out in sharp relief in the photographs. A rounded, flat quartzite slab of definite cultural origin was placed directly over the fill. Although the excavators do not describe the feature as a hearth, its size, shape and the presence of the single slab are reminiscent of the early hearths from both the Lake Minnewanka and the Vermilion Lakes sites.

A bulk sample of soil from the feature matrix was submitted for AMS dating, returning a conventional radiocarbon age of 11,270±50 B.P. (Beta 104738). At two sigma, the calibrated range for this date is 13,020 to 13,450 B.P., fully within and extending slightly older than the currently established range for Clovis. Organic sediment dates are typically not as well regarded as charcoal and bone dates, since the clarity of the radiocarbon event when dating a natural soil may be questionable (Arnold 2006). Hood (personal communication 2006) notes considerable success with organic sediment dates when compared with dates on bone and charcoal from the same context.. Additional analysis of the soil matrix from the feature sample showed it to be relatively rich in organic material, including woody particles and pollen (Kulle and Neal 1998a). Given the collection of the dated soil sample from an archaeological feature, rather than from a generalized soil column, and the early date for presumed deglaciation in the area, there is nothing intrinsically disturbing about the date. Coal is not present in the immediately underlying sediments, although obviously it is present at depth. Anthracite coal contamination of some dates in the Lake Minnewanka site resulted in obviously unacceptable old assays (>50,000B.P.) and pretreatment of the sedimentary matrix from the Mountain Park sample should have removed any trace geogenic hydrocarbons from the matrix. Given its stratigraphic position and recovery from a hearth, there is no compelling reason to reject this date, which is the oldest yet obtained from any excavated 36 cultural feature in the Province of Alberta, and comparable to the oldest dated horse skeleton from the Wally's Beach site (Kooyman et al. 2006). At the same time, the date will remain quite questionable without additional research at the site.

The site was excavated in arbitrary five cm levels, rather than the more typical ten cm levels for most salvage excavations in Alberta. The hearth was contained in the southern block, where separation was best, and it was clearly located well beneath the major band of cultural material associated with the red soil. Although there was both horizontal clustering of artifacts and some vertical separation (multimodal clusters of artifacts by level), Kulle and Neal (1998a and b) did not believe the degree of separation was great enough to justify separating out levels, and thus the entire assemblage from four excavation blocks and all arbitrary levels (including over 20,000 lithic artifacts) was analyzed as a single assemblage.

Arbitrary levels five and six, immediately around the hearth yielded a moderate scatter of approximately 100 pieces of debitage, two bipolar core fragments, two endscrapers, a biface fragment and two unifaces. Although the overall site assemblage was dominated by black siltstone and quartzite was very poorly represented, examination of the catalog records indicates that these particular levels contained a much higher proportion of quartzite than the higher excavation levels, indicating that some vertical distinction may have been possible. The two quartzite unifaces represent the only artifacts of this type recovered from the site, strengthening the suggestion of vertical separation, since well made large unifacial flake tools are ubiquitous in most Paleolndian sites in the region. However, given the nature of the stratigraphy and the analytic method, additional speculation is not warranted.

At a later date, excavation was undertaken at site FfQh 26, less than one kilometer to the west. Meyer et al. (2007) recovered eight Early Precontact Period projectile points from a similar stratigraphic context, but unfortunately were unable to date the early occupations. Again, stratigraphy in that site was quite compressed, and like all of the Cheviot sites, faunal preservation was very poor due to the shallow and acidic soils. 37

Most of the early points were associated with the Cody Complex, however three forms believed to represent earlier types were recovered. One is the base of a large black siltstone form that is classified as a Clovis point preform fragment that broke during fluting. The second, also made of black siltstone, is classified by Meyer et al. (2007:75) as most similar to a "poorly made, post-Clovis basally thinned triangular". The third is a near complete, small, ovate, reworked, pink quartzite specimen with a deeply indented base. Meyer et al. (ibid.) indicate that it is most similar to the Sibbald Creek Midland forms, or possibly to Mill Iron points. Meyer (2005) also discovered the midsection of a Clovis point from a small surface lithic scatter (FfQd 8) located in the morainal uplands along the Brazeau River to the southeast of the Cheviot area.

In summary, the sheer density of sites in the Cheviot project area, spanning the earliest Pleistocene to Middle Precontact Period, was surprising given the high altitude, subalpine setting. Presumably, the sites represent seasonal hunting trips into the area, but the large number of endscrapers and variety of tools at sites such as the Harris Creek site indicate that these occupations were not necessarily brief, overnight hunting trips, but may have lasted for several weeks. It is unclear what resources were being harvested due to the extremely poor, almost non-existent faunal preservation in the sites and absence of any strategies for recovering data pertaining to plant use. Both deer and elk teeth have been found in later contexts in the project area (Meyer et al. 2007). Protein residue analysis for some Middle Precontact diagnostic artifacts have yielded bovid, either beaver, squirrel or porcupine, and cervid (Meyer et al. 2007). The Harris Creek valley offers excellent access to the higher alpine zones all around it. Mountain sheep would have been the major ungulate available in this area in Precontact times, and a hunting blind suitable for use in sheep hunting was identified on the alpine slopes immediately north of the site (Landals et al. 1995). Mountain sheep hunting is the likeliest explanation for the unexpected richness of the earliest sites in the Harris Creek site complex. Meyer (personal communication 2007) will be submitting some of the early projectile points from the study area for protein residue analysis. However, mountain sheep protein residue might not appear on projectile points due to the different hunting techniques used 38 for this species (such as snaring and clubbing) although it has been identified on later Paleolndian lanceolates, including Cody, from Glacier National Park (Reeves 2003).

The First Albertans Project Areas

In 1986 the Archaeological Survey of Alberta initiated its "First Albertans" project, a focused, multidisciplinary project designed to actively search for Late Wisconsinan/early Holocene sites in the ice free corridor (Beaudoin et al. 1996: 113). This project remains the only focused attempt to survey specific landforms in Alberta for the stated purpose of identifying early sites. Since it was initiated after the discovery and excavation of the Vermilion Lakes site, much of the initial work in the eastern slopes portion of the study was directed towards examining fans in the Montane zone of the major river valleys.

For example, Ronaghan and Beaudoin (1988) describe a ten day, four person survey of the north side of the North Saskatchewan River valley between the Banff National Park boundary and the Nordegg bridge. They note that the large size of the study area (greater than 70 km in length) and difficulty with access meant that the survey was cursory in nature, with visual inspection of exposures close to the Highway the primary form of examination. Shovel testing was only performed on a limited basis in shallow soils (1988:35). Backhoe testing was conducted at two locales; at the Nordegg Bridge (1190 masl) Mazama tephra was ca. 2.15 meters deep and at the Brian's Creek fan (1370 masl) the tephra was 4.25 m deep. The extreme depth of Holocene deposition, combined with the vast size of the study area, suggested to the authors that although landforms of a suitable age for finding early sites were clearly present, the chances of finding such sites were remote.

The Bow valley just outside of the Banff Park boundary was also selected for examination, due to its proximity to the Lake Minnewanka, Vermilion Lakes and Sibbald Creek sites. It was hypothesized that the area may have been a focal travel route in the 39 late Pleistocene (Magne and Ives 1991: 106). The study focused on a smaller, 25 km section of the river valley, in which a number of previously recorded sites were present (Newton 1991). Again, examination of exposures with limited shovel testing was completed, followed by selected backhoe testing at several sites.

At one location on the Heart Creek fan (EgPs 47), a backhoe test yielded presumed Mazama tephra at ca. 6 m below surface (Newton 1991: 116). The discovery of a number of new sites and pre-Mazama occupations in some previously known sites led to limited test excavations. Five stratified, multicomponent sites with basal occupations dating to between 7,000 and 8,000 rcybp were documented. At EgPs 48, a different, slightly shallower location on the Heart Creek fan, Newton (1991:118) reports obtaining two radiocarbon dates from a paleosol at ca. 280 cm below surface of 9320 ± 390 B.P. and 11, 680 ± 250 B.P. These dates were apparently obtained from both a charcoal sample and an organic sediment sample, but it is unclear which date belongs with which sample type. The dates were not associated with any cultural material; however Newton indicates that he believes the site has excellent potential for the recovery of very early cultural material (ibid.). Later excavations at the nearby Spring Kill site by Kooyman (1993, 2000) found strong evidence for use during the Hypsithermal Interval, and dating revealed that these deposits were younger than first estimated by Newton (Kooyman 2000:16)

The James Pass meadow complex is situated in a very different geomorphological setting, and was not originally selected for examination in the First Albertan project, but came to the attention of the Archaeological Survey of Alberta through the efforts of artifact collectors who had discovered a broken fluted point in an eroded vehicle track (Ronaghan 1993). A brief inventory by a four person crew in 1991 resulted in the identification of a number of sites in exposures and shovel tests, including the James Pass Meadow Complex, EkPu 3 to EkPu 9 (Ronaghan 1993: 85). The site complex is located in a high, subalpine grassland, at an elevation of 1675 masl (Beaudoin et al. 1996: 119). Around the margins of the meadow, aeolian deposition was shallow, but towards the 40 center of the meadow, the bottom of Holocene sediments was not reached in tests taken to two meters below surface.

A south facing aeolian capped bedrock bench, designated EkPu 8, fell midway between these extremes, with approximately one meter of deposition. A small, 17 square meter excavation block revealed a stratigraphic profile similar to the aeolian profiles of Banff, incorporating both Bridge River and Mazama tephras, with a dark red silty clay beneath Mazama, capping approximately 30 cm of grey loess over bedrock. A number of diagnostic artifacts suggesting considerable use of the site between ca. 5300 and 7700 B.P. were recovered. Beneath these, a scatter of lithic artifacts and bone fragments including a bison metacarpal formed a distinct floor at the base of the dark red layer. The bison bone was dated to 9750 ± 80 B.P., which accords well with this stratigraphic position. A spear point described as a non-fluted, concave based lanceolate was found in association, but the point is not described in detail or illustrated (Beaudoin et al. 1996: 122). This date range can now be calibrated to ca. 10,800-11,320 calendar years before present, suggesting that it represents an occupation after the end of the Younger Dryas cold period; the appearance of bison at a number of sites around this period in the Banff area can also be noted (Langemann and Perry 2002).

An earlier occupation layer underlying this is described as "a concentration of large flakes, a few cores and an occasional flake tool", with a bone collagen date of 10, 140 ± 80 B.P., but no diagnostic artifacts. The date can now be calibrated between ca.l 1, 400 and 12,070 B.P., suggesting that this occupation occurred during the colder, Younger Dryas interval. The lack of description of the cores and flakes negates any further discussion, although the description of the flakes as "large" may indicate a Banff II type reduction strategy. Occasional flakes were found beneath this occupation, but not as a definable occupation. A description of these flakes would be of interest regardless, especially if they are smaller specimens suggestive of Banff I technology, as might be expected based on their stratigraphic location (Banff I and II are discussed in the next section). 41

Banff National Park

The twinning of the TransCanada Highway through Banff National Park in the early 1980s resulted in landmark archaeological studies by Parks Canada at a number of sites, including the Vermilion Lakes and Eclipse sites (Fedje and White 1984, 1988, Fedje 1988, Fedje et al. 1995, Fedje 1996). At the Vermilion Lakes site excavations totaled 100 square meters, at the Eclipse site excavations totaled nine square meters. Despite these small sample sizes, excellent site stratigraphy combined with meticulous excavation techniques, extensive suites of AMS dates, lake core paleoenvironmental studies and exhaustive analysis of cultural material, permitted Fedje (1988) to define a series of early phases and complexes for the Banff region. He proposed two early trial complexes, Banff I and Banff n, which spanned a period of rapid and fairly dramatic technological and environmental change (Figure 5).

Banff I, the earliest complex, dates from ca. 11,000 to 10,200 rcybp. Two trial subphases were proposed, based on the presence of fluted points from surface contexts at the Lake Minnewanka site that Fedje believed resemble both Clovis and Folsom types. The earlier, Christensen subphase is dated from ca. 11,000 to 10,600 rcybp and the later Minnewanka subphase is dated from ca. 10,600 to 10,200 rcybp. At the Vermilion Lakes site, two components (9a and 9b, referred to collectively as Group 1) were dated to 10,770 ± 175 rcybp and 10,330±60 rcybp (Fedje et al. 1995:90). No diagnostic artifacts were recovered, so no attempt was made to designate the two components to either of the subphases, although Fedje suggested some similarities to the Folsom layers at the Indian Creek site. These similarities are not particularly strong, and appear to be based on dates and very generalized similarity, rather than specific details of the lithic assemblages. Surprisingly, despite the early age of the Vermilion Lakes site (at that time the earliest dated site in the ice-free corridor) Fedje et al. (1995) do not discuss the significance of the site relative to the corridor. Presumably, this is partially due to the "late" date (more typical of Folsom). However recent calibration (unavailable at the time) indicates that the Subphase as Corresponding Plains As Defined in 1989 from Comments Diagnostic Projectile Points defined by s 1 or Plateau Phase sites (Surface finds or Fedje (1989) Excavated Components) Tim e i n Y c Befor e Pr (B.P ) Early 11,000- Clovis (plains) Surface:349R points Fluted spear points. ,.--\ ^ Prehistoric 10,600 Excavated:! 53R dates Sheep & bison hunting; local lithics, cherts; Lm Js i^r% '' J« J**li Period: (Vermillion Lakes Site) small flake tools WM H^C| Ctaristensen w-'«3 5*_tS v-4» Qtu/§s (Banff I) Minnewanka 10,600- Folsom (Plains) Surface: 349R Fluted spear points (Banff I) 10,200 (Lake Minnewanka Site) Vermilion 10,200- Agate Basin; Early Excavated: 153R Leaf-shaped spear points; discoidal cores, large j$K (Banff II) 9800 Stemmed Point (Vermillion Lakes Site) flake tools, massive thinning flakes, more local tradition from Great sihstone and quartzites Basin, Columbia Plateau i Eclipse 9800-9600 Hell Gap; Early Excavated: 153R, 62R Shouldered spear points; discoidal cores, large (Banff II) Stemmed Point (Eclipse Site) flake tools, massive thinning flakes; more local tradition from Great siltstone and quartzites Basin, Columbia Plateau Norquay 9500-9000 Alberta (Plains) Excavated: 156R Shouldered spear points s\ (Norquay Site)

Cascade River ?between Scottsbluff-Cody Excavated: 156R Surface: Square shouldered points; associated with A 9200 and complex? NW Plains 349R (Norquay Site) widespread brunisol; lithics significantly / i 6850 lithic sources and (Lake Minnewanka Site) different from preceding, Montana red cherts, i i influences no discoidal cores or large flake tools

Timberline 8000 Lusk (NW Plains) Surface: 349R, 103R Leaf shaped spear points, concave bases (Lake Minnewanka Site), (Timberline Site) |

Figure 5 A provisional cultural sequence for the Banff region modified from (Langemann and Perry 2002). to 43 range for this date at two standard deviations potentially extends back to early Clovis times (12,170 to 13,100 calendar years B.P.).

The Banff I group was very distinctive due to its lithic technology, showing high angle reduction from small tabular cores, resulting in a significant proportion of small blade-like flakes. Notably, large bifacial thinning flakes, discoidal cores, and large stone tools (all found commonly in slightly later assemblages) were absent. Tools were quite rare and include bifaces, small gravers and small to medium sized sidescrapers. Relatively small bifaces, exhibiting deep percussion scars and no evidence of edge grinding, were produced from large flakes and tabular core fragments. A very strong preference for local black cherts (>95%) was noted, with minor use of local siltstones and negligible use (less than one tenth of one percent) of non-local materials. This technology appears to be quite unique, and (unlike either Clovis or Folsom technologies further to the south), shows a complete lack of emphasis on large bifaces combined with extensive use of very small, blade-like flakes and small bifaces.

Paleovegetation reconstructions for Banff I times are based on sediment samples from the Vermilion Lakes site and the Copper Lake core (Fedje et al. 1995). Copper Lake is located several kilometers up valley from the Vermilion Lakes site, at an identical elevation to the Lake Minnewanka site. Open vegetation dominated by shrubs (such as juniper, wolf willow and soapberry), herbs (primarily goosefoot and amaranths), grasses and sage is indicated for the period between ca. 10,800 and 10,300 rcybp. The colder and drier climate appears to echo the world wide Younger Dryas interval, and would have resulted in a significantly lower tree line, causing the expansion of alpine habitat favoured by species such as sheep and caribou. However, by approximately 9900 rcybp the transition to a tree dominated vegetation occurred. Fedje et al (1995:102) suggest that "It is apparent that the people of component 9 occupied a dynamic habitat, both in changing landforms and vegetation, with a rapidly shifting resource base".

Sheep were determined to be the favoured quarry of Banff I hunting groups, but deer, caribou, and large ungulate (either bison, elk, or moose) were also utilized to a 44 lesser extent. Habitation structures as evidenced from a single feature and similar artifact concentrations with sharply delineated edges were suggested to be small, circular pole and hide structures, with associated small, unprepared surface hearths. No evidence for seasonality of Banff I occupations was obtained, but a strongly local mountain valley adaptation with little movement or contact beyond the area of the local seasonal round was postulated.

The Banff II trial complex (ca. 10,200 - 9600 rcybp) also is envisioned as having two subphases, the Vermilion (ca. 10,200 to 9800 rcybp) and Eclipse (ca. 9800-9600 rcybp). The subphases are technologically very similar, but are distinguished on the basis of slight changes in projectile point morphology, with the earlier Vermilion subphase defined by Agate basin-like lanceolate points and the Eclipse subphase by shouldered Hell Gap-like points. The Banff II trial complex is based on a greater number of components, including five from the Vermilion Lakes site (collectively referred to as Group 2) and one from the Eclipse site. Unfortunately, dating of individual components within this time period proved difficult at both sites. The radiocarbon clock effectively "stopped" for about 400 years between approximately 9600 rcybp and 10, 000 rcybp, and as a result the Vermilion Lakes Group 2 components, while displaying a high degree of stratigraphic integrity, yielded conflicting dates with a large degree of uncertainty.

Two complete and one re-worked projectile points from the Vermilion Lakes site are leaf shaped, stemmed forms with narrow, straight bases. They are described (Fedje et al. 1995: 97) as similar to both the Agate Basin type of the Great Plains (Frison and Stanford 1982) and the Stemmed Point Tradition of the Great Basin (Bryan 1980). Two of the points were recovered from a component dated at 9640±100 rcybp (during a radiocarbon plateau) and one from a component dated at 9910±145 rcybp (ibid.). Fedje (1986) assigns these components to the Vermilion subphase (ca. 10,200 to 9800 rcybp). The Vermilion Lakes site floors dating to Banff II times include five activity areas comprised of tight, abruptly demarcated concentrations of lithic artifacts and faunal remains distributed around small, surface hearths. Two components yielded different 45 floors, with greater concentrations of cultural material, multiple hearths and evidence for butchering and more intensive cooking.

The Eclipse site contained a dense concentration of lithic artifacts tightly distributed around a surface hearth. Fedje (1988:28) suggested that a shelter with a diameter of approximately 3.5 m could be indicated by the abrupt demarcation of the artifact concentration around the hearth. A highly specialized activity set is represented in this small sample. Six broken stemmed points were found around the hearth, with consistent breakage point attributes suggestive of re-hafting (ibid.). Three large, distinctive D- shaped bifacial discoidal cores with associated large, triangular expanding, low angle biface thinning flakes were also present. Fedje (1988:34) was able to trace the reduction sequence from discoidal core to a roughed out stemmed point that had broken at the preform stage by refitting the large bifacial thinning flakes. The assemblage also included a broken soapstone pendant, flake tools, a number of large stone tools and considerable debitage. Bone was very poorly preserved, consisting of a few fragments of calcined material and one hare limb.

Four AMS dates were obtained from the hearth, two on small pieces of charred organic material subsequently identified as animal fat, and two on charcoal. The dates diverged by as much as a thousand years, with a group mean of 9675±350 rcybp. The two most recent dates were on charcoal with high humate content, probably as a result of leaching from the strong red Bm horizon, and these contaminants could not be successfully removed. The two older dates were from the charred animal fats with limited humates, and these dates, with a mean of 10,010±110 rcybp, were preferred (Fedje 1988:38). Despite this, Fedje placed the Eclipse subphase slightly later in time than the Vermilion Subphase.

Considerably more data is available for the six components assigned to the Banff II trial complex than the two components assigned to Banff I. A striking change in lithic technology from Banff I times is apparent, with the Banff II complex typified by the preparation of large bifacial discoidal cores. These cores were struck with soft billets to 46 produce large flakes that could be used as tools and when reduced in mass the cores were subsequently formed into long stemmed projectile points. Biface edges were heavily ground preparatory to flake removal, and the bifaces exhibit relatively shallow bulbar scars (in comparison to the deep scars on Banff I bifaces). Formed tools are more common in Banff II assemblages than Banff I. The flake tools include many large specimens and blade-like flakes are quite rare, whereas triangular expanding flakes are more common. In addition, a number of distinctive large stone tool types are present, including massive domed endscrapers and cobble choppers.

An intriguing aspect of the lithic assemblage at Vermilion Lakes is the presence of a small, wedge shaped microblade core in a component dating to 9,900 rcybp. Fedje et al (1995:104) suggest that this specimen is similar to those found in Denali Complex sites in central Alaska, as well as to the 9700 rcybp specimen from Charlie Lake Cave, and suggest that some aspects of Banff II technology may have been introduced from the north at this time, given the changes in environment, lithic raw material preference and point typology.

A dramatic change is also apparent in lithic raw material utilization. The near exclusive use of small tabular nodules of local black (Banff) chert seen in Banff I times is replaced by a reliance (ca. 65%) on local silicified siltstones, silicified sandstones and quartzites. These materials are available as larger raw masses and thus are suited to the Banff II large biface reduction strategy. Local cherts are still well represented (approximately 35%) and once again exotic materials are very rare, at approximately 1% of the assemblages.

Rapid environmental change during Banff I times saw the establishment of forest with a density and composition similar to, but still more open than that of today by Banff II times in the Bow Valley, although Fedje et al (1995:101) note that Douglas fir was probably not locally present until ca. 9000 rcybp. Focal hunting of mountain sheep is still strongly indicated in Banff n times, and two components at the Vermilion Lakes site yielded seasonal indicators suggestive of late spring/early summer and fall, respectively. 47

Other faunal remains include bison, deer, hare and beaver, but caribou is absent. Small circular shelters similar in size to those of Banff I times are inferred based on artifact distribution. Hearths include the simple unprepared hearths similar to Banff I, but also shallow excavated hearths. The presence of slabs near hearth peripheries is reported for Banff H.

With the exception of the Lake Minnewanka, Vermilion Lakes and Eclipse sites, no excavated sites in Banff National Park have been dated to the period prior to ca. 10, 000 rcybp. However, a single Clovis point was found on the surface at Clearwater pass, approximately 80 km northwest of the Lake Minnewanka site. This site (1717R) was discovered during a rare, high elevation survey in Banff National Park (Vivian 1997). Vivian describes the general locale, at the pass dividing the Pipestone and Clearwater, as the nexus of three intersecting valley systems (including the upper Siffleur), and one of the most important alpine areas in Banff National Park (1997:35). In particular, the open topography allows easy passage between the Pipestone valley, leading down to the upper Bow valley, and the Clearwater valley, ultimately leading east to the foothills.

The projectile point is a complete, finely made form manufactured from locally available silicified siltstone, one of the few local materials available in large enough homogeneous masses to produce a point of this size. This siltstone/mudstone is extremely homogeneous and exhibits a distinctive "wormy" patination (or root acid bleaching pattern). It is widely available in the Rockies from Banff south to Crowsnest Pass, and was present in low frequencies in the Lake Minnewanka site in the Paleolndian levels. This point, and other diagnostic artifacts from the Lake Minnewanka site, are illustrated and described in Appendix A.

The Sibbald Creek Site

The Sibbald Creek site, located in the Rocky Mountain Foothills zone approximately ten kilometers east of the Front Ranges (Gryba 1983) is of considerable 48 theoretical interest. It was the first site in Alberta with fluted points to be scientifically excavated and published, thus it generated a good deal of local interest at the time. The excavated area totaled 198 square meters, and over 10,000 artifacts representing the entire span of Late Pleistocene and Holocene occupation of Alberta was compressed into less than 50 cm of aeolian sediment, which was heavily turbated by tree roots. The complete Clovis point from the site is stubby and heavily reworked with multiple flutes and a concave base. The broken base is broadly similar.

Unfortunately, the Sibbald Creek site contained an extremely rich cultural record combined with shallow deposition, and the Clovis component could not be satisfactorily separated out from other cultural material, nor could it be dated. Gryba (1983) collected various charcoal samples from different levels and units and tried to assemble some composite dates, but was unable to establish a satisfactory date for the earliest component.

Surprisingly, although Gryba's discussion regarding the dating difficulties with the site and the heavily compressed stratigraphy was clear, mistakenly late temporal estimates for the site began to appear in secondary sources, as pointed out by Driver (1998). This is apparently partially due to a later attempt to date the site by extracting tiny fragments of charcoal from soil column samples taken from the excavation block walls by Ball (1983). Ball (1983:184) did not appear to understand the basic concept of compressed stratigraphy, suggesting that since Mount Albion, Agate Basin-like and fluted points appeared at similar depths across the excavation block, they must all date to the same period; thus the Agate Basin-like points were some kind of late variant contemporaneous with Mount Albion, and the fluted points were equally late basally thinned variants. He suggested a radiocarbon assay of ca. 7600 rcybp was probably appropriate for this multiple point using culture; however he also reported an earlier date of ca. 9500 rcybp even though the lab informed him that it was unreliable due to equipment malfunction. 49

Amazingly, despite the fact that Gryba did not date the fluted point component, the Sibbald Creek site is frequently cited as evidence for the late, northward drift of Clovis. For example, Hamilton and Goebel (1999:181) state:

"There is increasing evidence that Paleolndian fluting technologies spread into Canada from the south soon after 10,500 yr B.P. as the Laurentide ice sheet melted and a zone of habitable land emerged. Multiply fluted and eared points similar to those from north Alaska have been found at sites like Charlie Lake Cave in British Columbia (10,500 yr B.P.) and Sibbald Creek in Alberta (9500 yr B.P.) (Carlson 1991; Clark 1991; Fladmark et al. 1988; Gryba 1983)."

Both Wilson and Burns (1996) and Driver (1998) drew attention to this dating problem for Sibbald Creek in published papers, however given the ever increasing number of citations in the literature for its "late date" and stubby points, protestations that the points from Sibbald Creek are both un-dated and heavily re-sharpened are unlikely to attract notice.

The Wally's Beach Site

South of the Bow Valley, no Pleistocene aged sites have been discovered in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta, and no fluted points have been recorded, even in eroded contexts. Reeves (2003:60) reports a Clovis point manufactured from an exotic chert collected from the surface along a high, outwash terrace of the Belly River in Glacier National Park, Montana, just over the Canadian border. Within the Crowsnest Pass, Reeves (1975) notes the presence of a male bison skull in a water trench, associated with a few non-diagnostic artifacts dated to 9860 ± 320 rcybp, and a second skull from a higher stratigraphic context dated to 8070 + 200 rcybp. In discussing this find, Driver notes the presence of Agate Basin points in a private collection obtained from a nearby basement excavation. Reeves (personal communication 2006) believes a point from this collection was also similar to Goshen/Plainview. However, in general, the excavated archaeological records for both the Crowsnest Pass and Waterton appear to begin with 50 post-Younger Dryas, bison hunting peoples. Reeves (2003) interprets the earliest well known cultures of the southern Rockies as representing the movement of western peoples from the Plateau and Great Basin, east over the continental divide, based on recoveries from five sites in Waterton and Glacier National Parks, including the Lake Linnet site. Driver (1978) comes to a similar conclusion for the Crowsnest Pass.

However, the recent discoveries at the Wally's Beach site are of considerable interest, since they demonstrate the presence of a suite of grassland fauna, including mammoth, camel, bison, horse and musk-ox in the plains of southern Alberta just east of the mountain front at ca. 11, 300 rcybp (Hills et al. 1999, Kooyman et al. 2001, Kooyman 2006). The butchered horse skeletons and associated flakes represent the earliest clear evidence for hunting extinct mega-fauna in the province. The earliest date is wholly within and even slightly older than the best established dates for Clovis further to the south.

The Indian Creek Site

The Indian Creek site is a spectacular example of deep Holocene sedimentation providing a nearly impenetrable cap over Late Pleistocene deposits. Davis and Grieser (1992:226) note that the earliest scattered Paleolndian manifestations in Montana concentrate in the upper headwaters of the Missouri drainage, and are dominated by evidence for Folsom, rather than Clovis groups. Davis (Davis and Greiser 1992, Davis 1993) has been meticulous in dating the site, noting that the Folsom layers were initially dated by naturally occurring charcoal from beneath the cultural level to no earlier than ca. 10,980 rcybp. More recently, direct dating of bison bone collagen from the occupation yielded a date of ca. 10,400 rcybp for the earliest Folsom layer (Davis et al. 1997).

The site is situated at a high elevation (1640 masl) in the northern Rockies of central Montana. The Folsom layers contain large numbers of endscrapers (including spurred forms) and numerous other unifacial flake tools, including large, blade-like flake 51 cutting tools and flake gravers. The only complete point is an unusual flake point, but numerous distinctive Folsom channel flakes and the corners of two broken Folsom points were recovered. Davis notes that most of the assemblage is dominated by very small flakes suggestive of both bifacial and unifacial tool maintenance and manufacture, with large flakes over ca. 3 cm in length selected for tool manufacture. Prepared platforms indicate the use of soft hammer billets (Davis et al. 1987). The raw material type preference is striking, indicating a wide variety of different materials obtained from a vast area of the Plains, such as Knife River Flint, Alibates Chert, obsidian, and Hartville Uplift chert (Davis and Greiser 1992:265). The authors note that the technological similarities with the Hanson and Agate Basin Folsom assemblages, including high quality material type preference, are striking.

The preservation of fauna from a campsite of this age is of particular interest. Species present either directly within the hearths or with evidence of burning include bison, bighorn sheep, porcupine, marmot, rabbit, ground-squirrel sized rodents and small birds. The presence of small bird bone in the fine-screened hearth fill is intriguing; Wilson (1984) found the burnt remains of a small passerine bird in one of the Vermilion Lakes hearths together with burnt ground squirrel bone, but suggested that they probably represent an accidental inclusion in the matrix. The density of cultural material in the two tested localities, and its expression along the 400 meter length of the exposure between them, suggests that the Indian Creek locality was used very intensively and repeatedly in Folsom and later times. Davis (1997) suggests spring use as likeliest based on the faunal data.

Summary

Evidence for Pleistocene use of the eastern slopes of the Alberta Rockies is limited, but stratified sites are better represented than in any other part of the province. The Bow Valley in Banff stands out due to the stratified deposits from the Vermilion Lakes and Eclipse sites, which together permitted construction of the Banff I/Banff II trial 52 types (Fedje 1996). In particular, Fedje et al. (1995) hypothesize the presence of a focal mountain sheep hunting economy in the Bow Valley by ca. 10,800 rcybp (approximately 12,200 to 13,100 calendar years B.P.). Vivian (1997) discovered a classic fluted point in the high alpine of Banff, and the Lake Minnewanka site (this study) provides additional evidence for this early alpine orientation.

Outside the Bow Valley, the quality of the sites discovered in the eastern slopes varies. The Mountain Park area, at the divide between the Athabasca and North Saskatchewan, has yielded a cluster of sites with Paleolndian diagnostics at a very high elevation. The base of a fluted or basally thinned point was recovered from one site and a very early organic sediment date (ca. 11,300 rcybp) was obtained from a hearth in a nearby site, but the compressed stratigraphy and lack of faunal preservation precludes substantive interpretation. Sheep hunting may certainly be implied by the site location, but cannot be demonstrated. Similarly, in the Grande Cache area the Smoky site documents the presence of Clovis hunters in the study area, but this presence cannot be dated. The James Pass area has also yielded evidence of Pleistocene hunters, but the very small excavated sample precludes much interpretation, beyond confirming the presence of bison at higher altitudes in the southern Rockies as early as ca. 10,000 rcybp.

Surprisingly, beyond some surface finds, no Pleistocene aged sites have been found in the southern Alberta Rockies, despite the far greater intensity of archaeological research. The current earliest date for mountain sheep hunting in the southern Rockies is from the Maple Leaf site in the Crowsnest Pass (Driver 1982, Landals 1986). There, mountain sheep were associated with a date of 8550 ± 270 rcybp (calibrated at two sigma between 8,800 and 10,200 calendar years B.P.); a Lovell constricted point was recovered from the same stratigraphic context nearby.

To the east of the mountain front, numerous surface finds of fluted points have been made, and some have also been found in primary context (e.g. Sibbald Creek, Smuland Creek), however compressed stratigraphy, an absence of dates and no preserved fauna limits the interpretive potential of these sites. The intense concentration of fluted 53 points, sites with macroblades and artifact caches in the Peace River/Grande Prairie region is of considerable interest, but only Charlie Lake Cave has been dated, to between 10,300 and 10,800 rcybp. Both Charlie Lake Cave and Wally's Beach to the south provide excellent, "slice of time" environmental reconstructions of open vegetation zones being utilized by Clovis hunters. Unfortunately both are special purpose sites, yielding limited assemblages of cultural material beyond the points and a few flakes.

Further to the south, the Indian Creek site (ca. 10,400 rcybp) has yielded good evidence for Folsom hunters exploiting a wide variety of small fauna in addition to mountain sheep and bison. Although Fedje et al. (1995) suggest similarity between the Indian Creek lithic assemblage and the earliest levels at Vermilion Lakes, this comparison seems very tenuous. The small, blade-like flakes and bipolar cores so distinctive at Vermilion Lakes are not reflected at Indian Creek, where Davis documents bifacial reduction with soft hammer billets, even on the flake blanks for his unifacial tools. Both sites lack the very large, heavy stone tools found in later Banff II assemblages, but this may relate to sampling, site type or seasonality, rather than a cultural relationship. The most profound difference is in patterns of lithic raw material use; the Vermilion Lakes site and all of the Pleistocene aged sites in Alberta summarized here show an overwhelming representation of local lithic material types. In contrast, Indian Creek Folsom people exhibit classic early Paleolndian patterns of exploitation of far-flung, high quality quarry sources. 54

CHAPTER THREE: STUDY AREA AND SITE DESCRIPTION

The purpose of this chapter is to provide a context, in both time and space, for the study. This dissertation is largely concerned with the Lake Minnewanka site in Banff National Park, Alberta, more specifically, those occupations at the site dating to the latest Pleistocene and earliest Holocene, arbitrarily defined as prior to 10,000 rcybp. In order to understand the significance of the site, it is first necessary to understand the broader environmental parameters, as well as the nature of previous research in the area.

The Study Area

The greater study area is comprised of the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains of Alberta, Canada. Specifically, the area is comprised of that portion of the Cordilleran Ecoprovince (Strong 1992) lying east of the continental divide, within the province of Alberta. The Rocky Mountains of Alberta trend from northwest to southeast for approximately 700 km, and encompass a high degree of geographical variability. The upper watersheds of five major river basins are within the eastern slopes (Figure 6); from north to south these are the Smoky (Peace), Athabasca, North Saskatchewan, Bow (South Saskatchewan) and the Oldman (South Saskatchewan). McCullough and Fedirchuk (1986) suggested that these watersheds provide convenient subregions for describing the archaeological record of the eastern slopes. Reeves (1986) indicated that division by watershed also reflects the considerable differences across this vast area, as well as simple convenience.

Physiographically, the Alberta Rockies are unlike the American Rockies to the south, which open up into a series of interfingered ranges and basins. In contrast, the Alberta Rockies form a continuous, uninterrupted uplift, comprised of a set of main and 55

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Figure 6 The study area and major watersheds. 56 front ranges with very narrow, northwest to southeast trending valleys between them, intercepted only by a few wider, east/west trending low elevation passes where the major river systems exit. In the north, the mountain ranges are higher, wider and slightly more broken, and the Foothills zone is several hundred kilometers wide, forming a broad, rugged belt separating the mountains from the boreal forest and aspen parkland zones to the east. Towards the south, the Foothills zone narrows considerably, until near Waterton at the extreme southern end of the study area, the Continental divide is less than 50 kilometers from the true plains, which almost meet the base of the front ranges.

This gives the study area a noticeable "wedge" shape, and this wedge shape is extremely important to understanding the nature and extent of archaeological research in the study area. Essentially, from south to north, with every degree of latitude gained both the degree of physical accessibility and intensity of archaeological research drops off. That is, as the study area physically expands to the north, the intensity of research drops precipitously. Although some recent studies of Alberta archaeology have been published (e.g. Brink and Dormaar 2003, Kooyman and Kelley 2004), the eastern slopes have been largely excluded, for a variety of reasons. The most recent comprehensive summaries are 20 years old, including those of Ronaghan (1986) and (Reeves 1986). Within the specific national parks, recent updates of the comprehensive archaeological resource description documents have been produced for Waterton (Perry and Langemann 1997, Reeves 2003) and Banff (Langemann and Perry 2002).

Scope of Previous Research

Although dated, Ronaghan's (1986) summary clarifies the nature of archaeological research in the eastern slopes quite dramatically. Essentially, the Bow River can be regarded as a dividing line between the northern and southern Rockies in the study area. From the total of 3314 archaeological sites known in the eastern slopes in 1986, fully 86% were located within the two southernmost watersheds (Bow and 57

Oldman). Only 2% of all sites were situated in the largest and most northerly Smoky watershed.

Recently, Langemann and Perry (2002:108) have summarized the evidence for clinal bison distribution in archaeological sites in the National Parks of the Rockies (Figure 7), noting that only a single bison bone has been recovered from the northernmost, Jasper National Park, and that mountain sheep are far better represented there. Moving south, mountain sheep are also the dominant ungulate species in most faunal assemblages from Banff, however bison have also been recovered from a variety of sites in that park. In contrast, bison overwhelmingly dominate faunal assemblages from Waterton, the southernmost park. It is likely that the wide variability in overall density of sites in the eastern slopes is largely a reflection of the Holocene distribution of this highly significant species.

Reeves' (1986) bibliographic summary provides another important dimension; that is, the records for the Oldman and Bow drainages include results obtained from a number of early large-scale, comprehensive, research-oriented surveys as well as a plethora of very large scale salvage-oriented projects, such as Highway 3 upgrades through the Crowsnest Pass and Trans Canada Highway twinning through Banff National Park. In contrast, outside of the Athabasca River valley in Jasper National Park, intensive research oriented regional surveys are lacking in the northern Rockies, and most of the limited salvage projects are for much smaller scale, piecemeal developments.

Another important aspect relating to the changing physiography of the region from south to north is archaeological visibility, relative to the size of the various rivers. The northern Rockies are higher as well as broader, and have noticeably colder, wetter climates and fewer hours of daylight. As a result of these factors as well as their glacial histories, river valleys within the northern study area like the North Saskatchewan and Athabasca are very broad and deep, with enormous quantities of water moving through on an annual basis. Thick blankets of Holocene sediment (aeolian, colluvial and alluvial) 58

Figure 7 National Parks and Provincial Parks and Protected Areas. 59 mantle their extensive multiple valley terraces. In contrast, the Bow and especially the Oldman in the southern Rockies are much smaller; while localized deep sediments are definitely present and extremely problematic in terms of site discovery, the scale of the problem of archaeological visibility is not as severe as it is in the northern Rockies.

For anyone attempting to understand the archaeology of the Eastern Slopes in Alberta, modern land use is also an important consideration (Figure 7). This discussion is greatly oversimplified, but gives a broad-brush view. The eastern slopes have been managed as a mosaic of federal and provincial parks and forest reserves with very limited deeded lands since the first European settlement. The Alberta Rockies encompass one of the largest contiguous protected areas in North America south of the 60th parallel. From north to south the Willmore Wilderness Area (Smoky), Jasper National Park (Athabasca), and Banff National Park (North Saskatchewan and Bow) together comprise highly protected land, with most development related disturbance restricted to narrow strips in the Montane ecoregion in the major river valley bottoms. The three National Parks (Jasper, Banff and Waterton) total 18, 044 square km, and the Willmore Wilderness Park an additional 2784 square km. South of Banff National Park, the 4100 square km Kananaskis Country (Provincial lands with mixed development permitted, but incorporating considerable protected areas) extends to just north of the Crowsnest Pass, which represents the most developed portion of the Alberta Rockies, due to extensive industrial use and private land ownership. South of the Crowsnest, the provincial Castle Forest Reserve (740 square km) extends to the border of Waterton National Park, another highly protected area extending to the Montana border (at Glacier National Park). In total, the eastern slopes of Alberta include 26,524 square kilometers (10,259 square miles) of parks and protected areas (Bezener and Kershaw 1999).

The National Parks are all federally managed lands, and in the late 1960s and early 1970s a series of federally funded, research oriented surveys and excavations were conducted in each of the National Parks, primarily by the University of Calgary (for a summary see Reeves 1986). Although the surveys were conducted before shovel testing 60 was used as a site discovery technique, they yielded extremely significant data regarding the use of the Rocky Mountains in general and the variable character of the different valleys; from the rich resources of Waterton (Reeves 1967, 1968, 1969, 1972a) to the scattered and ephemeral sites of Jasper (Elliot 1970-1971, Anderson and Reeves 1975). The 1980s saw a continuation of this trend, as Parks Canada developed its "Archaeological Resource Description and Analysis" program, involving major in-house surveys and excavations, particularly in Banff National Park, in conjunction with the Trans Canada Highway twinning (Fedje 1986). However, the 1990s and 2000s have seen a dwindling in the scale of archaeological research conducted in the mountain parks (Langemann and Perry 2002). This dwindling has been mirrored by an increase in archaeological research within the coastal National Parks, such as Haida Gwaii (Fedje and Mathewes 2005), which are managed as part of the same federal region.

Archaeology in Provincial Parks and Wilderness areas began slightly later, in the mid 1970s, and coverage is spottier and more ad-hoc. Provincial and deeded lands have seen far more development than the National Parks, and most of the archaeological research conducted outside of the National Parks falls within the sphere of historical resource management. Of most significance is work largely conducted by Reeves and his students in the Crowsnest Pass (Reeves 1986) in the 1970s and 1980s, making this area perhaps the best studied and best understood mountain pass in the Canadian Rockies.

The Mountain Environment

Although the Alberta Rocky Mountains are lower in absolute elevation compared to the American Rockies, modern climatic conditions are harsher, due to the effects of northern latitude. The Rocky Mountains fall within the Cordilleran Ecoprovince and can be divided into three ecoregions: the Montane, Subalpine and Alpine (Strong 1992:31). The Montane ecoregion is the warmest and lowest in elevation, primarily restricted to mountain valley bottoms. The Montane is distinguished by the occurrence of Douglas fir (Psuedotsuga menziesii), pine (Pinus sp.) and aspen stands (Populus tremuloides) with 61 secondary succession to white spruce {Picea glauca). Summer monthly temperatures average 11.9°C and precipitation in the Montane also peaks in summer (mean yearly precipitation 515 mm). Winter average temperatures are highly variable due to the effects of different weather systems, and range between -2.5° and -6.8°C. The Montane provides critical wildlife habitats, particularly for wintering ungulates, due to lower snow depths and frequent Chinook winds that ameliorate harsh winter conditions (Strong 1992:32)

There are six modern Montane isolates in the study area; one relatively large zone associated with each of the five major river valleys and a small, unusual grassland isolate in the upper Red Deer river valley, known as the Ya Ha Tinda grasslands. A disproportionate number of archaeological sites in the eastern slopes are associated with the Montane ecoregion, particularly larger, more significant stratified sites. This is a reflection of both the more favourable environmental conditions throughout the Holocene and the intensity of research.

The Subalpine ecoregion is higher in altitude and distinguished by the presence of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta), Engelmann spruce {Picea engelmannii) and subalpine fir {Abies lasiocarpa). The subalpine is considerably colder and wetter than the Montane ecoregion. Mean summer temperature is 9.4°C and mean winter temperature is -8.9°. Average precipitation is 568 mm, and the Subalpine receives more precipitation as snow than any other ecoregion. Chinooks are rare. The subalpine zone contains only scattered grassland openings that provide important winter habitat for ungulates, including mountain caribou (Strong 1992:38). In the summer, high altitude species like mountain sheep and goats may also make use of the subalpine zone (winter use is often restricted by snow depth).

The Subalpine ecoregion encompasses the majority of the study area. To the south, it typically extends from ca. 1525 to 2175 masl, but the effects of latitude at the northern end of the study area result in considerable depression, from ca. 1360 to 2000 masl (Strong 1992: 36). The Upper Subalpine is often quite open due to its proximity to the Alpine zone, and can provide convenient camp locations for exploitation of the 62 harsher alpine environment. The tree line is particularly sensitive to environmental change, becoming depressed during colder and drier periods, but gaining in elevation during warmer and wetter intervals.

The Alpine ecoregion occurs above the treeline, and is characterized by low growing vegetation including islands of krummholz, various heather communities, and lichens. Summer temperatures average 10.1°C and precipitation and winter temperature values are similar to the Subalpine ecoregion. Strong winds result in moisture deficits, even though cold temperatures retain the snowpack for longer periods than in the subalpine. A variety of ungulates utilize the alpine zone in summer, including bison in the past, but winter use is limited due to the harsh climatic conditions (Strong 1992:41). However both mountain sheep and goats may be found in the Alpine zone year round, since these species are superbly adapted to high elevations.

Most of the extensive Alpine zone is uninhabitable, due to the steep rocky cliffs and harsh climatic conditions. However, extensive alpine meadows, alpine lakes and mountain passes all tend to show concentrations of sites (e.g. Vivian 1997). The topography of the alpine zone limits areas of potential use, allowing archaeological survey to be structured with greater ease than within the Subalpine zone, and deposition is generally (but not always) very limited. As a result, once the difficulties with accessing the alpine zone are conquered, the potential for obtaining a representative sample of sites is probably the greatest within this part of the study area. However, with the exception of Waterton National Park, and to a lesser extent Banff and Jasper National Parks, extremely little is known about the archaeological record for the Alpine Ecoregion in Alberta.

A variety of different ungulates utilize the Cordilleran Ecoprovince today. These include elk (Cervus elaphus), moose (Alces alces), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), mountain caribou (Rangifer tarandus), bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) and mountain goat (Oreamus americanus). Historic accounts note the presence of bison {Bison sp.) throughout the southern Rocky Mountains. Bison would have favoured the Montane ecoregion, but have been documented at surprisingly high elevations in the Alpine in 63 summer. Unfortunately, few data are available regarding the earliest Holocene fauna in the mountains, although fossil faunal sites have been identified in the foothills. The closest fossil faunal site to the study area is in the Bighill Creek Formation, near Cochrane, which has yielded extinct mountain sheep, horse, caribou and Bison antiquus , and other gravel pits in the Calgary area contain mammoth, horse, and camel (Wilson 1996:101).

The Bow River Valley and Glacial History

The major focus of this research is the Bow River watershed in Banff, Alberta, in particular the environs of the Lake Minnewanka site. Lake Minnewanka is located within the Front Ranges of Banff National Park, in the Montane ecoregion. Ecological conditions are variable within the Montane ecoregion, depending upon topography, elevation, aspect and ecotonal effects from adjacent areas. For example, in Banff, the Montane ecoregion usually occupies valleys below 1500 meters above sea level in north aspect and below 1650 meters above sea level in south aspect (Holland and Coen 1982). Closed canopied stands of lodgepole pine often occur on mesic sites, associated with Eutric Brunisolic or Gray Luvisolic soils. Less well-drained sites may contain balsam poplar and willow, and dry, south-facing slopes may support aspen and fescue grassland openings (Strong 1992:34).

The environment during the time period of interest to this study was markedly different from modern conditions. Luckily, very extensive reconstructions of climate and vegetation following deglaciation have been completed for the Alberta Rocky Mountains. Of interest are studies by MacDonald (1982, 1989), Luckman and Kearney (1986), Osborn and Luckman (1988), Reasoner and Hickman (1989), White and Osborn (1992), Reasoner et al. (1994), Fedje et al. (1995), Osborn and Gerloff (1997), Leonard and Reasoner (1999) and Reasoner and Huber (1999). Lake O'Hara (Reasoner and Hickman 1989), Crowfoot Lake (Reasoner and Huber 1999), Bow Lake and Hector Lake (Leonard 64 and Reasoner 1999) and Copper Lake (White and Osborn 1992) are situated from 20 to 40 km northwest (upvalley) of the Lake Minnewanka site. The confluence of so many intensively studied and dated pollen cores in the immediate site vicinity is quite fortuitous, especially given the generally good agreement between the different studies.

The Crowfoot Lake core provides the oldest limiting date for deglaciation in the high alpine of the upper Bow valley, from a Salix twig dated at 11, 330 rcybp (Reasoner and Huber 1999:481). Together, palaeoenvironmental studies provide evidence that the colder and drier climatic conditions of the Younger Dryas event (11,100 to 10,100 rcybp) resulted in a distinct, regional advance of alpine glaciers following the recession of the valley ice (ibid.). It is possible that vegetation was established in the Bow valley between first deglaciation and the onset of the Crowfoot advance. Strong and Hills (2005) suggest that both pollen frequencies and plant macrofossils indicate a movement of Cordilleran vegetation north of the Crowsnest Pass along the foothills by 12,000 rcybp. Vegetation in the Upper Bow Valley during the Younger Dryas is reconstructed as an open, sparse shrub-herb cover, dominated by sage and willow. Trees were probably largely absent, with the presence of low frequencies of pine pollen attributed to long distance dispersal. Other species of note include juniper, soapberry, various cheno-ams and grasses.

The end of the Younger Dryas coincided with the onset of Holocene warming, and is marked by an abrupt change in the pollen record, both in terms of the quantity and type of pollen represented. Reasoner and Huber (1999:486) suggest that the sharp increase in arboreal pollen represents the stabilization of the landscape and the appearance of abundant forest vegetation in the region at ca. 10, 100 rcybp. However, the persistence and abundance of some shade intolerant taxa, the prevalence of pine and low proportions of spruce and fir suggest that this early pine forest included persistent areas of open vegetation (ibid.). The warm and arid conditions (particularly as a result of higher summer insolation) resulted in a higher than modern treeline, particularly in the early Altithermal. The closed coniferous forests typical of the Bow valley today were probably not present until after ca. 4160 rcybp (Reasoner and Huber 1999:487). 65

Reasoner and Huber (1999:483) note that the Crowfoot Lake core does not provide any evidence for the Aller0d warm period prior to the Younger Dryas cold interval; that is, they suggest that initial valley deglaciation was followed so quickly by the alpine Crowfoot advance that arboreal vegetation did not have time to become established. However, Fedje et al. (1995: 101) recovered lacustrine sediment samples from the lowest, pre 11,000 rcybp levels at Vermilion Lakes that yielded pine, sage, wolf willow, sedge and plantain pollen, as well as the needle of a subalpine fir. Although the pollen spectrum represents open vegetation typical of early colonizing species, the presence of the fir macrofossil supports the presence of arboreal vegetation at Vermilion Lakes prior to the onset of the colder and drier conditions of the Younger Dryas. The Crowfoot advance may have obliterated evidence for earlier vegetation communities at the high alpine lakes that have provided the primary pollen records in the northern Rockies.

Cordilleran deglaciation proceeded very rapidly after a maximum at ca. 15,000 rcybp (Clague and James 2002). Deglaciation was complex and varied along the length of the Rockies according to local conditions. Although a simple frontal retreat is usually envisioned, downwasting of piedmont lobes also occurred, such that in some instances alpine areas were deglaciated before adjacent valleys (ibid.). Osborn and Gerloff (1997) suggest that the glaciers had retreated to within a few tens of kilometers of their modern distribution by 12,000 rcybp. The possible presence of a mosaic of nunataks east of the continental divide may have provided important refugia for various plant and insect species that would have hastened a "top-down" spread of low vegetation and early soil formation (Beaudoin et al. 1996:115). Such nunataks may have been present in the Willmore Wilderness Park, the Nordegg area, Mountain Park, and, within Banff National Park at Snow Creek and Sunshine (Packer and Vitt 1974:1407). Strong (1999) disagrees that nunataks were of significant biological importance, suggesting that vegetation was restricted to a limited number of tundra species such as arctic mosses. 66

The Lake Minnewanka Site

The Lake Minnewanka site is located at an elevation of approximately 1470 meters above sea level, near the upper limit of the Montane ecoregion in this area today (Plate 2, Plate 3). It is 80 m higher in elevation than the Vermilion Lakes site, and situated in the Cascade River Valley, a narrow, northwest to southeast trending valley behind the Front Range (Figure 8). The site was once located beneath proglacial Lake Minnewanka, and presumably became subaerially exposed after the outburst drainage of the lake (discussed below). Vegetation capable of supporting ungulates probably developed in the site vicinity between 12,000 and 11,500 rcybp. By the Younger Dryas Interval (11,100 to 10,100 rcybp or calibrated 13,000 to 11,600 years B.P.) extensive open, shrub-herb vegetation would have been present in the general site vicinity, as reconstructed for the Vermilion Lakes site, located approximately 12 km to the west.

Proglacial Lake Minnewanka may have once been as much as 297 feet/91 meters higher than the modern reservoir level (Rutter 1972:29-30). Unfortunately, the history of proglacial Lake Minnewanka is not well studied in comparison to the Bow Valley/Vermilion Lakes area, probably partially due to the presence of the reservoir, which has obscured the original geomorphology of the lakeshore. Rutter's early study (1972:29) provides some discussion. He documents the presence of an abandoned canyon and waterfall face uncovered by Calgary Power during construction of the Cascade dam that suggests that before the Cascade Valley glacier thinned enough to form this waterfall, the northeastward trending Lake Minnewanka glacier would have acted as a dam to form proglacial Lake Minnewanka. Remnants of glacial drift in the Devils Gap area suggest that drift may have also contributed to damming. When this dam broke, erosion of bedrock and till took place near the gap and (as the water level lowered) the canyon at the west end of the lake formed over a short period of time. Later, aggradation near the Devils Gap shifted the drainage permanently to the west end of the lake (the modern elevation of the floor of Devils Gap is approximately 1540 meters above sea 67

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Plate 2 The Lake Minnewanka site, view to the south, 1999 Operations 17, 18 and 19

Plate 3 The Lake Minnewanka site, view to the north, 2001 Operations 17 at left arrow, Operation 21 at right arrow. ueyenu • Precontact sites j . Minotkri innrr fnorl i Mctjur ruau m * -•—•• Railway P

Figure 8 The Lake Minnewanka (349R), Vermilion Lakes (153R) and Eclipse (62R) sites, the Bow Valley and Cascade Valley (1:250,000). 69 level). Unfortunately, there are no radiocarbon dates available for the proposed sequence of lake drainage.

The landform on which the site is located was once a high, bedrock constricted terrace, overlooking both the Cascade River and the lake. As proglacial Lake Minnewanka drained and the Cascade valley glacier retreated, the Cascade delta retreated further upstream, until the lake finally became isolated from any further input from the Cascade and began draining through the Devil's Creek outlet. The bedrock at the site consists of a series of cupped, polished ridges trending downwards from northwest to southeast. Mclntyre and Reeves (1975:10) describe the gravels overlying bedrock as Canmore till, deposited as outwash and lateral moraine.

Mclntyre and Reeves (1975) provide a detailed description of the site vicinity prior to reservoir filling. The site terrace is oriented such that the aspect is south west, providing good sunlight which limits snow accumulation. The site is somewhat sheltered from prevailing westerly winds by Cascade Mountain. The Palliser Range lies immediately to the north of the site, protecting it slightly, however strong wind gusts often funnel down Stewart Canyon from the northwest, and up the Cascade drainage from the southeast. These winds contribute to the ongoing erosion at the site, particularly in the early spring when the water level is low. Treed conditions prior to reservoir construction would have greatly ameliorated the unpleasant wind conditions so common in the site area today, but during the Younger Dryas interval the site would have been relatively open.

Mclntyre and Reeves (1975:13) note that nocturnal temperature inversions occur very frequently around Lake Minnewanka and within the Cascade River valley, during which temperatures in low-lying areas may be as much as 11°C cooler than in higher areas. Since the site was originally 40 meters above the Cascade River, it was probably warmer on the high terrace than on the low lying terraces, as well as drier. The elevation and aspect of the site combined to provide good views of the Cascade River valley, and its confluence with Devils Creek (now submerged), which was the outlet of the original 70

Lake Minnewanka. The original lake would also have been visible from viewpoints at the south end of the site. The area between Lake Minnewanka and the confluence of Devils Creek and the Cascade River was formerly described as extensive beaver meadow, with numerous wetlands and boggy depressions (Whitcher 1886:90, in Mclntyre and Reeves 1975:11).

The site bench is slightly cupped, that is, it is contained within and backed by bedrock outcrops (Plate 3). Mclntyre and Reeves (1975:10) note that the bedrock outcrops at the north and south end of the site expose the Mount Head Formation and the low ridge behind the site at its southeast end exposes the Livingstone Formation. The Etherington Formation outcrops along Stewart Canyon, and the Rocky Mountain Group was exposed below the site in an extension of Stewart Canyon. Workable nodular chert is present within these formations, including Banff nodular chert and Norquay chert. Fedje and White (1988:241) note that the Whitehorse Formation and base of the Fernie Group outcrop along the Cascade River just north of the Lake Minnewanka site, and suggest that the nodular black silicified siltstone present at the Minnewanka site as well as within the Vermilion Lakes site probably comes from these formations.

In 1895 a small wooden dam was constructed on Devils Creek, but the size and location of this early structure as shown on maps of the time (Department of the Interior 1913) was such that impact was limited. In 1912 a dam was constructed on the Cascade River (Smith 1939) raising the level of Lake Minnewanka by 4.9 meters (Mclntyre and Reeves 1975). This initial reservoir inundated some historic structures and an unknown number of prehistoric sites. The Lake Minnewanka site was still well above the water level, as illustrated in a 1913 topographic map of the area (Figure 9). The modern reservoir level is also shown on this figure.

In 1941, Calgary Power commenced construction of a larger dam on the Cascade, intended to raise the water level a further 20 meters (Banff Crag and Canyon January 1941). Reservoir completion was slow, and it was not until the winter of 1947/1948 that logging of trees along the shoreline (to approximately the 4840 ft/1475 m contour) was 71

IP

Figure 9 Pre-reservoir lakeshore (Department of the Interior 1913) and modern reservoir shoreline (National Topographic Service 1:50,000 map). 72 undertaken due to concerns for navigational safety (Calgary Power 1947). Trees were cut and piled along the shoreline for winter burning, and the Lake Minnewanka site experienced catastrophic impact when the reservoir filled the following spring.

The annual cycle of reservoir use is such that the lake typically fills to its highest level (approximately 1475 meters above sea level) in early to mid June as a result of seasonal snow pack melt and precipitation. The major inlet is the Cascade river, although a number of small seasonal tributaries also contribute to the rising waters and deposit silt into the lake, drying later in the year when snow cover is melted, or running only after persistent rainfall. Water is gradually released from the reservoir throughout the year and the lake freezes in late fall. In the spring, although the water level has dropped considerably, a thick ice pan typically covers the site surface for several weeks, until it is melted in early to mid May (year to year variation in temperature and precipitation can be quite notable in the Banff area). From approximately mid May until mid June the site area is exposed as a broad sandy beach. Plate 4 (upper) illustrates the beach as it was in early June of 1958. At high water the broad expanse of sandy beach disappears and the water line corresponds to the tree line (Plate 4 lower).

The beach is subject to intense wind erosion for the period during which it is exposed in the spring. Upper sediments dry quickly due to the southern aspect, but lower sediments remain partially or permanently saturated, depending upon elevation. The site is relatively well known and is popular with recreational walkers and fishers in the spring, and has been since the reservoir was first filled. As a result, some degree of illegal artifact collection has occurred in the past and may occur each spring, particularly during the May long weekend. Recently, Parks Canada has begun closing the trail to the beach during this period to discourage artifact collectors. 73

Plate 4 Airphoto of site in very early June (upper) and August (lower) showing typical low and high water levels. 74

CHAPTER FOUR: LAKE MINNEWANKA SITE HISTORY AND METHODS

The Lake Minnewanka site is located in a complex setting, on the shoreline of an artificially fluctuating reservoir, and has had a complex history of excavation. The site history and methods are summarized below. More detailed discussions are provided in the interim reports for the site (Landals 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002).

Site History

The Lake Minnewanka site was first recorded by Dr. Brian Reeves of the University of Calgary in 1964, although he noted that the site had been known to private artifact collectors as early as 1912 (Mclntyre and Reeves 1975). Reeves urged that the site be investigated, and the first systematic study was undertaken by one of his graduate students, Ole Christensen (1970, 1971). Christensen completed a surface collection of artifacts from the beach, and noted the presence of a number of actively eroding hearths. The surface collection indicated that the site had great antiquity, containing diagnostic artifacts spanning the entire range of the Precontact period. The Early Precontact Period was particularly well represented in the surface collection. Christensen collected 13 complete or partial Paleolndian projectile points, which were classified as two Clovis, two Plainview, seven Agate Basin, one Hell Gap and one Scottsbluff form (Mclntyre and Reeves 1975). The Clovis points were similar to classic Clovis forms from the United States. Christensen believed the site to be highly significant and recommended that a salvage program be undertaken.

In 1974 Reeves conducted the first extensive study at the site, with the stated goal of determining the degree of site impairment, its residual values, and to provide data for 75

site planning and management (Mclntyre and Reeves 1975). This program resulted in a number of important "firsts", including the first in-depth analyses of site location, topography, environmental variables and a summary of recent site history in relation to site impairment.

The 1974 program focused on the central portion of the beach, an area just over 200 m in length that was designated as Area 1 (Plate 4). The beach in Area 1 was described as a broad, sandy expanse with a marked break in slope at approximately 1473.5 meters above sea level. The area above the break in slope was designated the upper beach, the area below as the lower beach. At the south edge of the upper beach in situ tree stumps and exposures of "an old Bf soil horizon" were noted. This soil horizon was particularly distinctive against the coarse grey lacustrine beach sands due to its bright red colour and clayey texture.

The beach in Area 1 was gridded out in 10 m by 10 m collection blocks and surface collection of artifacts was undertaken. During the surface collection, it became apparent that most of the artifacts were clustered at the highest elevation on the upper beach, in particular at its eastern limit. Early Prehistoric Period projectile points were found on the beach surface immediately adjacent to Late Period projectile points. Only a single intact feature was noted, consisting of a large, rock filled hearth at grid location 06S 6IE. This feature was distant from the main artifact concentration, on the extreme eastern edge of the site, below the break in slope on the lower beach.

The decision was made to concentrate most of the excavations in the area of the site on the upper beach where the greatest concentrations of surface material were noted (Mclntyre and Reeves 1975:21). Three scattered one by two meter test units were completed on the lower beach; however excavation was hampered by the rising water table. Only one of the three units revealed an intact stratigraphic profile above the water table, and this unit proved sterile. In the remaining two units the coarse lacustrine sand visible on the surface extended beneath the water table, so it is unclear if the red soil horizon was present at depth. Subsequent deep test units were confined to the upper 76 beach where surface scatters of artifacts were richest and drier conditions permitted excavation. These tests were completed at ten meter intervals along and north of the east/west baseline, rather than at the southern periphery of the upper beach, where the red soil was noted on the surface. None of the deep tests yielded any artifacts except within the upper few centimeters of disturbed deposits. As a result, Mclntyre and Reeves concluded (1975:22) that: The stratigraphy was evidently destroyed. Recent lacustrine deposits, postdating 1947, generally extended below the water table. All artifacts were recovered from these sediments. We therefore concluded that there was no hope of recovering artifacts in original contexts, and the remainder of the time was spent trying to recover as large an artifact assemblage as possible from the upper beach. This was done by stripping and screening large areas to a depth of ca. 15 cm below surface. Ultimately an area of about 350 m2 was excavated.

A total of 1435 artifacts were recovered from the 1974 field program. Diagnostic projectile points were less frequent than in Christensen's earlier surface collection, but Early Prehistoric period forms were still more common than Middle or Late Period types, including one Clovis, one Plainview and three Agate Basin forms. In total, the 1974 surface collection and excavations yielded approximately half as many artifacts (N=1435) as Christensen's (1970; 1971) initial surface collections (N=2776, Mclntyre and Reeves 1975:56).

In their consideration of artifact distribution at the Lake Minnewanka site, Mclntyre and Reeves (1975:28) noted that: The artifacts concentrate just below the high water line, suggesting that they were washed in from elsewhere, and are not in their original place of deposition...Neither were artifacts found in the break-in-slope of the beach where the Bfh soil horizon is preserved, and actively eroding during rising and falling reservoir levels. Perhaps the artifacts originate from the permanently submerged site area, and are transported onto the upper beach by wave action as the reservoir rises each spring. 77

The year following the major 1974 excavation program saw unusually low water conditions at the Lake Minnewanka site. Reeves (1976) stated that the water was the lowest it had been since 1951. As a result, at the extreme southeastern limit of the site a large area of the lower beach was exposed and hundreds of lithic artifacts were noted in a dense surface scatter. This area had never been previously viewed or collected. In response to this discovery, Reeves undertook a second excavation program at the site, in the new area, which was designated as Area 2,

Area 2 proved to be quite different from Area 1. Due to its presence on the lower beach, the stratigraphy was far better preserved. A thin skiff of recent lacustrine sand capped a consistent layer of preserved red soil approximately five to ten centimeters thick. A baseline was extended from Area 1 and a large excavation block was mapped out in Area 2. From this block, at 25 meter intervals one by one meter deep test units were completed along a line extending back along the lower beach to Area 1, in order to test for preserved cultural stratigraphy. No artifacts were identified in these units.

A total of 105 square meters was excavated in Area 2. Following surface collection, excavation proceeded in natural layers. The recent lacustrine sand was removed and screened as one layer. Following this, the remnant five to ten centimeters of red soil was removed. Artifacts were only found on the surface, in the recent lake sediment or at the upper contact of the red soil. No units within the excavation block were excavated below the red soil horizon, presumably because of the waterlogged nature of the profile at depth. On the lower beach the water table is much closer to the surface and excavation more than a few centimeters below surface is extremely difficult.

The artifact assemblage showed some interesting differences in Area 2 in comparison to Area 1. Much of the debitage indicated primary reduction of black and grey chert cores and nodules quarried from the bedrock ridges behind the site (Reeves 1976). A total of 18 time diagnostic projectile points were recovered, but interestingly, the earliest forms such as Clovis were absent, and the most common type of projectile point was designated as the Middle Prehistoric Bitterroot type (N=6). Middle and Late 78

Prehistoric points total 14 specimens, whereas Early Prehistoric forms include only four specimens, classified by Reeves (1976) as two Scottsbluff, one Agate Basin or Lusk, and one unnamed variety similar to Late Paleolndian specimens from the Columbia Plateau. This pattern stands in sharp contrast to Area 1, where Early Prehistoric Period projectile points (N=18) were more abundant than either Middle (N=16) or Late (N=16) Prehistoric diagnostic forms, particularly the earliest types such as Clovis (N=3), Plainview/Goshen (N=3) and Agate Basin (N=10).

Reeves (1976: 7) noted this difference and attributed it to horizontal stratigraphy, that is, that different areas of the site were used by different peoples over time. However, he also noted "While intact cultural stratigraphic deposits were not found in Area 2, the evidence suggests the artifacts have not been greatly shifted by the reservoir waters. They lie close to their original horizontal positions in the Bf soil horizon."

Despite the finding that Area 2 was less disturbed in general, no artifacts were found in undisturbed contexts, and the lower elevation of the area greatly complicated deeper testing. As a result, no further work was recommended in this area, with the exception of surface collection until the artifact yield was depleted, particularly in those years when the water level was very low. It was also suggested that examination of submerged areas immediately below Area 2 might be of interest (Reeves 1976:8).

No further archaeological studies were conducted at the site for eight years. In 1983, the undisturbed landforms immediately above the high water line were intensively shovel tested for the first time, by staff members of the Parks Canada Archaeological Research Unit (Head and Porter 1983). Although, deep, undisturbed stratified profiles were revealed in swales, cultural material was very limited and scattered. Head and Porter determined that "Area 1 is confined to the active beach and does not extend to any extent upslope onto undisturbed areas" (1983:33).

Also in 1983, the eroding beach in Areas 1 and 2 was re-examined by Parks Canada staff (D. Fedje, Parks Canada Site Form, note to file 08-05-83). Fedje noted scatters of lithic detritus on the site surface, which often associated with surface 79 exposures of the strong red B horizon. He collected a single artifact from the site, a complete multiple fluted point that he classified as "Clovis/Plainview". Fedje's 1983 sketch map is of interest for a number of reasons. Care was taken with the sketch map to include bedrock reference points that clearly distinguish Areas 1 and 2, and hatching indicates the surface exposure of the red B horizon, thickest at the Area 2 end of the site, thinner in Area 1 on the upper beach. The Clovis point was collected from the eastern end of Area 1, adjacent to a large natural feature labeled as a "gravel bar". This gravel bar, estimated by Fedje to be approximately 40 m long by 12 meters wide, is clearly a new feature of the beach that was not present in 1974/1975, when the beach was described as a broad sandy expanse. Fedje stated in his note to the file that there was a " good possibility of extant stratigraphic associations on terrace remnant".

Parks Canada staff members subsequently revisited the site in 1989 and 1990, at which times small quantities of lithic debitage were noted on the surface, but not collected. However, the site was evaluated as being highly significant, and the recommendation for both mitigation and additional monitoring was made (Parks Canada Site Form). In the subsequent Archaeological Resource Description and Analysis for Banff National Park (Canadian Parks Service 1989) the Lake Minnewanka site was summarized as being extremely significant to the prehistoric record of Banff National Park, however the site context was also described as largely destroyed, and shoreline erosion was identified as the major ongoing management concern (1989: 136-137).

TransAlta Utilities Corporation (formerly Calgary Power) was responsible for the operation of the Lake Minnewanka reservoir and Cascade Hydro Plant. In the early 1990s TransAlta was required to conduct a number of environmental studies in conjunction with an anticipated request for licence renewal for the Cascade Hydro facility. They contracted Fedirchuk McCullough & Associates Ltd. to compile an Historical Resources Overview in order to identify any heritage concerns and design an appropriate mitigation plan (Fedirchuk 1992). 80

Fedirchuk recommended a series of different mitigative responses, including surface collection and excavation of 100 square meters of the Lake Minnewanka site, to a depth of approximately 20 cm, in order to recover any artifacts which had washed onto the beach in the intervening years since the 1974/1975 surface collection (following Mclntyre and Reeves interpretation of site formation processes). The mitigation plan that was eventually approved was modified significantly by the author in consultation with Parks Canada, and the field studies for the mitigation program were completed in the spring of 1993 (Landals 1994).

The mitigation program consisted of two stages, surface collection followed by controlled excavation. One of the changes to the original mitigation plan was an emphasis on areas of the site containing the intact red soil. A major program of site mitigation had been conducted in Banff National Park throughout the 1980s, largely in response to TransCanada Highway twinning. This program resulted in excavation of a number of Early Prehistoric Period sites, including the Vermilion Lakes site, the Norquay site and the Eclipse site (Fedje and White 1988, Fedje 1988). The sites excavated along the Bow Valley appeared to show a consistent pattern, in which a strong red illuviated B horizon developed between approximately 9000 and 7000 B.P. Thus, the earliest time periods should underlie this red soil, which can almost be regarded as a stratigraphic marker horizon in the Bow valley in Banff. As a result, the excavation strategy followed in 1993 would be to locate areas of red soil preservation and concentrate efforts to penetrate beneath it, rather than wherever surface concentrations of artifacts were greatest.

The mitigation program was initiated as soon as the ice had melted from the site in early May, with the water at an elevation of approximately 1469 meters above sea level. The first stage of the program consisted of site mapping, in preparation for surface collection. A detailed contour map was completed, in order to document the current topography of the beach and to tie in subsequent surface collection unit and excavation units as closely as possible to the earlier studies at the site. The original 1974 iron pin secondary datum at ON 130E (well above the high water line) was relocated and used as 81 the primary mapping station. Unfortunately, the primary 1974 datum pin at ON OE was situated on the eroding beach, and although the rebar pin was relocated, it was lying on the beach surface and had to be reset. The resultant grid, while very close to the 1974/1975 grid, is not identical, since even a slight difference in the original angle can make a significant difference across hundreds of meters.

During preparation of the grid and contour map in 1993, it was immediately apparent that the site had changed markedly since the 1974 fieldwork and even in the ten years since the 1983 field visit by Fedje. In 1974, the upper beach was distinguished from the lower beach by a marked break in slope, but both the upper and lower beaches were described as sandy expanses with no surface rock. Numerous tree stumps were present on the lower beach and at the south end of the upper beach. A 1974 deep test unit on the upper beach at grid location 2N 20E exhibited 145 cm of grey silts and sands capping glacial cobbles presumed to originate from Canmore till (Mclntyre and Reeves 1975:63).

In 1983, this same area of the site was typified by a large surficial exposure of till, appearing from the beach sands like a gravel bar. The length of this "gravel bar" on the 1983 detailed sketch map was estimated at 40 m by 12 m. In 1993, the same gravel bar measured 50 m by 14 m. A second, even larger new "gravel bar" was present immediately to the west on the upper beach, and a small bedrock outcrop had appeared to the south, on what was once the lower beach. The beach in 1993 sloped gently down to the shore, with no break in slope, as a result of the scouring down of over one meter of sediment from the upper beach since the mid 1970s. Tree stumps were absent from the vicinity of the upper beach, and only a small remnant clump was present on the lower beach. The 1983 sketch map shows some remnant red soil, on the former upper beach in the vicinity of the eastern gravel bar. Ten years later, the red soil in this area appeared to be completely eroded away, with the exception of a few small amorphous smears. The only good surface exposure of red soil in 1993 was noted in Area 2. 82

These findings indicated that the beach had undergone and continued to undergo considerable change. This change was apparently greatest in the upper beach of Area 1, which, based on elevation changes over twenty years, is rapidly scouring down to the level of the lower beach or the underlying parent material. It was hypothesized that this differential erosion might explain the distribution of projectile points across the site. Immediately after reservoir filling, the upper beach in Area 1 began to experience rapid erosion. By the time the site was assessed by Christensen and later by Reeves in the late 1960's and mid 1970's, almost all of the Holocene sediments on the uppermost part of the upper beach had irretrievably eroded, and the most recently eroded Early Prehistoric projectile points had had less opportunity for illicit collection or destruction. Thus, the absence of the earliest point types in Area 2 and the preponderance of Bitterroot point types might not only be due to horizontal variation in site use over time or differential intensity of use, but partially to a slower rate of erosion leaving the earliest Holocene sediments largely intact in the elevationally lower Area 2.

This might explain why the only diagnostic artifact collected from Area 1 since the 1974/1975 programs was a Clovis/Plainview form. In this revised interpretation, artifacts were not envisioned as washing onto the beach, but eroding out. The distribution of lithic artifacts just below the high water line noted by Mclntyre and Reeves (1975) also corresponds to the highest elevation on the beach, and thus the most severely eroded area. The failure of the 1974/1975 excavation programs to identify intact cultural stratigraphy would thus be attributable to the vast size of the site, destruction of much of the upper beach prior to 1974, unlucky placement of the excavation units in relation to the remaining intact areas and the inability to adequately test the lower beach due to saturated sediments.

Surface collection data in 1993 provided some tentative verification of this hypothesis. The 1993 surface collection yielded only 43 artifacts from Area 1, and less than half of these were from the area corresponding to the upper beach, which was largely eroded down to the gravel. The single diagnostic projectile point was a large base fragment from a large, thin, finely made form classified as Plainview/Goshen. A single 83 microblade was also collected from the upper beach. While this research program was underway (1997-2001) the upper beach in Area 1 was examined yearly for any additional artifacts. In 2000 another Clovis point was collected from the periphery of the gravel bar, strengthening this interpretation. Similarly, surface examination of the beach in Area 2 over the course of this study has yielded two more early Middle Prehistoric side notched points, two lanceolate specimens similar to Agate basin forms, and a single Plainview/Goshen point, suggesting that erosion in this area is just beginning to truncate the earliest stratigraphic levels in this part of the site.

Another fascinating but enigmatic discovery in Area 1 during the 1993 mitigation program was a circular feature constructed from large angular bedrock slabs, situated on top of the western "gravel bar". The western gravel bar was not noted or drawn by Fedje on his careful site plan and must have become visible on the beach sometime in the years between 1983 and 1993. The circular stone slab feature sat directly on top of the gravel contact and clearly must have also been exposed by erosion since then, or constructed by a recent visitor. The latter scenario is regarded as highly unlikely, since it would be extremely difficult and time consuming to quarry the large bedrock slabs used in feature construction without attracting considerable attention, and no camping is permitted by Parks Canada on the highly visible beach. The slab feature was structurally intact in 1993, but in the intervening years has gradually lost its integrity due to ice cover and wave action, which also suggests that it was only very recently exposed when recorded in 1993.

The slab circle (Figure 10) is a small feature, approximately 320 cm in diameter. Fifty large bedrock slabs, some over 60 cm in length, had been piled in at least two courses along the perimeter. The interior of the structure was only approximately one meter in diameter, indicating that it could not have been a habitation structure. A special purpose structure, such as a hunting blind or vision quest is suggested. Gramly (1988) interpreted a similar sized feature constructed of larger boulders at the Clovis aged Adkins site in Maine as a possible frozen meat cache. A vision quest seems less likely, since the view does not seem particularly focused on a special peak or viewshed. LEGEND

Cobbta { } Bedrock Slab & 0 0.5 1.0 1.5

Figure 10 Slab feature on eroded gravel contact, Area 1. 85

However, the location of the structure is admirably suited for intercepting sheep on their way down from the Palliser range to the former lakeshore; indeed sheep still pass this spot on a regular basis today. Unfortunately there were no remnants of soil or any artifacts noted in the immediate vicinity of the stone feature, and it was not possible to definitely assign it a Clovis or pre-Clovis cultural affiliation due to the complete lack of any stratigraphic context, beyond its affiliation with the recently exposed ancient gravel surface.

The bulk of the artifacts surface collected in 1993 were from areas east of Area 1, either within Area 2 or between Areas 1 and 2 (N= 424). No projectile points were discovered in surface contexts in this area, however a large hearth comprised of bedrock slabs and firebroken rock was visible on the surface. Following the surface collection, a few scattered excavation units were placed on the only surface exposure of red soil in Area 2. These units were low on the beach and strongly saturated. The southernmost filled with water as it was excavated, but the profiles and in situ tree stumps clearly indicated that the stratigraphy was still intact and undisturbed beneath the truncated surface. Since these findings seemed encouraging, an intensive deep testing program was initiated across the site, in which 50 cm square shovel tests were excavated as deeply as possible in order to identify intact stratigraphic contexts. A metal soil probing device, which removes small plugs of sediment and permits rapid assessment of the soil profile at depths of up to two meters was also used both to determine where to shovel test, and to quickly examine areas between tests. Use of the soil probe was facilitated by the dramatic colour contrast between the remnant red B horizon and the overlying recent lacustrine sediments, consisting of coarse grey beach sands. Saturated sediments did not hamper successful probing, but shovel testing proved much more difficult.

The deep testing program revealed some startling differences in stratigraphy across the site. The thin remnant surface strip of red silt initially appeared to represent the only area where any stratigraphy was preserved, however deep testing revealed extensive areas of intact stratigraphy between Areas 1 and 2 which were sealed by a thick cap of recent lacustrine sediment as well as a series of varves relating to reservoir 86

flooding. That is, instead of eroding away the entire profile, only a portion of the upper profile had been removed, after which successive yearly inundation had actually capped and protected the earlier Holocene sediments. These protected areas may have once been slight swales that subsequently acted as sediment traps, but have left no evidence for their presence on the uniformly sloping surface of the modern beach. Because the beach has not yet stabilized, but is still eroding and shifting most strongly in Area 1, the vicinity between Area 1 and Area 2 is experiencing active erosion of these once capped layers, in a west to east progression on a year to year basis as the beach progressively scours both north to south and east to west from this central area. The red soil was discovered to dip in relation to the artificially truncated beach surface from a near fully eroded surface indication of an amorphous red smear in the grey sand, to a well defined red layer 10 cm thick a few meters to the east, to a 30 cm thick horizon capped by half a meter of recent sediment just a few more meters to the east.

A twenty square meter interrupted excavation block (denoted under the Parks Canada designation system as Operation 7) was placed at a location on the beach where the varve-capped deposits were discovered and shovel testing had indicated artifacts were present beneath the red soil. A dense, well-defined floor of lithic artifacts was encountered in a narrow band below the base of the red B horizon soil approximately 60 cm below surface. This stratigraphic context was strongly suggestive of a Paleolndian cultural affiliation, if the strong red coloured B horizon was of the same antiquity as a similar soil observed at other sites within the Bow Valley in Banff. Although no diagnostic artifacts were recovered, the lithic assemblage contained a significant proportion of large, blade-like flakes and a fragment of a blade core, most of which were manufactured from a locally available siltstone. Technologically, these artifacts were highly unusual for the area and appeared to be Paleolndian in age.

Unfortunately, it was not possible in 1993 to excavate many of the adjacent units to a depth consistent with the occupation level, due to soil saturation and rising lake levels. Parks Canada had stipulated that due to environmental concerns with lake silting, water screening would not be permitted. Dry screening of the saturated sediments proved 87

extremely difficult. The dense cap of post 1947 sediment had retained moisture and moisture also began wicking upwards as lake levels rose. In an attempt to counteract the problem, the excavations were extended westwards, where the cultural level was closer to the surface; however within five meters to the west, the B horizon rose so rapidly towards the truncated surface that artifacts became irretrievably mixed with the upper disturbed material. In total, only six square meters and three shovel tests were completed to depth in the deep find spot.

In summary, although the 1993 excavation program revealed very large areas of the Lake Minnewanka site in which the B horizon was still intact, substantive data was not obtained from investigations of artifacts and features in surface or near surface contexts. Thus, interpretation was essentially based on a limited deep sample of six square meters and the shovel tests. Nevertheless, it was stated that: "Based on its stratigraphic position beneath the distinctive red silt, the patterns of lithic raw material utilization, and, in particular, the lithic technology, it is highly likely that this undisturbed component dates to the Early Prehistoric Period, possibly even to Banff I times. As such, this component is regarded as highly significant." (Landals 1994:79)

After the 1993 mitigation program, the Lake Minnewanka site was periodically monitored by Parks Canada staff (G. Langemann personal communication 1996), however this monitoring was limited to surface examination, with no subsurface testing or surface collection. Due to the very large size of the beach and the tendency for windblown sediment to mask the surface expression of newly exposed red silt, it proved difficult for staff to determine how quickly the erosion was progressing.

Thus, in 1996 Parks Canada determined that it would be useful to provide funding for the current study under its threatened sites program. The purpose of the program was to more accurately assess the scientific significance of the potential Early Prehistoric component within Operation 7, to determine the degree of erosion that had occurred since the 1993 baseline study, and to provide data for any future public interpretation programs Parks Canada might wish to undertake. It was determined that water screening of 88 saturated sediments could be permitted if the sediment plume was restricted in scope and no adverse impacts to fish spawning occurred. Initially, only a single season consisting of a few weeks of excavation was contemplated, however the findings each year proved to be of such interest that the funding for the study was extended for five consecutive years.

The current study has thus consisted of five field seasons of excavation at the site. The field seasons were necessarily brief two to five week programs conducted in May/June after the ice had melted and before run-off submerged the site. Thus, the availability of specific areas of the site for examination varied on a year-to-year basis with the low water level and amount of spring precipitation, as did the depth of termination of each excavation block (excavation was usually terminated when water began to seep into the units). It was not possible to open areally extensive excavation blocks since gauging whether individual units could be completed to great depth before flooding was somewhat of an art, rather than a science. Each season (with one exception) consisted of a core field crew of three to five experienced excavators with considerable year-to-year continuity, and a number of occasional highly experienced volunteers. The single exception was in 1999, when students from the University of Calgary field school joined the core field crew. Each season is briefly described below, to illustrate the reasons for what might seem a haphazard arrangement of small excavation blocks, and to highlight the areas of the site that will be discussed in greatest detail. More detailed descriptions of the individual excavation seasons are provided in the yearly interim reports (Landals 1998-2002).

In 1997, the excavation program was focused on expanding in the vicinity of Operation 7, where the undisturbed large blade-like flakes had been identified in 1993. Weather conditions were good (excavations extended until June 10th) and it proved possible to expand the initial six square meter excavation area to a block of 27 square meters and an average depth of 75 cm below surface (Plate 5). A large assemblage of extremely interesting cultural material was recovered; however it appeared to represent an early stage lithic reduction activity area, and as a result no features or diagnostic artifacts 89

Plate 5 Operation 7, view to the south (note dipping of soil horizons relative to surface from right to left indicating former swale).

^••rtwwi WW**1

Plate 6 Eroded stone circle, Area 2, view to the south 90 were recovered. No conventionally dateable material was encountered, however a flake blank and hammerstone coated with red ochre were found, and organic sediment dating conducted on the red ochre confirmed the Paleolndian age of the find.

A second stone circle was also noted on the extreme eastern edge of the beach in 1997 (Figure 11, Plate 6). This feature was quite different from the first. It was a sparsely delimited arc constructed of large bedrock slabs, and although badly eroded, is estimated to have been approximately three meters in interior diameter with a slab encircled central hearth, suggestive of a tent ring. It had either eroded out or been constructed since 1993 (the former is regarded as most likely). Shovel testing failed to identify any artifacts near the feature, however its presence provided hope that additional habitation structures might be identified in the site in non-eroded contexts. In the spring of 2004 a Park Warden conducting monitoring of the site discovered a basally thinned Goshen point (Appendix A) eroded out a few meters from the stone feature perimeter. This is the earliest style of projectile point ever recovered from an eroded context in Area 1, indicating the inexorable progress of erosion has begun to impact the earliest levels in this area of the site. The success of the 1997 excavation program in demonstrating the presence of a culturally productive, stratigraphically intact, extensive area of the site mid­ way between the largely destroyed Area 1 and the near permanently saturated Area 2 was of great interest. This area of the site was high enough on the beach that it was accessible for excavation, yet low enough that the early Holocene layers had not yet begun to erode, as demonstrated by the thick cap of strong red coloured B horizon silt. This area was identified on the basis of relatively limited deep testing in 1993, consisting of forty judgmental shovel tests scattered along a 600 m stretch of the beach. This testing had been sufficient to identify the stratigraphically intact area, but its areal extent was unclear.

Accordingly, in 1998 the program proceeded with two goals. The first was to define the spatial extent of the intact, accessible area by means of systematic shovel testing on a ten meter grid, and to test any new concentrations of cultural material. Also, expansion of excavations in Operation 7 was desired, in hopes of obtaining a diagnostic artifact or hearth feature from the periphery of the lithic reduction area. Unfortunately, 91

$b o O O m o ^ O c^^^s^~^^p o Q Q

C-~-—-* ^~ /

LEGEND Bedrock Slab ^ 0 0.5 1.0 1.5

Figure 11 Eroded stone circle, Area 2. 92 the weather and water level conditions in 1998 were extremely poor. In 1997, the entire site had been accessible for examination to a depth of nearly a meter below surface for over a month, whereas in 1998 deep excavation was only possible until May 24th, and parts of the beach closer to the permanent shoreline were completely inaccessible. Nevertheless, 48 shovel tests were completed, identifying three new undisturbed activity areas that indicated that the undisturbed, artifact-bearing portion of the site was quite extensive. These areas were eventually designated as Operations 17, 18 and 19 under the Parks Canada system. Attempts to excavate these newly identified areas or expand the Operation 7 excavation block were halted by the extremely rapid rise in lake level (Plate 7). As a result, the remainder of the 1998 program was spent identifying and excavating concentrations of cultural material at much higher elevations that proved to be of more recent age and will not be discussed further.

The 1999 field season proved to be extremely interesting and confirmed the importance of the site. Instead of a small core crew, 17 field school students from the University of Calgary and three excavation supervisors from Parks Canada assisted the author, and digging conditions proved exceptional; it was possible to penetrate well over one meter below surface at a much lower elevation on the beach than had been previously possible. The season extended to June 10l and excavation units were taken as deeply as 170 cm below surface. A small block was opened in each of the three areas identified in the previous year shovel-testing program. Operation 17 and Operation 18 each yielded evidence for multiple occupations pre-dating 10,000 B.P. including hearths and concentrations of cultural material indicative of small-scale campsites. Operation 19 proved to contain a significant lithic reduction/ biface manufacturing area. Only two additional units were initiated in the original Operation 7 area, due to the exceptional results from the newly opened blocks.

The 2000 field season was more limited in scope, and focused entirely on expanding the sample from the Operation 17 and Operation 18 excavation blocks. Operation 17 is slightly higher in elevation than Operation 18, and more accessible. 93

^iSdWaSj^i^j,^. „_,;. ^^jjja

Plate 7 Operation 7 at arrow, May 30 1998 (view to south).

• •• v •."••.: T.i-. •-•<'' '•.'-:•: •*•<*

-Kl^ tfU-r&k&i'•' ?Js£wftJ&.

Plate 8 Lingering ice pan over site, May 9 2001 (view to south). 94

Excavation conditions were relatively good, and deep excavations were possible in both blocks until May 27* . Operation 18 proved extremely interesting, and yielded the oldest projectile point yet recovered from an undisturbed, dateable context in the province of Alberta.

The 2001 field season, the final season in the current program, was intended to expand on and connect both Operation 17 and Operation 18. Unfortunately, it proved to be an extremely poor season for excavating, reminiscent of 1998. The late spring (Plate 8) and higher water levels made it impossible to open any additional units in Operation 18, and Operation 17 could only be expanded north (upslope) for a limited time. It was decided to move as far up the beach as possible and test the area around the western periphery of the original Operation 7. This decision was fortuitous as an early hearth and unique assemblage of cultural material was recovered, but it only proved possible to complete six square meters in this new area (Operation 21) before the water level became too high to continue and the program was terminated on May 24th.

In considering the extent and structure of the excavations undertaken at the site to date, the 1997 and 1999 field seasons permitted excavations well into June in the key undisturbed area of the site between previously defined Areas 1 and 2. These excavations could successfully penetrate as deeply as 170 cm below surface at a low elevation on the beach. In contrast, the 1998 season provided only a one-week window of opportunity to a depth of 70 cm below surface at a high elevation on the beach, and the 2000 and 2001 field seasons fell between the extreme best case/worst case scenarios. That is, two years out of five provided excellent conditions, one year provided good conditions, one year provided poor conditions, and one year disastrous conditions.

The rate and pace of erosion also varied greatly over the various field seasons. In the warmest, driest years, considerable wind erosion was observed. Almost no erosion was observed in 1998, when the beach never did dry out and was only subaerially exposed for a short time. 2001 saw an extreme degree of erosion over a few short days, as the lingering ice pan on the lake was ground against the shoreline by strong cross 95 winds. Together, these factors make it extremely difficult to calculate how much longer the intact, accessible portion of the site will survive. It is possible that within fifteen years, the remaining extant portions of the profile will have fully eroded, leaving intact only those areas beneath the permanent water table. Currently, the reasonably accessible portion of the site with an extant profile containing the remnant B horizon is estimated to extend from approximately 120 to 220 east on the site grid and 30 to 50 south. Beyond this core area, extant early stratigraphy still exists extending from Area 1 to the eastern site limit, however the erosion of the red soil makes it difficult to correlate the stratigraphy and artifacts have not been identified in undisturbed contexts (although the continued surface collection of occasional Clovis and Goshen/Plainview points from this area and the presence of two stone circles suggests that highly significant cultural material concentrations are still present).

For this thesis, discussion will focus on five individual excavation blocks, designated Operation 7, Operation 17, Operation 18, Operation 19 and Operation 21. All five blocks are located within a restricted area of the site measuring 40 meters east/west and 25 meters north/south (1000 square meters). The total undisturbed area excavated to depth within the five blocks is only 87 square meters (Figure 12). Although the five blocks are located within a restricted area, it has not proven possible to correlate any of the occupation floors between the blocks, either by means of stratigraphic comparison or artifact refitting. Thus, each block must be discussed on a stand-alone basis. Methods used in excavation and recording between the blocks are consistent, as is the stratigraphy. Each is discussed in the following subsections.

Lake Minnewanka Site Stratigraphy

The stratigraphic profile at the Lake Minnewanka site is very similar to other sites in the upper Bow River valley in Banff National Park, most notably the Norquay and Eclipse sites (Fedje 1988) and the Vermilion Lakes site (Fedje and White 1988). Discussion of the portion of the aeolian derived (non debris flow) deposits from the Legend

Anglular Cotluvium Recent Lacustrine Sand >& ZP

Elevated Iron Pin Elevation 1476.S m 140 E 160 E 200 E -A- •4- H h- H h-

Lodgepole Pine

Lake Minnewankn

Figure 12 The Lake Minnewanka site, 1997-2001 excavation plan.

ON 97

Vermilion Lakes site is particularly valuable in understanding the nature of sedimentation and pedogenesis in the upper Bow River valley in the early Holocene. Fedje and White (1988: 34) indicate that the onset of a period of rapid aeolian deposition occurred at approximately 10,800 rcybp. The termination of rapid aeolian deposition is marked by the formation of a distinctive Bt horizon that indicates a long period of pedogenesis beginning at approximately 8,000 - 9,000 rcybp. They note that about 1.0 meter of aeolian sediment was deposited at the Vermilion Lakes site between approximately 10,800 and 8000 rcybp, but only 40 cm of sediment was deposited in the subsequent 8000 years, of which a "significant portion" consists of tephra (both Mazama and Bridge River Ash). These tephras date to 6730 B.P (Hallett et al. 1997) and 2350 B.P. (Mathewes and Westgate 1980) respectively.

The Lake Minnewanka profile has been truncated by catastrophic flooding, but the entire profile is still preserved in the eroded cut along the northern edge of the site. The degree of impairment to the profile is considerable in Area 1, which has been scoured down to the parent material, but minimal in Area 2, where some in situ tree stumps are still present. Examination of the stumps and comparison to the trunk and root systems on recent tree throws indicates that in places only about 20 to 30 cm of the profile has been removed by erosion. The "missing" part of the profile consists of the humus (LFH horizon) a dark Ah above a thin lighter band that may be an Ae horizon or Bridge River tephra (or both), and the upper part of the Bm horizon. The remaining portion of the profile in the vicinity of Operation 7, 17, 18, 19 and 21 is described below. Identical profiles were revealed in all five excavation blocks in this restricted area, with only subtle differences. Schematic profiles within the various blocks together with accepted radiocarbon dates are provided in Figure 13. Strata and occupations within the site are necessarily numbered from the top down, since no excavation units have been successfully bottomed out.

Stratum 1 is a coarse grey recent lacustrine sand which mantles the modern surface of the site. It can vary tremendously in depth across the site, from a thin skiff a few centimeters thick, to a massive unit over one meter in thickness. It is crucial to the 98

Operation 7

14705 Operation 21

Operation 17

1470.0 •

•5

1409.0 -1

approximate maximum attainable depth under excellent conditions

Note: All dates are radiocarbon years BP.

KEY Stratum Description 1 recent lacustrine sand post 1947 varves red silt (Bm horizon) dark red clayey silt (Bt horizon) f:.v '• --'J '• •'••••1 grey aeollan silt (C horizon) calcium carbonate band interbedded lenses of grey silt and fine sand interbedded laminates cf coarse sand

Figure 13 Schematic profiles and accepted radiocarbon dates, all excavation blocks. 99 interpretation of site stratigraphy to realize that this sand can directly overlay any of the other strata, depending upon the degree of erosion and the nature of the original ground surface. Where Stratum 1 directly overlays Stratum 5, in situ Paleolndian artifacts may lie within a few centimeters below surface. Two meters to the south (downslope towards the lake), the same occupation floor may be at the surface, mingled in the recent sand, and ten meters upslope to the north, it may be buried a meter below surface and capped by all of the intervening strata.

Stratum 2 is a widely variable unit consisting of a series of varves deposited since catastrophic flooding occurred in 1947. The varves appear to have been deposited most strongly in former swales, where they may be as thick as 70 cm, and are comprised of thick bands of charcoal and burned and unburned decaying organic material interspersed with lacustrine sand. In places as many as thirty intervals may be counted in the varves. The presence of the varves clearly illustrates how different areas of the site were first truncated by the initial flooding, then sealed by deposition of annual varves over many years, and are now being eroded away as the beach gradually scours down, encountering till and bedrock on the higher areas and changing its profile and erosional pattern on a yearly basis. The distinctive large charcoal fragments relate to burning off the remnant vegetation the winter prior to reservoir filling.

Stratum 3 is a yellow-red aeolian derived silt that represents the truncated Bm horizon. The Bm stratum shows some slight internal differentiation in colour and expression across the site, with a slightly lighter, yellower cast in the upper portion of the stratum and a slightly darker, pinker cast in the lower portion of the stratum, but this distinction is subtle, variable and gradational. The only significant difference within the Bm is the relative proportions of magnetic minerals. A magnetic mineral test was conducted on two soil column samples from Operation 7. Testing consisted of stirring 40 g sediment samples with a magnet to retrieve traces of magnetite that were then weighed and graphed, following the procedure described by Fedje (1986). Magnetic mineral testing was conducted by Siegfreid (1998) under the direction of the author. 100

Magnetite peaked sharply in the upper half of the truncated Bm stratum, at .44%/40g. The lower half of the Bm horizon yielded far less magnetite (. 11%). Beneath this, the subsequent Bt and C horizons contained only minute traces of magnetite (mean of .06%). Fedje and White (1988:47) interpret similar results from the Vermilion Lakes and other sites in the Upper Bow River valley as indicative of Mazama tephra charging in the upper portion of the Bm horizon. The ash is not present as a visible layer due to homogenization in the soil as a result of millennia of rodent and tree root disturbance. Artifacts from the Bm horizon are also highly mixed, for example at the Five Mile Creek site (152R) diagnostic projectile points from Prairie side notched, Besant, Pelican Lake, Hanna and Bitterroot times were all mixed in the Bm horizon with no stratigraphic patterning, and the Bm horizon at the Vermilion Lakes site shows similar mixing, with conjoinable exotic lithic artifacts distributed throughout the Bm sediments (Fedje and White 1988:48).

Magnetic mineral testing and comparison to other sites in the Bow Valley thus provides a very rough approximation for the age of the truncated surface of the Bm immediately beneath the varves at around or near the time of Mazama ashfall. Since Reeves' (1976) last surface collection of this area of the site, the only diagnostic projectile points recovered from the surface in this area of the site have been classified as Bitterroot/Salmon River side notched or older specimens, confirming the very approximate age of the truncated surface.

Stratum 4 is a strongly expressed, strongly undulating, duric, very dark red, clayey silt (Bt horizon). Closer to the permanent water line the dark red clay is gleying and is an olive green in colour. The high clay content in this stratum distinguishes it from the aeolian silts above and below it [see Siegfried (1998:131) for particle size analysis]. Fedje and White (1988:47) suggest that the strongly similar Bt horizon documented at Vermilion Lakes and a number of other sites in the Bow River valley is a relict pedogenic feature that originated prior to the Mazama ashfall. They suggest that for the Bt to have effectively blocked the penetration of magnetic minerals it must have been present as at least an incipient illuvial horizon by 7000 B.P. Allowing some time for pedogenesis 101 would place development of the Bt in the period before roughly 8000 B.P., perhaps as far back as 9000 B.P. Thus, although it formed as a result of pedogenesis, rather than deposition as a stratigraphic layer, it can be regarded as a reliable stratigraphic marker horizon within the upper Bow River valley.

Diagnostic artifacts and radiocarbon dates from beneath the Bt horizon at the Vermilion Lakes site, the Eclipse site, the Norquay site, the Second Lake site and the Minnewanka site (this study) all predate 9000 B.P. The Bt horizon also appears to mark the base of the turbated, homogenized soil zone within the profile at a number of different sites. Beneath it, rapid aeolian deposition combined with different vegetation regimes than modern appear to have acted to limit extensive turbation by roots, although rodent activity is sometimes visible in the profile beneath the Bt horizon at Lake Minnewanka.

One important aspect of the Bt horizon that also has implications for the distribution of cultural material at the Lake Minnewanka site is its strongly undulating base. It has been suggested (A. Limbird personal communication 1997) that this undulation of the Bt horizon seen in a number of the sites in the Banff area is related to a natural soil formation process (podzolization). Observation of the undulation of the Bt horizon at the Lake Minnewanka site in comparison to the Vermilion Lakes, Norquay and Eclipse sites suggests that the undulations in the Lake Minnewanka site are more frequent and more pronounced than at the other sites in the area. Also, a dense occupational floor within Operation 7 at the base of the Bt horizon was found to follow and mimic the undulations in the soil, rather than be cross cut by them. In one instance a lithic artifact from the main floor was refit to a piece from the base of a red soil pocket 30 cm beneath, and in general this particular artifact floor appeared to be mechanically warped.

As many as six symmetrical tapering circular pockets of red soil were noted per square meter in some areas of the site, with some pockets exhibiting a depth of as much as 80 cm. In large areas of the site where the main Bt horizon had eroded away, pock- mark like circles of red soil were still present, particularly closer to the permanent shoreline. An extremely interesting process was noted in some units just prior to flooding 102 if the unit had penetrated below the Bt horizon into the grey aeolian silt beneath, such that three or four of the circular red soil pockets were visible in the floor. As moisture wicked up from beneath, the grey aeolian material became soft and would hold a deep, clear footprint. However, if an unwary excavator stepped on a red soil pocket, their entire foot would disappear into the highly viscous pocket. Indeed, it proved possible to insert a hand to the forearm into the soupy pockets and feel their form (the hand could then be pulled out looking as if it had been dipped in red paint). At the base of the drop features, the red Bt was often gleyed to an olive green colour.

Podzolization cannot explain the warped artifact floor in Operation 7 at the base of the Bt horizon (Dr. A. Limbird personal communication 1997). Instead, a mechanical process must be invoked. Dr. Len Hills (personal communication 1997) suggested that the ground surface at the time of occupation may have been strongly undulating as a result of tree throws, and the artifacts simply follow the undulating surface. However, the artifact floors in the loess beneath are all quite flat; it is only the single specific floor at the contact of the loess and the Bt that is warped. Dr. S. Harris (personal communication 1998) believes that it is highly unlikely that the red soil pockets relate to tap roots or tree throws. Instead, he suggests that they represent "drop features" formed at the base of an already undulating soil that is unnaturally saturated for most of the year. A number of complex phenomena can contribute to the formation of drop features, such as load casting and extrusion of water. The matrix of Stratum 4 is markedly different from the aeolian silt above and below, due to its high clay content, which reacts differently to water. Thus, inundation for most of the year could be exaggerating the natural undulations, and the lithic artifacts in the single affected floor are moving together with the clay matrix of the Bt horizon.

Regardless of the origin of the drop features, they have a definite impact on artifact distribution and faunal representation. Plate 9 illustrates a floor of badly deteriorated bone in the grey aeolian silt beneath the Bt horizon. Virtually no bone was found in the site above the Bt horizon due to soil acidity. The C horizon beneath the Bt 103

•'tof /•Lfe -sM-

M •atiiYSss.. g^..;.^»^,^

V

Plate 9 Deteriorated bone that has been pierced and dissolved by drop features (scapula with dissolved blade at top left).

Plate 10 Discontinuous regosols faintly visible in massive loess unit, Operation 17, south wall profile. 104 consists of a grey calcareous loess, which becomes increasingly rich in calcium carbonate at depth, and as a result some bone has preserved. The first floor beneath the Bt horizon exhibits very badly deteriorated bone. Interestingly, several bones have been "pierced" by drop features, which have partially dissolved the bone, fragments of which were collected from the drop feature as much as 10 cm below the main bone floor. Because of the obvious implications, matrix from all drop features was trowelled out and screened separately in all excavation units.

Stratum 5 is the grey calcareous loess beneath the Bt horizon that contains most of the major occupational floors dated to older than 10,000 rcybp. It is approximately 80 cm in thickness but varies across the site. This homogenous unit formed as a result of rapid aeolian sedimentation. A few faint, discontinuous regosols observed in this stratum (Plate 10) were too poorly defined to follow as natural levels during the excavations, particularly given the differing level of moisture in the soil in the different blocks in different seasons. The poor representation of the regosols attests to rapid sedimentation during this period. Calcium carbonate mottles in Stratum 5 increase with depth and are present as distinct wispy strata several cm thick in some Operations.

Stratum 6 is the basal stratum which has only been penetrated in a limited number of units within some blocks. The current oldest dated extant occupations in the site are within this zone. The stratum consists of aeolian silt interspersed with thin, discontinuous laminates of fine sand, also presumed to be of aeolian origin, which become thicker, coarser and more common with depth. In Operation 21 the sand eventually forms continuous interbedded coarse and fine layers (Stratum 7) with only occasional laminates of silt. This stratum has only been penetrated in test cores and a single excavation unit within Operation 21. In the three cores completed in Area 2 it overlays the basal material (outwash gravel or bedrock).

The depth of Stratum 6 and Stratum 7 is believed to vary widely across the site. The presence of the emergent gravel and bedrock in the upper beach of Area 1 suggests that the entire profile in this area of the site was never more than two meters deep. 105

However, in Operation 17 the top of Stratum 6 was first intercepted at ca. 160 cm below the already truncated surface. In the 2000 field season a vibracoring device was used to determine how deep the parent material was in this area of the site. The basal gravel was encountered at 3.52 meters below the truncated surface, suggesting that the original profile was closer to four meters deep in this area. Elsewhere, it is believed that there may be even deeper deposits.

The potential for Stratum 7 to yield cultural material is unknown, since this stratum was too deep to be satisfactorily sampled in the excavation blocks. The presence of the stone circle directly on top of the gravel parent material in Area 1, and the collection of two Plainview/Goshen points and one Clovis point from the immediate peripheries of the gravel bars in the same area suggest that the site was occupied virtually as soon as it became subaerially exposed. If this is so, then excavations in the intact area will not be able to penetrate the deepest cultural levels until such time as the dam is decommissioned.

Mclntyre and Reeves (1975) interpreted Stratum 6 as glaciolacustrine in origin, however given the presence of cultural material associated with a hearth in Operation 21, and the distribution of early point types across the beach it appears likelier that this stratum represents the onset of very rapid aeolian deposition of nearby reworked lacustrine sediments immediately after deglaciation. Some of the lowest, coarsest sands immediately above the gravel may have sheeted downslope from higher stands of proglacial Lake Minnewanka immediately following drainage of the lake. Detailed geological studies of these permanently saturated deposits would be required to determine the origin of Stratum 7.

Methods

The methods used in this study represent a compromise between the desirable and the necessary. The highly threatened status of the site relative to ongoing erosion and the 106 short window of opportunity available for examining it each year mitigated against extremely meticulous field techniques. Digging only a few square meters to exacting standards when the rest of the site is quickly eroding away seemed foolish. At the same time, the great age and potential significance of the site cried out for methodological rigour. In steering a course between this methodological Scylla and Charybdis, it was decided to excavate relatively quickly, in hopes of firstly proving that the site contains highly significant deposits and secondly, retrieving as much information as possible before it was lost.

The artificially truncated surface of the site and annual inundation greatly complicates the methodological approach. The ground surface consists of a gently sloping sandy beach mantled by unconsolidated, lacustrine sand. The sloping modern surface does not accurately reflect the original ground surface. Occasionally, remnant tree trunks were encountered that permitted an estimate of how much sediment had eroded, but these are very rare and have noticeably become more so over the past eight years.

Excavation procedures remained consistent over the five years of the study. Each year the 1993 grid was re-established with a transit and elevations were obtained relative to the site datum for all secondary datums. Parks Canada has undertaken a professional survey of the site so that the grid may always be re-established in future and accurate elevations may be obtained in order to monitor erosion. Each spring during gridding (and afterwards) the surface was examined for any newly eroding concentrations of artifacts. No formal surface collection has been undertaken since 1993, but newly eroded tools are collected each year to discourage illegal collectors who are known to visit the site. Surface collected artifacts are collectively designated under the Parks Canada system as belonging to Operation 12. All of the pertinent surface collected diagnostic artifacts are described in Appendix A.

Within the excavation units, the recent lacustrine sand and disturbed varves were discarded (the first year of the program this material was screened and catalogued, but 107 subsequently this was deemed too wasteful of time and resources). The presence of the strong red Bt horizon provides a striking stratigraphic marker, which generally slopes in a manner reflective of the original ground surface. Layers above this marker are known to post-date approximately 9,000 rcybp and were contained within the active tree root zone of the then forested site. Due to the threatened status of the site, these layers were typically shovel shaved out in 10 cm levels. The thin Bt horizon was then removed as a natural level. Below the Bt horizon was homogenous grey loess. Faint regosols were visible within this loess in wall profiles, but these regosols were impossible to follow as natural levels during excavation, due to varying soil moisture and their shadowy and inconsistent representation (Plate 10). Accordingly, five cm arbitrary levels were shovel shaved very thinly and precisely until any artifacts indicating an occupation floor were encountered. Once artifacts were encountered, only a trowel was used in excavation of five cm levels and the one by one meter units were further divided into 50 cm quadrants for screening. All artifacts larger than two cm in size were mapped in three dimensions, as were concentrations of smaller artifacts.

Screen mesh size used in the excavation was 6 mm (1/4 inch). It is recognized that use of a 6 mm mesh has greatly reduced artifact recovery in the smaller size ranges; however, use of a finer mesh would have slowed excavation considerably. In denser floors, soil samples were collected for later fine screening through a 2 mm mesh in order to capture a sample of some artifacts in the smallest size range. Fill from disturbances and the distinctive drop features was screened separately to permit separation of disturbed material from each floor. Both dry screening and water screening were utilized, depending upon the degree of saturation and the texture of the sediments.

In 1997 two sets of soil column samples were obtained from Operation 7 and particle size analysis and magnetic mineral testing was conducted on one set of soil samples (Siegfried 1998). The second set of samples remains in reserve for possible future phytolith or pollen analysis. In 2001 a third set of soil samples penetrating to a greater depth was obtained from Operation 21. These samples are also in cold storage at the University of Calgary. Only very preliminary analysis of the soil samples has been 108 attempted to date. Given the inundated setting of the site, analysis of pollen and phytoliths would be complex and require verification by conducting analysis of nearby, unflooded soils. Such analysis was beyond the scope of this study.

Excavation units were backfilled promptly each year, in order that no added erosion occurred as a result of the excavations. Backfill is easily distinguished from undisturbed sediments in the Lake Minnewanka site. Some nails were left in place on the grid (15 cm common spikes) as an informal method for monitoring erosion, but observation has shown that these nails are quickly distorted and loosened and cannot be trusted on a year to year basis. Three more long lasting datums have been marked with 60 cm rebar pins, which should last for ten years or more, unless purposely pulled out.

All artifacts were catalogued and analyzed by the author, according to standards established by Parks Canada. In brief, this system as utilized for the current study can be summarized as follows. Each excavation block within the site (which is numbered site 349R) is designated as an Operation, each one by one meter unit within it as an alphabetically numbered Suboperation. Each occupation floor within the Suboperation is given a "Lot" number. Thus, an artifact number like "349R17A5:1" refers to the first cataloged artifact from Occupation 5 within Operation 17, specifically from excavation unit "A". The catalog records also provide the Cartesian coordinates and specific arbitrary level number for each artifact. Occupations have necessarily been numbered from the top down, in recognition of the fact that none of the excavation blocks have been successfully bottomed out. Two excavation blocks became large enough that alphabetic numbers for individual units were exhausted; additional Operation numbers were tacked on to these as needed (e.g. Operation 11 was added to Operation 7).

This dissertation is not meant to stand as the site report. A series of interim reports and a final report have been prepared by the author for Parks Canada. The site reports provide more detail on the excavation program as a whole, including the non- Paleolndian discoveries from areas above the eroded beach, as well as debitage analysis, lithic material types, specific rationales for yearly excavation modifications, photo 109 documentation, etc. However, this dissertation provides a comprehensive summary of all pertinent Paleolndian materials from the site during the five year excavation program. The results will be presented in the next three Chapters. A brief discussion of the major lithic raw material types described in text is included in Appendix B. 110

CHAPTER FIVE: OPERATION 17 RESULTS

Three of the five blocks at the Lake Minnewanka site (Figure 12) yielded evidence for campsite related activities. Two of these campsite blocks (Operation 17 and Operation 18) contained multiple stratified deposits. Operation 17 and Operation 18 are separated by only five meters, but Operation 21 is slightly further away (20 meters distant). It was intended to physically connect Operation 17 and Operation 18 into a single large block during the final field season, but water levels did not permit. Both Operations are very low on the beach, in particular Operation 18, and only accessible to depth in very good years. It has not proven possible to accurately correlate any of the occupations between the Operations. There is no compelling reason to expect the two blocks to represent contemporaneous occupations, given the tight spatial distribution of the occupation floors within each block and the different lithic material types associated with each occupation. Results from Operation 17 are summarized in this chapter.

Operation 17

Operation 17 is a relatively large excavation block in comparison to others at the site, totaling 28 square meters. Due to erosion of the beach, the surface elevation at the north end of the block is 1470.42 masl, but at the south end the surface is only 1470.05 masl, a difference of approximately 40 cm over eight meters. Luckily, the original ground surface appears to have also sloped gently to the south (and east), based on the depth and slope of the distinctive Bt horizon and the artifact floors. The varves and the Mazama-charged Bm soil unit form a thick blanket over most of Operation 17, capping and protecting the earlier cultural levels. Units within this Operation have been taken consistently to the top of Stratum 6, the interbedded coarse and fine sands/silts, at an Ill average depth of ca.120 cm below surface. The lowest occupation, Occupation 8, is at the base of the excavations, and it is unclear whether any earlier occupations are present. The current depth of the block (1468.80 masl) represents the maximum attainable depth relative to the permanent water table under good weather conditions. Approximately two meters of unconsolidated sediment over gravel are present beneath the floor of Operation 17, based on coring, but these layers could only be assessed for cultural material if there was an extreme (abnormal) drawdown.

Table 1 outlines the occupational sequence within Operation 17. A profile is provided in Figure 14 (a profile was also illustrated in Plate 10). Six AMS dates were obtained for these layers; three on charcoal were rejected and three on bone were accepted, but as limiting dates only. The dates listed on the table are all given in uncalibrated radiocarbon years before present. Two of the charcoal dates are anomalously old (ca. 50,000 B.P.) and the third is anomalously young (ca. 250 B.P.). Problems with charcoal dates are discussed for the individual occupations below. The bone dates, although accepted, are still highly problematic. Occupations 5 through 8 are distinct occupation floors, with the uppermost and lowest floors separated by approximately 50 cm of aeolian loess characterized by the presence of a series of weakly developed regosols. Occupation 5 dates to 10, 370 ±60 B.P., but Occupations 6 and 8 date to 10, 220 ±60 B.P. and 10,250±60 B.P. respectively. All three uncalibrated dates overlap at two standard deviations, but the oldest date is for Occupation 5 and the two essentially simultaneous lower dates are inverted relative to the upper date.

It is difficult to evaluate the accuracy of these dates due to the considerable peturbations in the radiocarbon calibration curve during the Younger Dryas, combined with the inherent problems in dating bone collagen. Calibration of the dates at two standard deviations (Table 2) shows the nature of the problem. If all of the three dates are accepted at face value as correct, a very rapid rate of aeolian loess deposition must be postulated, in the order of 50 cm in approximately 300 calendar years, between ca. 12,000 and 12,350 B.P. 112

Table 1 Occupation designation and dating summary, Operation 17.

Operation 17 Stratum Mean elevation of Dating Evidence all in situ artifacts Occupation 1 Recent Lacustrine Surface None/Mixed Occupation 2 Bm 1469.81 (2 items) Pre-Mazama estimated based on magnetic mineral representation Occupation 3 Bt None Pre Mazama estimated based on marker horizon Occupation 4 C (aeolian silt) 1469.76 (77 items) None, stratigraphic estimate is ca. 9000-10,000 B.P Occupation 5 C (aeolian silt) 1469.60 (75 items) Bone from hearth dated to 10,370+60 B.P. (CAMS #60442), accepted as limiting date Occupation 6 C (aeolian silt) 1469.54 (44 items) Bone from floor 10,220±60 B.P. (TO9260), accepted as limiting date only Occupation 7 C (aeolian silt) 1469.35 (147 items) Charcoal from floor (rejected) 240±50 B.P. (CAMS #60237); Occupation 8 C(aeolian sand/silt) 1469.11 (63 items) 1) Charcoal from bulk soil sample from hearth (rejected) >54000 (CAMS #60238) 2) Charcoal trowelled directly from hearth (rejected) >47,480 (Beta 165691) 3) Bone from hearth periphery 10250±60 B.P. (TO-9256), accepted as limiting date only

Table 2 Calibration of accepted dates from Operation 17.

Occupation Uncalibrated Date Calibrated at two sigma Center of calibration

5 10370±60 rcybp 12,000-12,600 B.P. 12,300 B.P. 6 10220+60 rcybp 11,640-12,160 B.P. 11,900 B.P. 8 10250+60 rcybp 11,750-12,350 B.P. 12,050 B.P. 113

;:-:•:«.%••:»: mmmmmmmmm.

start of carbonate mottles

KEY Stratum Description 1 recent lacustrine sand 2 post 1947 varves 3 red silt (Bm horizon) 4 dark red clayey silt (Bt horizon) 5 grey aeolian silt (C horizon) 6 interbedded lenses of grey silt and line sand

Figure 14 Operation 17 stratigraphic profile, hearth is from Occupation 8. 114

Fedje and White (1984: 34) have suggested that investigations at a number of sites at the west end of Vermilion Lakes indicate the onset of a period of rapid aeolian deposition in the Bow Valley from ca. 10,800 to 8000 B.P. They calculate rates of aeolian deposition at three sites (152R, 153R and 502R) as approximately .02, .03 and .05 cm/year respectively. The rate of aeolian deposition for the Lake Minnewanka site would have to be ten to twenty five times higher than this for all three dates from Operation 17 to be correct. That is, 60 cm of aeolian loess built up at the Vermilion Lakes site over 2800 radiocarbon years, vs. 50 cm at Lake Minnewanka in approximately 100 radiocarbon years. Even for the "long" radiocarbon years of the late Pleistocene, this seems to be a dramatic difference.

Of course, loess build-up can be highly idiosyncratic, depending upon specific landform history, but at least three shadowy regosols are present in the loess at Lake Minnewanka. These regosols each must have taken some time to form, particularly in the cold, dry climate and presumably open vegetation of the site in the terminal Pleistocene. This suggests that the dates are, in fact, problematic and should be regarded as limiting dates only. If the date for Occupation 5 is correct at ca. 10,400 rcybp, (midpoint ca. 12,300 calendar years B.P.) the lowest occupation 50 cm beneath could potentially be as much as a thousand calendar years earlier, if a rate of loess deposition similar to even the fastest rate is inferred and adequate time is allowed for regosol formation. Since all of the dates from Operation 17 are bone collagen dates, it is possible that collagen depletion has resulted in assays that are too young. Indeed, elsewhere in the site (Operation 21, discussed in a later chapter), an occupation from a slightly higher stratigraphic context as Occupation 8 yielded a significantly older radiocarbon date on charcoal, extending potentially as far back as 13,150 calendar years B.P.

Another potential source of error in radiocarbon dating is, of course, mixing. This is particularly the case in old sites in treed environments. A number of sites in the Bow Valley show extensive mixing (e.g. the Timberline Site, the Five Mile Creek Site) with Early, Middle and Late Period diagnostic artifacts inextricably mixed in the B horizon silts. The Vermilion Lakes site is a particularly important site due to its excellent 115 stratigraphic separation, resulting from a series of colluvial debris flows separating aeolian silt lenses. The Lake Minnewanka site is quite different, due to its setting on a relatively flat, terrace like bench, with only aeolian sediments. The absence of any physical stratigraphic separators such as debris flows makes distinction of cultural levels more difficult.

Excavation beneath the Bt horizon within Operation 17 was typically conducted in five cm arbitrary levels. Excavators were asked to trowel the cultural levels, mapping in situ artifacts. Because of the highly threatened status of the site vis-a-vis erosion and the necessarily short field season, the decision was made to limit in situ mapping to larger specimens, greater than approximately two cm in diameter. Small concentrations of flakes were mapped only as concentrations, not with individual provenience. Within the excavation floors, screening was conducted by 50 cm quadrant, to preserve some density information. This decision represents a compromise that resulted in in situ mapping for 46% of the items recovered in Operation 17. Materials with no provenience beyond 50 cm quadrant/5 cm level are dominated by the two smallest size classes, less than one cm (41%) and one to two cm (51%). Larger items with no provenience typically originate from the upper (shoveled) levels of the Operation (above the Bt horizon), or from within the distinctive drop features.

The individual occupations were surprisingly well defined given the absence of visual stratigraphic separators. Lithic artifacts were sometimes found at slight angles in the ground, rather than lying flat, but generally they were present in very tight bands, dispersed within each individual unit in zones averaging about five to eight cm in thickness. The character of these floors suggests very limited tree root activity or burrowing, and conditions of relatively rapid deposition. The separation of the floors improved downwards; that is, approximately 20 cm of sterile sediment was found to overlie the two lowest occupations, whereas only 10 to 15 cm separated Occupations 4, 5 and 6 (mean elevation for all in situ artifacts is provided on Table 1). This could be a function of more rapid deposition in the earliest time period, or could also indicate more intensive human use of the site area in the slightly later time period. 116

It is difficult to illustrate the three dimensional distribution of artifacts within an excavation block of any size, particularly one that has a sloping floor. In Operation 17, the floors slope gently to the south and east. If artifacts are collapsed on a single plane for illustrative purposes, the slope of the floor across the block makes them seem more vertically dispersed than they actually are. Each occupation consists of a concentration of lithic artifacts around a hearth. The hearths from each occupation are horizontally well separated, again with the exception of Occupations 5 and 6, in which the hearths lie almost directly atop each other. Thus, these two occupation floors overlap horizontally as well as vertically, exacerbating problems of separation. These difficulties will become clearer in the individual occupation discussions below. In general however, even Occupations 4, 5 and 6 are separated enough that a moderate degree of confidence in their integrity is maintained, and Occupations 7 and 8 are very well separated.

Occupation 1

"Occupation" 1 is a convenient rubric for all material recovered from the recent lacustrine sand. This vicinity of the site was systematically surface collected by Mclntyre and Reeves (1975) and Landals (1994). Only six items were recovered from the sand in Operation 17, including three bone fragments and three pieces of debitage. This material is clearly mixed and of little interest. Materials from the drop features that could not be assigned to a definite occupation due to mixing are also lumped with Occupation 1 for convenience.

Occupation 2

Cultural material from the Bm horizon was designated as belonging to Occupation 2. It is unclear if a single or multiple occupations are represented, as the artifacts were not found in a well-defined floor, but scattered throughout the profile as a result of tree root activity. Only 26 lithic items were assigned to this occupation. Over half came from 117 a single excavation unit, from immediately above the Bt horizon, in a portion of the Bm horizon where magnetic minerals from the Mazama Tephra drop off sharply. This probably indicates a pre-Mazama temporal affiliation, but this cannot be demonstrated. These artifacts include 12 white chert flakes (a relatively rare material type at the site) and two fragmentary spurred endscrapers (Figure 15). Spurred endscrapers are frequently associated with Paleolndian components (Frison 1978, Rogers 1986), strengthening the temporal estimate. No bone was recovered from the Bm horizon, as is typical for the Banff area, due to soil acidity.

Occupation 3

The Bt horizon at the site was removed as a natural level. Four artifacts found within it (three pieces of debitage and one angular slab) appear unrelated to upper or lower cultural levels. This sparse material is of limited interest.

Figure 15 Spurred endscrapers 349R17D2:8 (top) and 349R17D2:9. Scale is actual size (1:1). 118

Occupation 4

Occupation 4 is the most recent of the significant Paleolndian occupations in the block. It has not been directly dated, but on the basis of stratigraphic comparisons to levels above and below, it assumed to date between approximately 9000 and 10,300 rcybp. The floor may be described as a dense concentration of lithic artifacts around a small hearth remnant. The distribution of in situ artifacts relative to the hearth is illustrated in Figure 16, and the inset provides the density of all lithic artifacts. Fully 82% of the artifacts are located within a two meter radius of the hearth. The lithic artifacts show a very tight, circular distribution around the hearth, whereas the larger cobbles and slabs are located at the periphery of the concentration of lithic artifacts, perhaps suggestive of some kind of tent or shelter, although this is speculative. A few artifacts are located about five meters south of the main concentration. The hearth remnant is a subtle feature consisting of a small, but distinct basin-shaped red stain with a few associated smears of black, organic rich soil. Cultural material includes 151 lithic artifacts, six unmodified rocks/slabs, and four highly degraded bone fragments. The assemblage is summarized on Table 3.

The lithic assemblage is overwhelmingly dominated by locally available raw materials, including Banff Chert (79%), Norquay Chert and silicified siltstone. A single retouch/resharpening flake made from red chert is the only probable non-local item. A limited range of activities is represented in the lithic assemblage. No cores, hammerstones and relatively few decertification flakes and fragments of block shatter suggest that little, if any, early stage lithic reduction took place. Maintenance of tools brought to the site and perhaps limited production of flakes from curated blanks or cores would account for the observed representation of cultural material. Only three tools were designated as belonging to this occupation. An unusual endscraper (Figure 17, 349R22E4-.2) and a utilized flake are located near the hearth. The third tool, is some 119

t 34S137E N

Heartarmh Flake m Tool

Incised Cobble

Flake Tool ©

Legend

i Flake • * Hearth - Reddened Earth A I Tool • • Hearth - Blackened Earth 4k I Bone Charcoal ~ | Rock CJ Red Ochre •

Figure 16 Operation 17, Occupation 4, in situ cultural material (density of all lithic artifacts is shown in the inset). Table 3 Operation 17, Occupation 4, cultural material summary.

MATERIAL SUMMARY SCRAPER FLAKE PRIM. SECON. PLATF. BIP. BIF. RETOUCH FLAKE BLOCK PEBBLE SLAB BONE Grand TOOL DECORT. DECORT. BEARING FLAKE REDUC. FLAKE FRAG SHATTER Total FLAKE FLAKE FLAKE FLAKE

BANFF CHERT 1 2 3 35 1 54 16 58 3 124 NORQUAY CHERT 1 4 5 SILTSTONE 1 2 4 7 PATINATED SILTSTONE 1 1 1 3 FINE BLUE QUARTZITE 1 1 UNDIFF. COARSE 1 2 2 2 1 5 13 CHALCEDONY (GREY) 1 2 3 CHERT (RED) 1 1

LARGE MAMMAL 2 2 NID MAMMAL 2 2

GRAND TOTAL 1 2 2 4 38 1 5 21 72 5 1 5 6 161 121 distance from the main artifact concentration, and could possibly relate to a different activity area. The endscraper (349R22E4:2; Figure 17) is an unusual, multipurpose form. It was made on a siltstone secondary decortification flake and half of the dorsal surface retains cortex. The bit is steeply retouched with a right skew. The right lateral edge is deeply notched, but the retouch is strictly unifacial/dorsal. The notch could possibly have been used as a spokeshave if the scraper was not hafted. The left lateral edge also exhibits dorsal retouch near the bit, forming a small, heavily utilized spur, suitable for use as a graver.

The two flake tools are less distinctive. One is a secondary decortification flake struck from a coarse grained pebble of undifferentiated lithology. Irregular use retouch on a steep angle of the dorsal surface suggests a scraping function. The other flake tool has been carefully made on a large patinated siltstone flake blank. Purposeful retouch extends from the edge across the left margin of the flake, forming a concave cutting edge. The proximal end of the flake also exhibits retouch, but this may relate to platform preparation.

Figure 17 Operation 17, Occupation 4, Endscraper 349R22E4:2. Scale is actual size (1:1). M4g2fl03 i«E MP»Wj»KA SITE

Figure 18 Operation 17, Occupation 4, angular slab with incised scratches, 349R22D4:4. to to 123

Faunal material is poorly preserved and non-descript, weighing less than a gram in total. Two fragments are large enough to be identified as large mammal, but the other two were only classifiable as non-identifiable mammal. One of the angular slabs is of particular interest (Figure 18, 349R22D4:4). A series of approximately 40 deep linear scratches are visible across one surface of the slab. The raw material of the slab is quite hard, and in places the scratches skip across flaws in the surface of the slab, suggesting that considerable directed force would have been necessary to produce the observed pattern.

Occupation 5

Occupation 5 has been dated to 10,370+60 rcybp (CAMS-60442) (ca. 12,000- 12,600 B.P.) based on ungulate molar fragments associated with the hearth. This occupation is not as well defined as Occupation 4, and some material may have been mixed, particularly with Occupation 6 from immediately below, which shows a similar horizontal distribution of artifacts. Cultural material from Occupation 5 is strongly associated with the periphery of a well-defined hearth. This hearth was unfortunately discovered in the initial test unit for the block completed next to a positive shovel test in 1998. In-rushing water necessitated rapid excavation of this unit and some in situ provenience was lost. The hearth was not recognized in the extremely wet excavating conditions in 1998, except as a dark organic stain presumed to be a regosol. Subsequent expansion of the excavation block in 1999 revealed a well-defined red basin shaped stain with associated smears of very dark, organic rich soil. A large rounded cobble was present on the immediate periphery of the hearth, as was a small nodule of red ochre. One flake tool was also stained with red ochre. Rounded cobbles are of distinctive cultural origin in the loess, since any rock originating from natural colluvial processes is angular.

The distribution of in situ artifacts relative to the hearth is shown in Figure 19 and the inset depicts the density of all lithic artifacts. Cultural material from Occupation 5 124

34S 137E

t 1 N 1 2 1 1 68 5 6

1 45 41 3

2 1 1

1

j«—Flake Tool Biface V,Ochr e Stained Fragment Flake Tool

HaFlak, e Tool

•^ Hearth

»^Core

Fit Together

Legend V,Cor e i Flake • * Hearth - Reddened Earth A ; Tool • • Hearth - Blackened Earth 4fc i Bone <> tj Charcoal m I Rock © Red Ochre • i - — -...- - — —

Figure 19 Operation 17, Occupation 5, in situ cultural material (density of all lithic artifacts shown on inset). Table 4 Operation 17, Occupation 5, cultural material summary.

MATERIAL SUMMARY BIFACE FLAKE CORE PRIM. SECON. PLATF. BIF. RETOUCH FLAKE BLOCK NODULE UNMOD ANG BONE Grand FRAG TOOL DECORT DECORT BEARING REDUC. FLAKE FRAG SHATTER .ROCK SLAB Total FLAKE FLAKE FLAKE FLAKE

BANFF CHERT 1 0 0 0 2 11 0 7 97 2 0 0 0 0 120 PATINATED SILTSTONE 0 2 0 1 0 15 4 9 17 1 0 0 0 0 49 SILTSTONE 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 QUARTZITE (BROWN) 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 QUARTZITE (COARSE 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 GREY) UNDIFFERENTIATED 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 2 0 11 COARSE CHALCEDONY (GREY) 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 CHERT(GREY) 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 CHERT (WHITE) 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1

RED OCHRE 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1

LARGE MAMMAL 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 LARGE UNGULATE 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 NID MAMMAL 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1

Grand Total 1 4 3 1 2 28 7 17 114 3 1 6 2 6 195

to 126 includes six bone fragments, eight unmodified rocks, one fragment of red ochre and 180 lithic artifacts. None of the lithic artifacts are manufactured from unequivocally exotic lithic material types. Once again, Banff Chert (64%) is the dominant material type, followed by silicified siltstone (27%). The assemblage is summarized on Table 4.

The lithic assemblage from Occupation 5 includes five tools, three conjoinable cores or core fragments, two small, unmodified cobbles interpreted as possible hammerstones and debitage (dominated by flake fragments). Five lithic material types are represented by single items, including either tools or bifacial reduction flakes from tools that were curated. The only formed tool is a midsection from a finely made, very thin biface (Figure 20, 349R17M5:1). Projecting from the angle of the fragment the entire biface would have been quite large (approximately hand sized), probably ovate and extremely thin for its size and the relatively poor quality of the lithic material.

The flake tools show considerable variety. One is a flake graver (Figure 20, 349R17F5:7), one a fragment of a large unifacial scraper stained with red ochre (349R17H5:1), one a large, broken blade-like flake with bifacial retouch (Figure 20; 349R17A5:26), and one a utilized quartzite decertification flake (349R17H5:3). The core fragments are irregularly flaked pieces of a poor quality coarse grained material that may have broken irregularly during an attempt to obtain a useable flake.

The presence of the conjoinable core fragments, hammerstones and debitage indicates that some early stage lithic reduction occurred around the hearth, but much of the debitage could have resulted from tool maintenance or non-intensive reduction of curated blanks or cores. Faunal material is poorly preserved and relatively non-descript, although slightly more is present than in the previous occupation (21.6 g). The single "identifiable" fragment was a badly eroded large ungulate tooth fragment that could not confidently be designated as to species. This fragment yielded the AMS date. 127

349R17M5:! 349R17F5:7

° cm ?

349R17A5:26

Figure 20 Operation 17, Occupation 5, selected tools. 128

Occupation 6

Occupation 6 immediately underlies Occupation 5 and is only moderately well separated from it. This occupation is the sparsest of the Paleolndian occupations in Operation 17, however it yielded several interesting tools. Once again, the floor consists of a scatter of lithic artifacts distributed around the perimeter of a small, basin shaped hearth stain. The distribution of in situ artifacts is shown on Figure 21, and the density of all lithic artifacts is provided on the inset. Faunal material is poorly represented by only seven bone fragments weighing 4.8 g. The assemblage is summarized on Table 5.

Although small, the lithic assemblage is of considerable interest. As in all of the other occupations, locally available raw materials dominate the assemblage, particularly Banff Chert (54%). Exotics include an unusual fossiliferous brown chert represented by a flake tool and a single amber chalcedony retouch flake. An identical amber chalcedony is well represented in the next occupation (Occupation 7), so it is likely that this tiny retouch flake is intrusive, possibly as a result of an improperly cleaned screen. The 66 lithic artifacts include a broken projectile point preform and two flake tools. The point preform (Figure 22, 349R17E6:1) is the base of a lanceolate form which appears to have broken during manufacture due to a natural flaw in the material (siltstone). The flake scars are relatively irregular. The base of the form is straight and two long basal thinning flakes extend from the base toward the tip. The base exhibits a slight thickening at the basal/lateral edge junctures (the body of the form is lenticular in overall section). This preform is within the size range and exhibits general qualities of early Paleolndian projectile point styles, but was broken at such an early stage that it is not possible to assign it to a definite typological category.

The two flake tools are quite distinctive. Specimen 349R17D6.12 (Figure 22) is a multipurpose unifacial flake sidescraper/graver. It has been made on a very large, very 129

1 34S 137E t 1 N 11

1 10 16

4 4 15 1

2 €1

&

«B< • • «

Flake Tool

Flake Tool-' *•; * .' Hearth .

• \" / Point • \_,„' Preform

^Core ^

0 m 1

Core Legend

Flake • * Hearth - Reddened Earth <*, Tool • • Hearth - Blackened Earth 4fc : Bone 0 Cj Charcoal • Rock © Red Ochre •

Figure 21 Operation 17, Occupation 6, m .«7w cultural material. Table 5 Operation 17, Occupation 6, cultural material summary.

MATERIAL SUMMARY POINT FLAKE CORE PRIM. SECON. PLATE BIF. RETOUCH FLAKE BLOCK CHERT UNMOD. BONE Grand PREFORM TOOL DECORT. DECORT. BEARING REDUC. FLAKE FRAG SHATTER NODULE ROCK Total FLAKE FLAKE FLAKE FLAKE

BANFF CHERT 0 0 1 1 1 5 1 1 26 1 1 0 0 38 NORQUAY CHERT 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 PATINATED SILTSTONE 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 SILTSTONE 1 0 0 0 1 4 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 9 QUARTZITE (WHITE) 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 4 UNDIFFERENTIATED 0 1 1 1 1 3 0 0 2 0 0 5 0 14 COARSE CHALCEDONY (AMBER 01) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 CHERT (FOSSILIFEROUS) 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1

LARGE MAMMAL 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 5 NID MAMMAL 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2

Grand Total 1 2 2 2 3 17 3 3 31 1 1 5 7 78 131

349R17E6:!

349R17D6:12

Figure 22 Operation 17, Occupation 6, selected stone tools, scale is actual size (1:1). 132 thin complete flake with a hinged termination. The material type is an undifferentiated, soft, coarse grained local material, and the quality of the tool is striking in comparison to the poor material type. The striking platform is large, faintly lipped and heavily abraded, with abrasion extending across the juncture of the platform and dorsal surface. Regular percussion flakes extend all along the right lateral edge on the dorsal surface, forming a convex scraping edge. The left lateral edge is more complex, with a concave edge that is retouched at a slightly more acute angle, and formed into a pronounced graving tip. Bradley (personal communication 2002) examined this tool and suggests that it fits well within the range of Clovis flake tools, although cautioning that this is obviously an impressionistic assessment given the type of artifact. This tool is also similar to some of the "ear shaped" flake tools illustrated from the Walker Road site, in Alaska (Goebel et al. 1991:60).

The second flake tool, 349R17T6:9 is made from a unique material type; a high quality, opaque brown chert with white fossiliferous inclusions. Portions of the artifact have also patinated to a chalky white. This material is probably an exotic chert. The tool has been made on a large, ovate bifacial thinning flake. It exhibits very fine opposite alternate retouch on both lateral edges, suggestive of use as a cutting tool.

The two cores include a large, unidirectional specimen made on a water rounded, coarse grained cobble that has been used as a chopper. The Banff chert core is a multidirectional core made on a nodule encased in bedrock. A similar nodule of chert was present in the assemblage, but unaltered. Reeves (1975) indicated that these nodules were available in the immediate area.

Occupation 7

Occupation 7 is defined by the greatest abundance and diversity of cultural material in any of the occupations within Operation 17 (Table 6). Most of the cultural material is distributed around the periphery of a well-defined hearth. The distribution of in situ artifacts is illustrated in Figure 23 and the density of all lithic artifacts is provided Table 6 Operation 17, Occupation 7, cultural material summary.

MATERIAL SUMMARY SCRAPER FLAKE CHOPPER CORE PRIM. SECON. PLATFORM BIF. RETOUCH FLAKE BLOCK NODULE UNMODIF. BONE Grand TOOL DECORT. DECORT. BEARING REDUC. FLAKE FRAG SHATTER Total FLAKE FLAKE FLAKE FLAKE ROCK BANFF CHERT 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 16 19 1 0 0 0 40 CHERT(GREY) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 PATINATED SILTSTONE 0 2 0 0 1 1 6 0 0 32 0 0 0 0 42 SILTSTONE 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 2 7 7 0 0 0 0 20 QUARTZITE (FINE BROWN) 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 QUARTZITE (FINE GREY) 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 16 12 0 0 0 0 32 QUARTZ CRYSTAL 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 UNDIFFERENTIATED COARSE 0 0 1 3 3 2 17 1 1 79 1 0 5 0 113 CHALCEDONY (AMBER 01) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 CHALCEDONY (AMBER 02) 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 6 CHALCEDONY (WHITE) 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 CHERT (ORANGE) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 CHERT (PATINATED BLACK) 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 CHERT (PATINATED WHITE) 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 17 0 0 0 0 0 18 CHERT (RED/YELLOW) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 CHERT (YELLOW) 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1

LARGE MAMMAL 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 5 NID MAMMAL 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 SMALL CARNIVORE 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 SMALL UNGULATE 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1

Grand Total 1 9 1 3 5 3 31 12 61 151 2 1 5 9 293 34S 137E t 1 N 3 1 1 117 11 3 3 9 145 4 62 19 Flake Tool

Chopper P8

Flake Tools

Core . / Fragments Ffake \\ Tools Flake ^*" Concentration . Core

Flake Tools'

Legend

Flake Hearth - Reddened Earth

Figure 23 Operation 17, Occupation 7, in situ cultural material (density of all lithic artifacts shown on inset). 135 in the inset. A charcoal fragment from the general occupation floor was submitted for AMS dating but unfortunately returned a modern date. Charcoal is very common at the site, due to the large scale burning of brush and waste timber in the winter of 1947, prior to flooding. The varves are loaded with charcoal, and fragments of charcoal blow freely around the site in the wind. It seems likely that the fragment submitted for dating was not in primary context, but came into the occupation floor on the wind or on an excavator's boots. The moist soil conditions toward the base of excavations could have caused such a fragment to be ground into the soil matrix and subsequently excavated as representing an in situ item.

The hearth is the largest encountered in any of the occupations, extending over one meter in diameter. It was comprised of an intense, red basin shaped stain surrounded by a very black, organic rich soil stain. The assemblage of cultural material includes six unmodified rocks (one heavily stained with ochre), nine bone fragments and 278 lithic artifacts. The faunal material is highly weathered; however one tooth fragment was identified as belonging to a small carnivore. A second long bone fragment is of a size range comparable to a small ungulate. The remaining bone was only identifiable as large or non-identifiable mammal.

The lithic assemblage displays a great deal of diversity both in terms of lithic raw material types and lithic artifact types. Occupation 7 is the only occupation within the excavation block to yield notable quantities of presumed exotic lithic raw materials, including two varieties of amber chalcedony (neither of which resembles Knife River Flint), a white chalcedony, and various different cherts (orange, yellow, red/yellow, patinated black and patinated white). Although none of the exotic lithic artifacts can be confidently attributed to a specific source, several resemble raw materials from Montana. The total for all of the exotic lithic artifacts (n=34) represents 12% of the entire assemblage for this occupation, however fully 26 of the 34 exotic lithic artifacts are small retouch/resharpening or bifacial reduction flakes that probably originate from the maintenance of curated exotic tools. The exotics are greatly over-represented in the tool category, with five of the ten tools manufactured from exotics. 136

Two cores and one core fragment are multidirectional, only lightly used and made from local coarse-grained materials. Most of the debitage (n=104/37% of assemblage) consists of flakes of the same material type that probably originate from these cores. Surprisingly, Banff Chert only comprises 14% of the assemblage, whereas local siltstones comprise 22% of the total. In all of the later occupations, Banff Chert is preferred to the local siltstones and coarse-grained materials.

The presence of ten tools is also surprising, since this represents two to three times more tools than in any of the other occupations in the excavation block. The tools show considerable variety, including one end scraper and nine flake tools. Specimen 349R17Q7:1 is a bit fragment from a very small spurred endscraper manufactured from an exotic red/yellow chert. The flake tools include three well made unifaces, a spokeshave, a scraping tool fragment and four cutting tools.

The unifaces are each quite different. Specimen 349R17M7:2 (Figure 24) is an unusual eccentric shaped specimen manufactured on an opaque, glossy black chert that exhibits a heavy white patina. The tool is heavily potlidded and broken, making distinction of its original form quite difficult. It exhibits a convex rounded unifacially worked edge suitable for scraping and a more acutely angled bifacial edge suitable for cutting. Specimen 349R11M7:1 (Figure 25) is a large heavy elongated siltstone split pebble that has undergone percussion flaking along its lateral edges/dorsal surface to form a heavy scraping plane. The shape of the original pebble and type of flaking is similar to the "boat shaped" core tool described and illustrated by Fladmark (1999: 15) from the lowest level of the Charlie Lake Cave site, although the intensity of use does not seem as great. Specimen 349R17U7: 45 (Figure 24) is the most well-made of the tools. It was manufactured on an extremely long, curvate blade-like quartzite flake. Deep percussion flake scars have been worked all along the perimeter of the flake on the dorsal surface to form a composite side scraping/cutting tool.

The remaining tools are either non-descript fragments or expedient tools. 137

349R17M7:2

349R17U7:45

Figure 24 Operation 17, Occupation 7, selected stone tools (1:1). 138

o o -i—»

O

Pi ON

g 60 139

Specimen 349R17N7: 79 is a quartzite flake with a deeply worked concave edge suitable for use as a spokeshave, but the tool is broken and cannot be further described. Similarly, 349R17P7: 5 is a small fragment of a Banff Chert flake with steep purposeful retouch that may have been a scraper fragment, but is too incomplete to describe as such. The remaining tools (349R17C7: 1, 349R17N7: 77,78 and 349R22B7: 2) all consist offtakes with natural sharp, fine edges that exhibit use wear consistent with cutting. Two of the exotic chalcedony specimens are probably thinning flakes from a large biface. The siltstone flake is broken, but would have been an elongated, curved, blade-like form if complete.

Occupation 8

The final occupation in Operation 17 is of considerable interest, since it is the only occupation in which identifiable faunal remains are preserved. The overall pattern of artifact distribution is highly familiar - a very dense floor of cultural material immediately around a small, well-defined hearth. The hearth was evinced by a deep, pronounced, basin shaped, red stain and a windblown scatter of charcoal fragments. Numerous large pieces of red ochre and ochre stained artifacts were also present in the immediate vicinity; the source for this material is unknown. The associated assemblage of cultural material is small, consisting of 39 bone fragments, six rocks/cobbles, and 84 lithic artifacts. The distribution of in situ cultural material is illustrated in Figure 26 and the density of all lithic artifacts in the inset. Table 7 summarizes cultural material.

The bone fragments are of particular interest. They are in very poor condition, but (probably due to the high levels of calcium carbonate in the loess combined with more rapid deposition in earlier times) have survived enough to be provisionally identified as to species in some instances. The 39 fragments weigh an aggregate total of 145.3 g. A minimum of at least two mountain sheep have been provisionally identified on the basis of three spirally fractured distal humeri, one of which bears a chop mark. Other forelimb 140

t 34S137E N

Scraper

Projectile Point«,«

Core

Legend

i Flake • * Hearth - Reddened Earth Charcoal/Coal • Bone j c- Red Ochre • i Rock ©

Figure 26 Operation 17, Occupation 8, in situ cultural material (density of all lithic artifacts shown on inset). Table 7 Operation 17, Occupation 8, cultural material summary.

MATERIAL SUMMARY PROJECTILE SCRAPER CORE PLATF. BIP. BIF. RETOUCH FLAKE BLOCK NODULE COBBLE ANG BONE Grand POINT BEARING FLAKE REDUC. FLAKE FRAG SHATTER FRAG Total FLAKE FLAKE BANFF CHERT 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 NORQUAY CHERT 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 CHERT(GREY) 0 0 0 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 BANDED GREY CHERT 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 CHALCEDONY (GREY) 0 0 1 8 1 2 18 37 2 0 0 0 0 69 QUARTZITE (COARSE GREY) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 QUARTZITE (PINK) 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 UNDIFFERENTIATED 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 1 2 1 0 9 COARSE COAL 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 CHALCEDONY (BROWN) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1

LARGE MAMMAL 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 24 24 LARGE UNGULATE 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 MOUNTAIN SHEEP (cf.) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 SMALL UNGULATE 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 6 NID UNGULATE 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2

Grand Total 1 1 1 10 2 4 19 43 3 3 2 1 39 129

-f^ 142 elements include portions of the scapula blade and glenoid, as well as a spirally fractured radius shaft. Other small ungulate long bone fragments exhibiting spiral fracture are too small to correctly identify as to element. One of these fragments was oriented in the ground at an angle of approximately 75 degrees. The other bone was all lying quite flat, so it is possible that this item represents a peg.

The elements have been identified as mountain sheep, although they do show some slight differences from modern sheep in terms of the proportional width of the articular facets and general robusticity. The distal humeri (n=2) are very slightly larger than modern specimens in the comparative collection at the University of Calgary, but it is unclear if this difference is statistically significant given the small sample size (only one could be accurately measured). Wilson (1984) notes that the sheep from the Vermilion Lakes site also differ slightly from modern species in terms of morphology as well as gross size. Table 8, modified from Wilson (1988:222), provides a metric comparison of the measurable sheep humeri from Lake Minnewanka and the Vermilion Lakes site, as well as modern specimens and the ca. 8500 rcybp mountain sheep from DjPo 47 (Driver 1982).

Table 8 Sheep humerus measurements (in mm), selected sites.

Specimen Occupation Age (rcybp) Distal Transverse Distal Anterior- Breadth Posterior Diameter Lake Minnewanka 8 ca. 10,200 43.5 36.8

VL-13B15 9 ca. 10,400 45.7 37.7

VL-12M17 9 ca. 10,400 43.6 36.1

VL-10J17 9 ca. 10,400 46.4 -

VL-7B11 8 ca. 10, 050 43.7 35.0

VL-12Q15 7 ca. 10,000 39.8 34.1

DjPo 47 (N=2) ca. 8500 39.0-42.0 -

Modern female (N=3) UofC 41.1-42.6 -

Modern male (N=l) UofC 42.0 - 143

In addition to the small ungulate/sheep remains, some molar and tooth enamel fragments were found in this occupation that may possibly belong to a larger ungulate. Unfortunately, they were so badly eroded that species designation was not possible. Samples of these teeth were submitted for ancient DNA analysis in hopes of determining species, however no DNA was obtained, probably due to the very poor condition of the material (Margaret Newmann personal communication 2003). Other fragments of tooth enamel could only be identified as ungulate. These deteriorated teeth fragments were submitted to provide the date, due to problems with the charcoal, described below.

A major problem in dating the occupation was encountered with the submission of two charcoal dates. The first was obtained by fine screening small fragments of charcoal from a bulk soil sample, but it proved contaminated, yielding a date older than 50,000 rcybp. The second date was run on some larger chunks of charcoal, trowelled directly from the hearth fill, which again provided an unacceptably old date. Since extreme care was taken with both dates, the poor results were puzzling. Expansion of the excavation block in the final year provided an explanation for the contamination. An unusual, water rounded pebble was recovered from the occupation floor just north of the hearth periphery. This small pebble (349R22B8:2, Figure 27) was extremely light in weight for its size. Microscopic examination of the specimen proved it to be a completely smooth piece of coal, with a rounded weathering rind that made it appear like a pebble. No naturally occurring coal has been found in any of the occupation levels, and the specimen was clearly brought on to the site by human agency.

It is probable that coal contamination within the hearth resulted in the anomalously old dates, since it is very difficult to visually distinguish coal fragments from charcoal. The presence of the specimen appears to indicate purposeful incorporation of coal in the hearth. Coal from the Cascade Coal Basin would have been locally available in outcrops or possibly as fragments transported by ice, till or outwash. Certainly such a fuel additive would be quite useful in an early post-glacial environment. Frison (1996) reported the presence of anomalous coal in the Mill Iron site, however at 144

349R22C8:2

349R22B8:2

Figure 27 Operation 17, Occupation 8, selected artifacts (scale is actual size 1:1). 145 that site the lignite coal was naturally present beneath the cultural deposits and may also have been accidentally incorporated into the dated samples. Spuriously old dates were also obtained from the Lewisville site, where a hearth with a Clovis point was dated to ca. 37,000 B.P. Stanford (1983: 70) determined that coal was being purposefully burned in the hearths at the site, contaminating the charcoal.

Small fragments of red ochre were also collected from the periphery of the hearth. One large cobble and one angular slab in the immediate hearth periphery yielded a dense powdery rind of red ochre on the base. A rounded cobble with no ochre staining (349R17L8:27, Figure 28) had two flakes removed from one end, however it is difficult to tell if this was intentional or not. One surface of the cobble exhibited a series of approximately 100 deep linear scratches clustered in five sets across the middle of the cobble; one set appeared to overlay another set at a slightly different angle. The scratches are relatively long, even and deep, especially considering the hardness of the cobble. The tool may have been used as a base for cutting, however it was discarded with the flaked and scratched surface turned downwards.

The lithic assemblage is small but extremely interesting. Specimen 349R22C8:2 (Figure 27) is a small projectile point fragment, from the basal/lateral edge juncture. It would have been a very finely made lanceolate point with ground edges, but it is not possible to assign it a cultural affiliation, beyond suggesting that it could be a Clovis, Goshen or Folsom point. Extensive basal thinning or fluting appears to be present on both faces. The material type is highly unusual, consisting of an excellent quality deep brown/black chalcedony with occasional clear inclusions and no appreciable patina. This material is not Knife River Flint, and can only be classified as coming from an unknown source. It may be a high quality petrified peat. It is completely unlike the various amber chalcedonies in Occupation 7. The size and shape of the broken fragment is similar to two projectile point fragments illustrated by Davis and Greiser (1992:260) from the downstream locality at Indian Creek, suggesting that this breakage pattern may typically result from use. tmmam-rt

Figure 28 Operation 17, Occupation 8, 349R17L8:27 (actual size, 1:1). 147

The projectile point fragment is the only artifact in the assemblage that can definitely be assigned to a non-local source. Most of the lithic material (89%) is manufactured from locally available grey cherts and grey chalcedonies. Some of the chalcedony is of very high quality and is superficially similar to Top of the World chert, from southwestern British Columbia. However, larger pieces of coarse, poor quality opaque grey chert were found to contain interior nodules of the translucent homogeneous grey chalcedony, and in other pieces an abrupt gradation was observed from coarse and opaque to fine and translucent. This material is common in assemblages in the Banff region, and is not from the Top of the World quarries. Much of the debitage could have resulted from tool maintenance and reduction of a single grey chert/chalcedony bipolar core.

The bipolar core is a small, relatively thin (exhausted) and broken specimen, which is rectangular in overall form. It is manufactured from a brecciated nodule of local grey chert. Several long, thin negative flake scars originate from opposite ends of the form, but the platforms are not excessively battered and there is no evidence for use as a piece esquillee. The endscraper (349R22C8:10, Figure 27) is also broken, longitudinally rather than across the bit. It is made from a good quality pink quartzite. When complete, the tool would have exhibited a right skew. The remnant portion of the dorsal surface is fully retouched, and a very small spur is present on the right lateral edge.

Operation 17 Summary

The relatively small, 28 square meter excavation block designated as Operation 17 yielded five vertically superimposed Paleolndian occupation floors determined to date prior to 10,000 rcybp. The most intriguing aspect of these floors is the surprising similarity of the individual floors when compared to each other. The major similarities between the occupations are summarized in Table 9, below. 148

Table 9 Operation 17, occupation summary.

Description Occ. 4 Occ. 5 Occ. 6 Occ. 7 Occ. 8

Hearth Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Assoc, unmod. slab/cobble Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Incised slab Yes No No No Yes

Red ochre No Yes No Yes Yes

Lithic Concentration/Hearth* 60% 86% 63% 65% 66%

Spurred Endscraper Yes No No Yes Yes

TookDebitage ratio 1:49 1:34 1:20 1:26 1:36

Retouch Flake:Debitage ratio 1:7 1:10 1:20 1:4 1:4

Pbf:ff ratio** 1:2 1:4 1:2 1:5 1:4

Number of Tools 3 5 3 10 2

Number of Cores - 3 2 3 1 % Banff Chert 79% 64% 54% 14% 2%

% Grey Chert/Chalcedony >1% >1% - >1% 89%

% Exotic Lithic Types >1% - 1% 12% 1% * % of lithic artifacts found in four square meter area surrounding hearth. ** Platform bearing flake to flake fragment ratio.

Although the hearths varied slightly in size, all consisted of red, basin shaped thermal alteration stains with associated smears of darker, charcoal enriched soil. A few angular slabs or rounded cobbles were invariably found either within a few meters of each of the hearths, or right on the hearth periphery (in the earliest and latest occupations, a series of incised scratches were noted on these items). Each floor showed a strongly similar pattern of strong artifact concentration in the immediate vicinity of the hearth, in fact, when the percent of artifacts in the four square meter units directly surrounding the hearth was tallied, a surprisingly redundant pattern was revealed, with only Occupation 5 showing some variability. The total number of cores was invariably three or less, and three of the five occupations yielded a single spurred endscraper (Occupation 2, which is undated, also yielded two spurred endscrapers). The number of tools left behind at the 149 site was also strongly similar in each occupation, with the exception of Occupation 7, which yielded a higher number of tools. The ratio of tools to debitage, retouch flakes to debitage and platform bearing flakes to flake fragments were also very similar.

The tools proved interesting, in that they were dominated by finely made, unifacial specimens, with relatively limited evidence for bifaces. The exception was the broken, extremely thin biface from Occupation 5. Some intriguing differences were noted in lithic raw material representation. All of the occupations evinced a very low proportion of exotic raw material types, typically consisting of a single broken or exhausted tool or a very few retouch/resharpening flakes. Only Occupation 7 varied from the "1% exotics or less" pattern, and this is due only to the higher number of abandoned tools and some retouch/resharpening flakes from curated tools. Banff Chert shows an interesting, steady increase in representation through time, possibly suggesting that this material was becoming more familiar or more acceptable.

The earliest floor, Occupation 8, is quite different from all of the other occupations in that a high quality local grey chert that grades into chalcedony is the dominant material type. A single, small, rectangular, exhausted bipolar core of this material was found in the occupation. All of the other cores recovered from Operation 17 consist of coarse grained, angular blocks with a few irregular flake scars. Occupation 8 also had slightly smaller flakes (on average) than the other occupations, in terms of % of total debitage in the smallest size class (44%) vs. an average of 35% for the other occupations, but in general flake morphology was very similar between all of the occupation floors, given minor differences due to material type representation. There is nothing particularly distinctive or Paleolndian "seeming" about the debitage in any of the occupations, however no primary reduction (except of very poor quality lithic materials) is represented; rather most of the flakes relate to tool maintenance of curated specimens.

Red ochre (currently not sourced, but locally available in Banff at locations such as Vermilion Pass) was present in three of the five occupations. The presence of red ochre is often noted in early Paleolndian occupations, and is often interpreted as 150 representing ritual activity (Roper 1987). Roper also notes that in addition to mortuary contexts, red ochre is found covering animal bone, within house floors and coating grinding slabs in various Paleolndian sites. Within Operation 17 there is no clear evidence that the ochre represents ritual or ceremonial activity (although in Operation 7, discussed in Chapter 8, such an interpretation may be supported). In general, the ochre is present as small lumps or powdery rinds on tools around the hearths, or on the base of the slabs near the hearth peripheries. Collins (1999:28) also summarizes the association between ochre and both Clovis and Folsom sites, noting that ochre may associate with evidence for flintknapping, and may have been used as a polishing compound. Collins (1999:29) also suggests that ochre may represent the surviving, non-perishable part of glue used for composite tools, perhaps explaining its ubiquitous representation even in non-ceremonial contexts. The historic Peigan utilized various coloured earths for a number of practical purposes. In 1793 Peter Fidler witnessed women baking small cakes of red ochre within hearths, which was subsequently used to rub on footwear and clothing as a waterproofing agent (MacGregor 1966).

The dates for the occupations appear to be stalled within the Younger Dryas radiocarbon plateau, suggesting that real calendar dates fall between 11,200 and 12,600 B.P. (Fiedel 2004). However, since all of these dates were obtained on bone collagen, there is a good possibility that they may be too young (Taylor et al. 1996). Some may also represent reversals. The projectile point preform fragment from Occupation 6 and the small point fragment from Occupation 8 are both too small to assign any definite cultural affiliation, although their overall forms suggest one of the earlier Paleolndian Complexes (Clovis, Goshen or Folsom). The earliest cultural level shows a dramatic departure from the later levels in terms of the strong preference for grey chert/chalcedony, bipolar reduction, and smaller flakes in general. The presence of butchered forelimbs from a minimum of two mountain sheep compares well with the faunal patterns from Vermillion Lakes. 151

CHAPTER SIX: OPERATION 18 and 21 RESULTS

In addition to Operation 17, two other considerably smaller excavation blocks also yielded evidence for small scale campsite activities. Each is described in this Chapter.

Operation 18

Operation 18 is a relatively small excavation block, totaling only 13 square meters (approximately half the area of Operation 17). The northern edge of the block is only three meters south of the southern limit of Operation 17, and five meters east (Figure 12). However, this small horizontal distance has made a large vertical difference both in terms of the susceptibility of the block to erosion and its accessibility for excavation. The surface of Operation 18 is that much closer to the permanent water line, and is lower in elevation than Operation 17 (62 cm in elevation difference between the north end of Operation 17 and the south end of Operation 18). Severe erosion has removed almost all of the blanketing varves, Bm and Bt horizons in the southern third of the block (Plate 11, Figure 29). The northern third of the block is still sealed by the Bm and Bt strata, which deepen to the north and east. Thus, in the following discussion, Occupations 2 and 3 have been completely eroded away in the southernmost units. Also, as a result of the elevational difference, it was not possible to excavate Operation 18 as deeply as Operation 17. In Operation 17 the entire block penetrated to the top of Stratum 6, but in Operation 18 only two one by one meter units (Suboperations A and E) were taken deeply enough to penetrate approximately 15 cm into this stratum. Thus, the oldest potential occupations (roughly equivalent to Occupation 8 in Operation 17, remain unassessed in this block). 152

Plate 11 Operation 18, eroded profile, view to west. Note recent lacustrine sand overlies each subsequent stratum from the varves at far right to the grey loess at far left, along four linear meters.

Plate 12 Operation 18, Occupation 4. Note ashy hearth fill in upper right of unit, large flat cobble near hearth periphery, in situ projectile point at arrow, other lithic artifacts and remnant red drop features. •^^si^^^m&ssAi ittHiWmMtti w

m

12DJ centimeters DBD

BO 100

KEY Stratum Description 1 recent lacustrine sand mm 2 post 1947 varves mm 3a orange red silt (Mazama ash charged Bm horizon) mm 3b pink red silt (Bm horizon) mm 3c light red silt (Bm horizon) 4 dark red clayey silt (Bt horizon) 5 grey aeolian silt (C horizon)

flakes

5^££=*

Figure 29 Operation 18 west wall stratigraphic profile, hearth from previous Plate (Occupation 4) visible in profile. 154

Table 10 outlines the occupational sequence within Operation 18. Five AMS dates were obtained for these occupations; three are accepted as limiting dates and two are rejected. Occupation 3, immediately beneath the Bt horizon, is characterized by a floor of large, poorly preserved faunal elements. A bison horn core fragment from this floor yielded a date of ca. 9900 rcybp (calibrated ranges for all of the dates are provided on Table 11). This date accords with stratigraphic interpretation for formation of the Bt horizon. Occupation 4 lies immediately beneath Occupation 3, and is separated from it by only approximately 8 cm of aeolian silt. A bison incisor from the hearth in this occupation yielded a date of approximately 10,110 rcybp. The dates for Occupations 3 and 4 overlap at two standard deviations, but are correctly sequenced. If both are correct, a rapid rate of deposition is indicated, in the order of 10 cm in between 100 and 300 "long" radiocarbon years. However, the difficulty with bone collagen dates from this period being too young has already been discussed.

Occupation 5 immediately underlies Occupation 4, and is separated from it by approximately 10 cm of aeolian silt. A small bone fragment from the floor was dated to ca. 10,220 rcybp. This date overlaps at one standard deviation with Occupation 4, but is correctly sequenced. If it is correct, it also suggests a rate of aeolian deposition of approximately 10 cm in between approximately 100 and 400 radiocarbon years. While rapid, these rates accord well with the rates of aeolian deposition calculated by Fedje and White (1984) for a number of sites near Vermilion Lakes, falling in the range between the Vermilion Lakes site and the Norquay site.

A bone collagen sample was obtained from a very badly deteriorated bison metapodial in Occupation 6. However, at approximately 8300 rcybp it was younger than all three of the higher dates and rejected. Similarly, a charcoal date of approximately 9300 rcybp for Occupation 7 was also rejected. These dates are discussed more fully in the appropriate sections below, and summarized on Table 10. The different plateau effects mean that although all of the dates have similar tight errors, the real calendar year spans they represent vary from 400 to 600 years. However the midpoints of the calibrated ranges (11.5 ky B.P., 11.7 ky B.P., and 11.9 ky B.P.) also sequence correctly, separating Table 10 Operation 18, Occupation designation and dating summary.

Operation 18 Stratum Mean elevation of Dating Evidence all in situ artifacts

Occupation 1 Recent Lacustrine Surface None/Mixed Occupation 2 Bm/Bt 1469.48 (21 items) Pre-Mazama Occupation 3 C (aeolian silt) 1469.44 (30 items) 9990±50 B.P. bone collagen, (Beta 122723) Occupation 4 C (aeolian silt) 1469.34 (188 items) 10, 110+60 B.P., bone collagen, (TO-9257) Occupation 5 C (aeolian silt) 1469.23 (105 items) 10, 220±50 B.P, bone collagen (TO-9258) Occupation 6 C (aeolian silt) 1469.02 (12 items) 8310±60B.P.,bone collagen, (TO-9259), rejected Occupation 7 C (aeolian silt) 1468.88 (6 items) 9350±50 B.P. (CAMS- 60239) Charcoal from floor (rejected) Occupation 8 C (aeolian sand/silt) 1468.81 (estimate, not Not dated in situ)

Table 11 Operation 18, calibration of accepted radiocarbon dates.

Operation 18 Radiocarbon date Calibration at two sigma Occupation 3 9990 ± 60 rcybp 11,260- 11,705 B.P.

Occupation 4 10,110 ± 60 rcybp 11,400-11,980 B.P.

Occupation 5 10,220 ± 50 rcybp 11,750-12,130 B.P. 156 each floor by about 200 calendar years, which seems reasonable given the assumed rapid aeolian deposition.

The various occupation floors were not as well separated in Operation 18 as within Operation 17, and they showed a far more variable representation. For example, Occupations 6 and 7 were very sparsely represented, by less than 20 artifacts. Occupation 8 consists of a single flake. In contrast, Occupation 4 was defined by a very dense floor of over 800 artifacts. Also, Operation 18 was located at the edge of a swale that appears to have influenced the natural/cultural stratigraphic correlation. Since this has obvious implications for analysis, it is discussed in detail below.

The standard procedure used in excavation at the site was to remove the strong red Bt horizon as a natural level, and then to initiate a series of arbitrary five cm levels from the newly established "surface" into the homogeneous grey loess beneath. The rationale for this method was that in general the base of the Bt, as observed in many natural and artificial cuts in the Banff area, tends to mimic the approximate slope of the original ground surface. This would provide a better chance at establishing the actual slope of the occupation floors in the undifferentiated loess than by using the current truncated slope of the beach surface, or even an artificially leveled surface. Also, it was hoped that comparison to the base of the Bt horizon might assist in at least roughly correlating occupation floors between blocks. This method worked very well in most blocks, where the gentle slope of each individual occupation floor mimicked the slope of the Bt horizon. For example, in Operation 17 a gentle slope to the south and east was identified, this slope seemed most pronounced in the earliest occupation, and to gradually level out very slightly in the upper occupations.

It was assumed that Operation 18 would show a similar pattern, and in general, it did. The west wall of the Operation, illustrated in Figure 29, shows that the angle of the slope has changed between the two operations. In Operation 18 the gentle slope is downwards to the north and east, suggesting that the original landform in the vicinity between Operation 17 and 18 was a slight swale. The northern slope is relatively subtle, 157 but appears more dramatic due to the progressive erosion caused by wave action. The occupation floors follow the slope relatively well, despite the disorienting effect of truncation. In the extreme northeastern quarter of the block the Bt horizon thickened and dropped very abruptly to the east, and the Bm horizon above it was very much thicker than expected as a result. This is illustrated in Figure 29.

When the occupations were defined for the interim reports, Occupation 1 was reserved for mixed material in the upper lacustrine sand, and for material of unknown provenience within the drop features. Occupation 2 was reserved for cultural material from a sparse floor in the far northeastern corner of the block within the red Bm horizon, just above the Bt horizon. This floor yielded a complete stemmed projectile point. A floor of identifiable bison bone in the grey loess immediately beneath the Bt horizon further to the south was designated Occupation 3, and this floor was dated to ca. 9990 B.P. The two floors were separated based on association with the different soil layers rather than absolute depths, with the assumption that they were closely successional. However, when the entire block was completed and all of the cultural material was vertically plotted a more parsimonious suggestion was that the two floors are the same. The mean depths of artifacts from each Occupation differ by only four cm, which could be attributed to the slight rise in the floor to the north, and 95% of the artifacts from Occupation 2 being confined to the northern row of units. In fact, when the two Occupation floors are plotted, a striking pattern is revealed, with each floor exhibiting a gap that can be "explained" by the other. The abrupt disappearance of bone is most striking in the northeastern units, but easily explained by the change in matrix from C horizon to the highly acidic Bm/Bt horizon in this area. Where bone from Occupation 3 was pierced by drop features containing the Bm/Bt matrix, the bone was literally dissolved, as is illustrated in Plate 9.

It is important to be clear on the origin of the Bt horizon. Although it can and has been used as a stratigraphic marker horizon, it formed as a result of pedogenesis, not sedimentation. The assumption is that for it to have blocked the downward migration of magnetic mineral particles, it must have been present as a fully developed horizon by the 158 time of Mazama ashfall, at ca 6800 B.P. To be well enough developed, it must have begun forming by illuviation at least one or two thousand years previously. Thus, former surfaces beneath the Bt must be older than ca. 8500 to 9000 years, as has been demonstrated at many sites in the Banff area. However the depth and development of the soil depends upon typical soil formation processes, such as climate, vegetation and parent material. On rocky side-slopes, the Bm/Bt horizons are much thinner. In deep swales, where slightly more sediment accumulated and more water may have percolated through and growing conditions may have been better, the Bm/Bt horizons can be relatively deep, and swale downwards rapidly.

In this sense, the marker horizon only "works" one way, that is, artifacts older than 9000 years may appear above it depending on the effects of pedogenesis, but artifacts younger than 7000-8000 years should never appear below it. In Operation 17 two spurred endscrapers were recovered from the Bm, and in Operation 18 a Paleolndian point was recovered from the Bm. The unfortunate truncation of the soil profile makes it impossible to demonstrate a zone of greater density for Mazama and Bridge River tephra particles that would have occurred in the upper portion of the profile and strengthened the understanding of the rate of aeolian sedimentation in this part of the site. However, magnetic mineral testing revealed strong concentrations of tephra commingled with the uppermost part of the Bm horizon. Given the rate of aeolian sedimentation, artifacts from within the lower half of the Bm may have considerable antiquity, as evidenced in Operation 18, where the combined Occupation 2/3 is dated to ca. 9990 rcybp.

Figure 30 is an error bar chart depicting the mean of all in situ artifacts in Operation 18 with the outer bars representing the 95% confidence level in the mean and the total number of in situ artifacts indicated at the base of each bar. A large spread of error bars typically means a smaller sample size. This chart demonstrates good statistical separation of the floors within the block, with the exception of Occupations 2 and 3. A one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) test was conducted to compare the statistical significance of variation in elevation between occupations, and a post hoc test (Bonferroni multiple comparison procedure) was used to test the statistical significance of 159 the variation. The testing procedure indicated the variation in elevation between each occupation was statistically significant, with the exception of Occupation 2 and 3, which did not show significant variation in elevation. These two "occupations" seem to represent a single floor. However, in recognition of the different stratigraphic associations and the possibility that two closely successional floors have been superimposed, the designation Occupation 2/3 has been applied.

1470.2 i- 1470.1 • 1470.0 >

1469.9 • 1469.8 >

1469.7 i 1469.6 • 1469.5 .

1469.4 •

1469.3 • Elevatio n 1469.2 • o 1469.1 i IT) 1469.0 • 1468.9 .

1468.8 •

1468.7 • 1468.6 •

1468.5 • 1468.4 • 1468.3 ,_ M- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Occupation

Figure 30 Error bar chart, statistical separation between occupation floors. 160

Within Operation 18, Occupations 4 and 5 are separated by only 10 cm of deposition. Luckily, both of these occupations are represented by very dense artifact floors, with 100 to 200 in situ artifacts in each floor, and they were carefully trowelled by experienced excavators. As a result, a high degree of confidence is attained in the separation of these occupations, and statistical testing verified the separation. Occupations 6, 7 and 8 are more poorly represented and will be discussed individually below.

Occupation 1

This occupation is represented by a single flake fragment and three bone fragments. All artifacts are from disturbed context in the upper beach sand or drop features.

Occupation 2/3

The set of cultural material assigned to Occupation 2/3 is sparse and enigmatic (Table 12). No feature such as a hearth was identified within this floor, which was characterized by a sparse scatter of very badly deteriorated bison bone, a single complete projectile point, a flake tool and a scatter of lithic artifacts. The distribution of artifacts is illustrated in Figure 31. The bison bone is so badly deteriorated that it is impossible to identify any potential cutmarks, and accurate measurement of the bones is not possible (Plate 9). Identifiable elements are dominated by the forelimb, including a complete left and right radius, a left ulna, a right metacarpal and a fragmentary scapula. Non forelimb elements include a complete left femur, a cervical vertebra and a horn core fragment. The horn core yielded an AMS date of 9990±50 B.P., (Beta 122723), which is accepted as a limiting date. Other badly deteriorated bone that was only identifiable as large ungulate or large mammal may have been fragmentary pieces of the same animal. A minimum of one bison is represented. 161

44S147E /'-, •

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Legend

Rake • * Hearth - Reddened Earth <•* Tool • • Hearth - Blackened Earth <®i Rake Concentration 4H» Charcoal * Bone o Cr~: Red Ochre • Rook £>

Figure 31 Operation 18, Occupation 2/3, in situ cultural material (density of all lithic artifacts shown on inset). Table 12 Operation 18, Occupation 2/3, cultural material summary.

MATERIAL SUMMARY PROJECTILE FLAKE CORE CORE BIFACIAL PLATFORM RETOUCH FLAKE BONE Grand POINT TOOL FRAG REDUC. BEARING FLAKE FRAG Total FLAKE FLAKE BANFF CHERT 1 1 3 7 CHALCEDONY (GREY) 1 1 CHERT (GREY) 1 1 CHERT (WHITE) 1 1 EXOTIC CHERT 1 1 QUARTZITE (GREY) 2 13 17 32 SILICIFIED SANDSTONE (01) 1 4 5 SILICIFIED SANDSTONE (02) 1 1 1 11 1 34 49 SILTSTONE 1 1 2 PATINATED SILTSTONE 1 1

BISON 16 16 LARGE UNGULATE 9 9 LARGE MAMMAL 53 53 NID MAMMAL 4 4

Grand Total 1 1 1 3 1 29 2 62 82 182 163

The faunal assemblage is clearly not representative, due to its extreme deterioration. The presence of complete elements in conjunction with a complete projectile point is probably indicative of a kill, however this is speculative given the small sample size. The projectile point (Figure 32, Artifact 349R18E2:1) bears strong resemblance to other early stemmed points in the Banff area described by Fedje and White (1988). The point is lanceolate, with a distinctive D-shaped cross section. The lateral edges of the stem are heavily ground, and the blade has been reworked, giving the form a very faint "shouldered" effect. The tip is slightly blunted. It is 62.6 mm in length, 25.0 mm in width and 6.3 mm in thickness. The flaking is a slightly irregular, horizontal, collateral pattern, which is more pronounced on the dorsal surface of the specimen.

Figure 32 349R18E2:1, scale is actual size (1:1).

Metrically and stylistically, this projectile point is very similar to the series of six points from the Eclipse site (62R), which is located approximately six kilometers downstream of the Lake Minnewanka site, on an abandoned channel of the Cascade River. Fedje (1988:29) designated these points as Eclipse Stemmed, since he believed 164 that a strongly local adaptation was represented in the site, however he noted similarities between these points and Hell Gap (Frison 1974) or Bryan's Early Stemmed Point Tradition (Bryan 1980). The Eclipse site yielded a dense scatter of lithic artifacts in a circumscribed scatter around a hearth, evidenced by a faint ovate charcoal stain. Four dates were obtained from the hearth at the Eclipse site, including two charcoal dates and two dates on charred animal fat. The charcoal dates were slightly later than the dates on charred fat, which Fedje (1988:38) suggests may have been due to a high humate content from the well developed red Brunisol above filtering into the charcoal. The charred animal fat did not contain appreciable humates, so these dates, 10,230 ± 160 B.P., and 9850 ± 140 B.P., were preferred. The date obtained for this occupation in the current study (9990 ± 50 B.P.) fits closely with the preferred Eclipse site dates.

The Lake Minnewanka Eclipse point is manufactured from a distinctive, locally available silicified sandstone, and over 50% of the associated debitage is manufactured from silicified sandstone. This sandstone is also well represented in Operation 7, discussed in a later chapter. The opaque, fine grained buff coloured material is similar in appearance to Beaver River Sandstone from northeastern Alberta, but some pieces exhibit sheared bedding planes covered with a glossy, mineralized material. The single flake tool is manufactured from Banff Chert. It consists of a thin, small flake with intermittent use wear along one lateral edge, suggestive of use as an expediency tool.

The next most abundant material type is locally available grey quartzite (32%). Banff Chert, grey chert/chalcedony and silicified siltstones are under-represented, forming less than 7% of the assemblage. A single retouch flake originating from an exotic chert of unknown type is the only clearly exotic material type; thus local materials comprise 99% of the lithic assemblage.

Occupation 4

Occupation 4 is the single richest floor encountered at the Lake Minnewanka site, measured in terms of sheer artifact density and the presence of a diagnostic artifact 165 together with dateable bone and a feature. The limiting AMS date of 10,110 rcybp (11, 400 to 11,980 B.P.) was obtained from a fragment of bison incisor recovered from directly within the hearth fill, and the projectile point was situated just outside of the hearth perimeter. The artifacts were contained within a dense, well-defined band of cultural material averaging six to eight centimeters in thickness. The distribution of in situ artifacts is shown in Figure 33 and the density of all lithic artifacts in the inset. A portion of the floor is illustrated in Plate 12. The assemblage is summarized on Table 13.

The hearth (Plate 12) was a large, well defined ovate feature, 90 cm by 60 cm, comprised of blackened, charcoal rich soil underlain by a deep red basin (seven cm thick at the deepest point). No large rocks were present within the hearth fill, however three large rocks were noted around the hearth periphery (less than 50 cm from the edge of the feature). Artifacts were densely clustered in the immediate vicinity of the hearth, particularly in a lithic reduction area immediately to the east of the hearth. Unlike Operation 17, where the lithic artifacts in all of the occupations tended to be relatively sparsely distributed and interpreted as primarily evidence of maintenance of curated tools with relatively limited artifact production, in Occupation 4 of Operation 18 it is clear that on site lithic reduction was undertaken. This is most apparent in the high number of cores and core fragments (eight), the sheer quantity of debitage (764 items) and the ratio of tools to debitage (1:96), which is considerably less than in all of the occupations in Operation 17.

All of the lithic artifacts are interpreted as being derived from local sources. The most common material type (65%) is a good quality grey chert/chalcedony. Several cores of this material type exhibit interior nodules of a very high quality, grey-blue translucent chalcedony encased in a lighter grey, moderate quality, completely opaque chert. Although clearly derived from the same bedrock source, the translucent chalcedony does not grade into the grey chert; instead the material is either chert or chalcedony except in rare pieces like the cores where the abrupt demarcation is seen. The grey chalcedony from the interior nodules is reminiscent of Top of the World Chert from southeastern B.C., but the outer grey chert "rind" material is very common in the Banff area and 44S147E •

Bipolar _ tf • ' jCore'fnoi*. . Tool

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Legend

Rake • * Hearth - Reddened Earth «•* Tool • • Hearth - Blackened Earth ife Flake Concentration «§& Charcoal • Bone a - Red Ochre • Rock m

Figure 33 Operation 18, Occupation 4, in situ cultural material (density of all lithic artifacts shown on inset). Table 13 Operation 18, Occupation 4, cultural material summary.

MATERIAL SUMMARY PROJ. BIFACE FLAKE BIPOLAR CORE PRIM. SECON. PLATF. BIF. BIP. RETOUCH FLAKE BLOCK UNMOD NODULE BONE Grand TOOL CORE DECORT. DECORT. BEARING REDUC FLAKE FLAKE FRAG SHATTER .ROCK Total 1 POINT FLAKE FLAKE FLAKE FLAKE GREY CHALCEDONY 1 1 1 3 29 8 1 59 78 1 182 GREY CHERT 2 2 37 7 62 212 1 323 NORQUAY CHERT 2 4 6 SILTSTONE 12 7 45 4 35 106 1 210 PAT. SILTSTONE 1 1 2 4 8 16 BANFFCHERT 2 1 12 15 BANFF CHERT (02) 9 5 1 2 17 COARSE TAN QUARTZITE 2 2 SILIC. SANDSTONE (02) 1 1 UNDIFF. COARSE 1 1 2 2 5 14 25

BISON 1 1 LARGE UNGULATE 9 9 SMALL UNGULATE 3 3 LARGE MAMMAL 27 27 NID MAMMAL 2 2

Grand Total 1 1 6 5 3 14 8 120 19 1 160 434 8 15 2 42 839 168 clearly a local material. The grey chalcedony is very similar to the material type found in great abundance in Occupation 8 of Operation 17. The next most abundant material type is local siltstones (29%), followed by Banff Chert, at only 4% of the total.

The five bipolar cores and core fragments are all from small, rectangular, largely exhausted specimens of this material type, with multiple thin flake scars deriving from opposite ends and faces of the forms. In contrast the other cores are larger, multidirectional specimens derived from Banff Chert, siltstone and an undifferentiated coarse-grained material that all exhibit pebble cortex and larger, irregular flake scars. In general, the grey chert and chalcedony flakes are smaller and the Banff Chert and siltstone flakes tend to be larger and more irregular. The grey chert/chalcedony is more strongly represented in the tool, retouch flake, bifacial reduction flake and bipolar flake categories, as a testament to the finer quality of this material type in general.

The tool assemblage is of considerable interest, due to the presence of an unusual complete projectile point, a biface fragment and six flake tools. The biface is a non­ descript midsection fragment from a relatively large preform that appears to have broken during thinning, since the remnant portion exhibits a complete overshot from one edge of the biface to the other (Figure 34, 349R18B4:36). The flake tools show some variety. Of interest are two similar small, delicate grey chert/chalcedony flake fragments with tiny, finely worked spurs suggestive of use as gravers (349R18G4:4, 188). In contrast, the two Banff Chert tools (349R18K4:9 and 349R18J4:1) are large flakes with one steeply retouched dorsal lateral edge suggestive of a scraping function. The final two tools (not illustrated) are simple flakes with one utilized edge. One of these flakes is a large coarse­ grained decertification flake, the other is a small, fine grey chert flake.

The projectile point (Figure 34, 349R18L4:201) is of considerable interest due to its completeness and its age. Currently, this specimen, with a limiting date of 10,100 rcybp appears to be the oldest securely dated, excavated projectile point within the province of Alberta. The Lake Minnewanka point is thin for its size and exhibits a high 169

349R18B4:36

349R18G4:4 349R18G4-.188

349R18L4.-201

Figure 34 Operation 18, Occupation 4, selected stone tools (scale is actual size). 170

349R18L4:201

349R18E2:!

Plate 13 Diagnostic artifacts from Operation 18, 349R18L4:201 and 349R18E2:1 (scale is actual size, 1:1). 171 level of lithic craftsmanship. It is manufactured from the same high quality grey chalcedony that much of the debitage and bipolar cores are made from, and some of the fine pressure retouch flakes in the adjoining units may derive from this specimen, although none were actually refit to it. The point is lanceolate, with parallel lateral edges near the base that expand slightly to a more convex shape before tapering in to the tip. The base is straight to very slightly concave, with no hint of ears. On the dorsal surface the fine, pressure flake scars are parallel and meet at the approximate midline of the form. On the ventral surface the flake scars are oblique and several carry completely across the form from one lateral edge to the other. On the dorsal surface two long basal thinning flakes truncate the parallel flake scars, with the longest penetrating nearly one quarter of the length of the artifact (9.0 mm in length). On the ventral surface the basal thinning scars are much shorter. The point is 43.9 mm in length, 18.1 mm wide at the base, 19.8 mm in maximum width, 5.4 mm thick and weighs 4.9 g. Interestingly, there is no sign of any grinding on the base or lateral edges, suggesting that it was discarded prior to completion. Although finely crafted in terms of flaking quality, the form is very slightly asymmetric, which may have caused its discard.

Typologically, this artifact is unlike any other points excavated in the Banff region. The point does not fit obviously into any named type from the northern plains. It bears strongest similarity in outline and flaking type/pattern to a number of specimens from the Mill Iron site in southeastern Montana (Bradley and Frison 1996) that the authors classify as Goshen. The Lake Minnewanka point is slightly smaller on average than the Mill Iron points, however no one dimension of the Minnewanka specimen is outside of the range of variation for the Mill Iron points, and its small size may relate to the small nodule size of the high quality grey chert. The Mill Iron points show some variation, particularly in terms of base form and flake scar patterns. Some of this variation is attributed to points being at different stages in their use cycles, however the primary forms are also described as quite variable. Bradley and Frison (1996:66) note that Goshen points of the northern plains are indistinguishable from Plainview points of the southern plains in terms of their form and manufacture. 172

Dating of Goshen and Plainview is problematic, due to the variability of point styles subsumed in these types (Stanford 1999). Bradley and Frison (1996) prefer a date in the range of 11,000 rcybp for Goshen on the northern plains, and see it as a precursor to Folsom, but note that Plainview in the southern plains dates to approximately 10,000 rcybp and is younger than Folsom. If the Minnewanka date is accurate, it fits into the Plainview range and suggests a long continuum for Goshen. However, Frison et al. (1996:209) also suggest that dating of Goshen in the foothills-mountains appears to be later than in the open plains. They note that the limited sample of Goshen-like points from such sites as Carter/Kerr-McGee, Kaufmann Cave and Medicine Lodge Creek average at around 10,000 rcybp, which agrees with the Minnewanka date. Similarly, the Upper Twin Mountain site, a high elevation Goshen bison kill in the mountains of Colorado (Kornfeld et al. 1999) is dated between 10,200 and 10, 400, which the authors note is midway between the dates for Goshen on the northern plains and Plainview to the south. In addition, the Jim Pitts site in the Black Hills of South Dakota has also yielded a date for a Goshen bison kill in the range of 10,100 (Sellet 2001), suggesting a long range for the type even in the northern Plains. It is possible that the Mill Iron dates are in error due to lignite coal contamination, in which case a tighter span could be indicated. The complexity of the interrelationship between Goshen in the plains, foothills-mountains and other cultural constructs such as Clovis and Folsom is such that more data from stratified sites is needed before any understanding can be reached, particularly given the dating difficulties in the late Pleistocene.

The paucity of other tools from the Lake Minnewanka site excavations and differences in lithic raw material type limits comparison with the Mill Iron assemblage and other Goshen sites. The Mill Iron site does not contain the rectangular bipolar cores present at the Minnewanka site, although a piece esquillee was present at the former. One interesting similarity is the presence of the two extremely small, fine gravers made on flakes in the Minnewanka assemblage. These artifacts are virtually identical to similar tiny gravers from the camp area of the Mill Iron site (Akoshima and Frison 1996:75, 173

Figure 5.2 d, e). However, similar gravers appear in many of the earliest Clovis and Folsom assemblages, as well as Nenana, so this tool type is certainly not diagnostic.

The faunal assemblage from Occupation 4 was very poorly preserved, consisting of a handful of tiny bone fragments, some of which were burnt. Total weight of all bone fragments was 19.7 grams. Only one item, a bison incisor fragment from the hearth, was large enough to identify as to species. Other large ungulate molar fragments are probably bison as well, but are too deteriorated to be categorized as such. Several tooth fragments were also determined to be from a smaller ungulate, probably sheep, deer or caribou (the former is suspected), but were again too fragmentary and badly deteriorated to classify more precisely. Tooth fragments submitted for DNA analysis did not yield any results (M. Newmann personal communication 2003).

Occupation 5

Occupation 5 immediately underlies Occupation 4, and was separated from it by only about 10 cm of aeolian loess. A small bone fragment from this occupation returned a limiting AMS date of 10,220 rcybp. The floor in Occupation 5 consisted of a typical scatter of lithic artifacts and badly deteriorated bone fragments. A hearth evidenced by a basin shaped red stain was encountered in the extreme northern portion of the block, but was barely intercepted and remains largely unexcavated. The distribution of in situ artifacts is illustrated in Figure 35, and the density of all lithic artifacts is provided in the inset. Table 14 summarizes the assemblage

The lithic assemblage from Occupation 5 is markedly different from Occupation 4, in that the assemblage can be described as being comprised of larger, coarser pieces on average. No fine bipolar cores are present; instead large, multidirectional cores exhibiting cobble cortex dominate. Retouch flakes and bifacial thinning flakes are very poorly represented, and the overall flake size range is much larger than in the previous occupation. The four flake tools are all large, coarse-grained specimens with one retouched or utilized edge suitable for heavy duty use. 174

44S147E

He'arth^ore • •• •. . * ". • • « Topi .• . • "•»>. i ^Core Tool / TooK • ^-Core • • « * •••• • • •' • i

• •

t Tool N

Legend

Flake • * Hearth - Reddened Earth Tool • • Hearth - Blackened Earth Flake Concentration Charcoal Bone o n Red Ochre Rock €i>

Figure 35 Operation 18, Occupation 5, in situ cultural material (density of all lithic artifacts shown on inset). Table 14 Operation 18, Occupation 5, cultural material summary.

._ FLAKE CORE CORE PRIM. SECON. PLATFORM RETOUCH FLAKE BLOCK UNMOD. BONE Grand TOOL FRAG DECORT. DECORT. BEARING FLAKE FRAG SHATTER ROCK Total FLAKE FLAKE FLAKE

BANFF CHERT 1 1 2 CHERT (GREY) 1 3 20 5 29 NORQUAY CHERT 1 1 PATINATED SILTSTONE 3 1 1 1 14 71 3 94 SILTSTONE 1 29 30 QUARTZITE (COARSE GREY) 1 2 18 4 57 82 QUARTZITE (COARSE TAN) 1 1 QUARTZITE (GREY) 2 2 UNDIFFERENTIATED COARSE 1 8 9

BISON 2 2 LARGE UNGULATE 2 2 SMALL UNGULATE 1 1 LARGE MAMMAL 5 5 NID MAMMAL 3 3

Grand Total 4 4 2 1 2 36 4 180 9 8 13 263 176

Lithic materials are again considered to be of completely local origin. Siltstones dominate (51%), followed by a relatively high percentage of coarse-grained local quartzites (35%). Grey chert only comprises 12% of the total assemblage, and much of this material is of poorer quality than the grey chert in Occupation 4.

The faunal assemblage is comprised of only 13 specimens. A badly deteriorated distal tibia fragment and a lateral malleolus were identified as Bison sp. and two other long bone fragments may also be bison. A small ungulate long bone fragment provided the AMS date. The remaining bone was too badly preserved or fragmented to identify.

It is unfortunate that the vicinity of the hearth was not fully excavated, since based on other floors within the site, it seems possible that a diagnostic artifact or at least some formed tools would have been recovered from this vicinity. The area is susceptible to erosion within the next ten years.

Occupation 6

Occupation 6 is a very poorly defined construct. Cultural material was encountered approximately 20 cm beneath Occupation 5, however it was not distributed in an even floor. Instead, the artifacts were encountered in a zone approximately 16 cm thick. This may indicate multiple sparsely represented events or the edges of concentrations of material outside the block. A well defined, very circular feature comprised of a dense concentration of charcoal fragments and blackened soil was identified in the field as a hearth, however this feature was unlike other hearths in the site in that no basin shaped red stain was noted beneath the charcoal, and artifacts did not appear to be particularly concentrated around the feature. Due to the poor results obtained for dating charcoal from Operation 17, and the possibility that the feature might represent a natural burn, the decision was made to date bone rather than charcoal from the feature (which has been retained and could be dated in future). A very badly deteriorated bison metacarpal was submitted for dating; it returned a bone collagen date of 8310 ± 60 177 rcybp. This date is clearly out of sequence with the three higher dates, and the true date for the occupation is presumed to be prior to 10,200 rcybp.

The artifact assemblage (Table 15) includes two flake tools, two secondary decertification flakes, a flake fragment and an unmodified pebble. The flake tools include one red quartzite flake with two steep dorsally retouched edges suitable for use for scraping (349R18A6:3) and a large grey chert flake with one dorsally retouched edge that may have been used as a cutting tool (349R18D5:1). All of the lithic material would have been locally available.

Faunal remains include the badly deteriorated bison metacarpal, an astragalus and navicular cuboid fragment that were in such poor condition that they could only be identified as large ungulate, and four small bone fragments identifiable only as large mammal.

Occupation 7

Occupation 7 was also poorly defined (Table 16). Approximately 12 cm below Occupation 6, a sparse scatter of flakes from an undifferentiated, coarse-grained material was encountered. Faunal material was comprised of a large ungulate tooth fragment and an unidentifiable bone fragment. A thin, red soil stain with large associated chunks of charcoal was noted in 1999 in the wall of one unit and a sample of charcoal was submitted for dating, under the supposition that this feature represented the edge of another hearth. When fully excavated in 2000 the feature was not basin shaped and proved to be irregular in outline and quite patchy in representation. No scatter of artifacts around its perimeter was noted, as at the other hearths in the site. The charcoal from the feature returned a date of 9350 ± 50 rcybp, which is clearly out of sequence with the other dates from this block and with the stratigraphic positioning of the feature. The form of the feature suggests that it may be a root burn rather than of cultural origin, so the date could be correct, but just not accurate for the cultural level. Table 15 Operation 18, Occupation 6, cultural material summary.

MATERIAL SUMMARY FLAKE SECON. FLAKE PEBBLE BONE Grand TOOL DECORT. FRAG Total FLAKE CHERT (GREY) 1 1 QUARTZITE (RED) 1 1 PATINATED SILTSTONE 1 1 UNDIFFERENTIATED COARSE 1 1 1 3

BISON 1 1 LARGE MAMMAL 4 4 LARGE UNGULATE 2 2 Grand Total 2 2 1 1 7 16

Table 16 Operation 18, Occupation 7, cultural material summary.

MATERIAL SUMMARY PRIM. SECON. PLATFORM FLAKE BONE Grand DECORT. DECORT. BEARING FRAG Total FLAKE FLAKE FLAKE UNDIFFERENTIATED COARSE 2 2 1 1 6

LARGE MAMMAL 1 1 LARGE UNGULATE 1 1

Grand Total 2 2 1 1 2 8 179

Occupation 8

Only two square meters of the block penetrated deeply enough to encounter Occupation 8. This "occupation" is comprised of a single coarse grained flake fragment situated at the transition between the aeolian silt and the sandy silt beneath (Stratum 5/6 transition). It is unclear whether additional artifacts would have associated with this level had the remainder of the units been brought to the same depth. At least two meters of unconsolidated sediment underlie the block below the permanent water line and are inaccessible without an abnormal drawdown.

Operation 18 Summary

Although Operation 18 was a small excavation block that was not completely excavated to depth due to in rushing water, it yielded two time diagnostic projectile points with associated radiocarbon dates. The stratigraphic superposition of these dated points is extremely interesting. The Eclipse point from Occupation 2/3 compares well with the dates established by Fedje both for the type site and the Vermilion Lakes site. This point is similar to the Hell Gap style of the plains. The frequency of silicified sandstone in this floor is typical of Fedje's (1996) Banff II cultural construct.

The earlier Goshen or Plainview like point is associated with an unusual assemblage of bipolar cores and is currently the oldest securely dated diagnostic projectile point in the province. This point was lost or discarded on the perimeter of a hearth, beside which chalcedony nodules were split using a bipolar technique, in order to reveal the high quality material available in the interior of the nodules. These interior flakes were then bifacially reduced. Although the projectile point was finely crafted, it was lost or discarded prior to final finishing, as evidenced by the lack of basal grinding. It is interesting to speculate that by the time the final form was attained, the slight asymmetry and short length resulted in its rejection. 180

Occupations 4 and 5 in Operation 18 are generally quite similar to Occupations 4 through 8 in Operation 17 in terms of the tight vertical and horizontal distribution of artifacts around a well-defined hearth, however more evidence for on site flint knapping was present. Unfortunately, only the extreme edge of the hearth in Occupation 5 was encountered in the block and most of this occupation remains unexcavated and vulnerable to erosion. Unlike Operation 17, which showed a steady increase in the use of Banff Chert over time, the Occupations in Operation 18 showed a more variable representation of local material types with an extremely low representation of exotics (Table 17).

Table 17 Operation 18, Occupation summary.

Description Occ. 2/3 Occ. 4 Occ. 5

Hearth No Yes Yes

Assoc, unmod. slab/cobble - Yes Not determined

Red Ochre No Yes Not determined

Lithic Concentration/Hearth* - 85% Not determined

ToohDebitage ratio 1:47 1:95 1:58

Pbf:ff ratio** 1:2 1:4 1:5

Number of Tools 2 8 4

Number of Cores 1 8 6

% Banff Chert 7% 4% 1%

% Grey Chert/Chalcedony 2% 64% 12%

% Exotic Lithic Types 1% - -

% Silicified Sandstone 54% >1% - 181

Operation 21

Operation 21 was a very small excavation block, totaling only six square meters in area. It was excavated as an alternate "last resort" the final year of the project, when truly dismal weather conditions resulted in the rapid rise of water levels in the vicinity of Operations 17 and 18, before they could be joined into a single excavation block, as planned. Operation 21 is located at the extreme northern edge of the beach, at approximately the same current elevation as the highest part of Operation 17. However, this area of the site was originally slightly higher in elevation than the vicinity of Operation 17, and the thick blanket of Bm/Bt horizon has thus completely eroded away, leaving only a few circular drop features to mark its former presence. As a result, the lower strata are closer to the surface, and proved accessible for a few days longer, allowing the completion of the small block.

A single flake from the surface was designated Occupation 1, and a few flakes from the upper few centimeters of the profile were designated Occupation 2 (it is unclear if this material was in primary context). The main cultural level (Occupation 3) was located at an elevation of 1469.77 masl, which is estimated to be approximately 80 to 100 cm beneath the former base of the Bt horizon. The cultural material is located at the base of the fine aeolian loess, at the transition from Stratum 5 to Stratum 6 beneath (Figure 36). Stratigraphically, this coincides roughly with the lowest occupations in Operation 17 and Operation 18, even though in terms of absolute elevation it is slightly higher (Figure 13).

The spatial patterning of cultural material in Operation 21 was highly similar to that observed in Operations 17 and Operation 18. An ovate hearth approximately 66 cm in diameter, evidenced by a basin shaped red stain with associated smears of charcoal enriched soil and a slab and cobble at the hearth periphery, was surrounded by a dense scatter of lithic artifacts and a few poorly preserved fragments of bone. A few small smears of material tentatively identified as a white pigment were also recovered from the hearth periphery. The artifact floor was very well defined, in a narrow band 182

JKg^yj^yyVrtv,',• • '• • ••;.'• ,.,'••' " ''•;. ,\ •'•'••'-;.'•;. ^, •'-'•• '•;

KEY Stratum Description [j&fill 1 recent lacustrine sand | j | 11 |l 3 red silt (Bm horizon) Xffify 4 dark red clayey silt (Bt horizon) iV-':.'-::;l 5 grey aeolian silt (C horizon) ^^^ calcium carbonate band I1-"-1! 6 interbedded lenses of grey silt and fine sand W^rk 7 interbedded laminates of coarse sand

rodent disturbance

Figure 36 Stratigraphic profile, Operation 21. 183 approximately five to seven centimeters in thickness. The distribution of in situ artifacts is illustrated in Figure 37, and the inset depicts the density of all lithic artifacts.

Charcoal hand collected from the hearth returned a date of 10,610 ± 220 B.P. (Beta 165692). This date accords with the stratigraphic position of the cultural layer and other accepted dates from the site, since it was obtained from charcoal rather than bone it may be more accurate than bone dates. However, at the Eclipse site humic acid leaching from the Bt horizon resulted in charcoal dates that seemed to be too young; the difficulties in obtaining accurate dates from Pleistocene aged sites cannot be underestimated. Calibrated at two standard deviations, it ranges from 11,800 to 13, 150 B.P. (midpoint of 12,500 B.P.). It is the oldest acceptable date yet obtained from the Lake Minnewanka site, but unfortunately no diagnostic artifacts were recovered in association with it. Nevertheless, the associated assemblage of cultural material is of considerable interest, due to its variation from all of the other occupations at the site. Cultural material is summarized in Table 18.

The lithic assemblage recovered from Occupation 3 in Operation 21 stands in sharp contrast to most of the other occupations at the site, due to the presence of a distinctive artifact type, consisting of a series of small, rectangular pieces esquillees and related small, parallel sided and tabular flakes. The pieces esquillees, all found in two adjacent units, form a highly distinctive, consistent series (metrics in mm are summarized in Table 19, examples are illustrated in Figures 38 and 39).

The eight pieces esquillees have all been manufactured from good quality Banff Chert. The presence of a few larger, irregular core fragments of the same material and refitting of two of the tools (126 and 228) suggests that at least some may have derived from a single larger mass of Banff Chert that was reduced to produce the rectangular pieces esquillees. The extreme consistency of the tools is evident in the low standard deviations; all are rectangular, between 3.7 and 4.7 cm in length, and quite thin.

Extensive bipolar, bifacial retouch with evidence of heavy battering penetrating a short way into the form is visible on five of the specimens; the others show retouch on the 31S163E Subop B * SubOp C t N

Flake Took •

Area of Scattered -.lC_ Charcoal Flecks

•••"..# ''•*•' • * He8rth »»* '' ' ' '/ 'Sic/' ' • * \« F> Esq. - ' « » > • V •: . [•

* • P.Esq. , *•.•/*•?*• »^ • \ «' P.EsqT** » * • • • • • * * * • 0

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P.Esq r^

>-Core Fragment P.Esq rv

» * • ' • ^Core «

109 5 Legend Flake • * Hearth - Reddened Earth «•& 239 23 Tool • • Hearth - Blackened Earth 4|t Flake Concentration Charcoal * Bone Red Ochre • Rock 6 3

Figure 37 Operation 21, Occupation 3, in situ cultural material (density of all lithic artifacts shown on inset). Table 18 Operation 21, Occupation 3, cultural material summary.

Material Type FLAKE CORE CORE PIECES PRIM. SECON. BIFACIAL BIPOLAR PLATFORM RETOUCH FLAKE BLOCK COBBLE ANG BONE Grand TOOL FRAG ESQUIL. DECORT. DECORT. REDUC. FLAKE BEARING FLAKE FRAG SHATTER SLAB Total FLAKE FLAKE FLAKE FLAKE

BANFF CHERT 1 2 8 2 3 1 10 53 19 264 3 366 BANFF CHERT (01) 1 5 1 1 8 BANFF CHERT (02) 1 1 BANFF CHERT (03) 2 2 BLACK/ORANGE 1 1 CHALCEDONY NORQUAY CHERT 1 1 NORTHERN 1 1 QUARTZITE UNDIFF. COARSE 2 1 1 1 5

LARGE MAMMAL 1 1

Grand Total 1 1 2 8 2 3 1 11 58 20 271 5 1 1 1 386 186

349R21D3:72

349R21D3:54

349R21D3:228

Figure 38 Operation 21, selected pieces esquillees (actual size, 1:1) 187

349R21D3:126

349R21F3:6

Figure 39 Operation 21, Occupation 3, selected pieces esquillees (actual size, 1:1) 188

Table 19 Operation 21, Occupation 3, pieces esquillees metrics.

Catalog* Length Width Thickness Weight (g)

349R21D3:54 43.44 27.79 12.92 17.8

349R21D3:72 44.35 33.02 15.07 22.1

349R21D3:126 37.24 36.81 8.68 19.1

349R21D3:127 36.15 31.74 15.75 19.2

349R21D3:228 45.05 37.02 10.58 25.1

349R21F3:1 43.96 25.61* 21.47 20.6

349R21F3:4 47.30 33.10 23.21 27.6

349R21F3:6 43.43 39.61 17.16 29.5

Mean/Stan. Dev. 42.61/3.86 33.08/4.74 15.60/5.00 22.6/4.3

proximal end only, but the distal end has sheared off (in these cases negative flake scars suggestive of bipolar removal remain). In addition to the short, hinged flake scars at either end of the tools, longer, narrower, blade-like flake scars carrying further into the piece are also visible on some specimens, including one originating on a lateral edge, that has hinged out. On most of the tools, one end is quite a bit more heavily battered and bifacially thinned than the other, which may retain some flat platforms. One interesting form (349R21F3:6) exhibits extensive bipolar retouch (with one end more damaged than the other) and then appears to have been rotated 90 degrees and re-used, such that the pattern is mimicked on the (former) lateral edges of the form.

The two tools that have been refit along the remnant planar cortex surface have been completely modified elsewhere across their forms, perhaps suggesting that the final rectangular form of the tool was the desired outcome, rather than being simply a relict of the original shape of the raw material combined with bipolar technology (i.e. suggestive of purposefully manufactured rectangular pieces). 189

A considerable literature exists regarding the perceived differences (or lack of thereof) between wedges and bipolar cores [for example: Hayden (1980), LeBlanc (1992), Goodyear (1993), and Shott (1989, 1999)]. The famous pieces esquillees of the Debert site, originally believed by MacDonald (1968) to have functioned as wedges for splitting bone, antler or wood, were subsequently determined to be bipolar cores by Goodyear (1993). Goodyear suggested that the presence of bipolar cores in Paleolndian tool kits in northeastern North America was a function of entropy; that is, due to the high mobility of Paleolndians and decreased availability of desired lithic raw materials further from the source, bipolar reduction was a useful technique for salvaging small flakes and making the best use of a scarce resource. Bipolar technology is also known to be of use in obtaining useable flakes from poor quality materials and smaller pebbles (LeBlanc 1992). MacDonald now believes that the Debert pieces esquillees were produced for the removal of microliths rather than used as wedges (Hayden 1980).

Shott (1989, 1999) suggests that most (if not all) of the pieces esquillees described in the archaeological literature are, in fact, bipolar cores. He believes that the uncritical application of the wedge interpretation, especially without ethnographic accounts, replicative experiments and use wear studies, makes less sense than the more parsimonious suggestion that they simply represent the exhausted remnants of bipolar technology. He also allows for multiple uses (bipolar core and wedge) and equifinality (two different uses resulting in similar products) but argues strongly against use of the term "wedge" or "pieces esquillees" since they imply a functionality that may not be warranted.

The lack of any preserved antler, bone or ivory in Operation 21 makes it impossible to demonstrate an association of the tools with wedging activity. The heavy use visible on the implements seems to exceed what would be expected simply to produce flakes, but Shott warns that without replicative experiment on the same raw material type, it is difficult to determine what the end products of bipolar technology should look like, and is skeptical regarding the reliability of microscopic use wear analysis (1999: 232). The flat slab and hard cobble adjacent to the hearth in Operation 21 do not show signs of 190 intensive pitting, as might be expected had they been used as anvils for bipolar technology.

Certainly the tools gave a strong, immediate "impression" that they represented wedges during excavation and subsequent lithic analysis. Eugene Gryba (personal communication 2002) and Martin Magne (personal communication 2006), both acknowledged experts in lithic technology with strong familiarity with bipolar techniques and local material types, briefly examined the tools; they both considered them to be wedges, rather than bipolar cores. Gryba suggested that use of a soft hammer on the duller end and intensive use of the sharper end to split antler or ivory could account for the observed patterning. If this is the case, a specialized activity area in which intensive production of bone or ivory tools around the hearth could be represented.

The debitage assemblage associated with the pieces esquillees was somewhat unusual. It was typified by a very low percentage frequency of angular, blocky shatter (1%), and a relatively high frequency of broken medial and distal flake fragments (73%). Complete flakes comprised 20% of the debitage and proximal flake fragments an additional 6% of the total. Decortication flakes were rare, but since Banff Chert may be derived from bedrock sources, this frequency is of little meaning. The 5% of the assemblage classified as retouch/resharpening flakes is problematic, since these small flakes with complex platforms may have originated from the bifacial edges of the pieces esquillees as a byproduct of use, as well as from retouching curated tools (no microscopic examination of platforms was undertaken).

As a result of the relatively good representation of Paleolndian sites in the Banff area, a pattern has been suggested in which flake size and shape may change significantly within the early period (Canadian Parks Service 1989, Fedje et al. 1995). For example, the presence of a significant percentage of small, blade-like flakes in the earliest levels of the Vermilion Lakes site, and the presence of large, triangular expanding bifacial thinning flakes in the Eclipse site, appear to signify temporally significant differences in lithic technology between Banff I and Banff II (ibid.). 191

Because flake size and shape may be significant, both of these variables were considered for all complete flakes at the Lake Minnewanka site (with the exception of retouch/resharpening flakes). Flake size was recorded in terms of length (maximum distance from the platform to the distal end) and width (perpendicular to length, rather than the widest point, although these most often coincided). Variables such as type of flake termination, amount of cortex on dorsal surface and platform type/complexity were coded according to methods described by Andrefsky (1998).

Flake shape is a far more subjective variable, and some overlap or poor distinction between classes is inevitable. Six broad shape classes were defined: irregular, ovate, triangular contracting, triangular expanding, tabular and blade-like. The categories are relatively self-explanatory. Irregular flakes have idiosyncratic outlines, and are often large flakes from early in the reduction process. A triangular contracting flake is typified by a broad platform narrowing down to a small distal end (these flakes are often small, platform preparation flakes). Triangular expanding flakes flare outwards from a small platform to a wide distal end. The tabular flakes are parallel sided specimens that range from square to rectangular in outline and form a continuum with the blade-like flakes, which are also rectangular in outline, but at least twice as long as they are wide. Thus, in some instances a tabular flake could have been intended as a blade-like flake, but if it hinged or feathered short of the arbitrary length/width cut off point, was classified as tabular. Blade-like flakes are at least twice as long as they are wide, with parallel sides. No true blade technology is inferred, the category simply describes the shape of the flake.

However, despite extensive data manipulation and examination of the various variables, meaningful lithic analysis was hindered by the very small sample size for complete flakes - some discrete occupation floors within the site contained only four or five complete flakes, and it was difficult to determine whether variability simply related to material type. As a result of the small sample size, it is difficult to illustrate the unusual nature of the Operation 21 material more clearly vis-a-vis the other occupation levels at the site. Within Operation 18, Occupation 4, bipolar cores were present, 192 however the technology was used to split open grey chert nodules, which were subsequently bifacially flaked; no particular association of blade-like flakes was noted.

In Operation 21, most of the assemblage was comprised of broken flake fragments, and of the platform bearing flakes, those with complex platforms (Andrefsky 1998) outnumbered those with flat platforms by a ratio of approximately 70% to 30%. The most distinctive aspect of the debitage was the frequency of small, blade-like flakes and tabular flakes (flakes with parallel sides, but not twice as long as wide). In the various campsite occupations in Operation 17 and 18, blade-like flakes typically appeared in very low frequencies (less than 6% of all flakes) but when present, were often the largest flakes (greater than 4 cm in length), and well represented in the retouched flake/tool class. They were manufactured from silicified sandstones, siltstones and quartzite. In contrast, in Operation 21, blade-like flakes comprise 23% of the total for complete flakes, and tabular flakes an additional 23%. These small, distinctive blade-like flakes are all less than 2.5 cm in length, and all made from Banff Cherts.

This pattern is of considerable interest, in that it closely mirrors (but is not identical to) that seen in the oldest levels at the Vermilion Lakes site. There, the two oldest levels are designated 9a and 9b (Fedje et al. 1995: 90-93). Component 9a is dated to 10,770 ± 175 rcybp and Component 9b is dated to 10,330 ± 60 rcybp; these dates both overlap with the date for Occupation 3 (10,610 ± 220 B.P.) at one sigma and together these represent the oldest dated, well-defined components in the Alberta Rockies. The combined assemblage for Component 9a and 9b represents a total of over 5000 lithic artifacts (overwhelmingly from the more recent of the two components) but no diagnostic artifacts and very few formed tools. Fedje et al. (1995) describe the assemblage as resulting from high angle reduction of thin, tabular, Banff Chert cores, producing a significant number of small, blade-like flakes. They further suggest that quite limited production of bifaces was undertaken, from either large flakes or tabular core fragments; these small, triangular bifaces exhibit deep percussion scars and no evidence of edge grinding. 193

Although the two cores illustrated and discussed in the 1995 American Antiquity article are not described specifically as bipolar, in the site report Fedje and White (1988: 90) note that one specimen described as a "utilized core" is comprised of a tabular blank with blade-like flake scars removed "bidirectionally". A second tabular core fragment is described as having been "worked on an anvil". Since they are not classified as bipolar cores or pieces esquillees, the intensity of use would appear considerably less than at the Lake Minnewanka site. Fedje and White (1988) also note the rarity of block shatter that would be expected from reducing larger nodules of Banff Chert from bedrock sources, and suggest that the tabular cores were roughed out at another location before being transported to the site.

In sum, the pieces esquillees from the Lake Minnewanka site are quite unusual and represent an interpretive enigma. Their appearance suggests that they are wedges and that a special purpose activity area is represented, with the small number of blade-like and other flakes resultant from use; i.e. driven off as slivers during the wedging events. However, mindful of the detailed analyses of Goodyear (1993) and Shott (1989, 1999), and the similar cores from Vermilion Lakes at the same early date, it could also be argued that they are fully exhausted bipolar cores, whose primary function was to provide small, blade-like flakes, almost as "expedient blades". In this scenario, a retooling episode could be envisioned, with the curated cores and larger mass of material brought on site, used to produce small blades (many of which were in turn curated) and simply abandoned due to exhaustion.

If this scenario is more accurate, the use of bipolar technology would not be necessarily resultant from a desire to conserve a rare or valued toolstone, as described by Goodyear for eastern Paleolndians, but either as a means for dealing with the typically small, brecciated nodules of Banff Chert, or for conserving found material in the face of poorly known lithic resources. Black chert is widely available throughout the northern and central Alberta Rockies, especially in the Peace, Athabasca, N. Saskatchewan and Bow drainages. However, if the people were transient explorers passing through the area, an expedient bladelet technology with composite tools might be very useful. 194

The only tool recovered from Occupation 3 is also of considerable interest. This specimen is a quartzite flake with steep unifacial retouch along the dorsal surface of one lateral edge that was probably used as a scraper (Figure 40). The type of quartzite (Northern quartzite, Gryba 1988) is highly unusual for the Banff area or indeed for southern Alberta in general. Quartzite is not particularly abundant as debitage in most sites in the Banff area, due to the presence of locally available cherts and siltstones; however it is not at all unusual to find quartzite artifacts in many sites. At Lake Minnewanka, local quartzite is present in low frequencies in most of the occupation levels, and quartzite is well represented in the tools from the surface collections, particularly among the large bifaces and Paleolndian projectile points. Local Rocky Mountain quartzites are often finer grained, grey and blue grey specimens, and quartzites available in tills from the plains and foothills immediately to the east come in a very wide variety of colours and grain sizes, but typically have a coarser, more sugary texture. One distinctive type of quartzite is common in the northern third of the province. This is a very fine grained, high quality glossy grey to honey coloured quartzite, sometimes with white inclusions, and often patinated, that is highly distinctive and easily distinguished from local southern quartzites. It is very unusual to find this material type south of the Athabasca drainage. Gryba (1988) calls this type of quartzite "northern Alberta quartzite". In his inventory of fluted points for Alberta, Gryba (1988:17) notes that fluted points made of northern quartzite were found in the Peace River, Fort St. John, Bruderheim, Ponoka and Pigeon Lakes areas, and he finds the presence of northern quartzite as far south as the latter locations in central Alberta to be noteworthy. The single northern quartzite tool from the Lake Minnewanka site is thus a relatively unusual, far southerly location for this material. However, it is within the realm of possibility that it was transported in till, so it cannot be taken as confirmation of a northern origin.

The only other possible exotic material type represented in Occupation 3 is a single flake fragment manufactured from a clear to amber coloured chalcedony with black and orange swirled inclusions; the source for this material is unknown. Otherwise, Banff 195

Figure 40 Operation 21, Occupation 3, 349R21B3:17, Northern quartzite flake tool (scale is actual size, 1:1)

Chert comprises 98% of the total lithic assemblage from this occupation, again suggesting that exotic tools were highly curated.

Operation 21 Summary

In summary, this tiny, six square meter Operation yielded a unique assemblage of cultural material. The occupation is currently the oldest radiometrically dated level at the Lake Minnewanka site, and is contemporaneous at one sigma with the oldest level at the Vermilion Lakes site, between 12,000 and 13,000 calendar years before present. The spatial distribution of artifacts in a tight cluster around a well-defined hearth with two cobbles/slabs at its perimeter is virtually identical to that described for ten other distinct occupation floors in Operations 17 and 18 predating 10,000 rcybp. However, those occupations each contained evidence for a wider range of generalized activities, such as a variety of different cutting, scraping and graving tools, retouch flakes from maintaining tools, varying amounts of debitage from tool manufacture, and evidence of butchering and consumption of small and large ungulates. In contrast, Operation 21 appears to represent a more specialized lithic activity area (Table 20). 196

Table 20 Operation 21, occupation summary.

Description Occupation 3

Hearth Yes

Assoc, unmodified slab/cobble Yes

Lithic Concentration/Hearth* 97%

ToobDebitage ratio (assuming pieces esquillees as cores) 1:371

TooLDebitage ratio (assuming pieces esquillees as tools) 1:40

Retouch Flake:Debitage ratio 1:17

Pbf:ff ratio 1:5

Number of Tools* (alternate interpretation in brackets) 1(9)

Number of Cores* (alternate interpretation in brackets) 11(3)

% Banff Chert 98%

% Grey Chert/Chalcedony >1%

% Exotic Lithic Types >1%

Without better experimental studies regarding the use of Banff Chert wedges on various materials, including bone, antler, horn, ivory, and fossilized bone, as well as different woods, it is extremely difficult to infer the nature of the activity within Operation 21. Although the pieces esquillees appear to have functioned as wedges, appearances can be deceiving, and Shott (1989) has persuasively shown that most bipolar objects are probably cores, while reminding that an item can be both core and wedge. 197

CHAPTER SEVEN: OPERATION 7 and 19 RESULTS

Operation 7 and Operation 19 are the final two excavation blocks at the Lake Minnewanka site to be discussed. Both of these blocks have been interpreted as representing special purpose lithic reduction activity areas. Unfortunately, precise dating of the occupations within the two blocks was not possible. The occupations pre-date Mazama ashfall and have been interpreted as Paleolndian in age based on their stratigraphic association and technological traits. These occupations are of considerable interest since they reveal different aspects of the lithic reduction sequence and considerable change through time.

Operation 7

Operation 7 is the largest excavation block completed at the site during the current program, totaling 32 square meters of contiguous excavation. It was excavated in the area of the initial find of artifacts in association with intact stratigraphy, primarily over the first year of the program. In the first year, the decision was made to open a large horizontal area on the known Paleolndian occupation level, which was situated at the transition between the red Bt horizon (Stratum 4) and the grey loess (Stratum 5). Eventually, the entire block penetrated approximately 20 cm into the loess, but excavation was arbitrarily halted at this depth due to lateness of the season. With the exception of a one square meter test unit taken to the top of Stratum 6, none of the units in this block were "bottomed out" through the loess, so the potential for earlier occupations (equivalent to the oldest occupations in Operation 17, 18 and 21) remains unassessed. This is unfortunate, since the high location on the beach means that it would be possible to penetrate very deeply within the profile in this area. In future, it would be 198 desirable to re-open Operation 7, quickly remove the backfill and take the block down as deeply as possible, as early in the season as possible. Such a strategy would allow the deepest possible excavation on the beach ever undertaken, but the presence of deeper cultural materials in the area is unknown.

Within Operation 7, stratigraphy and the degree of impairment by erosion varies dramatically across the block. Unlike Operations 17 and 18, which demonstrate the degree of north/south erosion, Operation 7 illustrates the east to west progress of lateral erosion. The block straddles the remnant of a former swale that deepens to the east. At the west end of the block, all of the varves and Bm/Bt horizons have completely eroded away, leaving the main occupation layer at the surface in mixed context. Nine meters to the east, a blanket of varves over 30 cm thick caps the Bm/Bt horizons, in situ tree stumps are still present and the main occupation layer is safely buried 70 cm below surface (Plate 5).

A stratigraphic profile across the block is provided in Figure 41, illustrating the slight swale shape typical of intact areas at the site. Stratigraphy is identical to that described in the other excavation blocks. Material from mixed context and the upper few centimeters of the Bm horizon was defined as Occupation 1 and is not further discussed. The main cultural floor (Occupation 2) was situated directly within and beneath the Bt horizon, into the first few centimeters of loess. Due to its association with the strongly undulating base of the clay rich Bt horizon, the occupation floor was also strongly undulating. All of the artifacts were confined to a narrow band averaging five to eight centimeters in thickness, but this band undulated strongly, particularly near the drop features; that is, this particular floor has been mechanically warped by the effects of inundation. Excavation of the units in natural levels together with the sheer density of artifacts permitted the artifact floor to be followed with a high degree of reliability. The mean elevation of 891 in situ artifacts is 1469.92 masl. Occupation 3 was located approximately ten to 12 cm beneath the base of the Occupation 2 artifact floor and was comprised almost entirely of a single cluster of retouch flakes. Permanently Angular Flooded Area Colluvium

20 40 60 80 100

centimeters

KEY Stratum Description 1 recent lacustrine sand 2 post 1947 varves nTTTTi 3 red silt (Bm horizon) 4 dart; red clayey silt (Bt horizon) ES3 5 grey aeolian silt (C horizon)

Figure 41 Operation 7 stratigraphic profile.

^3 200

Dating of the occupations proved problematic, due to the lack of suitable organics. Based on the stratigraphic position of Occupation 2 in comparison to other successfully dated occupations in Operations 17 and 18 a date no younger than approximately 10,000 rcybp can be inferred. A few meters to the west of Operation 7, a stratigraphically lower occupation at the transition from the loess to the sandy laminated Stratum 6 dated to approximately 10,600 rcybp. Thus, the best estimate for the limiting date of the two occupations in Operation 7 is between 10,000 and 10,600 rcybp.

Three sediment samples from Operation 7 were submitted for AMS dating in an attempt to determine the age of the occupations, but these yielded disappointing results. The organic sediment samples were analysed using the bulk organic carbon remaining after the elimination of rootlets and carbonates. Pretreatment included standard acid washes. Unfortunately, the organic constituents could not withstand the application of a standard alkali wash, which is done to remove any secondary organic acids that might be present (for example, from leaching of humic acids). If secondary organic acids are present, the date obtained can only be read as representing a minimum. Thus, all of the dates obtained could only be considered as minimum dates, rather than absolute dates.

The three organic sediment samples were obtained from a single soil column. Sample 1 was the smallest sample submitted. It was unusual, in that it was obtained from a cluster of three flakes including a large secondary flake blank that was distinctive due to a brilliant red staining of the soil adhering to its upper surface. This stain appeared to be red ochre, which was also noted on a near-by hammerstone. The stained soil was scraped from the surface of the flake and submitted for dating. Although only a very small sample of sediment was submitted, it was sufficient to return a measured C14 age of 8020±50 B.P. (Beta-107676). This date can only be regarded as a minimum or limiting date for the occupation, and is clearly too recent based on comparisons to dated occupations in a similar stratigraphic context elsewhere in the site.

Sample 2 was a larger sample, but it consisted only of a bulk soil sample from the base of Stratum 4, containing the main cultural occupation. Although collected from the 201 same unit and level as the ochre stained flake, this sample returned a younger date, of 7530+50 B.P. (Beta-112294). Sample 3 was also a bulk soil sample, collected from the same column as the other two samples. Stratigraphically, it was the lowest of the three, originating in the grey aeolian silt underlying Occupation 2, at the depth of Occupation 3 in the adjacent unit. This oldest sample yielded the youngest limiting date, 6930+50 B.P. (Beta-112295). The variance in the dates suggests that some degree of more recent humic acid penetration has resulted in unreliability in the degree of precision obtainable from bulk organic sediment dating at the site.

Occupation 2

The distribution of all in situ artifacts in Operation 7 is illustrated in Figure 42, and the inset depicts the density of all artifacts. The assemblage is summarized on Table 21. It is immediately apparent that the spatial distribution and density of artifacts is quite different in this operation than in the previously discussed blocks. Debitage is much denser, and the overall distribution, while still compact, is more diffuse than in the campsite occupations, with artifacts scattered across a wider area, rather than restricted to a hearth periphery. The entire activity area has not been encompassed within the block. To the east and north cultural material pinches out rapidly, but to the southwest the cultural layer "rises" in relation to the truncated surface and is eroded away.

A total of 3465 lithic artifacts were recovered from the occupation. No faunal remains were preserved. Due to the density of very small lithic artifacts less than two cm in size, only 26% of the total were mapped in situ; the remainder was collected according to mapped concentrations or by 50 cm quadrant. Examination of Table 21 indicates that this assemblage is quite different from those recovered in the campsite areas. A high number of cores and core fragments (N=25), the presence of two hammerstones, a number of biface preforms, relatively few finished tools, and the quantities and variety of 27S173E Legend

Flake • % Hearth - Reddened Earth Tool * • Hearth - Blackened Earth Flake Concentration sffiS Charcoal Bone .-, ~, Red Ochre Rock © Core- t Biface Core Preforms N m f-Core

Scraping Plane • 1 • l. /(Assessment "0/ Core fy Unit Vy, L? Bifece% Tool Ik #

•& *f^-Tool Core Core

Core ."Hammerstofie.' Ochre Stained :* CoreT .' Hammerstone .

Ochrel Stained Flake Concentration

Shaded units illustrated above

Figure 42 Operation 7, Occupation 2, in situ cultural material, eroded units not illustrated (all lithic density on inset). O to Table 21 Operation 7, Occupation 2, cultural material summary.

MATERIAL SUMMARY BFACE FLAKE CORE CORE HAMMER PRIM. SECON. PLATE FLAKE BIF. RETOUCH BLOCK ROCK NODULE TOTAL PREFORM TOOL FRAG STONE DECORT DECORT BEARING FRAG REDUC. FLAKE SHATTER FLAKE FLAKE FLAKE FLAKE

BANFF CHERT 2 4 1 7 75 327 1 9 54 481 CHALCEDONY(GREY) 1 1 CHERT(GREY) 1 1 1 3 NORQUAY CHERT 1 2 4 1 8 PATINATED SILTSTONE 5 2 3 10 7 47 647 1840 32 140 34 3 2 2772 SILTSTONE 2 3 15 23 43 QUARTZITE (COARSE 2 1 3 GREY) QUARTZITE (GREY) 2 2 4 SILICIFIED SANDSTONE 1 1 1 1 46 74 1 5 130 (01) CHALCEDONY (AMBER 1 1 01) UNDIFFERENTIATED 1 3 2 1 2 3 5 2 19 COARSE Grand Total 6 5 11 15 2 10 61 790 2273 34 155 95 5 3 3465 204 debitage, all indicate a special purpose lithic reduction activity area is represented by this sample. The only feature within the occupation was a dense cluster of flakes, including a particularly large flake blank, and an associated hammerstone that were liberally coated with red ochre. The ochre coated flake blank was one of the only large flake blanks left in the activity area (i.e. not curated) which may suggest the ochre relates to an offering.

The dominant material type in the assemblage is silicified siltstone (81%), followed by Banff Chert (14%) and a distinctive silicified sandstone, similar in appearance to Beaver River Sandstone, but locally obtained (4%). Other material types are represented by a very few specimens. The amber chalcedony flake is probably intrusive from the lower occupation. The silicified siltstones and silicified sandstone are available in the Banff area as relatively large, water rounded nodules and as large masses in bedrock outcrops, typically they are the best quality raw material available as larger masses in the area. Banff cherts may be of better quality, however larger, unbrecciated masses of this raw material type are rare. Most of the cores are small fragments or exhausted specimens, but several of the complete cores are specimens that appear to have been rejected after the removal of one or two flakes, probably due to the poor quality of the raw material.

One small patinated siltstone core fragment (349R7R2:2) may represent a portion of a prepared blade core based on the flat upper surface and evenly spaced high angled negative flake scars, but unfortunately the remnant piece is small and little can be inferred about the original form of the artifact beyond the suggestion that it may have been a blade core. No bipolar cores were present in the assemblage from Operation 7. Specimen 349R11Q2:174, refit with 349R11S2:39, is the largest core remnant. It is a multidirectional core manufactured from a large, sheared bedrock mass of silicified sandstone that exhibits extensive platform preparation. Negative flake scars from the removal of large, tabular or blade-like flakes are present. The most interesting core is a complete discoidal specimen manufactured from patinated siltstone, 349R11B2:9 (Figure 43). 205

Figure 43 349R11B2:9, discoidal core (scale is actual size, 1:1).

This core is ovate to D-shaped in overall form, with a number of large, deep tabular and triangular expanding negative flake scars on both surfaces. One lateral edge of the specimen is extremely thick, consisting of a large, flat platform, and another lateral edge has been heavily ground, presumably in preparation for additional flake removal that was never undertaken. The core bears very strong similarities to discoidal cores recovered from the Eclipse site (Fedje 1988:111-112). It is identical in overall form to two complete and one refit discoidal cores from this site, although smaller in overall size (L=60.9 mm, W=46.1 mm, Th=21.2mm). Through extensive re-fitting of a snapped 206 projectile point preform with associated flakes, Fedje (1988:39) was able to reconstruct the reduction sequence as follows:

Refitting of a broken preform to discoidal core stage and recovery of large discoidal cores indicate that the stemmed points from this occupation were produced through planned biface core reduction. This sequence would have produced flakes necessary for smaller formed and flake tools with the exhausted core used as a point preform. Heavy grinding was used to strengthen the lateral edges of the discoidal cores to allow removal of large triangular expanding flakes in this thinning process.

Three of the other patinated siltstone biface preforms from the activity area also probably originate from discoidal cores, based on their strong similarities to the previously described core; in fact they form a continuum with the small discoidal core, being only slightly more modified. Specimen 349R13A2:17 (Figure 44) is a relatively small (L= 55.3 mm, W=39.9 mm, Th=9.4 mm), ovate biface preform that was refit from two pieces. It has been thinned across the entire form with the exception of one large, flat mass of original platform on the lateral edge. Deep, tabular negative flake scars are present on both surfaces. One lateral edge exhibits heavy grinding. The specimen appears to have broken as the result of removal of a large, deep percussion flake that hinged across the form.

Artifact 349R11D2:1 (Figure 44) is very similar, consisting of a relatively small (L=48.8 mm, W=38.2 mm, Th= 13.9 mm), ovate to triangular form that has been bifacially thinned across both faces, however a large thickened mass remains near the left lateral edge, which could be the remnant of a discoidal core platform which the craftsman was unsuccessful at removing, causing the piece to be discarded. Specimen 349R11J2:6 (Figure 45) would have been considerably larger, however it snapped and the other end was curated or is outside of the excavation block, making it impossible to determine the original dimensions of the preform. It appears to have been ovate to rectangular in overall form; again there is a very thick, flat, platform remnant on one lateral edge, and another section of lateral edge is heavily ground preparatory to removing deep percussion flakes. 207

349R13A2:17

349R11D2:!

Figure 44 Operation 7, Occupation 2, selected cores (scale is actual size, 1:1). 208

Two other biface preforms are unlike the previously described forms. Artifact 349R11E2:584 (Figure 45) is the tip of a poorly made or incomplete biface manufactured from a poor quality grainy quartzite that has an internal flaw running across the form. The ventral surface shows complete retouch, however on the dorsal surface retouch is confined to the margins. The form is triangular or lanceolate (the base has snapped, obscuring this detail). The edges are relatively sharp and unground. It is thin (4.3 mm in thickness and 18.0mm in width), but despite its sharpness and thinness, it appears too crudely made to have been intended for use as a projectile point. Specimen 349R13C2:55 (Figure 45) is a small biface preform fragment that snapped at an early stage of manufacture. The remnant portion is 24.2 mm in width and 6.8 mm in thickness.

Other tools from the occupation include five flake tools and two hammerstones. The hammerstones are both relatively small specimens comprised of rounded pebbles of locally available coarse grained, hard material with battering on one end. The flake tools show some variety, including both large and small tools. Specimen 349R11B2:11 is a large flake manufactured from poor quality coarse grained material that shows use wear along one lateral edge, but no purposeful retouch. Artifact 349R13A2:16 consists of a large, naturally split cobble of heavily patinated siltstone. The dorsal surface along one lateral edge has been steeply retouched to form a heavy scraping plane (Figure 46).

Other flake tools include 349R11E2:381, a long, blade-like flake with patterned retouch along the dorsal surface of one lateral edge. 349R11 J2:340 is a broken specimen exhibiting a section of patterned retouch along one lateral edge, and 349R11N2:13 is also a broken flake with retouch or simple use wear along one lateral edge.

The most distinctive aspect of the debitage assemblage from this occupation was the presence of many long, blade-like flakes. As previously discussed, complete flakes were categorized by shape and measured for length. Table 22 summarizes the number and percentage of flakes in each flake category, together with the mean length for each category. A sample of blade-like flakes and tabular flakes is illustrated in Figure 47. The 209

349R11J2:6

349R11E2:584

349R13C2:55

Figure 45 Operation 7, selected stone tools (scale is actual size, 1:1). 210

cm.

Figure 46 349R13A2:16, core tool. 211

Figure 47 Operation 7, Occupation 2, blade-like flakes. 212 blade-like and tabular flakes typically have flat platforms and high angles, and the tabular flakes are often quite rectangular, differentiated from the blade-like flakes by length only. Table 22 must be interpreted with caution. Tabular and blade-like flakes comprise over 50% of the complete flakes. Although tabular flakes are more abundant, observation suggests that many of the more fragile blade-like flakes were broken. The blade-like flakes from this occupation are the longest flakes. Since broken flakes cannot be measured, many of the longest flakes are not included in the mean length calculation. Nevertheless, the blade-like flakes are the longest in the sample, averaging 28.3 mm in length. The longest complete blade-like flake is 89.5 mm, a very long flake.

Table 22 Operation 7, Occupation 2, flake shape.

Flake Shape Count %Total Mean Length

Irregular 41 8 23.8

Ovate 57 12 20.2

Triangular Contracting 51 10 16.1

Triangular Expanding 86 18 18.0

Tabular 159 33 17.6

Blade-like 92 19 28.3

Total 486 100 20.6

Occupation 3

Occupation 3 in Operation 7 is of limited interpretive significance. It is comprised of a tightly circumscribed concentration of flakes stratigraphically below Occupation 2. The assemblage is summarized on Table 23. 213

Table 23 Operation 7, Occupation 3, cultural material summary.

MATERIAL SUMMARY SECON. PLATFORM BIFACIAL RETOUCH FLAKE Grand DECORT. BEARING REDUC. FLAKE FRAG Total FLAKE FLAKE FLAKE CHALCEDONY (AMBER 01) 4 2 47 78 131 PATINATED SILTSTONE 1 1 UNDIFFERENTIATED COARSE 1 1 Grand Total 1 4 2 47 79 133

With the exception of two artifacts, all of the assemblage is comprised of very small flakes manufactured from a distinctive material type, an amber chalcedony. Other materials include a primary decortification flake of silicified siltstone and a crude flake made of coarse grained material. The amber chalcedony flakes are all very small and delicate, and late stage reduction flakes (bifacial thinning and retouch/resharpening flakes) account for 40% of the total. Many of the flake fragments are tiny distal ends of broken retouch flakes. A fine screened bulk soil sample from the concentration yielded 135 pieces of microdebitage in the 2mm mesh, all manufactured from the same material type. Based on the distribution of flakes and their types it is quite possible that they all originate from a single episode of biface reduction or maintenance. All of the flakes were found in a single, tight concentration less than ca. 50 cm in diameter.

The amber chalcedony is an exotic of very high quality. It is amber to bright yellow in colour, and individual flakes vary from opaque to semi-translucent. Speckled fossil inclusions that are deep red in colour are seen in the smallest flakes, many of which exhibit a whitish patina. The source of this material is unknown (it does not appear to be Knife River Flint). It is possible that this material originates in Montana, or even Wyoming (B. Reeves, personal communication 2006). 214

Operation 19

The final excavation block to be discussed is Operation 19. Operation 19 was a small, eight square meter excavation block situated only ten meters south of Operation 7. This area of the site is approximately one meter lower in elevation than Operation 7; however a thick blanket of recent lacustrine sand and a few thin varves still cap the truncated red Bm soil horizon. This vicinity appears to once have been a much lower swale that acted as a sediment trap. Excavation to depth in this area of the site is only possible when the lake level is very low.

No radiometric dates have been obtained for Operation 19. The major cultural occupation in this block consists of a dense floor of lithic debitage related to biface manufacture and discard (Occupation 2). This cultural level is contained within the Bm horizon (Plate 14). Initially (Landals 2000), a date around the time of Mazama ashfall was hypothesized for this occupation, based on its stratigraphic positioning within the Bm horizon. Subsequent analysis of the magnetic mineral composition of the matrix suggests a pre-Mazama date is probably appropriate, since the occupation is located in the lower part of the Bm, where the percentages of magnetic minerals decrease sharply. In Operation 18, less than 20 meters to the west, an occupation at a similar stratigraphic position (partially within the Bm) was dated to 9990 rcybp. Unfortunately, the truncation of the site makes correlation between the blocks impossible, since the Bm horizon may have varied in thickness and development across a small area depending upon underlying topography.

It is believed that Occupation 2 in Operation 19 dates somewhere between approximately 7000 and 10,000 rcybp. Very recently eroded surface finds in the immediate vicinity of the operation include both Salmon River side notched points and two Agate Basin or Lusk like Vermilion Lakes stemmed points (one, with lightly ground basal edges, is illustrated in Figure 48). Enough bone has been collected to possibly permit an AMS date in future, but insufficient funds were available to obtain a date. 215

Plate 14 Stratigraphic profile showing location of occupation floor (at arrow) in truncated Bm horizon, Operation 19, north wall. Note drop features and thick blanket of recent lacustrine sand. 216 A if&k n ^TO-^ ®cll f^fl§t\ wM ^^& to KI&SRS NA \VZlS IPSMII OUPP lEll SB •JJ ^fyf w f

Figure 48 Surface collected point 349R12E1:1 from immediate vicinity of Operation 19, scale is actual size (1:1).

Four occupations were defined in Operation 19, with the exception of Occupation 2 the remainder were sparse and of limited interest. Occupation 1 is comprised of material from the upper lacustrine sand and mixed context and is not discussed further.

Occupation 2

Occupation 2 is the major occupation floor within the block. The floor is not as vertically restricted as others within the site, which are typically rather tight bands averaging around eight cm in thickness. This floor is more dispersed, averaging around twenty cm thick, however a number of refits and the technological similarity of the assemblage suggests that this is an artifact of post-depositional disturbance, probably from tree roots and rodent activity, as is so typical within the Bm horizon at many sites in the Banff area. Horizontally, the activity area is very sharply circumscribed, with sterile shovel tests around it at five meter intervals. 217

The artifact assemblage is very unusual and contains the highest density of cultural material yet encountered in the site (Table 24). Within this small, eight square meter area, a total of twenty one bifaces and biface fragments, nine cores and core fragments, and one complete, very finely crafted hammerstone were discarded, together with 2227 pieces of debitage, 37 bone fragments and 17 unmodified rocks. The distribution of in situ artifacts is illustrated in Figure 49, with the density of all lithic artifacts shown in the inset.

No hearth was identified during the excavation program. Hearths at the site were typically recognized on the basis of small, basin shaped red stains in the grey loess layers, often with one or two associated stone slabs or cobbles. A dense cluster of unmodified rocks comprised of four pebbles, three larger cobbles and ten thin slabs was encountered on the eastern edge of the block. No associated charcoal or basin shaped stain was identified, and the rocks were loosely concentrated rather than forming a clear hearth circle. It would be difficult to discern a red soil stain given the colour of the matrix. The distribution of bone fragments appears to coincide with the rock concentration. All of the bone was found within or immediately adjacent to the unit containing the slab feature. Fourteen of the 37 recovered bone fragments were classified as calcined; all of the calcined bone was contained within the same unit as the slab concentration. The slab feature could be a hearth disturbed by millennia of active tree roots in the Bm horizon or part of the perimeter of a shelter. Unfortunately the window provided by the excavation is too small to be certain, although the former is suspected based on artifact distribution. If it is a disturbed hearth, it represents a major change in hearth form from all of the earlier hearths at the site. However, rock filled hearths have been found in eroded surface contexts across the site (Christensen 1973, Mclntyre and Reeves 1975, Landals 1993).

The lithic assemblage is of considerable interest in that it represents such a specialized activity; the intense and ultimately unsuccessful manufacture of bifaces. The hammerstone is a fine, highly elongated pebble of green pipestone; a rather soft, locally available material that is unknown at the site with the exception of this artifact. Table 24 Operation 19, Occupation 2, cultural material summary.

MATERIAL SUMMARY BIFACE HAMMER CORE PRIM. SECON. PLATFORM BIFACIAL RETOUCH FLAKE BLOCK BONE ROCK Grand STONE DECORT. DECORT BEARING REDUC. FLAKE FRAG SHATTER Total FLAKE FLAKE FLAKE FLAKE BANFF CHERT 15 5 6 77 385 65 77 1130 17 1777 CHERT(GREY) 1 7 1 34 12 55 PATTNATED SILTSTONE 1 1 1 3 PIPESTONE 1 1 QUARTZITE (FINE GREY) 2 5 7 QUARTZITE (GREY) 1 3 1 8 16 29 QUARTZITE (PINK) 1 1 QUARTZITE (RED) 1 2 5 5 13 SILICIFIED SANDSTONE (01) 4 1 3 9 17 SILICIFIED SANDSTONE (02) 3 3 90 39 43 172 3 353 UNDIFFERENTIATED 2 17 19 COARSE

LARGE MAMMAL 29 29 LARGE UNGULATE 2 2 NID MAMMAL 6 6

Grand Total 21 1 9 6 78 494 106 138 1373 32 37 17 2312 43S 169E ^-Biface t N

Core X....- : -\s \. \ JC3"' „ '^•-'Biface •,V^-»Bifaoes Bifaces

S^Biface..

Hammerstone

Shovel? •!*' *»*•• Test /Bjface-^fcs^-Bifaces

Biface ••. • .'»•: s£ **•••?'<••-Bifaces

Legend

Flake • * Hearth - Reddened Earth Tool • • Hearth - Blackened Earth Flake Concentration C3=> Charcoal Bone c :) Red Ochre Rock ©

Figure 49 Operation 19, Occupation 2, m situ cultural material. 220

It bears extensive pecking scars around the perimeter and especially on the ends. Approximately thirty short, faint incised horizontal lines are visible on one flattened surface at the middle of the form. The tool is 119.7 mm in length, 27.3 mm in width and 17.1 mm thick. It seems unusual that such a complete, finely made tool (Figure 50) would be abandoned, although the biface assemblage may provide a clue.

The nine cores include six fragments and three larger cores. The fragments are from multidirectional cores, including one silicified sandstone cobble core. The more complete cores include two small, multidirectional specimens made from Banff Chert and one slightly larger bifacial core made from Banff Chert. In a sense, this specimen forms a continuum with the bifaces, in that it could be regarded as a very early stage preform. Most of the bifaces are early stage preforms and may represent reduced bifacial cores. A sample of ten bifaces is illustrated in Figures 51 through 53. The bifaces are summarized on Table 25.

With a single exception, consisting of the nondescript midsection of a small, late stage biface, all of the bifaces are very early or middle stage forms. None exhibit any edge grinding preparatory to flake removal, as was observed on the bifaces in Operation 7. Three have broken during thinning and the remainder exhibit failed triangular expanding flake scars that have hinged out short of appropriate thinning due to flaws in the material type or poor craftsmanship or both. The frustration of the flint knapper can only be imagined. Ultimately, an attempt to manufacture large, thin bifaces from Banff Chert was doomed to failure. Seven of the eighteen bifaces are located in the same unit as the slab feature; nine more are in the immediately adjacent units. No other tools were found in the excavation block.

Most of the preforms are relatively ovate, but one specimen is lanceolate and with some imagination could be envisioned as a preform for a stemmed shouldered point (349R19G2:1, Figure 51). The dominant lithic raw material type for the assemblage is Banff Chert (79%), followed by silicified sandstone (16%), grey chert (2%) and miscellaneous grey and pink quartzites from a minimum of three different cores (2%). 221

WWHffpWW.T*TT"njijWi-jm l.p..i.,n.vrT

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^.'V/^tWaWW.^T

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Figure 50 349R19F2:!, pipestone lithic fabricator, actual size (1:1). 222

Figure 51 Selected bifaces, Operation 19 (a: 349R19G2:1; b: 349R19E2-.95; c: 349R19H2:!; d: 349R19C2-.45). Scale is actual size (1:1). 223

Figure 52 Selected bifaces, Operation 19 (a:349R19F2:332; b: 349R19H2:26; c: 349R19H2:25; d:349R19H2:103). Scale is actual size (1:1). 224

Figure 53 Selected bifaces, Operation 19 (a: 349R19E2:96; b: 349R19H2:2). Scale is actual size (1:1). Table 25 Operation 19, Occupation 2, biface descriptions.

Catalog Number Material Portion Shape Stage Length Width Thickness Type

349R19C2:45 Banff Chert Complete Ovate Early 56.7 40.0 19.7 Core

349R19D2:2 Banff Chert Complete Ovate Middle 58.9 35.8 12.4 and 19D2:8 Thinned

349R19E2:5 Banff Chert Complete Ovate Early 65.2 34.5 13.5 and 19F2:1120 Core

349R19E2:95 Banff Chert Complete Ovate Early 58.7 40.7 15.0

349R19E2:96 Grey Complete Ovate Middle 76.1 48.8 13.8 Quartzite Thinned

349R19F2:314 Silicified Edge - Early - - - Sandstone Fragment

349R19F2:320 Silicified Edge - Early - - - Sandstone Fragment

349R19F2:1118 Banff Chert Complete Ovate Early 68.0 40.0 14.2 andl9H2:103

349R19F2:1119 Banff Chert Edge - Early - - - Fragment

349R19F2:1344 Banff Chert Midsectio - Late - - 6.4 n

349R19G2:1 Silicified Complete Lanceolate Early 63.0 29.6 13.7 Sandstone

349R19H2:1 Banff Chert Complete Ovate Early 82.7 55.5 23.1

349R19H2:2 Banff Chert Complete Ovate Early 78.2 44.4 18.9

349R19H2:6 Banff Chert Edge - Early - - - Fragment

349R19H2:25 Patinated Complete Ovate Early 69.1 41.8 16.4 Siltstone

349R19H2:26 Banff Chert Complete Ovate Early 59.9 47.7 18.4

349R19H2:102 Banff Chert Complete Ovate Early 64.3 46.2 19.3

349R19H2:204 Red Edge - Middle - - - Quartzite Fragment 226

The debitage is reflective of early stage core to biface reduction. In this sense the assemblage is very similar in function to the stratigraphically lower lithic reduction activity area in Operation 7, and the percentage representation of the various debitage classes is very similar between the two occupations. However the two assemblages are quite different in terms of core reduction strategy and resultant flake shape and size. In Operation 7, a specific type of discoidal core was produced and reduced with deep percussion flakes and edge grinding, and a second strategy may be indicated by the presence of a blade core fragment and long, blade-like flakes. The debitage assemblage contained a significant proportion of large blade-like flakes (19%) and tabular flakes (33%). Triangular expanding flakes were present in slightly lower numbers (18%).

In contrast, the more recent Operation 19 reduction strategy does not evince 'D' shaped cores or extensive edge grinding for platform preparation. The cores and preforms are ovate, and high platform blade-like flakes are rare, with low platform angled triangular expanding flakes more common. In the Operation 7 assemblage the flakes are larger overall, but this may be partially due to the dominant material type, since Banff Chert is available in smaller masses than the silicified siltstones and sandstones. The differences between the relative abundance of flake shapes in the assemblages are summarized on Table 26.

Table 26 Comparison of flake shape, Operation 19 and Operation 7.

Flake Shape %Total Operation 19 %Total Operation 7

Irregular 4 8 Ovate 8 12 Triangular Contracting 10 10 Triangular Expanding 42 18 Tabular 30 33 Blade-like 6 19 Total 100 100 227

Occupation 3

Occupation 3 immediately underlies Occupation 2 at the base of the Bt horizon and is poorly defined. It is comprised of four flakes, one piece of block shatter, one unmodified quartzite nodule and one coarse grained cobble. It is unclear if this material represents a different occupation or vertically displaced material from Occupation 2. As such, it has limited interpretive significance.

Occupation 4

Material designated as Occupation 4 lies approximately 25 cm beneath Occupation 2 in the grey loess. Unfortunately, it is very sparse, consisting of 15 pieces of debitage (primarily Banff Chert) and a single cuneiform pes identified as bison. This material is confined to the southern periphery of the excavation block and could be the edge of a denser concentration of cultural material that was not intercepted. Given the small sample size it is of limited interpretive value. A limiting date between 10,000 and 10,600 rcybp is postulated.

Summary

Although Operation 7 and Operation 19 did not yield definitive evidence for campsite activity, and remain undated except through relative stratigraphic position, they provide an important interpretive adjunct to the overall site analysis. The two major lithic reduction activity areas represent the most recent well defined occupations in the site and indicate a shift in human use patterns. The earlier occupations all consist of spatially concise activity areas centered on small hearths, with variable but generally limited evidence for extensive lithic reduction. The cores that are present in the earliest levels tend to be either large coarse grained cobbles with a few expedient flakes removed, or 228 smaller, bipolar cores. Most tools are unifacial, and evidence for bifaces is generally quite rare.

This pattern changes in Operation 7, with the dense floor of blade-like and tabular flakes, and the discoidal bifaces with deep, percussion flake scars and ground platforms. Although undated, stratigraphically this material, immediately beneath the Bt horizon, may correspond approximately to Occupation 2/3 in Operation 18, with its shouldered point, emphasis on silicified sandstone and radiocarbon date of ca. 10,000 B.P. It also is possible that this occupation is older, if the degree of illuviation in this part of the site is greater. Thus, it could equally represent a Goshen age occupation. Without a date or additional excavation, this unusual assemblage remains enigmatic, but it is profoundly different technologically than the earliest, Banff I occupations.

The preference for larger blocks of silicified sandstone and siltstone, and the distinctive discoidal core technology, is reminiscent of the Eclipse site, which forms the basis of Fedje's Banff II cultural construct. However, the cores from the Lake Minnewanka site are slightly smaller than the Eclipse cores and the possible blade core and large, blade-like flakes are very unusual for this time period. Wedge shaped microblade cores were recovered from both the Vermilion Lakes site (ca. 9900 rcybp) and Charlie Lake Cave site (ca. 9700 rcybp) but the Lake Minnewanka assemblage does not represent microblade technology. It is apparent that the end of the Younger Dryas saw considerable technological and cultural change in the Banff area, which remains to be fully understood.

The Operation 19 floor, also undated, is contained within the lower half of the Bm horizon and is believed to date prior to the Mazama ashfall, probably between 7,000 and 10,000 rcybp. Bone collected from a possible scattered hearth may permit dating in future. The presence of eighteen broken, failed and rejected biface preforms is quite unusual; ultimately the knapper appears to have been trying to make large bifaces out of a material type (Banff Chert) that was simply not up to the task. Since the assemblage may well reflect the work of a single individual (possibly unfamiliar with the material type), it 229 may not be appropriate to refine too much on the technological change. However, the absence of lateral edge grinding for platform preparation, the shallower flake scars and presence of larger, low angled triangular expanding flakes is striking in comparison to the slightly earlier period. This may reflect terminal Paleolndian technology in the region.

The shift in site use from the small recurrent campsites in the earliest period to the lithic reduction activity areas in the slightly later period may have corresponded to the shift from a more open, almost alpine vegetation to a more treed environment, as Holocene warming intensified and forest composition changed. After the site was treed, it would have partially lost its commanding views of the Cascade valley, Devil's Creek and Minnewanka lakeshore, and become slightly less attractive to sheep. However, it still would have been situated on the natural travel route along the north shore of Minnewanka, with good access to the high sheep ranges in the Palliser Range as well as to the lower Bow Valley, where bison and elk would have been common as the climate ameliorated (elk have been dated east of the mountain front in Three Hills, Alberta as early as 9670±160 rcybp [Shackleton and Hills 1977]). Good outcrops of Banff Chert and silicified sand and siltstones appear to have been available in the immediate area; visits to these outcrops for re-tooling may have been part of normal hunting activity.

In general, use of the Lake Minnewanka site appears to have dwindled substantially throughout the Holocene. The surface collections of Christensen and Reeves (Mclntyre and Reeves 1975, Reeves 1976) together yielded more evidence for human occupation in the Early Precontact Period than the Middle Precontact Period, and more evidence of use in the Middle Precontact than the Late Precontact Period, respectively. More recent collections have been dominated by early materials (Table 27). While part of this pattern might be attributable to differential erosion and surface collection activity, the recent excavations have demonstrated the very intense use of the site prior to ca. 10,000 rcybp, and the changing nature of that use between ca. 10,000 rcybp and Mazama ashfall, from recurrent short term seasonal camps to special purpose lithic reduction activities. The Late Precontact Period saw different patterns of human use in the Banff area, including both Plains influenced subsistence patterns as well as the 230 patterns more typical of the interior plateau; these are best described in Langemann and Perry (2002). The site provides a powerful cautionary reminder of the effects of environmental change on specific landscape suitability for human use within the mountain environment, since later occupations would be predicted to be far more abundant than early ones based on larger demographic patterns.

Table 27 Time diagnostic artifacts by collection year, Lake Minnewanka site.

Collection Year Early Precontact Middle Precontact Late Precontact 2 Clovis 13 Middle Precontact 13 Late Precontact 1969 2 Plainview Points 7 Agate Basin 1 Hell Gap 1 Scottsbluff 1 Clovis 3 Middle Precontact 3 Late Precontact 1974 1 Plainview 3 Agate Basin 1 Agate Basin/Lusk 7 Middle Precontact 7 Late Precontact 1975 2 Scottsbluff 1 Stemmed 1983 1 Plainview - - 1993 1 Plainview - - 1997 1 Agate Basin 1 broken/Stemmed 1998 1 Middle Precontact - 1999 1 Preform base 1 Middle Precontact 1 Hell Gap (Eclipse) 2000 1 Clovis 1 Middle Precontact 1 Goshen/Plainview " 1 base fragment (cf. Clovis 2001 or Plainview) 1 Agate Basin 2004 1 Goshen/Plainview - - Total 33 26 23 231

CHAPTER EIGHT: SITE SUMMARY

Excavations at the Lake Minnewanka Site were undertaken over a five-year period due to the unusual site setting in a seasonally flooded reservoir. The methodological difficulties resulting from year to year fluctuations in water level at the onset of excavations, amount and type of precipitation during the field season, timing of the arrival of warm weather at higher elevations and resultant speed of run-off were considerable. As a result, instead of completing one or two larger excavation blocks, a series of five smaller blocks were opened in close proximity to each other, with each block bottoming out according to high water conditions, rather than in any clearly defined sterile stratum. The presence of two meters of unconsolidated sediment beneath the permanent water table means that the site will never be fully assessed until such time as the reservoir is decommissioned.

A second methodological challenge was the truncation of the upper part of the profile by catastrophic flooding and the differential erosion that has occurred over the past fifty years. The uniform, gently sloping surface of the modern lakeshore masks the considerable natural undulations of the former ground surface, and differential erosion has exacerbated the problem. The same relatively level occupation floor can vary over as little as ten horizontal meters from a fully eroded surface context to a deeply buried context. This, combined with the nature of the aeolian stratigraphy, makes any correlation of floors between different blocks extremely difficult.

Nevertheless, virtually wherever undisturbed sediments were identified in the extant portion of the site, multiple stratified concentrations of cultural material dating prior to 10,000 rcybp were identified. Individual occupation floors maintained a high degree of stratigraphic integrity due to the rapidity of aeolian deposition in Banff National Park during this time period. In the previous chapters the findings were summarized in a 232 necessarily cumbersome and repetitive format, as a result of the excavation methodology. In this section, results are briefly summarized. Figure 13 compares the findings in each block at the same approximate stratigraphic level, but does not imply any correlation of the individual occupations.

A total of 87 square meters of excavation was completed in the five blocks. Twenty-six occupation layers were distinguished; five were mixed as a result of flooding and erosion, ten were represented by only sparse amounts of cultural material and eleven occupations proved to be of considerable interest, yielding quantities of cultural material and/or features. Some of the sparse floors may represent the edges of larger concentrations of cultural material that were not intercepted due to the small sample size and spacing. The current sample represents less than 10% of the extant site area that is still capped by the Bm/Bt horizon, but less than 1% of the entire original site area.

Dating of the occupation layers proved to be difficult and unsatisfactory, as is so typical for sites of this age. Fifteen AMS dates were obtained in total. Additional dates would have been valuable, but could not be obtained due to funding constraints. Five dates were completely rejected for various reasons. Four dates on charcoal were judged to be either too recent or unacceptably old. Two anomalously old charcoal dates were obtained from a hearth in which coal was burned, one anomalously young date appears to have been obtained from recent, wind blown or wall fallen charcoal contaminating a cultural level, and one charcoal date several thousand years too young appears to be from a root burn. A single bone collagen date from a very badly deteriorated bone specimen was also rejected as several thousand years too young.

The presence of coal directly within the hearth in the lowest level of Operation 17 requires discussion. The coal was present as small flecks within the hearth fill initially mistaken for charcoal during the first attempts to date the hearth, which yielded obviously old dates (>50,000 rcybp). When the excavation was expanded north of the hearth in the final year of the study, a small lump of coal with a complete, water rounded "pebble cortex" was found just outside of the hearth periphery, clarifying the source of 233 contamination. A bone from the floor yielded a date in the approximate expected range, although it was also too young due to collagen depletion and/or the effects of a radiocarbon plateau.

While there is ample naturally occurring anthracite coal in the Banff area, there is absolutely no problem with coal contamination in general within the Lake Minnewanka site, which is comprised of a thick blanket of aeolian sediments capping outwash gravels or bedrock. The presence of anthracite coal purposefully incorporated within a single hearth has simply yielded obviously old dates for the specific feature. This is unlike the situation at sites such as Mill Iron (Frison 1996) where a band of lignite coal immediately beneath the bone bed appears to have yielded a number of slightly older radiocarbon dates that are moderately incompatible with other dates from the site (Roosevelt et al. 2002:229).

Three organic sediment dates were not completely rejected, but were clearly problematic. The organic sediment dates became younger progressively deeper in the profile, possibly as a result of humic acid leaching or seasonal flooding. They did allow for a limiting date of ca. 8000 rcybp for occupations within Operation 7, but since stratigraphic interpretation had already suggested a pre-Mazama date, and other lines of evidence suggest a limiting age of 10,000 rcybp age for these occupations, the usefulness of organic sediment dating at the site is judged to be quite limited.

Seven dates (six on bone collagen and one on charcoal) were accepted, but only as limiting dates. Operation 17 illustrates the problematic nature of the dates. Within a 50 cm thick stratum of loess, three shadowy regosols were noted. Three well-separated occupation layers in the loess each yielded inverted but statistically overlapping bone collagen dates between 10, 400 and 10, 200 rcybp, with the lowest bone collagen date at the base of the loess dating to 10,250 ± 60 rcybp. However, the nearby Operation 21 yielded a charcoal date of 10,610 ± 220 rcybp from a hearth in a similar, but slightly higher stratigraphic position near the base of the loess. Clearly the dates from Operation 17 have "stalled" in the Younger Dryas radiocarbon plateau, some may have even 234 reversed, or the deterioration of bone collagen is problematic, or a combination of all three factors.

The extreme difficulty in obtaining and interpreting radiocarbon dates from this time period, as exemplified at Vermilion Lakes (Fedje et al. 1995) is reinforced by these results. There is probably no problem with old wood in the Lake Minnewanka site, given the presumed short-lived species present. It is more likely that some small sample charcoal dates might be too young; for example at the Eclipse site the charcoal dates from the hearth were consistently younger than the animal fat dates, and it was suggested (Nelson and Vogel 1987, in Fedje 1988: 38) that charcoal might be acting as a filter for humates from the overlying strong red brunisol, binding it such that conventional procedures could not fully remove it. Essentially, very large suites of dates, with multiple dates on bone and charcoal from each layer at the Minnewanka site, would be of considerable interest, but ultimately would not provide the temporal resolution indicated by the stratigraphy. Despite the methodological handicaps imposed by the condition of the site, small sample size and dating difficulties, excavations at the Lake Minnewanka site yielded a very considerable amount of new data, including the oldest dated projectile point yet excavated in Alberta.

Eight occupation floors showed a fascinating degree of similarity in terms of spatial patterning, features and artifact assemblages. For this reason, although each assemblage is small, they afford an important combined data set for the early Paleolndian period. These occupations date minimally to between 10,000 and 10,800 radiocarbon years before present (calibrated to ca. 11,300 to 13,150 years B.P.). In each case, a well- defined surface hearth marked by a red, basin shaped stain (often with one or two flattened cobbles or slabs at the immediate periphery) was identified. In two instances the associated slabs exhibited a series of incised lines that appear to have had a functional origin. Red ochre was found associated with the hearths in four occupations (red ochre was also found in the lithic reduction activity area in Operation 7). In one instance coal appears to have been purposefully burnt in the hearth. Artifacts showed an extremely 235 tight distribution in the immediate vicinity of the hearths. In each occupation, completely sterile units were present within a few meters of the hearth periphery.

The reason for the consistent spatial patterning is speculative. Fedje and White (1988:295-314) illustrate three early occupation floors from the Vermilion Lakes site with similar tight concentrations of artifacts around a hearth. The hearths are very similar to the Lake Minnewanka hearths, consisting of diffuse surface smears of charcoal enriched soil, a red basin and (in two instances) one or two cobbles or slabs at the hearth periphery. A fourth floor exhibits a similar pattern, but in this instance two postholes were noted at the perimeter of the artifact concentration. The postholes were not noticed during excavation of the living floor, since they were identical in colour and texture to the surrounding matrix, but only noticed in the subsequent level, a colluvial gravel, in which they stood in sharp relief.

The overall form of the features suggests that the posts were only in place for a short while, and, in the absence of a fortuitous colluvial layer beneath, would have been very difficult to identify archaeologically. The diameter of the shelter would have been relatively small, approximately 3.5 meters. Similar features may once have been present at the Lake Minnewanka site, accounting for the abruptly demarcated edges of the artifact concentrations and the very restricted concentrations of artifacts. In a number of instances, larger artifacts and tools are located around the periphery of the artifact concentrations rather than immediately adjacent to or within the hearths. Alternatively, the hearths could have been open air features, with activities producing the artifacts carried out in work areas located immediately adjacent to them; if the camps were only occupied briefly the artifacts may not have been scuffed around much, but might have remained in their respective drop and toss zones. Such hearth related assemblages are common in the ethnographic record. Binford (1978) suggests that a drop zone around a hearth might range out from it to ca. 1.2 m away, with a toss zone from 1.5 to 2.5 m.

No faunal data suitable for determining seasonality was obtained from any of the occupations, so any consideration of seasonality is speculative. The site is located on 236 what would have been a high viewpoint overlooking the Cascade valley and a possibly larger late Pleistocene Lake Minnewanka than the pre-reservoir Lake Minnewanka. Today, in the absence of tree cover the area is exposed and windswept and can become extremely uncomfortable when fronts move through even at the height of summer. Combined with the high elevation and the cold mountain evenings, a hearth and shelter would have been desirable for warmth and protection from wind and precipitation at any time of year. Based simply upon setting, it seems unlikely that the site would have been occupied in winter, particularly in the colder conditions of the Younger Dryas. Summer sheep hunting is speculated to be the likeliest reason for the recurrent use of the site.

The conditions for faunal preservation were poor, but improved slightly with depth. Two of the faunal assemblages associated with the campsite occupations yielded evidence for a single bison and a small ungulate, one yielded a small ungulate and a small carnivore, and one yielded evidence for two mountain sheep and a large ungulate. The remainder yielded only a few fragments identifiable as large mammal. Occupation 2/3 of Operation 18 did not contain a hearth; rather a number of complete bison bones and a complete projectile point were suggestive of a kill. The consistent appearance of weathered fragments of small ungulate bones, and in particular the appearance of a minimum of two butchered mountain sheep in the lowest occupation in Operation 17, indicates the importance of this species in the Banff area during the Younger Dryas interval, as suggested by Fedje et al. (1995).

With one exception, the lithic technology in the occupations designated as campsites was similar. Although varying slightly in the intensity of flint knapping that occurred around each hearth (as evidenced by the number of cores and early to middle stage debitage), the assemblages exhibited an extremely strong pattern of use of local raw materials for tool manufacture and the occasional maintenance of curated exotic tools. Exotics were invariably present as small retouch/resharpening flakes or broken/exhausted tool fragments forming a very small portion of each assemblage. The discarded and exhausted tools in each of the campsite occupations showed some variety, indicating that a surprisingly broad range of activities probably occurred in the campsites. Exotic 237 materials were highly prized and only abandoned when completely unusable. In contrast, a number of very finely made local flake tools appear to have been treated as expedient tools, and were simply abandoned on-site, despite still being useable. Some of the flake tools exhibit a high level of craftsmanship, despite the poor material types. Spurred endscrapers, fine flake gravers, strongly patterned flake unifaces, blade-like flakes with fine bifacially retouched edges, large thin bifaces and a scraping plane are all represented in the tool assemblage.

The exception to the campsite pattern was Operation 21. The surface hearth with associated peripheral slabs and dense concentration of lithic material is strongly similar to the other campsite occupations, but the lithic assemblage does not show the same broad range of activities. Instead, a very specialized activity set is represented by the pieces esquillees and small blade-like flakes. Also, in this instance an abandoned flake tool with a finely retouched unifacial edge is made from a possibly exotic lithic material, a distinctive quartzite that is most commonly found in the northern third of the province. However, it is also remotely possible that this item was transported glacially to the foothills or plains east of Banff by Laurentide Ice. The pieces esquillees represent an interpretive enigma. Although strongly reminiscent of wedges, they could possibly represent a set of exhausted bipolar cores, used to produce small, blade-like flakes, either for use in composite tools or on their own (Goodyear 1993).

Bipolar cores are present in other occupations. A single grey chalcedony bipolar core was also recovered from Occupation 8 in Operation 17; however it appears to have simply been split to access an interior nodule of high quality chalcedony, and no small blade-like flakes are associated. The core does not exhibit the intensive battering seen on the specimens from Operation 21. Both of these occupations are stratigraphically the oldest excavated in the site, situated at the base of the loess (Stratum 5/6 interface). One of the most fascinating differences between these two earliest occupations is the complete and utter difference in lithic raw material utilization patterns. 238

The black "Banff chert comprising 99% of the lithic material in Operation 21 is widely available in the northern Rocky Mountains, originating in nodules in the lower Livingstone and Upper Banff formations (Fedje and White 1988:236). Bedded black cherts can also be found in the same formation. The Banff Cherts represent the most widely available, consistent quality, heavily utilized lithic raw material in the northern Rockies north of the Waterton and Castle Rivers. However on a larger scale, Banff Cherts must be considered a poor lithic resource, due to the generally small size of the nodules, poor workability and frequent flaws in the material. Banff Chert was consistently the dominant material type in the very earliest levels at the Vermilion Lakes site.

In contrast, the grey cherts and chalcedonies that comprise 90% of the lowest occupation in Operation 17 come from a completely different bedrock source, the Rocky Mountain Group (Fedje and White 1988: 237). These "Norquay" cherts are generally of much poorer quality than the Banff Cherts, and many of the nodules are highly brecciated. Very occasionally, high quality interior nodules of fine grey chert grading to chalcedony may be present within the Norquay cherts (see Appendix B for an illustration). The grey cherts never appear to have been as widely used as the Banff Cherts throughout the history of human occupation in Banff, but form a small, consistent part of the assemblages. However, within the lowest Occupation in Operation 17 these fine quality nodules of grey chert dominate the assemblage, with almost no evidence of Banff Chert. The bipolar reduction strategy is consistent in both of the earliest occupations. The presence of two such completely different lithic raw material use patterns in the two earliest levels of the site are intriguing, and may suggest that the individual groups had different levels of familiarity with the bedrock sources in the area, as would be expected in a transient exploring population (Yesner 2001:324).

In addition, five exhausted grey chalcedony bipolar cores were also recovered from Occupation 4 of Operation 18, in association with a complete (unfinished) projectile point of the same material type and a scatter of debitage. The point, with a limiting date of 10,100 rcybp, is most similar to the Goshen/Plainview type. It appears as though the 239 bipolar technique was employed to obtain the largest possible flakes from small nodules of high quality grey chalcedony contained within blocky grey chert masses. Once the "large" flakes were obtained, bifacial reduction was utilized, again leaving no small, blade-like flakes as were associated with the pieces esquillees in Operation 21. Although finely made, the Goshen-like point was abandoned unfinished, in that it lacked grinding on the lateral edges or base. It is tempting to speculate that it may have been rejected as too small.

A different type of blade-like flake was, however also a distinctive characteristic of Operation 7. Within Occupation 2, large silicified sandstone and silicified siltstone cores were reduced to small triangular bifaces. Some of the flakes in this area were distinctive, large, blade-like specimens, and one fragment of a possible blade core was recovered. The bifacial cores were also distinctive, consisting of D- shaped bifacial forms with extensive edge grinding for platform preparation for the removal of deep percussion flakes. Discarded bifaces/bifacial cores were triangular in form. The distinctiveness of this artifact assemblage in comparison to others at the site can be seen in the flake platforms. In all of the other occupations, flakes with complex platforms account for approximately 70 to 80 % of the assemblage. In contrast, the larger, earlier stage flakes from this occupation are typically flat and high angled, with complex platforms only forming approximately 55% of the total. Unfortunately, while this occupation clearly post-dates Operation 21 on stratigraphic grounds, it could not be securely dated. All of the other occupations within the site in a similar stratigraphic context are dated to 10,000 rcybp or older.

Fedje (Fedje 1996 and Fedje et al. 1995) has identified an abrupt change in lithic raw material utilization patterns in Banff between his Group 1 (10,800-10,300 rcybp) and Group 2 (10,100 to 9,600 rcybp) occupations. The earliest group is characterized by a near complete reliance on small, tabular nodules of Banff Chert. The later group, while still using Banff Chert, makes greater use of siltstones, sandstones and quartzites (55%). Considering the small site sample Fedje had at hand, the concordance with the Minnewanka site is startling; in both the Eclipse/Hell Gap level in Operation 18 and the 240 unknown, but stratigraphically similar occupation from Operation 7, this same pattern is strongly evident. However, the very oldest occupation in the Lake Minnewanka site shows the startling reliance on small nodules of fine grey chert, most unlike Vermilion Lakes, indication an earlier very abrupt change in raw material use patterns.

Four tools classified as projectile points or preforms were of considerable interest. Two points from Operation 17 are dated at older than 10, 370 rcybp (12,000 to 12,600 calendar years B.P.). The oldest, from Occupation 8 at the base of the loess in Operation 17, unfortunately consists of a very tiny fragment from the base/lateral edge juncture of a lanceolate point (Figure 27). It is manufactured from an extremely high quality exotic brown/black chalcedony, or possibly a petrified peat, and exhibits heavy grinding on the lateral edge and flake scars from extensive basal thinning or fluting on both faces. The small size of the fragment precludes any speculation on cultural affiliation, although one of the earliest Paleolndian types is suspected. The breakage pattern is similar to the broken Folsom fragments illustrated from Indian Creek (Davis and Greiser 1992). However, the stratigraphic position of this occupation at the base of the loess may indicate a date older than the range of 11,800 to 13,150 calendar years B.P., thus an older affiliation cannot be discounted.

The second point preform (Figure 22, 349R17E6:1) is the base of a lanceolate form, which appears to have broken during manufacture. The flake scars are relatively irregular. The base of the form is straight and two long basal thinning flakes extend from the base toward the tip. The base exhibits a slight thickening at the basal/lateral edge juncture (the body of the form is lenticular in overall section). This preform resembles Goshen/Plainview forms, but was broken at such an early stage that it is not possible to assign it to a definite typological category. It too could be an earlier style.

Two complete points were recovered from Operation 18. The oldest, from Occupation 4, has a limiting bone collagen date of 10,100 rcybp (11,400-11,980 B.P.). It is an unusual form that does not fit clearly into known typologies. It is lanceolate, with parallel lateral edges near the base that expand slightly to become more convex before 241 tapering to the tip. The base is straight to very slightly concave. On the dorsal surface fine pressure flake scars are parallel and meet at the midline, but on the ventral surface the scars are oblique and carry completely across the form. Both faces exhibit multiple basal thinning flakes, on the dorsal surface they penetrate nearly one quarter the length of the form. The point is slightly asymmetric and appears to have been discarded prior to completion, since the basal edges are not ground. This specimen is perhaps most similar to points from the Mill Iron site (Bradley and Frison 1996), classified as Goshen/Plainview. Unfortunately, the Goshen/Plainview type is not well defined and encompasses a great deal of temporal and geographic variation (Pitblado 2003:107).

Fedje (Figure 4) has been cautious in applying "broad brush" type names to the projectile points in Banff, noting that they represent a strong local adaptation with unclear origins; for example, his "Vermilion Lake" and "Eclipse" stemmed points resemble Agate Basin and Hell Gap types respectively, but also resemble stemmed points of Alaska (Mesa) and the Great Basin respectively. While somewhat cumbersome, this cautious approach is probably best, at least until larger samples and more dates are obtained. Following this tradition, the Goshen/Plainview like point from Lake Minnewanka should probably be called a "Lake Minnewanka" point.

The dating of Goshen/Plainview is somewhat problematic (Stanford 1999). Frison (1996) prefers an earlier date for Goshen in the north (ca. 11,000 rcybp) than Plain view in the south, suggesting that it may be contemporaneous with Clovis. However, the dates from Mill Iron appear to be problematic due to lignite coal contamination. At the Hell Gap site, recent re-analysis suggests that Goshen points are present both within and above the Folsom layers, rather than beneath them (Sellet 2001). Similarly, at the high altitude Upper Twin Mountain bison kill in Colorado and the Jim Pitts sites in the Black Hills, Goshen appears to be later (ca. 10, 100 to 10, 400 rcybp). These dates accord well with the Minnewanka bone collagen date of 10,100 rcybp. It is possible that Goshen thus represents a descendent of earlier fluted point styles rather than a precursor. 242

It is unclear how the Goshen-like occupation from the Lake Minnewanka site fits with Fedjes' Group 1 and Group 2 divisions from Vermilion Lakes, or broader Banff I and Banff II constructs. Temporally, it appears to fit at the beginning of Group 2, but the strong association of stemmed shouldered points and microblades with Group 2 and the presumed, but unproven, association of fluted points with Group 1 is problematic. The presence of numerous small bipolar cores in the Goshen occupation at Lake Minnewanka seems to correspond with Group 1 lithic technology, but the cores are made of grey cherts, not the overwhelming focus on Banff Cherts seen in most Group 1 occupations. Also, there is a smaller, but significant representation of siltstones in the Goshen occupation at Lake Minnewanka. In short, it appears to sit comfortably in neither Group 1 nor Group 2, but represent a distinct cultural construct. Further excavations in future might permit it to be attributed to one or the other trial constructs, or better define its unique characteristics.

The second projectile point from Operation 18 is younger, with a limiting date of 9990 rcybp (11,260 - 11,700 B.P.). Although the two dates overlap at one standard deviation they are sequenced correctly and the two successive artifact floors are well separated in the rapidly deposited aeolian silt. The more recent point is strikingly different from the earlier point, and much more recognizable, bearing strong resemblance to other early stemmed points from the Banff area described by Fedje (1988) and Fedje and White (1988). It is a lanceolate, stemmed form with faint shoulders and horizontal collateral flaking and heavily ground base. Both metrically and stylistically the Minnewanka specimen can also be classified as an Eclipse stemmed.

Fedje (1988, Fedje and White 1988) was meticulous in not ascribing the earliest projectile points from the Banff area to named, well-known Paleolndian types, believing them to represent regional variants from a poorly understood time period. Thus, he suggested that the shouldered Eclipse points are similar to both the Hell Gap type of the northwestern Plains (Frison 1974, 1978) and the early Stemmed Point Tradition of the Great Basin (Bryan 1980). He noted that the discoidal cores with heavily ground edges and low angled triangular expanding flakes typical of the Eclipse assemblage were 243 identical to those described by Irwin and Wormington (1967) for Hell Gap- Agate Basin assemblages (Fedje 1988: 39). However, in a later paper (Fedje 1994) he suggested that similarities to the Stemmed Point Tradition, as described by Bryan (1988), are more strongly indicated. In this interpretation he appears to have been influenced by a number of undated surface finds from west of the continental divide, defined as the Goatfell Complex (Choquette 1982). Bryan (1988) defines weapons of the Stemmed Point tradition as having thick bases suitable for socketing, and he sees this as an ancestral tradition that developed in the Great Basin coevally with Clovis or even before Clovis, later spreading east across the divide into the Plains.

These issues are complex and far beyond the scope of this study. In a recent detailed study of the Paleolndian points of the southern Rockies, Pitblado (2003) has distinguished Hell Gap from the Great Basin Stemmed points, noting that the Hell Gap type is a more finely made, uniform point with a tightly defined age range (median C-14 age of 10,000 rcybp) and a tighter distribution primarily east of the continental divide, both in the western margin of the Plains and eastern Rocky Mountains. Hell Gap points are known from a series of dated, excavated sites including Hell Gap, Casper, Jones- Miller and Indian Creek. In contrast, the Great Basin stemmed points are more poorly made, incorporate far more typological variability, have a wider distribution overwhelmingly west of the continental divide and a younger mean radiocarbon age (ca. 9000 radiocarbon years). This point style is more nebulous and given the greater range in temporal and spatial distribution, probably incorporates a number of different cultural constructs.

The Eclipse style points of Banff National Park both from Lake Minnewanka and the Eclipse type site more strongly resemble the Hell Gap type than the more generalized stemmed point tradition. They are large points, with long, convergent stems, somewhat blunt tips, smooth shoulders, well controlled flaking, and lenticular to 'D' shaped cross sections (cf. Pitblado 2003:92). Most striking is the tight age range for the Eclipse points from Banff, with a mean of two bone dates from the Eclipse site of 10,010 ±110 B.P. (Fedje 1988:38) and a virtually identical single bone date of 9990± 50 B.P. from the Lake 244

Minnewanka site. In turn, these dates both overlap at a single standard deviation with dates obtained for Hell Gap occupations at Indian Creek, Jones-Miller and the Casper site (in Pitblado 2003:90). Interestingly, some of the earlier and later dates that Pitblado provides as acceptable for Hell Gap have unacceptably large error bars or were conducted on sediment/carbonaceous sands, suggesting that the true range of dates for this point type is very narrow indeed. However, the potential timing and effects of radiocarbon plateaus is an obvious concern.

The presence at the Lake Minnewanka site of a Goshen like occupation at ca. 10,100 rcybp followed immediately by a Hell Gap occupation at ca. 10,000 rcybp represents an adjustment to the relatively straightforward Banff I and Banff II constructs as defined by Fedje. That sequence, a relatively straightforward linear model (essentially Clovis, to Folsom to Agate Basin to Hell Gap) may be complicated by coeval point traditions, as suggested by Sellet (2001). It is disappointing that no Agate basin like Vermilion Lakes stemmed points have been recovered from excavated contexts at the Lake Minnewanka site, since these are the most common point styles in the surface collections from the site, as well as from the Vermilion Lakes site. The surface collected points of this type from Lake Minnewanka range from one or two specimens that appear very true to the Agate basin type, to many more forms with only a very generalized similarity to Agate Basin. The potential for confusion with later mountain styles (Lusk/Angostura) and the relationship to more far flung, early traditions, such as Mesa, can only be resolved by obtaining a larger sample from dated contexts. Certainly, the presence of a microblade core in the Vermilion Lakes site suggests that some of these stemmed points may represent the movement of people from the north.

Banff I at Vermilion Lakes was typified by very few formed tools, including bifaces, sidescrapers and gravers. The bifaces were small, with deep percussion scars and no edge grinding. Only two finished bifaces were recovered from similar aged levels at the Lake Minnewanka site; one is too fragmentary to determine whether it fits the proposed pattern, the second clearly does not. It too is a broken specimen, but enough of the form is retained to determine that it would have been a large (greater than 10 cm), 245 probably ovate form, very thin in relation to its size, with shallow flake scars across the body and pressure retouch along the edges. It shows a high level of workmanship, especially considering the poor quality of the material type. There is too little of the form preserved to speculate whether it is similar to a Folsom style, ultrathin biface.

Another addition to the Banff I Trial Complex not seen at Vermilion Lakes is the presence of spurred endscrapers in three of the early occupations; however they are not unique to Banff I, since they were also found in higher (pre-Mazama) levels of the Lake Minnewanka site. Thus, although spurred endscrapers are fairly diagnostic of Paleolndian occupations, they appear to have a long temporal span and are not restricted to any single Paleolndian Complex. Finally, Fedje (1996) notes that high numbers of large, heavy scraping planes associate with Banff n, but not Banff I. A boat shaped core tool found in the presumed Banff I levels at Lake Minnewanka represents the only "heavy" tool from the campsite assemblages; it is a unique specimen, possibly similar in form to the tools from the earliest levels at Charlie Lake Cave. A second large scraping plane was recovered from Operation 7.

The two undated, lithic reduction activity areas are quite interesting for the considerable technological change evidenced between them. It is unfortunate that no hearths or diagnostic artifacts are associated. The stratigraphically earlier, Operation 7 floor is believed to date around 10,000 rcybp, however this is an estimate based solely on stratigraphic interpretation. The lithic raw material preference for silicified sandstones and siltstones, combined with the distinctive, discoidal bifacial cores with heavily ground edges is strongly reminiscent of the pattern exhibited at the Eclipse site, where similar cores were reduced to form Hell-Gap style points. However, the presence of numerous large, blade-like flakes and a possible blade core in the same occupation remains enigmatic. Similarly, the negative flake scars on the bifaces and the discarded flakes are dominated by tabular and parallel sided specimens, rather than the triangular expanding flakes typical of Banff II. The presence of a very large flake blank and hammerstone with red ochre coating suggests a ritual offering. 246

The stratigraphically most recent reduction area in Operation 19 is intriguing since it includes a whole range of bifacial cores and biface preforms broken at different stages in the reduction sequence; the high number of failures is noteworthy; this material type is clearly not suitable for making the large bifaces that the craftsman was attempting. The absence of edge grinding or discoidal cores and the switch back to Banff Chert is of interest; Banff Chert is the dominant material type in archaeological sites in the region throughout the subsequent Holocene in Banff (Gorham 1994). A nearby stemmed point recovered from the beach may indicate a later Paleolndian association for this material (Lusk/Angostura) but this is highly speculative. Stratigraphically, a date anywhere before the Mazama ashfall and after ca. 10,000 rcybp is indicated. A few bone scraps were recovered; these may retain sufficient collagen to permit dating of this material in future.

A change in patterns of site use was suggested by the stratigraphic positioning of the two lithic reduction areas and single possible bison kill above the earlier stratified campsite occupations, with their consistent hearths and similar ranges of cultural material. It is possible that near and after the end of the Younger Dryas, the site became less desirable for seasonal campsites due to environmental and/or cultural change. Certainly the frequency of diagnostic artifacts from the various surface collections shows a dwindling of site use over time. These possibilities will be addressed in the concluding chapter.

Potential for Future Research

Most of the known Late Pleistocene aged sites in North America are unstratified or very shallowly stratified; most have no faunal preservation at all, and most consist of isolated finds or kill sites. This is certainly the case in Alberta, where, outside of Banff National Park, proven, well stratified, Late Pleistocene aged sites include only the James Pass site (Ronaghan 1993). The density of surface material and the presence of buried soils in the St. Mary's reservoir basin suggest that stratified camp deposits could have been present there, but none were identified by Kooyman et al. (2006), who necessarily 247 concentrated on the exposed Pleistocene faunal remains and preserved animal tracks. The similar aged sites in the Mountain Park area, while stratified, were too shallow for successful separation from later dense cultural deposits by their investigators, and did not yield any identifiable fauna or truly secure dates (Kulle and Neal 1998; Meyer et al. 2005) as was also the case at the Sibbald Creek site (Gryba 1983). The recently discovered Smuland Creek Site (Bereziuk 2002) was a single component site, and the sparse representation of cultural material and absence of faunal preservation makes interpretation limited.

Together with the widespread evidence for fluted points in surface contexts, these sites indicate that the Province of Alberta has been occupied since at least 11,300 rcybp. The fact that almost any stratified sites of this age remain frustratingly elusive after nearly fifty years of research speaks to the extreme difficulty in reconstructing patterns of landscape use that are very remote in time, as well as the powerful effects of landscape change. The St. Mary's reservoir provides an excellent example; it took the scouring down of approximately two meters of sediment to reveal the cultural remains. The isolated Clovis points and individual concentrations of horse bone were widely scattered and represented by very sparse associations of cultural material; even with the excellent visibility in the basin these materials would not have come to the attention of archaeologists had it not been for the concerted and persistent efforts of artifact collectors revisiting the area many times, attracted by the possibility of finding diagnostic artifacts. There is certainly no regulatory requirement for the investigation of exposed reservoir basins or periodic examination of their shores. Familiarity with the low density and sparse distribution of Pleistocene deposits in the exposed reservoir basin emphasizes the near impossibility of finding cultural material of this age in the course of any normal archaeological survey of the area.

The Lake Minnewanka site is a truly rare discovery in the regional archaeological record. In the mid 1970s, when first examined by Reeves and Mclntyre, erosion had not progressed enough to permit the identification of buried cultural layers across the vast site area. It was only by the mid 1990s, and after considerable research in the Banff area 248

(Fedje 1996) that both erosion and archaeological sampling methods had progressed enough to identify the intact deposits. In the remaining intact area, it seems impossible to dig anywhere and not encounter multiple floors of well stratified, Late Pleistocene aged cultural material. As in the St. Mary's reservoir, the severe erosion has removed blanketing sediments and made the early Pleistocene deposits both visible and accessible. Rather than being represented by isolated flakes or projectile points, these deposits typically consist of small hearths with associated concentrations of cultural material including a variety of tools, debitage, cores and even some preserved fauna. The stratigraphic integrity of the site is striking; due to the very rapid aeolian deposition the floors are easily separated and this separation improves with depth, as does faunal preservation.

The reasons for this unusual wealth of material appear to relate to the unique setting of the site on a high, southeast facing bench at the strategic locale on the Cascade River, overlooking both the river and the Lake Minnewanka shoreline at its outlet. The site is located at the base of the Palliser Range, home to the largest modern mountain sheep population in Banff National Park. During the colder, drier conditions of the Younger Dryas, lowering of treeline would have favoured an expansion of mountain sheep range, and Fedje et al. (1995) have suggested that a focal mountain sheep economy was established in Banff by this time. The site is perfectly situated for intercepting sheep in their summer range on their way between the higher slopes and lakeshore, or as a base for traveling further up into the alpine. The consistent floors with their recurrent hearths and assemblages of cultural material suggest that the occupations represent seasonal hunting and gathering camps, perhaps occupied for several days or weeks (long enough for a variety of tools to be used and discarded, but not long enough for the accumulation of large quantities of cultural material such as debitage). Winds funneling down the Cascade blanketed the site with loess from the retreating delta; this deposition slowed considerably with landscape stability and the establishment of Holocene vegetation.

Although the occupations are described here as dense, this is certainly relative, since a calendar span of almost two thousand years may be represented by the dated 249

Pleistocene deposits (ca. 11,300 to 13,150 calendar years B.P.). Whether the site was a known camp that was purposefully sought out and returned to over successive generations living in the Bow Valley and its environs, or simply rediscovered many times by transient explorers due to its obvious suitability for sheep hunting and location along a preferred travel route is unclear. Given that less than 1% of the entire site has been sampled, literally hundreds of discrete occupations may have once been present.

Due to the significant peturbations in atmospheric carbon during the Late Pleistocene, it is unlikely that radiocarbon dating will ever provide the necessary resolution to sort out the complex cultural relationships suggested by the brief appearance of Clovis points, followed almost simultaneously by Folsom, Goshen, Agate Basin and Hell Gap. Goshen, for example, has been suggested on the basis of early radiocarbon dates to be a Clovis contemporary; however more recent discoveries suggest that it may be a successor. For this reason, the stratigraphic superposition of a Goshen-like point immediately beneath a Hell Gap point at Lake Minnewanka, with their accompanying radiocarbon dates and associated samples of cultural material is extremely interesting. How Goshen fits with Fedje's Trial constructs of Banff I and Banff II remains unclear, but they will clearly require modification in future as more data is obtained relative to this dynamic period of cultural change.

The two lowest, well defined occupations at the Lake Minnewanka site did not yield any diagnostic artifacts, although the basal/lateral edge juncture of a fluted or basally thinned point was recovered from the oldest, Occupation 8 in Operation 17. The unusual concentration of pieces esquillees or bipolar cores and small, blade-like flakes from Operation 21 seems technologically highly similar to the lowest levels from Vermilion Lakes, and the oldest dates from these two sites overlap at a single standard deviation. Unfortunately, due to the effects of calibration this date exhibits a large calendar range, overlapping both Clovis and Folsom, and possibly even early Agate Basin/Mesa (11,800 - 13,150 B.P.). 250

The mid-range (ca. 12,500 B.P.) suggests a Folsom time period, and Fedje suggested a tentative Folsom range for the earliest occupation at Vermilion Lakes, based on the date and some perceived similarities with the Indian Creek site. However, the unusual bipolar cores and near exclusive use of local materials seems quite un-Folsom like and these "similarities" are not well defined. The calibrated range of dates, together with the use of coal in one of the earliest hearths at Lake Minnewanka and the nature of the assemblages could be argued to suggest a very early transient exploring population is represented by Banff I.

What is certain is that this unique site is rapidly eroding away. Most of Area 1, where all of the fluted points have been found (including one in 1983 and one in 2001), has already scoured down to till or bedrock, although limited intact areas are still possibly present. In the spring of 2004, a Parks Canada warden monitoring the site collected a Goshen point from the surface of Area 2. During the 1998-2002 mitigation program, a Bitterroot point and two Agate Basin/Lusk points were the only diagnostics collected from this area of the site, and the oldest diagnostic collected by Reeves (1976) from this particular area was a Scottsbluff point. This indicates the progressive nature of erosion, gradually revealing the deeper cultural material. Due to the truncation of the naturally undulating ground surface it is still possible that topographic highs within Area 2 containing intact Clovis aged or older material now lie very close to the surface, fully accessible to excavation and further erosion.

In particular, now that the boundaries of an intact area with dense concentrations of material have been isolated, it would be possible to change the excavation strategy to concentrate on the potential deeper material. For example, as soon as the site is accessible in spring, Operation 7 and Operation 21 (at the highest elevation in Area 2) could be re-opened, the backfill removed and excavations proceed downwards from the previous floors. Depending upon the weather, it might be possible to bottom out these blocks on till, perhaps with the use of pumps near the bottom. Similarly, expansion of Operation 18 to the north would permit removal of the remainder of the hearth and 251 several floors immediately beneath the Goshen occupation. Recovery of any diagnostic artifacts from this block would be extremely interesting.

The 1998 - 2002 study (although monumental in the author's mind) was, in reality, a very minor excavation program, involving as few as four people for as little as two weeks some years. The total current sample is only 87 square meters, and none of the units have bottomed out. The total financial sum expended by Parks Canada under its threatened sites budget for the five years was less than $50,000.00. In comparison to the efforts and financial commitment expended at the Vermilion Lakes site (as part of the requirements for the Trans-Canada Highway mitigation study) this expenditure has been laughably small. Although the Lake Minnewanka site lacks the colluvial flows clearly separating occupations exhibited at Vermilion Lakes, the stratigraphic integrity of the site is demonstrably high, despite truncation of the upper levels. More importantly, the Vermilion Lakes site bottomed out in sub-aqueous lake deposits, with no potential for older cultural material. In contrast, the proven presence of Clovis points at Lake Minnewanka, combined with the stratigraphic potential of the site, indicates that it contains a record extending back to the earliest period of human use in the area. Ironically, the remnant portion of the Vermilion Lakes site is now fully protected, whereas the accessible portion of the Lake Minnewanka site will be fully destroyed within twenty years.

The differences in the level of effort expended at the two sites are largely due to a combination of timing and the nature of impact. Parks Canada is notoriously under funded by the Federal Government, and the situation has steadily worsened since the 1980s. Within the agency the available monies are needed for crumbling infrastructure and protection of environmental integrity; research dollars are desperately required for long term wildlife studies and initiatives. Archaeological studies thus represent a less critical concern in the minds of many within the agency. Since the Vermilion Lakes studies were completed in the early 1980s, under the budgets and legal requirements for Trans Canada Highway mitigation, a completely different financial situation prevailed. 252

At the same time, there is possibly a third factor involved. At the time of the Vermilion Lakes study (1983, 1984) the ice-free corridor was still the dominant paradigm for first peopling, and the requirements for archaeological research at the site could be "sold" as cutting edge science that was clearly necessary due to the direct impact of highway construction and the very early radiocarbon dates (the oldest in the corridor at the time). Today, the ice-free corridor has been largely abandoned as a research paradigm, making the Lake Minnewanka site a far "quainter" proposition, to some only of regional interest, and not worth pursuing as vigorously as a scientific imperative despite its threatened status. This fascinating shift in paradigms will be addressed in the next chapter. 253

CHAPTER NINE: THE ICE-FREE CORRIDOR DEBATE

The collapse of the ice-free corridor as the primary explanatory mechanism for first peopling of the New World has been, in a scientific sense, remarkably abrupt and pervasive. The discipline has swung from considerable acceptance to considerable skepticism over the course of a few decades. Some of the anti-corridor rhetoric is surprisingly strong. Madsen (2004:393), for example, shows a touching degree of faith in some of the recent paleogeographic studies, noting that: It is, of course, entirely possible that currently held notions of an interior post-glacial ice-free corridor opening up only after about 11,000 C yr BP (13,000 cal yr BP) may change, just as currently accepted hypotheses about plate tectonics and continental drift may ultimately prove to be in error. Whether or not such interpretive changes are probable is, however, an entirely different matter... "

Of most interest is the extreme oversimplification of the complex glacial and biological history of the corridor by many archaeologists; it is simply pronounced to be either "open" or "closed" by such and such a date, and that date varies enormously depending upon the theoretical viewpoint of the individual archaeologist (for example, Early Entry, Clovis First, Coastal Entry, Europeans First etc.). Studies from other disciplines are routinely cited and often combined in unusual juxtapositions to fit the favoured archaeological scenario. A passage from Stanford and Bradley (2002:256) illustrates this practice:

"Recent research indicates that the ice-free corridor may not have opened up until 11,000 yr B.P. (Jackson et al. 1996). After deglaciation, the ice- free corridor may have been barren of plant and animal life for a long period of time, and this would have rendered the area unsuitable for human habitation (Burns 1996; Mandryk 1990), until after Clovis times". 254

In fact, Burns (1996:107) demonstrated that megafaunal remains are present in central Alberta by pre-Clovis times (11,600 rcybp) and indicates that the ice had been in retreat for well over a thousand years prior to the first archaeological evidence of human occupation of the ice-free corridor; that is, he argued that the term "corridor" is inappropriate and misleading because of its sheer physical breadth and established fauna by Clovis times. Similarly Mandryk's complex reconstruction of the process of deglaciation concludes that human populations could have been capable of living in the corridor by ca. 12,000 rcybp (Mandryk 1992, 1996). Jackson and Duk-Rodkin (1996:223) specifically note that the late closure of the northern portion of the corridor did not conflict with the dates for Clovis. For Stanford and Bradley to juxtapose these references to argue against the corridor being unsuitable for use until after Clovis times is quite misleading. In contrast, Kelly (2003a: 139) cites the same study by Jackson to indicate that the corridor was only blocked by ice until ca. 12,300 rcybp, but probably not biologically passable until around 11,600 rcybp, just prior to Clovis. This reading, while supporting Kelly's theoretical stance, appears to be more in keeping with the "truth" of the matter.

Arguments regarding late "blockage" of the corridor by glacial processes, particularly by stagnant ice and proglacial lakes formed by Laurentide Ice can be misleading. While such blockages may have formed bottlenecks hindering the simultaneous free movement of the entire "mammoth steppe" faunal package throughout the entire length of the corridor, and the type of related human movements speculated by West (1996), human groups could have circumvented these partial blockages by moving higher into the mountains and foothills and working their way around such geographical obstacles. Similarly, if catabatic winds were not of sufficient intensity to keep the water open, a frozen lake may not have actually hindered human movement, but made it easier. A proglacial lake also must have been a rather dynamic entity, and colder climatic cycles or drainage events within the glacial warming period may have resulted in fluctuating water levels, exposing lake margins for easy circumnavigation. The time transgressive nature of landscape change throughout the 1400 km length of the corridor, seasonal 255 variations, and the nature and timing of alpine vs. steppe adapted animal movements is also a critical consideration, as well as the potential for considerable vegetation development, including coniferous forests, on stagnant, debris covered ice (Ritchie 1976:1805, Mandryk 1992, 1996).

Mandryk's (1996) discussion of the complexity of deglaciation is of particular interest (i.e. as a process, not an event, as commonly visualized). The massive amounts of debris contained within the ice sheets, particularly in the valley glaciers, would have resulted in the accumulation of extensive debris cover meters thick as the ice became stagnant through downwasting, rather than simple frontal retreat. This stagnant ice could have been capable of supporting vegetation, people and animals, but evidence for archaeological sites would be lost through geomorphological processes during the final stages of decay.

Of particular note is the complexity of the three different types of ice of interest. While maps of ice limits typically show a complete "dome" of coalesced Laurentide and Cordilleran ice across the Canadian west at the last glacial maximum (e.g. Dyke et al. 2002) this is simply a mapping convention that necessarily ignores the absence of ice over the spine of the eastern slopes and some of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, as well as the presence of independent Montane ice. Relative to the study area, the Cordilleran ice sheet was largely restricted to the interior of British Columbia, with great lobes of ice extending out to approach Laurentide ice only over lower altitude areas, like the major valleys, such as the Athabasca, North Saskatchewan, and Crowsnest, and coalescence has only been demonstrated for the Athabasca.

Much of the eastern slopes of the Rockies in the study area (e.g. the Bow Valley, Waterton) and parts of the Mackenzie mountains to the north were covered by "alpine" or "montane" ice; Clague and James (2002:72) note these individual glaciers were independent or semi-independent of the Cordilleran ice. During the most intensive glacial phase the alpine and Cordilleran ice coalesced, but retreat was a complex process which could have left vast upland areas ice free while stagnant, debris covered ice still 256 occupied the valleys. Although brief coalescence between Laurentide and Cordilleran ice has been firmly evidenced over parts of the corridor, such as the Athabasca Valley (Levson and Rutter 1996, Jackson et al. 1999), in others, like the Peace River district, the picture is different, suggesting alternating, time transgressive advances rather than coalescence (Catto et al. 1996).

Next to the obvious problem of developing a mental template complex enough to deal with the time depth of the continuously changing corridor, which simply has no modern analog, is the complexity of dating information available. Many studies of the ice-free corridor in the 1970s and 1980s cited very early dates for basal lake cores on shell, aquatic plants or organic sediments, which have since been proven unreliable (MacDonald et al. 1987). The difficulties with the interpretation of radiocarbon dates and the complexity of calibration, particular at the Pleistocene/Holocene boundary, are well- known, but poorly understood (Campbell and Campbell 1997, Fiedel 2002).

A recent study by Arnold (2002, 2006) has provided considerable clarity to the bewildering array of dates for the ice-free corridor. Applying a rigorous set of criteria for acceptance, Arnold amassed a series of over 600 published radiocarbon dates, of which fully half were ultimately rejected according to his strict criteria. The detail provided in his dissertation, including the rejected dates, make it an invaluable reference for ice-free corridor research, however his conclusions must be regarded with caution. Arnold uses the geographic density of radiocarbon dates as proxy indicators of biological richness, asserting that the absence of radiocarbon dates in the central portion of the corridor (southeast Yukon and extreme northeast B.C.) indicates that this area was not biogeographically suitable for occupation prior to ca. 11,000 rcybp. Although he considers the possibility of sampling error being responsible for this pattern, he rejects it as unlikely.

However, this part of the ice-free corridor has clearly seen far less research than other areas, particularly in the past twenty years, and sampling error must be considered a major stumbling block for interpretation. Arnold's maps also show almost no dates in 257 this same area between 11,000 and 8,000 rcybp, yet it is extremely difficult to argue that the area was biologically dead at that time. Despite decades of research, available dates are patchy and can be somewhat misleading if taken in isolation. For example, Wilson (1996) reports finding two Clovis points, a Plainview point, a Scottsbluff point and two microblade cores in the Pink Mountain site. This site, in the upper Liard drainage within Rocky Mountain Foothills of northeastern B.C. is undated and falls within the radiocarbon date free zone on Arnold's map; yet it clearly indicates human presence in the region prior to 8,000 rcybp, despite the absence of radiocarbon dates. Wilson (1996: 29) notes that "...the region around Pink Mountain is virtually unexplored archaeologically..."

However, the value of Arnold's research is apparent in the detailed consideration of radiocarbon dates that it provides. For example (2002:444), he illustrates a cluster of dates from the Mackenzie portion of the corridor for Period 3 (14,000 - 11,000 rcybp). From the total of seven dates, six were obtained on wood that came from deltaic deposits on the Mackenzie River; these dates form a tight cluster averaging around 11,400 rcybp, suggesting that the area only became biogeographically suitable for occupation by this time (Arnold 2006:133). However, the single date on wood in the same site cluster from the Andy Lake core is considerably older, at ca. 12,060 ± 80 rcybp. The Andy Lake core originates in the higher altitude alpine zone of the Mackenzie Mountains, above the limits of Laurentide ice, rather than from deltaic river deposits, and documents an early sparse Artemesia dominated herb tundra (Szeicz et al. 1995). Further, the authors believe that the 12,000 year record from Andy Lake probably does not represent a full record for the region (1995:367).

The danger of using radiocarbon dates alone as proxies for the timing and intensity of human occupation in the poorly studied portions of the corridor is clear. Within the same area, the series of dates from the deltaic deposits averaging ca. 11, 400 rcybp is offset by a single date 700 years earlier from a high elevation site. Were it not for the single early date obtained from Andy Lake in 1995, the interpretation of landscape history in the area might be quite different. Catto et al. (1996:30) note that very little 258 research has ever been undertaken in northernmost British Columbia and southeastern most Yukon, precisely where the gap in radiocarbon dates is most pronounced. Additional studies, particularly in higher areas that were not overridden by Laurentide Ice, are clearly necessary before Arnold's suggestion of very late biological closure of the corridor until ca. 11,000 rcybp can be demonstrated.

Mandryk's (1996) reconstructed approximate biological opening between 13,000 and 12,000 rcybp seems more likely. A more recent study utilizing mapped glacial limits and amassing pollen data from 246 sites across western Canada by Strong and Hills (2005) takes into account the erroneously early aquatic dates provided in some cores, but still indicates the presence of a continuous swath of sparse arctic/alpine vegetation across an open corridor by 12,000 rcybp. However, their projections also indicate a band of mixed/boreal forest separating the arctic and grassland paleovegetation zones by this early date and its subsequent rapid expansion into a larger treed belt by 10,000 rcybp (Figure 54). They also document the very rapid spread of arboreal vegetation into the former arctic/alpine vegetation zone, and suggest that it could evidence a refugium for arboreal vegetation in the Yukon or Alaska (Strong and Hills 2005:1058).

The "closing" of the corridor by boreal forest was discussed earlier by MacDonald and MacLeod (1996), however they believed the corridor was open between ca. 12,000 and 10,000 rcybp and provide a later date for "closing" by spruce forests; in their model a fully open steppe tundra was connected to open southern grasslands for two thousand radiocarbon years with no intervening forests, which would have permitted free movement of mammoth steppe species until ca. 10,000 rcybp. They note that the unpalatable vegetation, thick ground cover and soft peaty substrate of boreal forests would subsequently discourage the movement of large grazing mammals such as horses, bison and mammoth. The newer reconstruction by Strong and Hills (2005) is markedly different, suggesting a present and ever expanding buffer of forest between the northern and southern corridor environments between 12,000 and 10,000 rcybp. Their model could explain the surprisingly late (ca. 10,500 rcybp) meeting of the northern and southern forms of bison in the Peace River District (Shapiro et al. 2004). o o

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Given the presence of Nenana sites in Central Alaska by 11,800 rcybp and Clovis sites south of the ice by 11,300 rcybp, together with Mandryk's reconstruction of biological viability of the corridor by ca. 12,000 rcybp, and current understanding of glacial limits and vegetation history, it is extremely difficult to accept assertions such as those of Stanford and Bradley (2002) that the ice free corridor was "closed" too late to account for Clovis. However, based on these same studies it seems less likely that the ice-free corridor can account for the earlier presence of people in South America, as summarized by Mandryk et al. (2001), Dixon (2001), and many others. The South American data is significant, but somewhat contradictory, and is briefly summarized below.

South American Pleistocene Record

Evidence for very early occupation of South America lagged behind the early discoveries of Folsom and Clovis in North America, and for many years the continent was largely ignored by North American based scholars. However, as increasing archaeological research was undertaken from the 1970s onwards, the continent became better known and an apparent paradox for the Clovis First theorists emerged, with the discovery of a series of sites believed by many to be as old or even older than Clovis.

The most well known of these is the highly controversial Monte Verde site (Dillehay 1989, 1997) which appears to have cultural remains dating between 12,000 and 12,500 rcybp. A number of other potentially early sites South American sites are described by Gruhn (2004) and Miotti (2004). The earliest South American sites evince unusual cultural patterns in comparison to the world wide record for the Late Pleistocene, with extremely limited use of recognizable stone tools in favor of pitted and naturally fractured rocks. The good preservation at Monte Verde has revealed a rich record of fiber and wooden artifacts, as well as preserved plant and medicinal foods, including seaweed, which would have been transported to the inland site over 30 km from the modern coastline. 261

Dillehay and Rosen (2002: 241) describe Monte Verde as having a "plant- oriented unifacial tool industry", characterized by the use of naturally fractured sharp edged rocks, simple pecked and ground stones, edge-trimmed unifacial tools and (very rare) bifacial tools. They indicate that the unifacial industries are wide spread across South America, pre-date later bifacial industries, and are coetaneous with extinct megafauna such as mastodons and camels, which may have been scavenged as part of a broad spectrum foraging economy, rather than necessarily hunted (perhaps explaining the scarcity of projectile points).

This interpretation of early human adaptation in South America remains controversial (Meltzer et al. 1997, Fiedel 1999). For example, Roosevelt et al. (2002), in a detailed summary of South American prehistory that stands in sharp contrast to the Monte Verdean interpretation, indicate that no definitive sites on the continent pre-date ca. 12,000 rcybp, that all well-documented early sites are characterized by bifacial tool industries, and that no megafaunal bone is clearly contemporary with human occupation. However, they describe a series of diverse, regional Paleolndian cultures contemporary with Clovis, suggestive of broad spectrum hunting and gathering. These cultures are typified by a variety of triangular and stemmed bifaces in well-dated stratigraphic contexts largely post dating ca. 11,500 rcybp. They suggest that the regional South American Paleolndian complexes are more similar to Nenana than Clovis (2002:188), and believe that the data indicate a near instantaneous radiation of people throughout the hemisphere soon after ca. 12,000 rcybp, with Clovis simply representing one early regional adaptation.

More recently, Kelly (2003 a: 136) has thrown some doubt on the validity of radiocarbon dates from South America, stating that "It is worth considering whether late Pleistocene 14C dates from the northern and southern hemisphere are systematically out of sync with each other". He notes that although the Younger Dryas climatic event is believed to represent a rapid, world-wide phenomena, the Antarctic Cold Reversal apparently preceded it by approximately 1000 radiocarbon years, and that differences in both deep ocean and atmospheric carbon between the northern and southern hemispheres 262

could have exacerbated the known "oddities" of radiocarbon dating Late Pleistocene sites.

For many years, the accepted paradigm has been that atmospheric mixing should have ironed out slight global fluctuations in radiocarbon calibration curves, however quite recent decadal comparisons of tree rings from New Zealand with northern hemisphere tree rings have shown that "significant temporal variations in the magnitude of the hemispheric offset exist" (McCormac et al. 2004:1087). The authors conclude that it is desirable to use calibration data obtained from secure, dendrochronological dated wood from the corresponding hemisphere for calibration, however, the oldest New Zealand record only extends back to ca. 950 A.D. The degree of offset documented to date does not approach the magnitude inferred by Kelly, nevertheless, the level of uncertainty introduced to the notoriously difficult to date Late Pleistocene/early Holocene is noteworthy. McCormac et al. (2004: 1091) are only willing to extend their projected calibration back to the early Holocene, and indicate that calibration of Pleistocene aged sites in the Southern Hemisphere must await the development of a future dendrochronological record.

The Coastal Route

Despite the most recent questions regarding the validity of the "plant-oriented unifacial tool industry" and the synchronization of the earliest South American dates, the "buzz" surrounding Monte Verde in the early 1990s, followed by its general acceptance as a valid pre-Clovis site (Meltzer et al. 1997) generated an enormous amount of interest in the first peopling debate, and initiated a resurgence in interest in a coastal route of entry (for summaries see Dixon 2001, Mandryk et al. 2001, Erlandson 2002). At the same time, Clovis based paradigms in other disciplines, such as the three wave migration model proposed by Turner (1983) and the linguistic classification proposed by Greenberg 263

(1987) also were challenged, igniting considerable ferment across many disciplines and further galvanizing research interest in the coastal route.

Somewhat surprisingly, given her initial conclusions regarding significant areal glacial retreat opening the corridor physically by 14,000 rcybp and full corridor social/biological viability by ca. 12,000 rcybp (Mandryk 1992, 1996), Mandryk et al. (2001:301) have more recently revised the estimates for corridor viability downwards, seemingly in response to new data obtained from the coast, stating:

"Geological findings from glacial geology and paleo-sea levels support the possibility of coastal migration from Beringia to the Pacific Northwest between about 14,000 and 10,000 B.P., and preliminary paleoecological data suggest that the coastal landscape was in part vegetated and probably able to support a terrestrial fauna, including humans. The same cannot be said about the "ice-free corridor."

There has been an intense convergence of scientific interest in the coastal route, including a large number of studies of the genetic sequences of modern species in coastal refugia, isotope analysis of human bone, palynology, glacial history, sea-level change, bathymetric mapping of drowned landscapes, and archaeology. Although no definitive, pre-Clovis sites have yet been identified along the northwest coast of North America, the millions of research dollars invested into their discovery over the past ten years and increasingly sophisticated understanding of early landscape modeling has stretched the archaeological record increasingly further back into the Pleistocene.

Perhaps the most compelling "package" supporting the possibility of coastal entry focuses on Haida Gwaii, as summarized in the recent set of papers edited by Fedje and Mathewes (2005). The mapping of drowned landscapes, the very early dates for the establishment of forest vegetation, and the fascinating evolutionary studies of endemic species makes for compelling reading, especially combined with both Haida oral history and recent archaeological discoveries. The Kinggi Complex, a non-microblade using, bifacial tradition using exclusively locally available raw materials is present in Haida Gwaii by ca. 10,600 rcybp (Fedje and Mackie 2005:158). The authors describe faunal 264 evidence from the very earliest period as sparse, but note that by ca. 9500 rcybp, at Kilgii Gwaay, black bear and a variety of sea mammals and deep water fish were being utilized. Microblades, possibly associated with the Alaskan Denali Complex enter the tool kit by ca. 8900 rcybp, together with firm evidence for a full maritime adaptation in the Moresby Tradition.

Although the current earliest date is still very slightly later than earliest Clovis, the extreme difficulty in discovering appropriate landforms dating to the dynamic Late Pleistocene must be taken into consideration, together with the recent understanding of the level of complexity of landscape change due to glaciation, sea level change, tectonic rebound, and marine transgression. The convergence of glacial and palynological studies indicate that at 12,000 rcybp Haida Gwaii was joined to the mainland by lower sea levels and a vast plain existed in the now submerged Hecate Strait. By 10,000 rcybp much of this landscape was drowned and by 9000 rcybp sea levels were about 15 meters higher than today. Fedje and Josenhans (2000) recovered a rooted pine stump from 145 meters below sea level dating to ca. 12,000 rcybp, and in general palynological studies indicate that a wet herb tundra was in place by ca. 15,000 and widespread by 13,000 rcybp. A rapid expansion of coniferous forest began by ca. 12,500 rcybp (Lacourse and Mathewes 2005:50).

The faunal evidence for early landscape suitability for human use is also striking. A bear femur dating to ca. 14,500 rcybp was recovered from Moresby Island, and 17 bears dating to older than 9,000 rcybp have been recovered from Graham Island (Wigen 2005: 106). The earliest ungulate, possibly deer or caribou, has been dated to ca. 10,900 rcybp. Mitochondrial DNA studies on the endemic species of Haida Gwaii have yielded extremely interesting results; while some species appear to have spread into the archipelago post-glacially in a brief terrestrial window of opportunity when sea levels were still lowered (such as Dawson's Caribou), for others the possibility of a full glacial refugium has been suggested. Reimchen and Byun (2005) believe that the highly divergent mitochondrial lineages of stickleback, black bear, marten and short tailed weasel, together with the presence of a number of disjunct plant species, all indicate that 265 an ecologically productive full glacial refugium existed off the coast of British Columbia. This refugium may have been the source area for post-glacial recolonization of the Pacific Northwest.

Thus, the assertion of Mandryk et al. (2001) that parts of the northwest coast of Canada were available for human habitation as mature ecosystems far earlier than the ice- free corridor seems unassailable. If people reached the far southern coast of South America by 12,500 rcybp, conventional wisdom has it that the initial movement must have begun by at least 500 years earlier, suggesting first migration prior to 13,000 rcybp, at which time current models suggest that the corridor (although physically open), would not have been biologically productive enough to support habitation.

However, there have been some objections to the coastal migration hypothesis. Yesner (2001) noted that the earliest known sites in Alaska are all from the interior and north, and not the southern coast. He suggested that sites such as Broken Mammoth evidence pioneering colonization by inland adapted people with little knowledge of local lithic materials, between ca. 12,000 and 11,500 rcybp. He believes the absence of evidence for earlier coastal occupations, together with the harsh conditions in the Gulf of Alaska make coastal migration less likely than interior migration. The push that initiated this migration was the drowning of the Bering land bridge and wide scale climatic change initiated by deglaciation.

Similarly, in a wide ranging review of the prehistory of Siberia, Goebel (1999) notes that "Recolonization of the Siberian north occurred after the last glacial maximum, with humans reaching the arctic coastal plain of Yakutia by 12.5 kya". However, these Siberian cultures were microblade using; unlike the Nenana Complex of Alaska, Clovis, or the Kingii Complex of Haida Gwaii. Since the convergence of genetic and linguistic evidence strongly supports Siberia as the ancestral homeland of living aboriginal Americans (Schurr 2004), this could be taken to suggest that the migration must have occurred before the late glacial maximum, prior to widespread expansion of microblade technologies in Siberia, in which case the environmental capabilities of either migration 266 route becomes moot. Conversely, the apparent absence of microblades in the Nenana Complex may simply mean that the earliest colonizers have not yet been found, that sites of the right type have not yet been identified, or that they abandoned microblade technology quickly for more expedient methods (perhaps in the face of poorly known or poor quality lithic raw materials). Additional consideration of microblade representation is given in Chapter Ten.

Arguments regarding the lack of any evidence for marine adapted cultures in Siberia at an early date are difficult to evaluate, given the extreme degree of coastal landscape change, and the possibility of rapid coastal movement along the shoreline. It seems likely that the new focus on the coastal route and in particular the convergence of multidisciplinary studies in specific research areas such as Haida Gwaii will soon result in the identification of Clovis aged or earlier sites in environmental settings that were not even being looked at a mere twenty years ago. While these efforts can only be heartily applauded, from the perspective of an Alberta archaeologist, one cannot help but feel all of the chagrin of an abandoned, middle-aged spouse faced with a new trophy wife. While undeniably fresh and attractive, the new wife is (by comparison) outrageously expensive and demanding, with her constant requests for higher resolution deep sea mapping, more environmental reconstructions, and dredging of the ocean floor, followed by ever escalating demands for full scale underwater surveys and excavations.

Luckily, this dissertation is not concerned with the broader issue of first peopling on a hemispheric or even a continental scale, since the current ferment and explosive diversity in opinions appears set to continue for some time. The focus of this research is the nature of Pleistocene use of the Rocky Mountains of Alberta. Since it is probably safe to assume that even if people were present in North America prior to the glacial maximum, glacial processes would have removed or greatly altered any evidence for their presence in Alberta, this focuses the time period under consideration to post ca. 13,000 rcybp. 267

If human entry into the New World was a post glacial event, unless one can envision people moving down the coast in boats, abandoning their maritime orientation, skirting the Cordilleran glaciers, crossing the Rockies and moving back north towards where they came from in unbelievably short order, the ice-free corridor must be considered as a possible source area for the first archaeological cultures in the Province. Recently, Stanford and Bradley (2002; Bradley and Stanford 2004) have revived the idea that the first colonizers of North America came from Europe, across the Atlantic ocean, landing in eastern North America, perhaps explaining the frequency of many of the best candidates for pre-Clovis there (e.g. Cactus Hill, Meadowcroft, the Johnson site). This idea has gained considerable attention in the popular media, but has met with skepticism in the archaeological literature; for recent summaries see Meltzer (2003); Straus et al. (2005). The overwhelming genetic evidence suggesting a Mongolian or Siberian origin for New World peoples suggests that they must have ultimately come from northeast Asia, either through a coastal or interior route, or both. Whether separate migrations occurred both before and after the last glacial maximum (Madsen 2004) remains an open question.

The Ice-Free Corridor; How Closed was Closed?

The demonstrated presence of the Nenana Complex in the mountainous interior of Alaska by 11,800 rcybp and the Clovis Complex south of the ice sheets by 11,300 rcybp, together with considerable similarities in their stone and bone tool technologies (Goebel et al. 1991, Stone and Yesner 2001) suggests the possibility of critical human migration(s) through Alberta during this period. Indeed, the very widespread, archaeologically instantaneous nature of the Clovis phenomena and the possibility that there are earlier, poorly known microblade cultures in the far north, such as Swan Creek (Bever 2006) and Bluefish Caves (Morlan and Cinq-Mars 1982), suggest that the first migration may even have occurred prior to 12,000 rcybp. 268

Hunter-Gatherer migration is a very poorly understood social or archaeological phenomenon (Anthony 1990). Until relatively recently, many archaeologists envisioned migration as a simple "wave of advance", rather than a more complex, directed process. Anthony (1990) points out that migration is typically a directed process along known routes that are scouted out in advance; the pattern produced by hunter gatherer migration might be modeled as a channelized leap frog, leaving swathes of unoccupied terrain between more desirable patches. In such a fashion, entire kin based groups may move hundreds of kilometers at speeds of a few generations (i.e. archaeologically "simultaneous"). Although migration is envisioned as resultant from classic economic based "push/pull" factors, some of these factors might not be archaeologically visible.

For example, the dramatic long distance leapfrog migration of Quitdlarssuaq and his band from Baffin Island to northern Greenland, their seven year stay with the Polar Eskimo and the subsequent disastrous return to Baffin Island appears to have resulted from purely social factors, rather than archaeologically visible economic factors (Mary- Rousseliere 1991). Politis (1996) describes the vast territory and high residential mobility of the Amazonian Nukak, as well as the sudden appearance of a band of 43 Nukak hundreds of kilometers from their home territory in 1988. Numerous examples abound in the ethnographic record, not just of rapid migration, but of the very sophisticated geographic knowledge of hunter-gatherers, extending well beyond their normally occupied ranges. Politis (1996) notes that the Nukak have five territorial dimensions: their habitual band territory, their regional band territory, specific distant regions where task groups travel occasionally to obtain desired resources only available there; distant regions to which they never travel but nevertheless know of, and finally, their mythical or ideological territory.

Of course, the ethnographic record cannot provide us with a full range of analogies to model hunter gatherer migration into North America. Almost all ethnographically well-known groups in the anthropological literature were or are living at or near carrying capacity in marginal environments where they were pushed by more settled peoples, with whom they often intensely interacted (Wobst 1978). The 269 archaeological signature expected from movement of even a small group of hunter gatherers into a fully vacant hemisphere with vastly different ecological conditions than any known today becomes extremely difficult to fathom (Kelly 2003b).

What seems apparent from the most recent studies is that the model of humans following herds of mammoth and bison south through the ice-free corridor is no longer tenable. In particular, the relatively late date for northern and southern bison meeting in the Peace River vicinity (Shapiro et al. 2004) and the most recent vegetation reconstructions (Strong and Hills 2005) indicate that forested conditions followed much sooner after deglaciation than previously understood; if these forests formed on stagnant ice together with a network of unstable and constantly shifting lakes the movement of large grazing species would have been severely impeded.

At the same time, hunter-gatherer migration must be envisioned as a directed process, not a chaotic one (Anthony 1990). Migrating hunter-gathers would not enter an area completely unfamiliar to them (unless driven by a sudden environmental catastrophe, such as a volcanic explosion). Rather, a complex set of push and pull factors would have had to exist to encourage first scouting, and then migration. It is probably impossible to model the psychological, social or ideological factors which may have been involved.

One possible economic "push" factor is fairly easy to model. The rapid rise in sea levels and climatic amelioration just prior to 12,000 rcybp is well documented, and the effects on low lying plains such as the Beringian plains would have been quite dramatic. There is good evidence for inland adapted hunter gatherers in both eastern and western Beringia at the time; there may well have been coastally adapted hunters as well. The drowning of the landscape and resultant movement of more people into eastern Beringia, together with extinction or redistribution of species may have encouraged considerable exploration of newly opening areas. However, the potential "pull" factor into the ice-free corridor from eastern Beringia is harder to model, given the inhospitable nature of the reconstructed landscape. 270

Rockman (2003) discusses the importance of the interaction of traditional environmental knowledge and landscape learning with migratory push-pull factors. She suggests that landscape learning is a consistent process that takes its form from contingent situations (2003:12). She notes that traditional environmental knowledge encompasses three basic types of information: locational (locations and physical characteristics of necessary resources), limitational (boundaries and costs of necessary resources) and social (attribution of names, meanings and patterns to natural features). Locational knowledge is the easiest to acquire, and is undertaken throughout an individual's life. Limitational knowledge, since it refers to the usefulness, reliability and costs associated with different resources, is far more complex, and she suggests it takes at least a generation to develop limitational knowledge. Finally, social knowledge includes understanding cyclic environmental changes encoded in oral history and place names, and may take several hundred years to acquire, or a complete environmental cycle for important resources. For example, she notes that the Nunamiut encode oscillations in the environment favouring terrestrial or marine species in oral histories that document mountain sheep turning into beluga and wolves becoming killer whales.

Rockman suggests that there are a number of different types of barriers that may be encountered by migrating peoples, including social and population barriers; but in the case of a colonizing migration in an unfamiliar landscape, the only barrier is landscape learning and traditional environmental knowledge. Thus,

"The ability of colonizers to use information from an older area in a newer area depends on the similarity of necessary resources in terms of location and distribution, the limitations in terms of carrying capacity, and the social organization required to access them" (2003:18).

If the "similar necessary resources" were not those of the mammoth steppe, and if southern mammoth, bison and horse did not penetrate far north until after Clovis times, then what was the "pull" factor in the ice-free corridor? Was it simply generally ameliorating climate, or were there specific species that drew people into the corridor? Faunal data are quite limited, and our understanding of plant use in this early period is not 271 even rudimentary, but there are some interesting clues afforded by consideration of dietary reconstructions from the Nenana Complex, and the few earliest known occupations in the Rocky Mountains.

Dietary reconstructions for the 11,000 to 11,800 rcybp layer at the Broken Mammoth in the Tanana Valley of Alaska site demonstrate a highly diverse fauna was being exploited at this time (Yesner 2001:321). The ungulates include bison, elk, mountain sheep, caribou and moose, and they form a large proportion of the assemblage, which contains a surprisingly high representation of bird bones (primarily tundra swans, geese, dabbling ducks and ptarmigans). The waterfowl are migratory birds, with the exception of ptarmigan, an alpine bird. A surprising variety of burnt and butchered bone from small game species was also found, including ground squirrel, hare, marmot, pikas, otter and arctic fox. Yesner notes that this variety indicates that Nenana people were exploiting a wide variety of different ecozones in the immediate site vicinity, including open parkland, wetlands and mountainous uplands. Mammoth bone is present only as curated tusk fragments, some of which date considerably older than the cultural material. This generalized forager adaptation would have given Nenana peoples considerable flexibility and familiarity with a wide number of necessary resources.

The earliest faunal data from the study area come from the oldest levels at the Vermilion Lakes and the Lake Minnewanka sites, at ca. 10,700 rcybp. Faunal preservation was poor, but both sites show a strong preference for mountain sheep in the earliest layers, and at Vermilion Lakes, Wilson (1984) also documented burnt, unidentified bird and ground-squirrel sized rodent remains in the earliest cultural levels, and a possible caribou antler fragment. Slightly later levels show use of rabbit (Lepus sp.). Fedje et al. (1995) interpret this as evidence for a very early focal sheep hunting economy in the northern Rocky Mountains.

The Lake Minnewanka site is located within the southern limit of the largest and most important mountain sheep home range in Banff National Park (Geist 1971). The oldest dated potential evidence for human occupation in the Canadian Rockies is the 272 hearth and related cluster of artifacts at the Harris Creek site at ca. 11,300 rcybp, although this date requires confirmation. Although no faunal material was recovered from that site or nearby site FfQm 24 (which yielded fluted or basally thinned point bases but no date) the high, subalpine setting and northerly latitude strongly suggests that sheep would have been the primary ungulate species available at that time, as they are today.

Maps of coalescent Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets typically illustrate a long, narrow alpine arm extending from easternmost Beringia south along the Mackenzie Mountains, and many assume this arm to have been too rugged and harsh to support life. Given the familiarity of Nenana Complex peoples with species readily available in the alpine of easternmost Beringia, such as mountain sheep, marmots, pikas, hares and ptarmigans, combined with the very early evidence for sheep hunting south of the ice, and the potentially earlier landform stability of higher elevation terrain vis-a-vis proglacial Laurentide lakes, it is worth considering the possibility that the availability and ease of seasonal exploitation of mountain sheep and other alpine fauna may have been one of the pull factors for earliest exploration of the ice-free corridor.

Mountain Sheep and Glacial Environments

Mountain sheep are a geographically wide-spread, Ice Age mammal that did not become extinct at the end of the Pleistocene, although their range became more restricted. This discussion is largely based on Geist's fascinating study of three herds of mountain sheep in western Canada and Alaska (1971). Geist (1971:9) describes sheep as "...extremely diverse, large-horned, successful glacier followers with narrow food habits and landscape preference but great adaptability to climatic conditions." He attributes the wide distribution of sheep to their unique relationship with glaciers; i.e. as an early colonizer of recently deglaciated terrain. They are highly specialized grazers, able to live on very dry, grit covered alpine plants. By invariably staying close to escape terrain (open, rocky slopes greater than 30 degrees) they can successfully avoid significant predation. Although wolves, coyotes, bears, mountain lions, lynx, wolverines and eagles 273 all may occasionally prey on sheep, the unlucky animals typically include particularly weak lambs or old, tired individuals that stray into wooded areas or deep snow. Eagles are the only predators capable of taking sheep from their steep escape terrain, but their predation is focused on very young lambs (Nichols and Bunnell 1999:66).

Geist (1971:13) notes that sheep are extremely loyal to their home ranges and the strong role of dominance and aggression in sheep society encourages them to strictly maintain their traditional winter and summer home ranges over successive generations. Both winter and summer ranges are high, open, grassy slopes, but winter range is invariably on higher, southern exposed slopes to obtain warmth and avoid snow cover, and altitudinal shifts allow them to maximize nutrition. Rams mature slowly and will wander more, in a follow the leader fashion into new territory, particularly if they are hunted or in a population expansion. When forced to move into new territory, they will strictly avoid flat and forested landscapes; Shackelton et al. (1999:80) note that sheep will spend as much as 85% of their time within 100 meters of rocky escape terrain. Sheep will rarely move more than 40 km in seasonal migration between ranges, and typically far less (as little as five km); Geist (1971) documents many sheep (especially ewes) spending their entire lives on the Palliser range in Banff. However, they are also capable of long distance movement over hundreds of kilometers when necessary.

Nichols and Bunnell (1999) note that due to their specific landscape and dietary preferences, sheep have few competitors. Although mountain goats are also an alpine adapted species, goats eat primarily forbs and shrubs rather than grasses and rarely overlap sheep ranges; elk, deer and caribou all depend upon trees for cover and browse, especially in winter. Although bison like open grassy alpine terrain in summer, the steepness of most slopes and need for elevation shifts discourage them from staying long in preferred sheep habitat, and never in winter. Surprisingly, Nichols and Bunnell (1999: 68) note that two possible competitors for sheep habitat are marmots and ground squirrels, however due to hibernation, their direct competition is only in the less critical summer season. 274

Sheep behaviour makes them susceptible to human hunting. Their extreme fidelity to highly specific summer and winter ranges, lambing spots, minerals licks and the trails between them make them highly predictable. Geist (1971: 79-83) noted that on average, 85% of the rams he studied could be found on the same range in the same season in successive years, and ewes are even more faithful to their ranges. Thus, for a human hunter, once sheep have been observed on a specific mountainside in July, he can be confident that they will appear there again the next July. This makes the construction of blinds along trails and the use of upward hazing, nets or snares particularly suitable for sheep hunting. Sheep can be lightly hunted without negative consequences however intense hunting pressure is one of the few factors that will result in sheep migrating from their home ranges into new territory (Geist 1971, Nicholls and Bunnell 1999).

Mountain sheep are generally divided into two major species and two subspecies (Geist 1971). Bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) are currently found in the Rocky Mountains from central Alberta to California, in a highly fragmented distribution (Figure 55). Their current northernmost winter range in the Rockies is at 54 degrees and 20 minutes north, approximately 75 km west of Grande Cache, on the continental divide at the headwaters of the Smoky River, although isolated rams have been spotted as far north as 54 degrees and 40 minutes (Demarchi et al. 2000). Bighorns have been known since the earliest exploration of the west, and were first described scientifically on the basis of a ram obtained by McGillivray near Seebe, east of Banff in 1800 (Len Hills personal communication 2008). The oldest dates for fossil bighorn sheep in Alberta are from the Cochrane pits, in the range of 11,300 rcybp (Wilson 1996). In the past, bighorn sheep extended from the mountains east into the foothills and even the prairies along the steep broken escarpments of rivers and tributary streams, but their range has been greatly reduced by hunting and habitat change. The southern form (desert bighorn) were once thought to be a separate subspecies, but recent genetic studies (Ramey 1993) suggest that the variation is clinal in nature. 275

"nnfc

1 OALL S SHEEP 2 STONE'S SHEEP 3 ROCKY MOUNTAIN BIGHORN 4 OESERT BIGHORN

ORIGINAL PERIPHERAL RANGE PRESENT SUBSPECIES BOUNDARIES PRESENTLY OCCUPIED AREAS (1981)

Figure 55 Bighorn and thinhorn sheep ranges (Figure taken from Valdez and Krauseman 1999). 276

The second species of mountain sheep, Thinhorn sheep (Ovis dalli) are found in larger, more continuous ranges from the north side of the Peace River extending into northern Alaska. Thinhorn sheep were not scientifically described until considerably later than bighorns, due to their remote habitat. Valdez and Krauseman (1999:14) note that the generally accepted taxonomy provides for two subspecies of thinhorn sheep, Dall's sheep (Ovis dalli dalli) and Stone's sheep (Ovis dalli stonei). The major morphological differences with bighorn sheep are horn size and pelage. Dall's sheep (first described from the Tanana Hills in 1884) are typically white coated. Stone's sheep (first described from the Cassiar Mountains of northern British Columbia in 1897) are typically black coated.

However, this distinction is complex, since complete colour interdigitation between Dall's and Stone's sheep has been documented, and the subspecies are more easily distinguished based on their individual mountain ranges and general group pelage, rather than individual pelage. Dall's sheep are very widespread across all of Alaska and most of the Yukon (including both the Richardson Mountains and Mount St. Elias ranges, at the extreme east and west of the territory). They are similar in appearance to Siberian snow sheep. In contrast, Stone's sheep are far more restricted to the Rockies and Cassiars of northern British Columbia, extending upwards into south central Yukon. Distinction of the two forms as true subspecies has been debated due to the similarities in skull morphology and intergradational coat pelage. Both types of thinhorn will interbreed in captivity (they will also freely interbreed with bighorns and produce healthy, fertile young).

The generally accepted division of mountain sheep into bighorns south of the Peace River and thinhorns north of the Peace River is based on glacial history; with bighorns representing a refugial population from south of the ice sheets and thinhorns the descendents of Beringian species (Geist 1971). Thus, their modern separation at the Peace River is a reflection of post-glacial expansion into the ice-free corridor from both of these two major refugia. Geist believes that sheep would have expanded their population rapidly in the early post-glacial alpine tundra due to ease of movement in a 277 vast expanse of treeless terrain, but that the increasing presence of arboreal vegetation would have eventually halted this expansion and caused populations to stabilize in the alpine as the environment stabilized. He suggests that sheep have been unable to expand their ranges since the onset of the Holocene for this reason, and believes that the Stone's sheep of northern B.C. may be headed towards extinction as a result of their increasingly closed, forested habitat. Sheep in Banff have been able to maintain high population density as a result of drier, windier climatic conditions and more frequent fires.

This reconstruction of sheep evolution seems fairly common sense and has never been questioned until very recently. Part of the reason for this is that remarkably little is known regarding mountain sheep genetics. As recently as 1999, in one of the premier textbooks on mountain sheep, genetics was assigned to a brief appendix, in which Bunch et al. (1999:276) candidly noted that they were unsure whether morphology, genetics, ecology, paleontology, behaviour or a combination of factors would be of most use in defining species and subspecies. They stated that "Although the newer DNA technologies have been used to study evolutionary relationships among a number of mammalian species, it is still too early to assess their impact on sheep systematics^

In 2006, Loehr et al. published the first comparative study of mitochondrial DNA from 223 Bighorn, Dall's and Stone's sheep, with astonishing results. Their study tested for genetic relatedness as well as divergence time for a number of different herds of thinhorn sheep, bighorn sheep, desert bighorn and Siberian snow sheep. Although their results confirmed the presence of two major refugia with a very long divergence stretching to the mid Pleistocene (for bighorns south of the ice and thinhorns in Beringia), the relationship between different sub populations of Dall's, Stone's and Bighorn sheep was far more complex than expected.

Specifically, the haplotypes of Stone's sheep from northern B.C. (thinhorns) were more similar to bighorns than to all other Dall's sheep. At the same time, a long divergence between the species was indicated, pre-dating the glacial maximum. Finally, relative to all other sheep on the continent, the black Stone's sheep of northern B.C. 278 appear to have undergone a fairly severe genetic bottleneck. Loehr et al. interpreted these results as indicating that a population of sheep survived in a glacial refugium in northeastern B.C. throughout the glacial maximum, spreading rapidly after deglaciation. Catto et al. (1996) indicate that coalescence did not occur in the Peace River/Grande Prairie region resulting in a temporally and geographically shifting ice free corridor; however they felt that the environment would only have been capable of supporting some plants and small animals.

Remarkably, similar results were obtained for the Dall's sheep of the Mackenzie Mountains, that is, a long divergence of this population from all other Beringian Dall sheep was indicated. This confirmed the reconstruction of the glacial history of easternmost Beringia as blocked from the rest of Beringia (Catto 1996, Jackson and Duk- Rodkin 1996). However, this population did not undergo as severe a bottleneck as the Stone sheep, possibly suggesting that the ice free area was much larger, or that some limited gene flow with other sheep populations was maintained. A period of rapid population expansion in this group appeared to have occurred slightly earlier than for the Stone's sheep, suggesting to the authors that deglaciation began earlier there. However, a second long term refugium was clearly indicated.

Loehr et al. (2006:429) concluded: "Our findings are the first to suggest that an organism could have survived the Wisconsin glaciation in refugia in northern British Columbia and the Mackenzie Mountains, and demonstrate the importance ofmtDNA as a tool to further knowledge about glacial refugia and ice age paleoenvironments and paleoecology ... Although previous research has resulted in consensus that the environment of ice-free areas in this region was very severe...we have provided new insight into the paleoecology of the region, since our evidence suggests that the region could have been inhabited by a large mammal for the duration of the last ice age." The authors note that although major glacial refugia such as Beringia are well understood there is typically very little evidence to support the existence of smaller, cryptic refugia, due to the lack of fossil evidence and insufficient detail from the study of glacial limits. However, genetic evidence can help identify and reconstruct these sites; for example 279 plants of the Packera genus have recently been demonstrated to have survived in southwestern Alberta in cryptic refugia between the ice sheets or in nunataks above the ice (Golden and Bain 2000). Reeves (1971: 205) noted the presence of a mosaic of nunataks in the foothills and mountains and their potential significance. Packer and Vitt (1974) also suggested the presence of a series of nunataks in the Rockies, based on disjunct arctic/alpine plants. Catto et al. (1996:21) note that "Numerous isolated areas along the western foothills of the northern Rocky Mountains, west of the Laurentide glaciation limit, were never glaciated during the Late Wisconsin'''. Driver (1998b) noted the presence of a disjunct population of arctic collared lemmings at Charlie Lake; although he considered the possibility of refugial survival, he considered it less likely than rapid post-glacial expansion followed by equally rapid extinction, however no strong evidence to support this interpretation over refugial survival was offered.

The generally "out-of phase" movement between Laurentide and Cordilleran Ice (Dyke et al. 2002) and independent Montane glaciers (Clague and James 2002) suggests a very complex temporal process of coalescence and deglaciation that may have permitted for more survival of organisms in geographically shifting alpine refugia than might be envisioned based on typical maps showing the entire spine of the Rockies overridden by Cordilleran ice in a single Late Glacial Maximum event that would not allow for survival (e.g. Dyke etal. 2002:12).

Presumably, as the glacial maximum approached, small pockets of mountain sheep, goats and other alpine fauna such as marmots, rabbits, ptarmigan, pikas, voles and ground squirrels were initially isolated in different refugia in the Alberta Rockies and Foothills. Some refugial populations may have survived for centuries or longer before becoming extinct; others may have survived into deglaciation. Estimates of the minimum numbers of mountain sheep required to maintain a genetically viable population vary from as low as 50 to as high as 150 animals (Shackelton et al. 1999:138). Depending upon the unique history of each cryptic refugium, as the glacial maximum approached and the habitat deteriorated species incapable of moving long distances across rugged terrain and glacial ice would have become extinct or isolated into very small pockets, but 280 others may have survived by moving. Although normally philopatric, mountain sheep are uniquely adapted to the dynamic near glacial environment and able to migrate long distances across the ice, which may explain the survival of Stone's sheep and the genetically distinct Dall's sheep of the Mackenzie Mountains.

Additional mtDNA studies of specific pockets of mountain sheep throughout the ice-free corridor would obviously be of considerable interest, together with studies of other alpine species of potential economic interest to colonizing people, such as marmots, weasels, pikas, ground squirrels and ptarmigan. Ancient DNA research might demonstrate the presence of other refugia south of the Peace River, although such studies will be restricted by the very poor fossil preservation in alpine and subalpine environments. In comparison to studies of endemic species on isolated islands such as Haida Gwaii, studies of cryptic glacial refugia in the Rockies are enormously complicated by post-glacial expansion of species from the two major refugia; however the astonishing results of the mountain sheep mtDNA study illustrate the importance of pursuing such studies.

Ecology, Colonization and Traditional Knowledge

Ecosystems are enormously complex biological, climatological and geographic entities; our understanding of modern, seemingly transparent ecosystems is so limited that it seems arrogant to presume to understand the extinct ecosystems of the Late Pleistocene. An example from the study area is the recently gained level of understanding of the Rocky Mountain Golden Eagle flyway; studies have revealed a massive, previously unsuspected twice yearly migration of golden eagles, with as many as 6000 birds from as far south as California flying in a very narrow corridor along the eastern slopes of the Rockies in transit to Alaska, Yukon and the Northwest Territories. Migrating raptors use mountain ranges as "leading lines" for migration, which can concentrate them into very specific, highly visible channels (Kerlinger 1989). 281

While binoculars and a lot of time are necessary to accurately quantify the true scope of the golden eagle migration, during its April and September height a short scramble up many easily accessible slopes in the southern Rockies will allow anyone with reasonably good eyesight to count dozens of the huge birds soaring overhead in a steady stream in the course of a very few minutes. That scientists should have been unaware of the true scope of this highly visible phenomenon for a top avian predator until quite recently speaks volumes for our understanding of ecosystem complexity.

The antiquity of the golden eagle flyway and other flyways for significant migratory birds common along the Rockies, such as trumpeter swans, can only be guessed, but given the time transgressive nature of corridor closure and the presence of the mountains for leading lines, some flyways may have been maintained throughout the glacial maximum. Excavations at the Broken Mammoth site have revealed the unsuspected significance of migratory birds to people of the Nenana Complex. Each spring, the flurry of avian arrivals into the north must have been highly anticipated. Each fall, their flocking and departures must have been viewed with curiosity. Traditional knowledge, at the locational, limitational and social scale (Rockman 2003) would have been used to structure human interactions with migratory birds. The possible raven burials at the Charlie Lake Cave site (both in the earliest fluted point component and a later microblade component) may point to the significance of birds to traditional knowledge at a very early date (Driver 1999).

Fladmark (1986:15) and others, including Mandryk et al. (2001: 302) have (quite rightly) poked gentle fun at the "myth" of the ice-free corridor, running through the minds of archaeologists like a highway beckoning Paleolndians south. However, from the perspective of traditional knowledge, there must have been many stories and legends to account for the spectacular annual arrival and departure of hundreds of thousands of birds to and from the south, especially given the possibility that some may have followed relatively narrow flyways over the ice-free-corridor. Human cognitive mapping and wayfinding is extremely complex, but to undertake it successfully humans must acquire 282 and use environmental knowledge, together with the most fundamental component of landscape legibility, i.e. landmarks (Golledge 2003:25).

Kelly (2003b:54) notes that landscape learning would have affected the speed of colonization, in a featureless or treed plain it is far more difficult to navigate than along a coastline, river or linear mountain chain. A linear mountain chain, with easily recognizable landmarks can provide vistas for distant viewing that might well "beckon" one south. Of course, traversing such a landscape over long distances would be difficult, and would require a route along lower elevations adjacent to the alpine or only occasionally traversing it, rather than through it (as Kelly states, too much topography may cause its own problems). He notes (2003b) "In addition to expecting colonizers to move along environment "corridors " whose resources were known, we might also expect them to move where the landscape is more easily internalized into a cognitive map."

Mandryk's (1992, 1996) consideration of the physical, biological and social opening of the ice-free corridor stresses that it was a process, rather than an event. She postulates that the rapid retreat of ice after ca. 14,000 rcybp permitted biological viability of the corridor as a human migration route by ca. 12,000 rcybp. At this time, people were present in eastern Beringia, and the very rapid sea level rise just prior to ca. 12,000 rcybp (Clague and James 2002:81) may have provided an added demographic push of several hundred people into eastern Beringia over a relatively short period of time. Loehr et al. (2006) model rapid population expansion of Dall's sheep from the Mackenzie Mountain glacial refugium prior to this time, and the familiarity of Nenana Complex people with sheep hunting could have encouraged seasonal penetration deeper into the Mackenzie Mountains as the foothills opened up and the environment became more productive. Strong and Hills (2005) also indicate the potential for refugial survival of some arboreal species in easternmost Beringia, in which case, together with the new sheep data, an even more rapid biophysical productivity for much of the corridor than that modeled by Mandryk could be indicated. Engstrom et al. (2000) have recently demonstrated that lakes become biologically productive very quickly after deglaciation; that is, there is a tight hydrologic coupling between terrestrial and aquatic environments during the 283 colonization of newly deglaciated environments, rather than a lag. This would make the corridor more attractive for resting (and eventually nesting) by migratory birds.

The sheer predictability of sheep relative to their home ranges, combined with relative ease of hunting (particularly of naive herds), ease of wayfinding and viewshed exploration in a linear, high relief setting, and the need to acquire environmental knowledge (such as the winter ranges of migratory birds) could have encouraged very extensive seasonal scouting expeditions along the southern frontiers of easternmost Beringia. It is probable that the black Stone sheep of northeastern B.C. were the first major "southern" species encountered by the first hunters to cross the upper Liard. The Peace River/Grande Prairie glacial refugium may have been environmentally more mature than surrounding regions, due to the lack of coalescence in this region, as well as being home to a (by then) sizeable sheep population. If so, it may have formed a logical first "leap frog" for full time human residence in the central corridor. There would have been no impediments to human occupation of this region by 12,000 rcybp or even earlier, as indicated by very early dates on shrub tundra, open poplar forest and boreal forest summarized by Beaudoin et al. (1996).

Once people were established as seasonal residents in the Peace River/Grande Prairie region, continued scouting south along the eastern slopes of the Rockies could have proceeded in exactly the same way. Immediately south of the Peace River, small refugial sheep populations or expanding bighorn sheep from the southern refugia would have been encountered. It is not difficult to envision the initial scouts following closely along the mountain front, faced with the relatively featureless terrain of north central Alberta, particularly if the early establishment of mixed forests as postulated by Strong and Hills (2005) or of a bewildering combination of karst topography/stagnant ice and glacial lakes as modeled by Mandryk (1996) was still present further to the east.

However, once south of the Athabasca, and especially south of the Bow River, it becomes increasingly difficult to model a restricted distribution of scouting expeditions along the eastern slopes and foothills, focusing on mountain sheep. Strong and Hills 284

(2005) illustrate a broad, V shaped lobe of grassland penetrating well into central Alberta by 12,000 rcybp (Figure 54). At the extreme southern corner of the province, the Milk River was already draining unimpeded into the Missouri, and, as noted by Burns (1996) the southern half of the province can hardly be described as a "corridor", due to the significant retreat of the ice margins. A rich, terminal Pleistocene fauna from the southern refugium including mammoth, camel, horse, bison, musk-ox, caribou, and numerous small fur-bearers and birds was established in the region by 11,600 rcybp (Burns 1996, McNeil et al. 2004).

Of interest is the rapid, post-glacial expansion of bighorn sheep documented by both mtDNA and the fossil record. Populations of bighorn were not restricted to the alpine, but expanded east along the precipitous slopes of the major river valleys, as they were forming and stabilizing after glacial retreat. The Cochrane gravel pits (near Calgary, Alberta) have yielded a southern refugial faunal assemblage containing bighorn sheep, horse, caribou, and bison, also dating to ca. 11,300 rcybp (Wilson 1996). The mixture of fauna suggests that if focal sheep hunters were moving south along the mountain front from northeastern British Columbia, and following sheep out along drainages, they would eventually encounter a vastly different grassland fauna. Moving out into this grassland would not entail the same landscape learning difficulties postulated for a treed/featureless north central Alberta, since the Rocky Mountains and other outliers to the south (such as the Sweetgrass Hills and Cypress Hills) form highly visible landmarks on the horizon. At this stage, movement would be unimpeded and wayfinding and landscape learning might shift to following established river valleys, such as the Missouri drainage system.

The earliest dates for southern refugial fauna entering southern Alberta are ca. 11,600 rcybp (Burns 1996); these dates lag considerably behind the earliest vegetation dates (Strong and Hills 2005). This has been widely suggested to indicate that vegetation was too sparse to support a significant faunal presence before this time, and by extension, a human presence. However, these dates are largely from valley gravel fills well to the east of the Rocky Mountain front, and primarily record highly gregarious fauna recovered as a result of extensive gravel pit excavations. The presence of sheep in the mountains to 285 the west 500 or even a thousand years earlier would leave a far less visible signature, yet still be completely possible given the reconstructed glacial and environmental record. Similarly, the delicate bones of birds and small fauna such as marmots and pikas simply do not survive or are not typically recovered from gravel pit fills. Large scale gravel extraction is quite rare within the Rocky Mountain front in Alberta, but tends to focus in the vicinity of the largest population centers, such as Edmonton and Calgary.

In sum, recent palynological reconstructions (Strong and Hills 2005) and mtDNA studies (Loehr et al. 2006) suggest that the central and northern portions of the ice-free corridor may have become biologically suitable for human use very soon after deglaciation. Although not proven, this could include not just the presence of sheep, but related fauna known to have been economically useful, such as marmots, ground squirrels, pikas, rabbits, ptarmigan, and migratory birds. A "leap-frog" movement to the postulated Peace River cryptic refugium would have been possible as early as ca. 12,000 rcybp. A further leap frog south might have required the presence of additional cryptic refugial populations of sheep in the Alberta foothills and mountains, or to await the movement of southern bighorn and other species north. If relict, highly fragmented sheep populations were present, they may not have been capable of withstanding hunting pressure, or they may have been genetically swamped by later influxes of bighorn, leaving no modern descendants. However, it is also possible that intensive scouting by groups of young hunters from the Grande Prairie/Peace River carrying dried meat and snaring birds could have made trips of several hundred kilometers south in a few short weeks, permitting rapid and very early migration (cf. Carlson 1991).

Of particular interest is the recently discovered cluster of early sites in the high subalpine of the Mountain Park area (Landals et al. 1995, Kulle and Neal 1998a, 1998b; Meyer et al. 2007). The presence of disjunct arctic/alpine plants indicates that an alpine refugium capable of supporting plants existed in the area (Packer and Vitt 1974, Strong 1999). Although Kulle and Neal (1998a, 1998b) were unable to stratigraphically separate the earliest occupation levels at the Harris Creek site from later occupations, the presence of a hearth possibly dating to ca. 11, 300 rcybp surrounded by a scatter of over 100 286 artifacts, including small, bipolar cores and large quartzite unifaces is quite striking. The hearth (a small basin of amorphous organic stained material with a single slab capping it) is very similar in form to those of the slightly later occupations in the earliest levels of the Lake Minnewanka and Vermilion Lakes sites.

More recently, Meyer et al. (2007) have discovered the base of fluted or basally thinned points in an undated context from FfQm 24, less than one kilometer away from FfQm 27. Indeed, diagnostic artifacts from a number of sites in this cluster suggest recurrent use of this particular high mountain valley (at the uppermost divide of the North Saskatchewan and Athabasca drainages) from the Late Pleistocene throughout the early to mid Holocene, dwindling only after the climatic optimum. The next well known "cluster" of Pleistocene aged sites to the south includes the Banff sites (Vermilion Lakes, Lake Minnewanka and Eclipse sites). There is very good potential for a substantial cluster of sites between Banff and Mountain Park in the James Pass area (Ronaghan 1993), however due to the minimal amount of work conducted to date, its potential remains unproven. The Banff sites strongly indicate focal sheep hunting in the expanded alpine of the Younger Dryas, followed by a shift to focus on bison after ca. 10,000 rcybp.

Further south, evidence for Pleistocene aged sites in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta abruptly ceases. No dated Pleistocene aged sites or even documented surface finds of fluted points have been made in the Alberta Rockies south of Banff, although a Clovis point has been recovered from the Belly River in Montana (Reeves 2003). The oldest evidence for sheep hunting in the southern Alberta Rockies comes from the Maple Leaf site, and is dated to ca. 8500 rcybp (Driver 1982, Landals 1986). The Indian Creek site in west central Montana, is of interest for its good faunal record, yielding evidence for consumption of bison, mountain sheep, marmots, rabbits and ground squirrel sized rodents, but its designation by Davis as a Folsom site and recent firmer dating to ca. 10,400 rcybp indicate that this adaptation, although very early, can no longer be considered colonizing. Frison et al. (1990) note that there are five sites in the mountains of Wyoming evidencing Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene sheep hunting, but provide little additional detail. One fascinating discovery was the discovery of a large net made of 287 juniper bark cordage dating to ca. 8900 rcybp; Frison suggests that netting may have been a common method for hunting mountain sheep, followed by clubbing to dispatch them, which would result in a paucity of diagnostic artifacts to evidence sheep hunting relative to the numbers of diagnostic points resultant from hunting larger game species.

Although Pleistocene aged sites are unknown from the southern Alberta Rockies, the presence of the Sibbald Creek site (Gryba 1988) in the Foothills and the Wally's Beach site (Kooyman 2001, 2005) in the prairies immediately to the east, and within sight of the mountain front are of obvious interest given the suggested model for earliest colonization described above. That is, a movement away from the mountain front south of the Bow River. These sites, together with the frequency of Clovis points in surface collected contexts, strongly indicate the presence of Clovis hunters in the grasslands of southern Alberta no later than ca. 11,300 rcybp. As one of the earliest dated archaeological sites in North America, at the southern opening of the ice-free corridor, the evidence for late Pleistocene horse hunting at Wally's Beach is particularly striking vis-a­ vis models for Clovis expansion (e.g. Kelly and Todd 1988, Kelly 2003b).

From a theoretical standpoint, it is unfortunate that Kooyman et al. (2005, 2001) do not mention the implications of their recent finds relative to the ice-free corridor debate. Twenty years earlier, their discoveries might have been heralded as vindication for the corridor, today the corridor does not even rate mention. It is unclear why this should be so. Many archaeologists appear to be holding any speculation regarding early colonization in abeyance until the implications for recent coastal discoveries and the very early sites from South America and eastern North America are better understood. However, there also appears to be an emerging consensus that Clovis within the ice-free corridor is resultant from a northward drift. Indeed, it is this theory, together with recent environmental reconstruction of the corridor environment as extremely harsh, that has resoundingly "closed" the ice-free corridor. Northward drift will be briefly considered in the following chapter. 288

CHAPTER TEN: CLOVIS AND NORTHWARD DRIFT

Despite the central place of the ice-free corridor in the lengthy debate regarding first peopling, the archaeological record of the western Canadian interior remains poorly understood and even ignored in the larger archaeological literature. Some of this is quite minor and may simply reflect a slight geographic "fuzziness" on the part of American scholars, such as Meltzer (2002) illustrating the central distribution of "Peace River fluted" points approximately 800 km too far south, G. Haynes (2002) placing the Vermilion Lakes site in the plains of Saskatchewan, or Powell (2005:119) inventing the mythical town of McKenzie, Alberta, Canada at 22°N (sic) latitude, and subsequently seeming to map the ice-free corridor over the geographic north pole (2005:120).

A more serious concern arises when the real data are simply ignored, rather than poorly mapped. For example, Roosevelt et al. (2002:160) provide a map and discussion of North and South American Paleolndian sites that is clearly meant to be inclusive of sites dated to ca. 10, 500 rcybp and older. The only Canadian Paleolndian sites mapped are Debert and Bluefish Caves, and there is no discussion of the corridor sites. While the omission of the Wally's Beach site is understandable given its recent initial publication date (Kooyman et al. 2001), the omission of both the Vermilion Lakes site (Fedje et al. 1995) and the Charlie Lake Cave site (Fladmark et al. 1988) is puzzling, given that both sites have been published in American Antiquity and are well known. The simple placement of these two sites on their map would certainly give it a very different complexion relative to the plethora of Pleistocene coastal sites indicated (their map is reproduced for comparison in Figure 56; it includes 14 sites with statistically identical or younger dates than Vermilion Lakes and Charlie Lake Cave).

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Figure 56 Map of Pleistocene aged archaeological sites, reproduced from Roosevelt et al. (2002:160). Note absence of Vermilion Lakes and Charlie Lake Cave, but inclusion of 14 similar aged dates. 290 truth; that is, they reflect how we perceive the world. The legibility of maps affects our ability to wayfind in both a physical sense and a cognitive sense. For example, the amazing maps of the North American interior drawn by the Swan for Peter Fidler in the early 19th century place the spine of the Rockies at the top of the map and show the rivers veeing down in strict order with remarkable precision, indicating not only detailed environmental knowledge over a very vast range, but the reality of wayfinding in the plains relative to the visual landmark of the Rockies, that is, they show us how the Swan perceived the world. Modern maps showing the vast interior of Canada with no Pleistocene aged sites (Roosevelt et al. 2002) reflect a broader perception of the ice-free corridor as culturally dead until colonized from the south.

Of course, much of the "fuzzy" perception of the Alberta data in the various maps and in the literature is due to the very limited nature of the local record, but it is also due to how the local record has been presented, particularly over the past twenty years. Most Alberta based archaeologists are relatively open-minded regarding either the ice-free corridor, the coastal route, or both as logical options; Wilson's somewhat skeptical, "wait and see" approach is probably fairly typical (Wilson and Burns 1996). Reeves' (1971) summary of the best available geological data at the time suggested the corridor would have been open by 15,000 rcybp, but he cautioned that the biotic opening of the corridor would have been later, and was essentially unknown. Even the strongest local supporters of the need for additional ice-free corridor archaeological research (e.g. Magne and Ives 1991, Ives et al. 1993, Beaudoin et al.1996) do not make any claims for a necessary primacy of the route; simply asserting that it needs to be investigated as one possible option for human entry. Other Alberta based archaeologists, most notably Bryan (1978, 1980, 1986) and Gruhn (1987, 1988, 2004) have advocated much earlier human entry, making the mere existence of the corridor moot.

In contrast, archaeologists from the coast are far firmer in their rejection of a possible role for the ice-free corridor, including Fladmark (1978, 1996, Fladmark et al. 1988), Driver (1998), Fedje et al. (2004) and, most recently Arnold (2002, 2006). Their research and theoretical viewpoints support a coastal entry as the primary route for people 291 entering the New World, followed by a later northward drift of terminal Clovis to account for the northernmost ice-free corridor Clovis sites such as Charlie Lake Cave and Pink Mountain. Possibly because the coastal proponents are far more firm and positive in their theoretical stance against the corridor, and have offered the model for northward drift, this view seems to have gained increasing ascendancy (e.g. Carlson 1991, 1996, Bonnichsen and Turnmire 1999, Hamilton and Goebel 1999, Dixon 2001).

Even well known Clovis supporters have drawn back from the potential of the ice- free corridor as a migration route; for example Kelly (2003a: 139) states that "There is virtually no evidence of late Pleistocene human activity in the corridor except at the southernmost end (Carlson 1991)". Similarly, Mandryk, despite earlier convictions that the corridor was viable as early as ca. 12,000 rcybp (Mandryk 1996) has since downgraded that estimate to ca. 11,500, seemingly based on Jackson and Duk-Rodkin (1996) as well as the coastal data (Mandryk 2001, Mandryk et al. 2001).

It is certainly a strange twist of fate (and a testament to their outstanding archaeological ability) that the two best stratified, earliest dated, widely reported sites in the ice-free corridor were discovered and excavated by coastal archaeologists. Fladmark et al. (1988), Driver et al. (1996) and Fedje et al. (1995) have produced outstanding research reports and exceptional articles on the Charlie Lake Cave and Vermilion Lakes sites; however none of these researchers have pursued the implications of their findings for continuing ice-free corridor research. Indeed, Fladmark, Driver, and Fedje's opinions regarding northward drift of Clovis have been highly influential in "de-bunking" the corridor.

The recent discoveries on the west coast (Fedje et al. 2004, Fedje and Mathewes 2005, Erlandson 2002, Dixon 2001) leave no doubt that coastal adapted people were traveling in boats along the coast of North America in the late Pleistocene. Given the now demonstrated presence of people on the coast in the late Pleistocene, there is no longer a compelling need to set up the ice-free corridor as a "straw-man" to be jousted 292 down in order to justify the need for consideration of the coastal route. Indeed, there is a real danger that this practice has distorted the interpretation of the archaeological record.

Kelly's (2003a) arguments regarding the widespread appearance of archaeological sites in North America only after ca. 11,500 rcybp are powerful, and seem to indicate that even if resident populations were present (as a result of early entry and/or drift inland from either coast), they seem to have either experienced a dramatic population explosion or been swamped by new migrants from northeast Asia at that time. The widespread distribution of fluted points over an extremely brief span of time remains to be understood, as do various other aspects of the Clovis phenomenon. Dating has always been problematic, along with the whole typological question regarding fluting as evidencing a single cultural expansion or simply a technique used by a wide variety of different cultural groups. Recent extension of the calibration curve and reconsideration of some earlier Clovis dates suggests that the time period of most interest is between 11,300 and 10,800 rcybp (ca. 13,200 - 12,800 calendar years B.P.)

Very few lines of evidence have actually been used to suggest northward drift of Clovis (and of other later Paleolndian groups). These include a supposed cline in dates, with the earliest dates being in the south and the latest in the north, as well as stylistic variability in projectile points, with the "true" fluted points from the south contrasted unfavourably with the small, basally thinned or multiple fluted points of the ice-free corridor and Alaska. The fluted points of the ice-free corridor are commonly portrayed as representing a uniform type, such as in Meltzer's recent depiction of "Peace River Fluted" points as a regional variant of equivalent age to Folsom (Meltzer 2002, see also Bonnichsen and Turnmire 1999). The reasons for the northward drift are rarely explicated in terms of a migratory push/pull, but more in terms of a natural movement into newly deglaciated terrain (Fladmark 1996). Carlson (1996:7) suggests that Clovis hunters were moving north "trying to continue a way of life doomed by changing climatic conditions and the extinction of Ice Age animals". Dixon (1999:187) suggests that southern Paleolndians became adapted to high altitude grassy parklands, as at Vermilion 293

Lakes, by 10,800 rcybp, which "pre-adapted" them to moving northward into higher latitudes, arriving at Charlie Lake by 10,500 rcybp and into Alaska shortly thereafter.

A late, northward drift for Clovis is certainly one hypothesis which may be proposed, nor should the possibility for later survival of fluting in some areas than others be discounted. However, it must be recognized that these lines of evidence are quite tenuous, and there are other lines of evidence equally suggestive of a southward movement of people through the corridor. These are discussed below.

Dating

The discovery and excavation of the Sibbald Creek, Charlie Lake Cave and Vermilion Lakes sites in rapid succession in the 1980s greatly expanded archaeological understanding of late Pleistocene occupation in the ice-free corridor. However, at that time, calibrations of the earliest dates were not possible, and some questionable interpretations resulted. The widespread misinterpretation of the dates from Sibbald Creek (Ball 1983, Fladmark 1996, Hamilton and Goebel 1999, Wilson and Burns 1996) has already been discussed.

Fladmarks' acceptance of the flawed dates from Sibbald Creek, together with his decision to average the non-overlapping range of bone collagen dates from Charlie Lake Cave, combined with the unavailability of calibration, resulted in his interpretation that Charlie Lake was at least 500 to 1000 years too late to represent proto-Clovis movement south. Driver et al. (1996) provide more dates and describe the faunal sample from the earliest stratum as having been deposited over a range of time with no clear association of any of the dated bones with the point, but despite this interpretation of the fauna, Driver also uses an average of 10,500 rcybp to describe the fluted component from the site. In a more recent article, he emphasizes that Charlie Lake Cave is too late to be of interest for first peopling (Driver 1999). The recent reconsideration of Clovis dates (Roosevelt et al. 2002), together with calibration (unavailable until recently) and better 294 understanding of bone collagen dates (Taylor et al. 1996) suggests that the dates for Charlie Lake Cave might better be expressed as a range, with the earliest limiting date for butchered bison bone (10,770 ± 120 B.P.) clearly overlapping with Clovis. Dates in the range of 10,800 B.P. have been reported from the classic Clovis sites of Lehner, Murray Springs, Dent, Domebo, Lange-Ferguson, and Anzick (Roosevelt et al. 2002). Indeed, even the average date for the site (10,500 rcybp) overlaps with the calibrated dates for Clovis, at 12,800 rcybp. Fladmarks' assertion that the site is 500 to 1000 years "too late" must be reevaluated in terms of the newly available calibrations.

There appears to be no evidence for a clinal distribution (in any direction) for Clovis dates on a continental scale; their tight calendar range is possibly the most baffling aspect of Clovis. The earliest dates from the Vermilion Lakes and Lake Minnewanka sites both overlap with the range for Clovis when calibrated. Kooyman's (2001, 2006) recent dates from Wally's Beach and the date from the Harris Creek site (Kulle and Neal 1998) are both in the range of 11,300 radiocarbon years B.P. While these dates alone are not enough to confirm evidence for a north to south movement through the corridor, they are both older than the weighted average for most currently accepted Clovis sites further to the south. Given that any single well dated site can change this picture dramatically, and the very small size of the current sample, it is probably unwise to invest the currently available dates with a powerful explanatory status. Between 11,300 and 10,800 rcybp people were living in Alberta, as they were in the rest of the continent. No northward drift should be inferred based on the currently available dates.

The multiple fluted points from Alaska have been considered by many to be evidence for northward drift, with the Alberta points as a link connecting them with classic Clovis from the south. The Alaskan record is complex and beyond the scope of this study (stylistic comparisons are briefly considered in the following section). However, the extremely poor dates for these points provide dubious grounds for comparison. Hamilton and Goebel (1999) provide dates ranging between 4500 and 21,000 years before present for Alaskan fluted points; none of these seem particularly convincing. Loy and Dixon (1998) have identified mammoth protein residue on Alaskan 295 fluted points, however Dixon (1999:172) dislikes these results, suggesting that they are controversial and that there is little evidence to suggest that humans and mammoths co­ existed in Alaska. Until a larger number of northern fluted points are found in excavated contexts and properly dated, and their typological variability is better understood, the argument that all of the Alaskan points are necessarily late seems circular.

Fluted Point Typology

The first major study of Paleolndian archaeology in the ice-free corridor was conducted by Wormington and Forbis (1965) based largely upon the examination of artifacts from surface finds. They noted that evidence for Clovis in Alberta was quite sparse in comparison to later Paleolndian Complexes such as Cody, and were the first to introduce the term "stubby" relative to Alberta fluted points (1965:184). They noted that one of the Alberta specimens was triangular (rather than lanceolate) and described another as "slightly fluted". At the same time, they recognized a few true, classic Clovis points in the surface collections, as well as true Folsom points and Folsom "variants".

In their evaluation of Clovis origins, they were cautious and warned that very little was known, but suggested (contra Haynes 1964) that Clovis had probably originated in the south, and spread north into Alberta. As well as basing their consideration on typological comparison, they were influenced by several other factors including the absence of Clovis precursors (Sandia points) in Alberta and the discovery of the Taber Child, a human skeleton believed to have been found beneath glacial till, indicating great antiquity for human occupation in North America. They thus envisioned Clovis as a later development from the southern Plains of the United States, and Alberta as a hinterland on the periphery of this core area, a reasonable assumption at the time. In their interpretation of several artifact caches from the Peace River area, which yielded numerous very large ovate bifaces and "broad lanceolate points" that might be recognized today as possible Clovis preforms, they were considerably influenced by the shallow depth of burial of the various caches within the plough zone, suggesting that this indicated no great antiquity to 296 the finds (1965:187). At the time, the differences between the deep Holocene deposits of southern Alberta and the shallow Holocene deposits of the Peace River District were not appreciated.

More recently, Gryba (1988) conducted a detailed study of fluted points in Alberta. Gryba's exhaustive study included examining, describing, measuring, drawing, photographing and obtaining accurate locational information from as many fluted points in private artifact collections as possible; he was ultimately able to include 175 specimens. Gryba recognized considerable variability in the Alberta sample, and identified many of the problems with it, including a very large number of points with extensive re-working, resulting in a short, squat appearance. With regard to the appearance of some points with single flutes, some with multiple flutes and some with basal thinning, he suggested that the differences were simply ones of degree; that an overlapping continuum could be produced by similar methods, depending upon the strength and competence of the knapper, the lithic material used, the size and shape of the knapping tool, etc. (1988:10).

He also suggested that due to the absence of a supply of good quality chalcedonies and cherts in Alberta, and the reliance by fluted point users on quartzites and siltstones throughout the province, one might expect to find fewer well fluted points; i.e. a more common pattern might be like one example from Lake Minnewanka, that appears entirely like a Clovis point, but is simply basally thinned rather than fluted (1988:14). He noted that points with multiple fluting or basal thinning are not restricted to Alberta, but found as far north as Alaska and as far south as Arizona.

More recently, Gillespie (2002) conducted a formal typological analysis of Alberta fluted points, including Gryba's data and a number of other points discovered since that study. Rather than documenting a simple tripartite distinction between Clovis, "stubby", and Folsom, his semi-quantitative approach resulted in the isolation of eight sub-types for fluted points in Alberta; some of these appear to be geographically restricted, but attributing meaning to the variations was hampered by small sample size 297 and lack of chronological control (Gillespie 2002:80). In at least some instances, the possibility was raised that some of the "sub types" might represent failures in technique; that is, an attempt to produce a single flute failed, followed by multiple flutes or basal thinning. Gillespie did demonstrate that the Alberta fluted points fit overall within the metric and typological ranges of variability for the American sample of fluted points as documented by Tompkins (1993) and Morrow and Morrow (1999) although they are clearly at the shortest end of the range. His interpretation favours northward drift of western Clovis.

In sum, there appears to be an increasing sentiment in the literature that the only type of Clovis points found in the ice-free corridor are stubbies, and that these "Peace River fluted" or "Charlie Lake" forms are a later, "degraded" type of Clovis, equivalent in age to Folsom or later types, evidencing a south to north movement of Clovis into the ice- free corridor (Carlson 1991, Fladmark 1996, Driver 1998, Bonnichsen and Turnmire 1999, Wilson and Burns 1996, Hamilton and Goebel 1999, Dixon 2001, Meltzer 2002). Dixon, one of the primary proponents of coastal entry, is quite forthcoming (1999:188) in noting that both Wormington and Forbis (1965) and he himself (1976) "proposed the south to north spread of Paleolndian technology based on the fact that the northern examples [fluted points] looked typologically later than those found on the western Great Plains".

Since "looking typologically later" has generally been regarded with some skepticism in archaeology at least since the Ford-Spaulding debates, this line of evidence awaits better dating to support it. Fiedel (2002; see also a more thorough earlier discussion by Carlson, 1991) suggests that the stubby points might also be interpreted as representing the developmental stage of Clovis, that is, people familiar with the concept of blade techniques might use such a method to thin a small triangular point similar to those used by the Nenana Complex, resulting in something that might look like a stubby. While equally unproven, this viewpoint highlights the impossibility of suggesting south to north or north to south movement based on typology alone, especially when supported with a single averaged date obtained on bone collagen from Charlie Lake Cave. Gryba 298

(2001) notes that the co-occurrence of both fluted and several small, basally thinned points in the Naco mammoth kill demonstrate that the same group of "classic" Clovis hunters used both techniques for their projectile points. The widespread practice in the literature of referring to the Alberta fluted points as representing a single late type (for example, Meltzer 2002) completely disregards the heavily reworked nature of the Alberta sample, as well as the very different quality of locally available raw materials.

A Doomed Way of Life

Carlson's (1996) suggestion that Clovis hunters fled north into the ice-free corridor, following the vanishing, cold adapted ice-age fauna in an attempt to maintain a doomed way of life is evocative, but not supported by any data. The only large ungulate associated with the fluted point component from Charlie Lake Cave was bison, which were flourishing in the south. The earliest components from Vermilion Lakes and Lake Minnewanka evidence mountain sheep hunting, another widely dispersed species in the south. The Wally's Beach site does document hunting of now extinct megafauna, but throughout most of the rest of the ice-free corridor it is unclear which species were being hunted, due to the absence of any faunal preservation and excavated sites. In contrast, mammoth kill sites appear to be concentrated in the southwestern United States, rather than along the northern margins of the ice sheets.

The timing and nature of megafaunal extinctions remain hotly contested (Grayson and Meltzer 2003, Fiedel and Haynes 2004, Kooyman et al. 2006). The recent discovery of butchered horse skeletons and the rich associated fauna and tracks from the St. Mary's reservoir evidence a very rich fossil fauna in southern Alberta between ca. 11,000 and 11,300 rcybp, however since the dates are older than most of the Clovis sites to the south, they provide no evidence for northward drift (indeed, the contrary could be argued).

In more general terms, the suggestion that Clovis people gradually moved north to occupy newly exposed lands cannot be disputed, due to the absence of any secure 299 radiocarbon chronology for or against the notion, although with an entire, sparsely occupied hemisphere available to them, and the short duration of the Clovis phenomena, it is difficult to envision why they would doggedly persist in moving northward into the poorly vegetated tundra or boreal forest fringe along with the retreating ice. Dixon's (1999) suggestion that high elevation sheep hunting, as evidenced by the Vermilion Lakes site, "pre-adapted" people into moving north into the extremely harsh environment of the ice-free corridor at an early date is also of interest for its recognition of the potential significance of sheep hunting, but provides no rationale for any kind of push or pull. Indeed ethnographic studies (Whiting et al. 1982) suggest that cold temperatures act as a barrier to northward migration in general, and it is hard to see how the environment in the north would have enticed seasonal sheep hunters north from the southern Rockies/Foothills/Plains. Again, these arguments remain quite circular without better data to address them.

Surface Finds

Clovis points themselves are the single most important diagnostic marker for Clovis, although macroblades, blade cores, some large biface reduction techniques, caches and certain bone tools such as shaft wrenches have all been considered as additional diagnostics. Clovis points can vary widely within a single site, as demonstrated by comparing the points from Naco (Haury et al. 1953), but also vary across the continent (Morrow and Morrow 1999, Gillespie 2002). The most distinctive aspect of the Alberta fluted points is the extreme degree of re-working and the often resultant stubby appearance; even so they fit within the range of variation for western American Clovis points (Gillespie 2002).

Over 200 points attributed to the fluted point tradition have been recovered from surface contexts in Alberta (Gryba 1988, 2001; Gillespie 2002). Alberta fluted points fall into two major spatial clusters (Figure 57) that correspond largely to the location of cultivated lands in the Peace River area and cultivated lands from central Alberta south. 300

In the larger southern cluster, the fall-off in abundance from west to east and corresponding decrease in association with major river valleys probably cannot be attributed to the effects of cultivation. If a northward drift of Clovis was operative, depending upon the timing it might be expected that points would be more abundant in the east, given their overall distribution in the United States and the rapid northward retreat of the southern margin of Laurentide Ice evidenced by the radiocarbon dates from southern Saskatchewan (Arnold 2006). This does not appear to be the case (Gryba 2001) although it must be recognized that surface points in Saskatchewan have not been studied in great detail (Dyck 1983, Wilson and Burns 1996). Similarly, the timing and presence of Glacial Lake Agassiz could also have influenced this distribution.

Over 90% of the fluted points from Alberta have been recovered from cultivated fields and blow-outs, indicating that sampling is a major contributor to the spatial patterning. This makes the recovery of any points from the forested regions of the Province unusual. Fluted points from the Rocky Mountains and Foothills include the largest concentration in the Banff area (recovered from the Lake Minnewanka site and an eroded trail at the height of Clearwater Pass), but fluted specimens have also been excavated at the James Pass site, Sibbald Creek, the Cheviot site, the Smoky site and the Smuland Creek Site. The James Pass specimen was broken, but probably represents a Folsom, rather than Clovis point (a second, basally thinned point recovered from excavations was lost before it could be photographed or described).

There are some "hot spots" in the province that contain not only concentrations of fluted points, but also other artifacts of interest. The Grande Prairie/Peace District has already been described relative to a distinct macroblade technology evidenced in surface collections suggested to be reminiscent of Blackwater Draw (Leblanc and Wright 1990). Similarly, the presence of at least one and possibly several artifact caches typified by very large bifaces and point preforms reminiscent of Clovis is also of interest (Wormington \*WWi Canada AW

AREA ; \ «°N ENtAKCEO , United States /

Figure 57 Fluted point distribution in Alberta (modified from Gryba 1988, Gillespie 2002). 302 and Forbis 1965). The High River area, south of Calgary, has also yielded concentrations of fluted points, but also microblades (Wormington and Forbis 1965) and wedge shaped microblade cores (Leblanc and Ives 1986). Gryba (2001) reports three concentrations of fluted points in addition to the above, in the Drayton Valley, Thorsby and Bruderheim localities. He notes that all of these clusters are situated on uplands around ten km from the North Saskatchewan River valley, all west of the vicinity of Edmonton. A number of microblade cores have been discovered in the Oilsands region of northeastern Alberta, however these remain largely undated, except through relative means. Reeves (personal communication 2007) believes that some of the microblade cores in the region are from sites which are of early affiliation (Cody and possibly older), based on the geographic setting of the sites and diagnostic artifacts in association. A well made, collaterally flaked lanceolate point recovered from HhOv 323 yielded mammoth protein residue (Saxberg and Reeves 2003)

Many of the fluted points in Gryba's inventory (1988, 2001) are fragmentary specimens that cannot be assigned to a specific type. A large number of unfluted points or points with basal thinning instead of fluting (Charlie Lake types) were classified by Gryba as "Goshen" (N=51); he believes that some of these points are probably Clovis points that simply could not be fluted due to poor material types, especially given their sometime spatial distribution in Clovis clusters typified by similar material types, but any distinction of the two possibilities is clearly problematic given the subtle range of variation in basal thinning. He classifies 69 points as Clovis, 26 as Folsom and seven as Midland (i.e. unfluted Folsom) (2001:277). The high frequency of Clovis and "Goshen" relative to Folsom/Midland is noteworthy, particularly given the different raw material type preferences exhibited and the differential distribution; the Folsom and Midland points are restricted to primarily the southern third of the province within the short grass prairies but the Clovis and "Goshen" types are more widely distributed. The very different patterns of lithic raw material utilization between his Clovis/Goshen and Folsom/Midland categories require discussion, but that should be preceded by a more general discussion of patterns of lithic raw material use in Alberta in general. 303

Holocene lithic raw material utilization patterns in Alberta

A large number of well-controlled, stratified, well-dated archaeological excavations have been conducted in a wide variety of environmental zones across the Province of Alberta. While the Late Precontact Period remains the best known from most areas, good samples from the Middle Precontact Period and some from the later parts of the Early Precontact Period have been obtained (Vickers 1986; Reeves 1983, 1991). The southern half of the Province remains much better known than the north; however the recent intensification of oil sands extraction in the north has greatly increased our understanding of this area (e.g. Saxberg and Reeves 2003). This discussion represents a generalized, highly simplified summary of Holocene patterns of lithic raw material use in Alberta.

There are virtually no extremely high quality bedrock lithic source materials in Alberta, similar to those that are found in the more southerly portions of the continent. Instead, people depended to a large extent on raw materials locally available in tills and alluvial gravels, including quartzites, various pebble cherts, mud and siltstones, Swan River Chert and petrified wood. Patterns of lithic raw material use vary across the province depending upon the specific local availability of materials, but do not appear to evidence any strong patterns of widespread trade of these localized materials.

For example, in the Fort MacMurray region and across northeastern Alberta, large quantities of Beaver River Sandstone are utilized in virtually every time period since 10,000 rcybp; however this material is not traded in any quantity into central Alberta or even northwestern Alberta. Pebble cherts are utilized in higher quantities in the Neutral Hills, quartzite in the Cypress Hills, good quality black cherts in the Peace River District and locally obtained Swan River Cherts in the southern part of the Province, but these are simply general trends reflective of the better local availability of some materials, rather than highly distinct patterns; most of these materials may be encountered in lesser quantities anywhere in Alberta. 304

In the mountains, bedrock lithic raw materials have already been discussed; most are present as small, brecciated cores obtained from nodular or bedded sources, perfectly adequate for local use but not worth trading over long distances (for example, Etherington Chert is a distinctive type common in the Crowsnest Pass, but virtually absent 50 km to the east). Poor to average quality black cherts and siltstones are ubiquitous throughout the Rockies and Foothills, and cannot be distinguished as to bedrock source.

Quartzites are probably the single most ubiquitous material in Alberta, widely present as heavy chopping tools and cores used to provide expedient flakes, but also as a variety of smaller flake tools, bifaces, unifaces and projectile points. Gryba (1988, 2001) has pointed out an important distinction in local quartzites, familiar to anyone working in a wide variety of areas across the province, but rarely explicitly discussed (quartzites in general are disregarded in most local lithic analyses, probably due to their ubiquity). There are two major geographic divisions in quartzite distribution in Alberta: northern quartzite and southern quartzite. To these, it is possible to add a third potential division, mountain quartzite. Each is described below.

Northern quartzite (sometimes called Athabasca quartzite) is of good quality, often displaying a near vitreous sheen and fine, homogeneous texture. Colours are relatively limited, typically ranging from grey to taupe to honey brown. Occasionally, speckled inclusions may be visible. One of the most distinctive aspects of northern quartzite is the tendency of some varieties to patinate; which is never seen in southern quartzite. Gryba (2001) notes that the chalcedony that cements the quartzite grains weathers to produce an oolitic like patina (a snowflake-like or tapioca-like pattern). He also describes northern quartzite as widely distributed across northeastern British Columbia, northern Alberta and northwestern Saskatchewan. In Alberta it is extremely common north of the Athabasca River valley and appears consistently in the Fort MacMurray area in small percentages (particularly as tools) even within sites dominated by Beaver River Sandstone. 305

Northern quartzite is particularly common in earlier sites in northwestern Alberta. For example, at GiQs 11 (Landals 1993), at an elevation of 840 m asl in the Saddle Hills (immediately above the highest strand line of Glacial Lake Peace) a spatially restricted floor containing evidence for the reduction of large bifaces made from this material, together with a few bipolar cores of black chert was excavated. Although the site was hypothesized to be of Early Precontact affiliation based on the bifacial reduction strategy, site location above the glacial Lake Peace strandline, preferred material type and presence of red ochre in small lumps around the single, basin shaped hearth, it has never been dated (despite yielding some bone). The rarity of cortex on many specimens of northern quartzite is noteworthy.

In contrast, from the approximate vicinity of the North Saskatchewan extending south past the international boundary, southern quartzites predominate. These quartzites are obtained as cobbles from till, gravels and lag deposits or conglomerates within bedrock formations and have thick cortex rinds; they vary considerably in texture, from coarse to fine grained, but typically exhibit a sparkly, brown sugary texture. Poorer quality pieces can grade almost to sandstone. The variety of colours is enormous, ranging from light to dark varieties of grey to blue to brown to yellow, orange, red, and purple. True black and true white are rarer, but do occur, and the range in greys is considerable. Typical examples of northern and southern quartzite are easily distinguished visually from each other at the level of an individual artifact.

Finally, mountain quartzites are probably the least distinctive of the three. They most resemble southern quartzites, however in general they are of poorer quality, with a sandier or grittier texture, and may include a range from quartzite to quartzose sandstone. Occasional higher quality pieces may be found, however. The colour range is not as extensive or vibrant as southern quartzite; typically they are much duller, ranging from black to grey, brown, blue grey to more occasionally dull pink. They are available both as cobbles in local mountain gravels and tills and from bedrock sources. The distinction between mountain and southern quartzite is difficult in isolation, since any single piece of southern quartzite might resemble a mountain quartzite. It is easier at the level of an 306 entire collection, for example at the Lake Minnewanka site, surface collection has yielded a number of finished quartzite bifaces and biface preforms; all of the early stage discarded biface preforms are made from mountain quartzite, but the large, broken, finely made finished bifaces appear to be made primarily from southern quartzite obtained from the plains to the east.

It is important to understand the local availability of raw materials in order to understand patterns of raw material trade from further to the south. In contrast to the poor to moderate lithic resources of Alberta, immediately south in the northern United States a large number of much higher quality lithic raw materials are present, including Knife River Flint, porcellanite, a wide variety of different cherts and chalcedonies from Montana, and obsidian. All of these materials were brought into Alberta throughout the Holocene, at different times in extremely high quantities. For example, the strong association of Knife River Flint with artifacts of the Cody Complex became clear very early (Wormington and Forbis 1965). Reeves (1990: 184) notes that at the Besant aged Muhlbach site (Gruhn 1969) in the Parklands of central Alberta, over 99% of the artifacts are made from Knife River Flint, despite the fact that the quarry is over 1500 km distant. He also notes that blocks of Yellowstone obsidian weighing 15 kg have been found in southern Alberta over 1200 km from their source. Finally, he notes the very widespread presence of various Montana Cherts (e.g. Madison, Avon, South Everson) in southern Alberta, accounting for as much as 90% of the tools in some sites.

The high frequency of these southern exotic lithic raw materials in Alberta has made them well known to most lithic analysts working in the Province. At the same time, unfamiliarity with the bedrock sources has probably resulted in considerable lumping; many researchers consider that almost any exotic chert or chalcedony comes from Montana and any high quality brown chalcedony to be Knife River Flint. This southern bias may have resulted in misidentification of materials from northern sources; for example Bereziuk (2002) and Ives and Hardy (1983) have suggested that Tertiary Hills welded tuff from the Mackenzie Basin may be unrecognized in Alberta assemblages. Similarly, some of the very high quality black cherts found in the Peace River and Liard 307 drainages could well originate from further north, but remain unrecognized as exotics due to a lack of distinctiveness from some of the better quality specimens of local black chert. An exception is distinctive Mt. Edziza obsidian, which has been identified in rare, early Holocene contexts in the Fort MacMurray area (Saxberg and Reeves 2003:311). Nevertheless, the overwhelming direction of movement of exotics into the southern half of Alberta throughout the Holocene is from south to north. Given the relatively distinctive pattern of Holocene lithic resource use in Alberta, comprised of both strong dependence on local materials supplemented by extremely long distance transport of high quality exotics from the south, a consideration of the late Pleistocene evidence is in order.

Late Pleistocene lithic raw material use

Gryba's detailed study of fluted points from across Alberta provides the best evidence for overall patterns of lithic raw material use during the late Pleistocene. As previously discussed, he (2001:277) classified points as Clovis, Goshen, Folsom, Midland, and unknown. The Goshen category needs special attention since it represents a continuum due to the nature of his typology; it includes some points that would probably be recognized as "true" Goshen/Plainview and all of the basally thinned triangular specimens (i.e. points variously known as "stubbies", Peace River fluted, or Charlie Lake types). Clovis points are most abundant (N=69), followed by "Goshen" (N=51), Folsom (N=26), Midland (N=12) and undetermined/questionable examples (N=13).

The true Clovis points include three made of probable Knife River Flint and three made of probable Montana cherts; all recovered from the southern half of the province. It is difficult to discuss percentages due to the low numbers of Clovis in general (69), but these six exotic points represent only 9% of all Clovis points in the sample. The basally thinned triangular ("Goshen") points have even lower numbers of exotics, including a single Knife River Flint specimen and two Montana Chert specimens (6% of the total). In contrast, Folsom and Midland points include two Knife River Flint specimens and 15 Montana Chert specimens, or nearly half of the total for these types (45%). Gryba (2001: 308

264) also notes that two of the Montana Chert specimens classified as Clovis and basally thinned triangular respectively are somewhat "iffy" small/fragmentary specimens that should possibly have been designated as Folsom; this would make the southern sourced exotic figures 4% for basally thinned triangular, 7% for Clovis and 48% for Folsom/Midland. These numbers are quite striking given the continental pattern for both Clovis and Folsom, which is typified by the high usage and curation of the best quality lithic raw material types, often found hundreds of kilometers from their bedrock sources. That is, the numbers for Folsom seem quite reasonable and fit the expected pattern given the long distances involved, but the numbers for Clovis and especially for basally thinned triangular points seem extremely low. In particular, the Anzick Cache immediately to the south of the study area demonstrates Clovis intimate familiarity with Montana Cherts, and Clovis points manufactured from Knife River Flint have been found hundreds of kilometers from the quarries in the eastern United States; their near absence from the Alberta record is quite difficult to reconcile with a model for northward drift of Clovis. Rather, the pattern would seem to suggest that it was only by Folsom times that people resident in Alberta became very familiar with these southern sources, or were able to trade for them. Considering how closely successional in time Clovis and Folsom were, the extreme dichotomy shown in the exotic material use patterns is particularly noteworthy.

In contrast to the very sparse evidence of northward trade of exotics in Clovis times, there is some subtle evidence for southward movement. Northern quartzites are widely distributed in Alberta north of the Athabasca River, but southern quartzites predominate from the North Saskatchewan southwards. Gryba (2001) notes that Northern quartzites may occasionally be found in tills as far south as Cremona, but they are a very minor presence in the southern half of the province, in comparison to their dominance in the north. Approximately 10% of the Clovis points (N=7) and 8% (N=4) of the basally thinned triangular points in the inventory are made from Northern quartzite. Although some of these points are from the far northern part of the province, where they 309 would be expected, the majority are well to the south of their expected distribution, primarily in central Alberta (the North Saskatchewan River valley vicinity) and even further to the south (Pigeon Lake, Penhold and Ponoka, in the South Saskatchewan basin). There are no Folsom points in the inventory made from Northern quartzite (the two listed on the table in Gryba (2001) are a typographical error, based on Gryba (1988).

Gryba (1988, 2001) notes this unusual distribution, but suggests that Clovis hunters may have simply been finding rare examples of northern quartzite in local tills; that is, he suggests that they became highly familiar with locally available resources and selected these extremely rare northern quartzites from within a sea of southern quartzites due to their better workability. This is certainly possible, but at the same time it speaks to an extremely sophisticated, highly selective and/or unusually lucky bunch of flintknappers. A more parsimonious explanation might be that the material used for these points originated in the north. Certainly, the presence of a northern quartzite uniface in the earliest levels at the Lake Minnewanka site cannot be explained by its natural presence within the mountain front. Unfortunately, without a more detailed understanding of quartzite distribution in general, an origin either in the north or the east could be argued. In general, many of the quartzites in the fluted point inventory appear to be quite fine grained, grey, black or white, and relatively few seem to exhibit the more sugary texture and more vivid colours of the southern quartzites, but this is obviously a highly subjective assessment.

Other potential lithic raw materials from the north, such as Peace River Chert or more northern black cherts, would probably be difficult for many analysts to definitively distinguish from locally available southern Alberta specimens, and thus not archaeologically visible. Similarly, the distinctive Beaver River Sandstone quarries do not appear to have been widely used until after ca. 10,000 rcybp due to the unique geomorphology of the area vis-a-vis Glacial Lake Agassiz (Saxberg and Reeves 2003). The single Beaver River Sandstone fluted point from the Duckett Site (Fedirchuk and McCullough 1992) is also south of the strongest geographical range for this material type. 310

Lithic raw materials provide perhaps the strongest evidence against northward drift, together with more subtle, but still noteworthy suggestions of southward movement. The very high degree of reworking on the Alberta points may also suggest a transient exploring adaptation. However, these patterns are certainly debatable. A far stronger line of evidence for southward movement in the local lithic record appears slightly later in time, at the Holocene transition. This evidence is discussed below.

Microblade Cores

Some of the most fascinating evidence suggesting southward migration through the ice-free corridor does not associate with the earliest excavated occupations, but with slightly later ones. Fedje et al. (1995: 104) note: "Recovery of wedge-shaped microblade cores from the 9,900 and 9,700 B.P. components at Vermilion Lakes and Charlie Lake Cave, as well as a number of other specimens from other Paleolndian sites in northern Alberta is intriguing. This technology, and perhaps other elements of Group 2 technology as well, may have ultimately been introduced from the north. The microcores compare well to those of Denali Complex sites in central Alaska."

Driver et al. (1996) indicate that the Charlie Lake specimen is not a definite wedge shaped specimen, but resembles the Denali cores more than later specimens. They note that Denali cores date to ca. 10,500 rcybp. The presence of microblade cores in very early contexts in these two sites (and in association with the undated Clovis points from the Pink Mountain site) or in surface contexts in other areas, such as Fort Vermilion and High River, is obviously of considerable interest. Since the microblade cores are stratigraphically above the earliest levels in both excavated sites, and appear to date to the earliest Holocene, rather than the latest Pleistocene, a case could be made for them representing the, first appearance of northern people in the ice-free corridor, as implied by both Fladmark and Fedje. This interpretation would not conflict with northward drift of Clovis. However, the presence of these cores might also be interpreted as representing a 311 continuation of earlier patterns of contact with the north established by initial migration and return migration; such a back and forth pattern is predicted by migration theory (Anthony 1990) and could be expected to reoccur until populations grew, climate stabilized and focal economies in the new area became specialized enough to discourage it.

The relationship between the three earliest Alaskan complexes, Nenana, Denali and Mesa, is complex, particularly dating, the role of microblades in each, and how distinct Nenana and Denali are from each other. Initially, Nenana was thought to contain no microblades and precede Denali, but microblades have been found beneath a Nenana component at Swan Lake, and it is possible that variables such as site type or season of occupation could influence their representation, rather than different cultural origins (Bever 2006). Alternatively, if the differentiation is real, then Denali may be older than Nenana, or of equal antiquity.

Although microblades could be predicted as an ancestral pattern for all Beringian sites based upon their widespread distribution and dates in Siberia, their absence at some sites there (e.g. Ushki) might also indicate parallel cultural complexes. Resolution of these issues will be complex and require additional well dated, stratified sites in Beringia. An interesting study by Greaves (1999) on the much later microblade using culture of the plateau of British Columbia posits that the same cultural group might use microblades quite differently; that is, microblade cores might be expected in longer term winter residential camps where more leisure permits both the production of blades and re­ tooling, as well as the need for a variety of different composite tools. Similarly, specific special purpose camps involving plant preparation might also mandate transporting microblades and specialized re-tooling. In contrast, shorter term seasonal residential camps or other special purpose sites such as lookouts or kill sites might not yield any evidence for microblade use at all.

The presence of a Denali-like microblade core as far south as the Vermilion Lakes site, as early as ca. 9900 rcybp is of considerable interest, particularly if it denotes the last 312 stages of corridor use for migration, rather than the earliest. The process of migration could well have continued throughout the Younger Dryas and into the warmer, drier early Holocene, with successive groups of hunter-gatherers moving south as a result of the process of landscape learning and the breaking of the inertial barrier. Anthony (1990) notes that once a migration stream is in place, it may simply maintain itself until there is a good reason for it to stop. Wilson and Burns (1999) note that there is a very common perception of a "northward lag" for the dates of not only Clovis but many of the subsequent early complexes (such as Agate Basin) that is simply not borne out by the data.

Finally, the unique bipolar technology and small blade-like flakes evidenced in the earliest levels of the Vermilion Lakes site and Lake Minnewanka site are possibly of interest. This technology is quite unlike western Clovis and Folsom, and appears to represent a unique local adaptation to the available material types. Goodyear (1993) has suggested that tiny blade-like flakes derived from bipolar cores were actually used as tools. Madsen (2004:17) and Goebel (2004:322) both note that the bipolar reduction of small nodules to produce bladelet-like flakes is a very ancient adaptation in Siberia. The possibility that early transient explorers in the Rocky Mountains may have used some kind of expedient microblade-like technology is intriguing, particularly given the poor representation of diagnostic projectile points (and bifaces in general) in these earliest levels and the poor quality of available lithic materials; that is, the corridor may have acted as a bottleneck for true microblade technology.

Summary

Wormington and Forbis (1965) first suggested northward drift for Clovis into the ice-free corridor, on the basis of multiple lines of evidence, including typological comparison of undated surface points, the absence of precursor Sandia points in Alberta, the shallow absolute depth of burial of caches in the Peace River District, and the presumed early or mid Pleistocene date of the Taber Child (later proven to be in error; 313

Wilson et al. 1983). Northward drift appeared to be more scientifically confirmed years later by Fladmark (1988, 1996), based on his analysis of the similarities between the Charlie Lake Cave and Sibbald Creek sites, including their presumed typologically late point styles and shared late dates, 500 to 1000 years too late to account for Clovis. Dixon (1999) discounted the discovery of the presence of mammoth blood residue on Alaskan fluted points in favour of typological comparisons suggesting that all northern fluted points were evident of late northward drift.

Most recently, the "closing" of the ice-free corridor (discussed in the previous chapter) at increasingly later and later dates has been used as a final death knell for early Clovis in the corridor, mandating northward drift as an explanatory mechanism (Stanford and Bradley 2002, Mandryk et al. 2001, Arnold 2006). Although some have advocated caution in interpreting the data (e.g. Wilson and Burns 1996) in general the ice-free corridor has been either increasingly derided or simply not mentioned, even when pertinent to the observed data (e.g. Fedje et al. 1995, Kooyman et al. 2005).

It is the nature of archaeology that the best interpretations available at any one time are invariably contradicted by accumulating data and new analytical techniques. At the same time, once a notion has become entrenched in the literature, it is difficult to contradict. The common misperception that all fluted points in Alberta are late forms, evidencing the terminal stages of Clovis hunters fleeing northwards in an attempt to maintain a doomed way of life, is based on such little evidence, much of it misinterpreted (such as the dates from the Sibbald Creek site) that it is difficult to fathom how it has taken such strong hold in the literature. Jochim's (1996) warning that New World Paleolndian studies have suffered greatly from generalized, simplistic stereotypes must be strongly heeded.

It is difficult to envision any push/pull factors that would entice Clovis people with an entire sparsely populated hemisphere to choose from, into the much colder, harsher, unknown conditions of the Pleistocene Ice-Free corridor. Although southern fauna were clearly moving north in response to de-glaciation, it is unclear whether the 314 simple presence of fauna would have been enough to encourage low population density hunter-gathers to migrate from known home ranges to completely unknown areas, particularly given the poorer lithic raw materials and harsher climatic conditions further and further to the north. There is very clear evidence of a south to north movement of later Cody peoples into Alberta, in the form of the appearance of high percentages of Knife River Flints and Montana Cherts at that time; this movement appears to correlate with increased populations of bison spreading northward in conjunction with Holocene warming, and vegetation change favouring grassland expansion. The archaeological signature of Cody expansion is quite marked vis-a-vis Knife River Flint, so it is difficult to see how an earlier south to north expansion would not be reflected in the lithic raw material utilization patterns. Indeed, the dramatic shift between Clovis and Folsom raw material utilization patterns in Alberta, especially considering their closely successional dates in calibrated years, is suggestive of quite the opposite pattern. The possible identification of Tertiary Hills welded tuff in the Smuland Creek site (Bereziuk 2001) is also worthy of note.

Recent dates from the ice-free corridor, combined with the newly available calibrations, indicate that the lateness of Clovis here has been greatly exaggerated. The patchy distribution of surface Clovis finds wholly within the margins of the ice-sheets, together with their variability, reworking, and lithic raw material preferences, is fully consistent with the expected pattern that would be produced by a colonizing movement of hunter-gatherers from the north into new territory. The earliest dates for cultural material from Alaska predate all accepted dates for Clovis south of the ice (Bever 2006). The presence of wedge shaped microblade cores within the corridor in both excavated and surface contexts and at its southernmost limit in the Vermilion Lakes by ca. 9900 rcybp might be taken as evidence that a migration stream was still in place by that time, rather than the "first" evidence of northern people. Migration theory predicts that once inertia has been broken, a successful migration stream will be maintained by factors such as return migration; which could also account for the presumed (but unproven) late dates for fluting technology in Alaska. 315

CHAPTER ELEVEN: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

In the introduction, it was noted that this thesis had two primary goals; the first was a detailed consideration of the Lake Minnewanka site in order to place it in the broader context of human use of the Alberta Rocky Mountains during the Late Pleistocene. The second was to consider the implications relative to the ice-free corridor debate and possible models for early human use of the area. The first goal was addressed in Chapters Two through Eight, the second in Chapters Nine and Ten. In this concluding chapter, some of the implications of the results of this study will be considered and recommendations for future research will be made.

It is recognized that the discipline is currently in a stage of ferment and debate regarding First Peopling (Meltzer 2002, Grayson 2004, Madsen 2004); this debate extends to closely related studies in human genetics and linguistics, and has implications for other fields of scientific inquiry such as paleogeography and wildlife paleobiology. The essence of the debate is, quite simply, one of time and space. As such, it requires an archaeological solution that is currently lacking (Kelly 2003a, Grayson 2004).

It is unclear how, where and when the first people arrived in the New World. Although there are possible hints of human presence before the end of the last ice age, particularly in eastern North America, these remain controversial and/or poorly explicated, and it is not until after approximately 12,500 rcybp (in the Southern Hemisphere) and after ca. 11,500 rcybp (in the Northern Hemisphere) that widespread, definite, archaeologically visible human presence can be well documented. Radiocarbon chronology for this period is extremely complex due to the massive environmental changes at the end of the Pleistocene; it requires detailed calibration with tree ring chronology that is currently unavailable for the Southern Hemisphere. Similarly, the possibility of regional variation in radiocarbon dates for this period within North America 316 is also poorly understood. Most genetic and linguistic studies agree that the modern people of the New World share a common ancestry in northeast Asia, but opinions on the timing and nature of human migrations vary widely (Turner 2003, Nicholls 2002, Merriwether 2002, Schurr 2004).

The extremely rapid appearance and spread of humans across North and South America at the end of the last ice age is part of a larger process of human expansion across the globe; its relative lateness (on a global scale) can be attributed to the harsh climatic conditions in the far north and the vast ocean distances separating the New World from the Old further to the south. It is becoming increasingly apparent that people were traversing the western coasts of North and South America in the late Pleistocene by boat (Dixon 2001, Mandryk et al. 2001, Erlandson 2003, Roosevelt et al. 2003, Fedje et al. 2004, Fedje and Mathewes 2005). The environmental capabilities of the west coast of Canada were such that migration of maritime adapted people could have occurred at a very early date and certainly was possible by soon after ca. 14,000 rcybp (Lacourse and Mathewes 2005).

Even setting aside the early South American evidence to await calibration, Fedje's recent discoveries from the west coast of Haida Gwaii dating between 10,600 and 10,000 rcybp and other Kinggi Complex sites (Fedje and Mackie 2005: 158) essentially confirm early coastal use by people with a bifacial, non-microblade using technology. Similarly, dates from much further south in the Channel Islands of California (Erlandson 2002:77) also appear to be contemporaneous with the early fluted point cultures. It remains to be seen how much earlier the coastal record can be stretched with additional research; to argue that it is currently marginally later than earliest Clovis may be quibbling, given the implications of calibration, the recent instigation of serious search efforts and the tremendous degree of coastal landscape change that has occurred.

However, recognition of the potential significance of the coastal route in early human migration most certainly does not negate the significance of the ice-free corridor and to imply such can only establish a false dichotomy which surely never existed in the 317 past. Inland, terrestrial adapted hunters were present in eastern Beringia as early as 12,300 rcybp (Bever 2006) or at least by 11,800 B.P., they represent an expanding wave (or more likely linear trickles) of Old World humans exploring further and further into newly deglaciated terrain, that had reached furthest Siberia by ca. 12,500 rcybp (Goebel 1999). To presume that this advance stalled at the precise time and place where and when paleogeographic studies indicate deglaciation was opening the corridor seems particularly short sighted, or to require a misreading of the paleogeographic data (e.g. Stanford and Bradley 2002).

The timing and extent of the coalescence of Laurentide, Cordilleran and Montane ice along the entire length of the corridor is extremely complex, and despite a plethora of recent paleogeographic studies, it is still difficult to move from the physical scale of ice limit maps to the temporal scale of living organisms. Jackson and Duk-Rodkin (1996) indicate that the southern portions of the corridor opened quickly after a brief coalescence, and that the late northern opening of the corridor would have been the most critical for blocking human transit. They state (1996:223): "The northern Cordillera was a complex of stagnating ice and ice dammed lakes until at least 13 000 BP. Consequently, Beringia and unglaciated North America were separated by ice from around 20 000 BP until after 13 000 BP. The appearance of the Clovis Culture between 12 000 and 11 000 years B.P. south of the ice sheets fits well with the likely timing of the re-appearance of ice-free land between the Yukon interior, Arctic Coast/lower Mackenzie valley and the Interior Plains to the south ".

The time transgressive nature of the process of coalescence and deglaciation has obvious implications for humans and other organisms (Mandryk 1992). Paleogeographers have consistently reconstructed the environment of the ice-free corridor as not only "blocked" by various obstacles (such as stagnating ice or proglacial lakes) but also as incredibly harsh; even where coalescence did not occur, such as the Peace River/Grande Prairie region, only the hardiest of alpine plants and small animals could have survived (Catto et al. 1996), and large mammals did not occur in the corridor until after 11,600 rcybp, when they are evidenced in river valley gravel fills from the interior 318 plains of Alberta (Burns 1996). However, the recent mitochondrial DNA studies of mountain sheep demonstrate the survival of these animals in at least two cryptic refugia within the ice-free corridor throughout the glacial maximum (Loehr et al. 2006).

Unlike many mammals, which may not respond to environmental stress quickly enough to respond to glacial onset, sheep appear to be able to self-regulate their populations in response to poor climatic and forage conditions, that is, the ewes will spontaneously abort or simply not breed if conditions are poor (Geist 1971). It is unclear whether the sheep survived alone, as a result of their unique ability to thrive in periglacial terrain as well as to move across glaciers, or whether pockets of other alpine fauna (mountain goats, marmots, pikas, ground squirrels, weasels, lemmings, ptarmigans etc.) also survived. It is difficult to envision predators surviving in the harsh alpine conditions, or sheep surviving together with predators, with the possible exception of eagles. The possibility of survival of some arboreal species in refugia has also been suggested (Strong and Hills 2005). Similarly, modern understanding of the tight hydrological coupling of newly formed post-glacial lakes with terrestrial environments suggests that they would have become productive very quickly, encouraging use by migratory birds. Some productive lakes may have been maintained on stagnant, vegetated ice.

What is clear from the unique genetic signature of refugial sheep and from general sheep biology is that deglaciation opened up prime sheep habitat and permitted sheep to expand rapidly within the corridor. The Dall's sheep from the Mackenzie Mountain refugium appear to have expanded just prior to the onset of major deglaciation and the Stone's sheep from the Peace River refugium expanded with deglaciation; the concurrence with the reconstructed glacial history is striking. The extreme fidelity of mountain sheep to their home ranges and their highly predictable use of relatively unvarying routes and mineral licks would have been very useful to seasonal hunters or explorers making initial forays into the Richardson and Mackenzie Mountains. There are any number of reasons why hunting parties might explore these mountains in addition to sheep hunting; including the search for new lithic materials, vision questing, eagle 319 trapping, etc. For hunter gatherers, the acquisition of traditional environmental knowledge at every scale virtually demands such exploration (Rockman 2003).

Hunting of now extinct megafauna such as mammoth and horse has long been held as the key to understanding the very rapid movement of Clovis across the landscape (Haynes 1964, Kelly and Todd 1988), but the most recent reconstructions of the ice-free corridor environment and radiocarbon dating of fossil faunas indicates that the entire length of the corridor was too harsh to support these species until after the first human migrants must have moved through it (although the southern end was supporting herds of grazing animals by 11,600 rcybp). It has thus been difficult to model an early "pull factor" into the northernmost end of the corridor without a lush mammoth steppe fauna that clearly did not exist there. This is possibly why northward drift has gained increasing recent support, since it is easier to envision people following animals north as ecotones shifted with warming.

Meltzer (2002:34) discounts megafauna hunting as a possible factor in rapid Clovis expansion, noting that while landscape learning can proceed rapidly with fixed resources like lithic outcrops, it proceeds much more slowly with mobile big game prey species, since in order to hunt them successfully and reliably it is necessary to first learn their habits according to a very wide variety of factors, such as weather, age, sex, time of day, watering habits, vegetation, topography, other predators, etc. As each completely new species of big game prey were encountered by colonizing people, a good deal of time would be required to learn the landscape enough to hunt them successfully, unless the environment was extraordinarily rich, which it could not have been in the ice-free corridor. Similarly, he notes that even if hunters "learned" the behaviour of a particular species in one environment, as they moved into a new environment they would have had to learn it all over again.

Mountain sheep are quite different from other types of megafauna. They are no less difficult to hunt, but once their spatial habits are observed, their subsequent location can be predicted with a high degree of accuracy, in this sense they can be "learned" and 320 mapped more like a fixed resource than a mobile resource. Similarly, the behaviour of the northernmost thinhorn sheep and southernmost bighorn is remarkably similar; knowledge of sheep behaviour translates extremely well across thousands of kilometers. Once a sheep range was learned by a group, it would be possible to proceed there in subsequent years without depending on carrying provisions or hunting along the way, due to the reliability of the now mapped resource. At the same time, sheep are susceptible to over hunting, which might encourage a rapid leap frog progression to the next range over a period of a few years or generations.

Modern mountain sheep spend an inordinate amount of time very close to rocky escape terrain, in order to evade their major predators (wolves, coyotes and cougars). It is unclear how refugial sheep behavior might have changed if there were no predators, perhaps encouraging them to expand further from this type of terrain, and possibly making them easier to hunt, since they cannot run for long distances. However, given the brief period of harshest conditions during coalescence, and the extremely ritualized and conservative behavior of sheep relative to dominance and herd behaviour, it is doubtful that their behaviour would be markedly different than modern. For this reason, Frison's (1991) observations regarding their hunting being possible with nets and clubs is of interest due to the possibility that sheep hunting might not leave as many projectile points in the record as we would like. At the same time, the early corridor would not have provided the type of mature trees used to construct the types of herding and containment structures he has recorded for sheep hunters in the central Rockies.

Binford (1978:278) notes that the Nunamiut rarely hunted sheep with bows, but typically used snares set along their trails, in summer and early fall. Small cairns marked the snare locations, and antler pins also were set into rocks for anchors. A small campsite would be located in a sheltered location several hundred meters from the actual kill spot. Binford noted that the location of the sites above tree-line mandated burning bone for fuel. The only artifact he observed at one of these old hunting stands was a discarded knife. Features at the nearby camps included stone weights for anchoring dog tethers, tent rings, hearths, light debris scatters and small stone skin weight circles. He also notes 321 a difference between the locations of larger "lover camps", i.e. mixed gender groups of unmarried young people and newlyweds going out sheep hunting in summer for one to three weeks (largely to pursue courtship), as compared to camps of older, all-male groups. The mixed gender camps were typically at slightly lower altitudes and had less hunting success than the all male groups at higher altitudes. However, even the lover groups would not necessarily take along provisions, in anticipation of hunting success. Ground squirrels and ptarmigans (readily available in sheep ranges) would provide food if hunting was unsuccessful (Binford 1978).

The new mtDNA evidence raises far more questions than it answers. In particular, the two cryptic refugia identified by modern genetic studies may have (in fact must have) been accompanied by a mosaic of smaller refugia along the eastern slopes and foothills to the south, in which mountain sheep and other species slowly became locally extinct in a patchwork fashion, depending upon how stranded they actually were, and whether the increasingly isolated nunataks could have supported them and other competitor species like ground squirrels, pikas and marmots. The time transgressive nature of this change is critical to the understanding of the earliest possible potential human use of the corridor. It will require additional mtDNA studies and ancient DNA studies such as that of Shapiro et al. (2004) to address, unfortunately, mountain sheep bones and those of other small alpine species (or birds) are not incorporated into river valley gravel fills in visible quantities with great regularity.

The recent malaise that has pervaded archaeological research in the ice-free corridor is partially attributable to the perception that if the evidence for early human migration was preserved here, we would have surely found it by now; thus the earliest material we can hope to find is from the northward drift of Clovis. Kelly (2003a: 139), for example, notes that in comparison to both Australia and Siberia, the intensity of archaeological research in North America has been considerably greater; he appears to have stepped back from the ice-free corridor as a possible migration route due to harsh environmental conditions but more importantly the lack of evidence for early sites. Similarly, although Wilson (Wilson and Burns 1996) has previously advocated caution in 322 closing the door to the ice-free corridor, more recently (in Jackson and Wilson 2004) he suggests that despite "decades of aggressive research" in Alberta by archaeologists from the major universities, government and consulting, no early sites evidencing use of the corridor have been found. Carlson (1996) has provided an even more discouraging assessment, suggesting that any movement along the corridor might have been so rapid and ephemeral (i.e. one to two years) that any evidence for it may never be found.

There are strong reasons to dispute all of these interpretations; each will be briefly discussed below. Most particularly, it is arguable whether "decades of aggressive research" have actually been conducted in the ice-free corridor. Binford (1978:280) notes that sheep hunting locales used by the Nunamiut in the Brooks Range were at elevations of 3000 feet; butchering locales were typically unstable geological settings that were scoured by meltwater, and might be evidenced by a single discarded knife. Kill sites, often near licks, were evidenced by two small cairns on either side of the trail anchoring the snares, sometimes with an antler peg associated. Sheep hunting camps varied somewhat depending on whether they were at higher or lower altitude, or occupied by older all male groups or younger mixed gender groups, but they were often located on more predictable, stable landforms. They were evidenced by artifact scatters and features, including hearths. These small camps are probably the only type of site evidencing Pleistocene sheep hunting that would still be visible and contain dateable material given the enormous amount of time that has passed and the typical low deposition in high alpine settings suitable for killing sheep.

Although there has been aggressive archaeological research in Alberta for close to fifty years, including Wilson's own (1983) detailed work on early landforms within the lower Bow Valley in the City of Calgary, with few exceptions, relatively little of that research has focused on the eastern slopes, particularly the northern Rockies, and particularly at higher elevations. Because the Rocky Mountain federal and provincial parks represent a vast swath of protected area, distant from intense development and easily accessed only in the valley bottoms of the major passes, there are thousands of square kilometers that have never been surveyed, let alone test excavated. Outside of the 323

Parks, intensive industrial development has only recently begun to impact the foothills. Thus, most of the detailed archaeological investigations have focused on the southern portions of the Rockies, including Waterton, Crowsnest and Banff, and by far the greatest attention has been spent on excavating sites in the modern Montane ecoregion, i.e. the valley bottoms, where development related impacts are occurring.

By 11,600 rcybp, a productive grassland and rich southern fauna were well established in southern Alberta; Waterton and the Crowsnest are situated directly adjacent to these grasslands, which abut directly against the mountain front with virtually no intervening foothills. Depending upon the timing of earliest human arrival, by the time people got this far south, one would expect them to be traveling through and exploring the more productive open grasslands rather than the rugged mountains, probably navigating out along major river valleys, such as is evidenced by the Wally's Beach site and numerous surface finds of fluted points. It is worth remembering that archaeologists have known of Clovis presence in the grasslands of southern Alberta and searched for sites for over 50 years, but it was only the combined consequences of two meters of erosion in a 50 year old reservoir basin and the dogged efforts of a responsible artifact collector scouring this basin for literally weeks upon end that the Wally's Beach site very recently became "visible".

Moving northward, a broader foothills belt separates Banff somewhat from the grasslands, these foothills were possibly treed prior to human arrival in the region (Strong and Hills 2005). Moving even further north, the width and ruggedness of the Foothills belt increases markedly and (depending again upon the timing of first arrival), the foothills may have been fronted by forest and stagnant, vegetated ice, rather than grassland. If the arrival was extremely early, the entire northern part of the corridor may have been very wet, inhospitable arctic/alpine tundra with little in the way of large game, except for sheep at high elevations.

It is relatively easy to model a pattern where the very earliest colonizers would have spent much of their time north of the Bow Valley at relatively high elevations and 324 from the Bow valley southwards at lower elevations. The Peace River grasslands may have been an exception to this pattern, depending upon how early they became productive of different prey species. Areas above ca. 1400 masl north of the Bow River have never been "aggressively" examined in Alberta or northeastern B.C., but the very few studies that have been done at higher elevations have been quite successful at finding evidence for late Pleistocene human use in return for very little effort, including the Clearwater Pass site (Vivian 1997), the James Pass site complex (Ronaghan 1993), the Cheviot Mine sites (Landals et al. 1995), and the Pink Mountain sites (Wilson 1996). In each of these studies, multiple small early sites were identified on the basis of surface exposures or a small number of shovel tests less than one meter deep.

Of course, many studies in the northern Rockies have been unsuccessful in identifying Pleistocene aged sites, but these have typically focused on valley bottoms with enormous mantles of Holocene deposition, such as the Athabasca valley in Jasper, considerably west of the mountain front, or the North Saskatchewan valley (Ronaghan and Beaudoin 1988). Even with backhoe testing, the odds of encountering a typical small Late Pleistocene site in deep fans are astronomical, and the reality of archaeological survey is that backhoes are rarely used in the mountains. Also, these major valley bottoms may have still been filled with stagnant, vegetation covered ice if humans passed through the corridor at an extremely early date, making the chances of finding the earliest sites there impossibly slim (Mandryk 1996).

Another factor which must be faced in evaluating Jackson and Wilson's (2004) assessment of the "decades of aggressive archaeological research" in the corridor is that most archeologists in the past did not routinely shovel test with the depth and intensity required to identify very small, buried sites on large treed landforms. For example, the Eclipse site in Banff is located immediately adjacent to the Trans Canada Highway and was discovered in the first surveys of the Park. Over the years, it was re-assessed on four different occasions, by several highly competent and experienced archaeologists, who all described it as a Late Period lithic scatter. Some of these assessments even included shovel tests, but no shovel test on the site was ever taken to below the depth of the strong 325 red Bm horizon until the most recent, which identified the late Pleistocene occupation. This is partially the luck of timing, since it was not until the initiation of the Vermilion Lakes study (Fedje and White 1988) that the stratigraphy in Banff was well enough understood to mandate this type of deep shovel testing on a regular basis.

The work conducted in the Grand Cache area by Brink and Dawe (1986) was very meticulous, but their discussions of the stratigraphy in the area demonstrates that their shovel tests and excavations, even on the Clovis site discovered by Bonnischsen, terminated at the base of the Holocene Bm horizon and simply did not penetrate into the Pleistocene loess. This was definitely the normal practice at the time, and not in any way unusual (indeed it is still the practice for many archaeologists in the region). Thus, the decades of aggressive archaeological research described by Jackson and Wilson (2004) have provided an excellent understanding of patterns of occupation in the Rocky Mountains from the early Holocene onwards, but it is really only for less than twenty years that a truer understanding of the full implications of the stratigraphic sequence has been gained. These twenty years correspond to a tremendous lull in research or salvage oriented archaeology in the Rocky Mountains when compared to earlier years.

Kelly (2003 a) has suggested (following Jelinek 1992) that the great intensity of archaeological research in the United States has probably been sufficient to provide a good understanding of the antiquity of human occupation there. That is, he doesn't believe the argument that archaeologists may not have looked hard enough, deep enough, or in the right places, to find the earliest sites. This is certainly debatable, but it must be emphasized that the situation in the Canadian ice-free corridor is vastly different than the American example, due to the very different levels of sampling in the two countries. Put quite simply, the total volume excavated at all Pleistocene aged sites in or near the ice- free corridor (Pink Mountain, Charlie Lake Cave, Smuland Creek, Harris Creek, James Pass, Vermilion Lakes, Lake Minnewanka, Eclipse, Sibbald Creek and Wally's Beach) combined, is probably less than the amount excavated at a single large American site, such as the Agate Basin locality. Similarly, although the First Albertans survey project was a focused effort to find early sites, none of the participants would argue that it 326 provided anything but a very cursory, low tech, preliminary examination of a few selected areas.

There is a real danger that some of the corridor "shunning" in the recent literature is due to a perception that the corridor has been carefully examined for early sites and somehow found lacking (e.g. Kelley 2003a, Jackson and Wilson 2004); nothing could be further from the truth. The amount and type of archaeological research being conducted in Canada and the United States is profoundly different due to the available funding and historic contingencies. Thus, while even college field schools south of the border routinely mount excavations of several hundred square meters on Paleolndian sites (e.g. Stiger 2006), Kooyman et al. (2005), faced with one of the most significant sites ever discovered in the ice-free corridor note that "Systematic excavation and test-pitting of the site was not feasible due to the large area involved'.

Carlson (1991:84) has suggested that "Rapid transit of one or more small groups down the eastern slope of the Rockies during a single season of favourable climatic conditions would be difficult to discover archaeologically". He further notes that it is only south of the glaciers that such a hypothetical group might expand demographically enough to reach a threshold of archaeological visibility. The somewhat depressing conclusion that can be made from this interpretation is that it may be pointless to even look for Pleistocene aged sites in the ice-free corridor, since it is only in later, terminal Clovis times that enough people moved back north to become visible.

This argument is predicated on the assumption that the corridor environment was so harsh that people would not have lived there, but only passed through (see also Meltzer 2001:13). Thus, it is largely dependent on timing, in that the earlier the transit, the more likely it would be rapid. However, this becomes difficult to model, since it requires whole families to move into an environment so harsh that they wouldn't actually live there. Given the environmental reconstructions of the corridor just prior to Clovis times there seems to be no compelling reason to demand that people move south of the corridor before beginning a demic expansion, and no pressing need for all of the earliest 327 colonizers to move onwards. Meltzer (2001:22) remains optimistic (albeit cautious) that it may be possible to trace a "Hansel and Gretel" like trail of archaeological, linguistic or genetic crumbs along the migration route or routes. Certainly the position of the Kutenai linguistic isolate suggests that people may have been residing in the Rocky Mountains for a very long time, just as linguistic evidence has been used to suggest long term coastal occupation (Gruhn 1988).

In fact, evidence for this trail of crumbs may already be present and documented within the corridor, but largely disputed, unrecognized, unappreciated and/or unexcavated. The distribution of fluted points and their raw material types is particularly fascinating, together with their strong association with topographic highs between different drainages and specific spatial clusters suggestive of leapfrogging. The very earliest people might have established initial presence in the best areas, especially strategic highs between major river basins; subsequent population growth might lead to those areas having a stronger archaeological signature of recognizable artifact types such as fluted points and microblade cores. The vagaries of radiocarbon dating late Pleistocene sites and potential for regional variations, together with calibration, suggest that some sites previously thought too late to be of interest may actually not be; regardless they still appear to evidence adaptation to the corridor at a very early date and possibly represent a migration stream, rather than a single event, as suggested by Carlson (1991). Finally, many late Pleistocene sites and areas of high potential have been identified, but simply never followed up on; highly significant results could almost be guaranteed with additional research in the vicinity of Pink Mountain, the Peace River District, Grande Cache, Devona Cave, Mountain Park, James Pass and Lake Minnewanka, but sadly the will and funding to examine these areas seems to be lacking.

The early cluster of sites in the Banff area evidencing sheep hunting is particularly interesting. The larger, more extensive Vermilion Lakes site appears to represent a valley bottom, lake shore residential camp, with evidence for a wide variety of lithic reduction activities, multiple hearths with multiple species of animals, and even shelters (Fedje et al. 1995). In contrast, the Lake Minnewanka site is higher in elevation, and located at the 328 base of the Palliser Range, the most extensive modern sheep range in the Park. The strongly recurrent pattern of hearths with similar patterns of cultural material is interpreted as representing short term warm season occupations (a few days to a few weeks) by task specific sheep hunters; the variety of different tools combined with the general scarcity of debitage may indicate mixed gender groups. A stone feature several hundred meters up the Cascade valley from the excavated site area may represent a sheep blind. Diagnostic projectile points (not necessary for sheep hunting) are rare to absent at both the Lake Minnewanka and Vermilion Lakes until the latest, post Younger Dryas levels, when bison bone appears in conjunction with projectile points. Finally, even further up in the high Alpine, Vivian (1997) identified a large number of sites comprised of small lithic scatters and a single classic Clovis point. Some of these scatters may have considerable antiquity, typically small alpine lithic scatters are ignored in any testing programs due to their low archaeological potential and no attempts have been made to date any of these sites or examine the specific attributes of their lithic technology for the small blade-like flakes and bipolar cores typical of the earliest sites in Banff.

The earliest occupations in Lake Minnewanka and Vermilion Lakes date to between 11,800 and 13,150 calibrated years before present. This is very early on a continental scale and indicates that sheep hunting was a very ancient adaptation. Perhaps the most astounding and downright hopeful aspect of the current study was the recognition of the highly redundant patterning of the well-stratified occupations at the Lake Minnewanka site, occupations which have not clearly bottomed out. Given the reconstructed site type, the astonishing degree of redundancy in the archaeological pattern can only be attributed to the unique fidelity of mountain sheep to highly specific ranges and trails between them. Each year of the mitigation program, the crew at the Lake Minnewanka site has literally had to haze groups of rams out of the excavation units; Reeves (1976) provides photographs of his crew doing exactly the same thing, exactly the same week, twenty five years earlier. Sheep conservatism, combined with the specific site setting on a relatively constricted bench within their summer range, subject to rapid aeolian deposition from the migrating delta of the Cascade River, has combined to 329 concentrate or distill the archaeological visibility of an ephemeral activity at an extremely remote period in time to the level at which it is archaeologically recoverable.

The chances of finding Pleistocene aged sites within the corridor are very poor, given the tremendous degree of geomorphological change during deglaciation and throughout the Holocene. Outside of distinctive caves or rock shelters, it has proven to be extremely difficult to model suitable locations for early sites to be found, thus their discovery has been largely a matter of luck. Grayson (2004:385) notes that: "The ratio of ancient sites to ancient undisturbed surfaces appears to be so low that the chances for success are depressingly slim. There is certainly reason for optimism, but when sites are rare, extraordinary, almost self-sacrificial patience is clearly called for. Time will tell whether archaeologists have that patience."

The discovery of both the Vermilion Lakes and Lake Minnewanka sites, combined with the presence of sheep within the corridor throughout the last ice age, suggests that there may be other ways to model early site location within the ice-free corridor, and landforms with enough concentrated cultural material to be identified.

However, without the extreme degree of reservoir erosion, this pattern would almost certainly have gone undetected. Indeed, it is probably not a coincidence that it took over fifty years of erosion for the pattern to be revealed, since when Reeves and Mclntyre investigated the site in the mid 1970s the aeolian blanket was still too intact to permit identification of deeply buried, spatially restricted concentrations of material across the 800 meter extent of the landform. The scouring of the St. Mary's reservoir is strongly similar, but the different behaviour of obligate grazers means that the actual kill spots have been identified due to visible skeletal remains, while potential camp locations remain unidentified, and stratified camp deposits may simply not exist, since there would have been no compelling reason for early hunters to return to the exact same spot.

The studies at the Lake Minnewanka site highlight the enormous potential of the Rocky Mountains for yielding recoverable data dating to one of the earliest potential migration routes into the continent. Ironically, it is necessary to turn to the coast to model 330 how the search for this evidence needs to proceed. The interdisciplinary nature of the Haida Gwaii research (summarized in Fedje and Mathewes 2005), involving highly detailed mapping of ancient landforms at the one meter contour interval, precise dating of ice limits and elevation stands at the local scale, highly detailed paleoenvironmental reconstruction at the local scale, mitochondrial and ancient DNA studies of a whole variety of different species from weasels to caribou, and the extremely focused and intensive archaeological targeting of specific landforms from drowned beaches to high caves, together with strong support from the Haida community, has literally re-written the scientific record of the archipelago in a decade (Fladmark 2005).

Considering the enormous complexity involved in investigating sites that are fully or partially submerged by tides, or stranded on raised beaches along remote coastlines, or contained in nearly inaccessible caves, the challenges of the Lake Minnewanka site and others within the corridor seem trivial. However, without the will to investigate these sites, they will continue to erode away, be written off due to encroaching land developments or simply drowse along in complete obscurity. Shockingly, many of these known sites are easily accessed and well within the reach of conventional shovel testing and excavation techniques; in stark contrast to the coastal situation. Similarly, over much of the study area the sheep are still here, occupying the same ranges and taking the same trails between them that they have since the late Pleistocene. This could surely be used to our advantage in discovering new sites, particularly in the subalpine and alpine, where Holocene deposition may not be as extreme as within the valley bottoms. A targeted survey program, focused on aeolian mantled benches in key summer sheep ranges, particularly adjacent to natural travel routes along paleo-lake shores or at natural divides between major watersheds would be of obvious interest. Such a program would require detailed consideration of glacial limits at the local scale and a very intensive level of shovel testing on the targeted landforms. The density of the earliest occupations at the Lake Minnewanka site was not revealed until the third year of the program, when the beach was tested with shovel tests on a ten meter grid. Due to the very circumscribed nature of the activity areas intensive testing was required to locate the concentrations. 331

Jochim (1996:332) suggests that to truly understand the Pleistocene/Holocene transition, it will be necessary to enter a new stage, one in which archaeologists begin to systematically compare regional histories in order to test and refine ecological theories and to explore the role of social interaction and historical constraint in cultural change. In order to undertake such a challenge, the continued excavation of stratified sites like the Lake Minnewanka site will be critical, since they embody aspects of human behaviour that cannot be explored through the examination of projectile points from isolated kills, no matter how interesting. The projected destruction of the remnant portion of the site within twenty years is sad if it is one of many, but tragic if it is unique.

The mtDNA study of mountain sheep by Loehr et al. (2006) is very recent and awaits digestion and confirmation. Without a better understanding of what sheep survival might mean relative to the larger ecosystems of the ice-free corridor and other potential refugial species, its significance remains murky. Reeves (1971:218) suggested (on the evidence of the best available data at the time) that it made no sense to regard ice and pro- glacial lakes as physical boundaries within the ice-free corridor by 15,000 rcybp. Instead, he argued that it was the biotic suitability of areas such as the Mackenzie Mountains that was the critical factor. Despite the reams of paleogeographic studies that have been undertaken in the more than thirty years since his evaluation, this statement appears to remain truer than ever. The lack of detailed geoarchaeological studies throughout the ice- free corridor is also a very notable problem; with few notable exceptions (e.g. Wilson 1983, Oetelaar 2002, Beaudoin and Oetelaar 2004).

What is very clear is that additional multidisciplinary research in the ice-free corridor is desperately necessary, despite the wild swinging of the paradigmatic pendulum in recent years. Viscount Bolingbroke noted that "Truth lies within a little and certain compass, but error is immense'' To ignore this part of the world in favour of the west or even the east coast makes no sense, since whichever route was "first" can only be appreciated in light of later cultural developments and interactions. 332

While there can be no question that coastal research has been neglected in the past, it is premature to assert that it must have been the sole or even the primary route for post-glacial human expansion into the New World, particularly given the very limited nature of the archaeological investigations conducted within the ice-free corridor to date, particularly at higher elevations and northern latitudes. Similarly, if people were present south of the ice before the last glacial maximum, how they themselves arrived, and how they may have interacted with later, incoming groups is of obvious interest.

Given the vast and sophisticated geographic knowledge of hunter gatherers, extending well past their habitual ranges, once the existence of the North American continent south of Beringia was known (either through coastal or interior discovery) further exploration by multiple human groups along multiple routes is surely a given. The increasing casting of the ice-free corridor as "the migration route that dares not mention its name" can only delay our understanding of this remarkable period in New World archaeology. The distribution of microblade cores at Charlie Lake Cave and Vermilion Lakes indicates that by ca. 10,000 rcybp, humans from the far northwest had moved south along the eastern slopes of the Alberta Rockies. We need to find out how and when this movement began. 333

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1993 The James Pass Project: Early Holocene Occupation in the Front Ranges of the Rocky Mountains. Canadian Journal of Archaeology Vol. 17.

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Appendix A: Fluted Series Points from Banff National Park

The projectile points belonging to the fluted point series from the Lake Minnewanka site have been collected by a number of different researchers since the late 1960s. The earliest points were found by Christensen in 1969 and the most recent by a Banff Park warden during routine site monitoring in 2004. Because these points have either not been described or described in multiple sources (Christensen 1970, 1971; Mclntyre and Reeves 1975; Reeves 1976; Gryba 1988; Landals 1994, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002; and Gillespie 2002) it is considered useful to summarize them here. Also, the single Clovis point discovered in the high altitude Banff survey by Vivian (1997) is included for comparative purposes. Only points and preforms believed to belong to the earliest Paleolndian types (i.e. Clovis/Folsom/Plainview/Goshen) are described here. It is worth noting how very heavily utilized and reworked the complete points from the site are. This is a typical pattern in Alberta, where Pleistocene peoples appear to have been extremely conscious of the need to conserve and rework their weaponry. Also, the criteria used to classify these points as "Clovis" vs. "Folsom" vs. "basally thinned triangular" vs. "Plainview" have varied between different researchers. As Gryba (1988) points out, there may be a degree of continuity that can be inferred in the intent of the flintknappers that is not necessarily reflected in the recovered artifact, due to differing levels of skill, different raw materials, and the life cycle of the point relative to reworking. Also included in this summary are the surface collected points from this study.

EhPu 1: 144 is the base of a fluted point manufactured from a fine grained grey quartzite with black speckled inclusions. It was found by Christensen (1970, 1971) within Area 1 364 of the site. The point has broken approximately midway through the form and the flake scars appear to be water rounded. The base of the point is deeply concave and the lateral edges converge towards the base (maximum width of the point is 27.60 mm, width at the base is 21.50 mm). Both the lateral edges and the base are heavily ground, with the heavy grinding across the base wrapping around the ears and extending to a maximum of 25.92 mm up the lateral edges of the form. Both faces of the point are fluted, with large deep flutes extending past the point of breakage (11.8 and 12.0 mm wide, respectively). The point is quite thin (4.78 mm in maximum thickness, 3.54 mm within the flutes). Flaking is irregular/perpendicular; Gryba (1988: A2-3) suggests that it has been pressure flaked, including the fluting. Christensen (1970, 1971) and Reeves (Mclntyre and Reeves 1975) classify this point as a Clovis form, however Gryba notes that the boldness of the flake scars and the thinness of the blade is reminiscent of Folsom. The point is somewhat finer and thinner than the other fluted points from the site, with a more concave base. 365

EhPu 1: 369 was collected from Area 1 at the site by Christensen (1970, 71) and is described by Mclntyre and Reeves (1975) as a Plainview point. Gryba (1988) classifies it as a possible Midland point made from a dark grey ironstone or mudstone. It is a stubby, basally thinned, but unfluted point, classified as siltstone for this analysis. However, it is black and unpatinated. The "stubby" appearance is almost certainly due to reworking with the form converging quite abruptly towards the (damaged) tip.

EhPu 1:369

It is lanceolate in overall form, with excurvate lateral edges that converge slightly towards the very gently concave base. The point is thin and lenticular in section. On the dorsal surface the flake scars are relatively regular, perpendicular to the long axis, and meet near the center of the form, or carry slightly across. On the ventral surface the flake scars are slightly more random, though still perpendicular. On both faces the flake scars are deeper near the base, providing a thinner form (The point is 5.34 mm thick near the tip but only 2.45 mm thick near the base). In addition, there are a number of short, hinged basal thinning flakes on the dorsal surface and two very pronounced, long, thin, bladelike basal thinning flakes on the ventral surface. The central basal thinning flake is 16.37 mm long 366

and 4.92 mm wide; the right flake is 15.84 mm long and 6.16 mm wide. It is unclear if these were intended for guide flakes for a fluting that was ultimately not attempted due to thinness of the form. The base and basal edges are heavily ground, with the grinding extending 20.96 mm up the right lateral edge and 21.89 mm up the left lateral edge (the edges are slightly more heavily ground than the base). The tip of the point is blunted, but current length is 41.08 mm, maximum width is 25.68 mm, and width at the base is 20.92. In overall form and outline this point is very similar to several of the Clovis points from the site.

EhPu 1: 863 is a complete Clovis point manufactured from an unusual dull black coarse grained material. Gryba (1988) describes it as quartzite, however it may be a basalt or unknown metamorphic rock. This point was collected by Christensen (1970, 1971) from Area 1 of the site. The point is triangular ("stubby") in overall form, however based on the flaking pattern and grinding on the lateral edges, this shape is probably due to very extensive reworking. It is 37.22 mm in length, 25.64 mm in maximum width, 23.82 mm wide at the base, and 5.64 mm thick. The lateral edges converge slightly towards the base, which is slightly concave. The right lateral edge is ground for 17.60 mm and the left for 16.2 mm; the reworking of the point actually interrupts the lateral edge grinding in one area. The flake scars are oriented randomly, again due to reworking. The base is not nearly as heavily ground as are the lateral edges. Only one face is fluted, with a single flute 17.37 mm long (the top of the flute is obscured by reworking of the tip). Two smaller basal thinning flakes flank either side of the flute, which is 5.82 mm wide at the base, broadening to 6.30 mm near the top. The reverse side exhibits a row of tiny retouch flakes used to shape the form, rather than thinning flakes. Because Gryba (1988) chose to illustrate the non-fluted surface, in order to better illustrate the reworking, some have described this point as a "basally thinned triangular" rather than a fluted point. 367

Scale EhPu 1:863

EhPu 1:977 is a broken Clovis point base manufactured from a semi-translucent, very pale yellow brown to white chalcedony, which is heavily patinated. This material is an exotic of unknown source. The point was collected from Area 1 of the site by Mclntyre and Reeves (1975). The point is lanceolate in overall form, with lateral edges that converge slightly towards the base, which is concave, with a pronounced V shape. Both faces are fluted, with a single large flute that extends past the point of breakage; one face shows the remnant of an earlier guide flake that has been obscured by the flute. The flake scars are random, but perpendicular to the form. On the right lateral edge, the basal grinding extends all of the way to the break (>25.95 mm). On the left lateral edge, a flintknapper appears to have begun to rework the point, interrupting the grinding, which only extends 9.76 mm, however he may have changed his mind and abandoned the attempt; the patination extends over the reworked edge. This description is the opposite of Gryba (1988) however it seems to be due to a syntax error; that is, he says this reworking occurred "certainly after the point had been patinated" when it is clear from the context of the description of patination and reworking that he meant before. The grinding on the V shaped base is as heavy as the grinding on the lateral edges. The maximum 368 width of the point is 27.57 mm, the width at the base is 25.49 mm and the thickness is 5.55 mm.

EhPu 1:977

EhPu 1: 978 is a near complete point manufactured from a locally available heavily patinated siltstone/mudstone (Elk River Silicified Siltstone). This material is a dark grey mudstone that may initially appear patinated in a lighter "wormy" pattern due to root acid bleaching however, many of the inundated specimens from the Lake Minnewanka site are extremely patinated and appear to be almost white, chalky and very brittle; some flakes even snapped during trowel excavation. Although this point was recovered from Area 1 of the site (Mclntyre and Reeves 1976) it was not found by Gryba (1988) in the Parks Canada collection during his study, but has since been relocated. The point was classified as a Plainview by Mclntyre and Reeves (1976). It is triangular in overall form; it appears to have been skillfully reworked so the original form is unclear; it may have originally been more lanceolate. The extreme tip is missing (L>33.40 mm). The lateral edges are excurvate, converging slightly towards the base, which is gently concave (greatest width is 23.82 mm, width at base is 23.01 mm). The lateral edges are heavily ground 369

(extending 12.04 mm on the right and 15.45 mm on the left). The base is ground also, but not as heavily as the lateral edges. The obverse exhibits one long central basal thinning flake (12.83 mm long, 6.60 mm wide) flanked by a slightly shorter, thinner basal thinning flake on either side. The reverse has three shorter, wider thinning flakes (largest is 6.27 mm long and 4.64 mm wide). While this basally thinned, triangular point cannot be described as fluted, it is very similar in form to the other fluted points from the site.

Scale 0 2 1..U 11L U1LU1 LIU .LU J EhPu 1:978

EhPu l:number unknown is a specimen classified as a Plain view point, illustrated by Mclntyre and Reeves (1975) from the surface collection in Area 1. Unfortunately, the point was lost prior to Gryba's examination, and compounding the difficulties, the original catalog sheet for this particular specimen has also been lost, making description difficult. It appears from the photograph to have been manufactured from a dark, fine grained material. It is lanceolate in overall form with gently excurvate lateral edges that straighten out slightly towards the base, giving a it a very slightly stemmed appearance relative to the other early points from the site; very similar in outline to the 10,200 rcybp specimen from excavated context (349R18L4-201). Very rough estimates of size 370 obtained from the scaled photograph suggest that it was approximately 52.3 mm in length, 21.5 mm in maximum width and 18.7 mm wide at the base, which is very gently concave. No information regarding the flaking pattern was included in the report, although it is noted that both the lateral and basal edges are ground. No illustration of this point is available.

349R1A1:1 is a Clovis point manufactured from a medium to coarse grained grey quartzite with black speckled inclusions. This point was collected from the edge of the exposed "gravel bar" in Area 1 by Fedje in 1983 (he classifies it as Clovis/Plainview).

Scale 349R1A1: 1

This material type is quite poor and the flintknapper appears to have had some difficulty working the material, given the hinge fractures exhibited on some of the flake scars. The point is currently triangular in overall form, with gently excurvate lateral edges and a concave base ("stubby") however, its current form has been very heavily re-worked; the original point would have been longer, given the pronounced break in the angle of grinding on the lateral edges. The base and lateral edges are very heavily ground 371

(grinding extends 13.28 mm up the right lateral edge and 16.16 mm up the left lateral edge, where it is sharply interrupted by reworking of the blade). The point is 43.74 mm in length, 28.40 mm in maximum width, 24.75 mm in width at the base and 6.33 mm thick. The base is moderately concave; originally it may have been slightly eared, however the ears been ground completely flat. The flaking pattern is random. Only one side of the form is fluted; two smaller guide flakes flank the central flute, which is 7.02 mm wide and 9.71 mm long; however the flute hinged off at this point and would have been longer, if successful. The other face exhibits only the removal of a series of short thinning flakes; given the material type it would not have been possible to flute it.

349R6C1:1 is the base of a very finely made point or unfinished point recovered from the periphery of the gravel bar in Area 1 (Landals 1994). It is manufactured from a high quality opaque grey chert with occasional mottled white inclusions; this may be exotic, but more likely is a variant of locally available grey cherts, which can vary widely in appearance and texture. The overall form is lanceolate with straight edges and a straight to very slightly concave base. The point is very thin for its size (width 25.36 mm and thickness is 4.74 mm). The point is lens shaped in cross section. On the dorsal surface the flake scars are perpendicular and evenly spaced, meeting at the midline of the form, however on the ventral surface they are slightly angled and two have carried completely across the form from one edge to the other (overshot). It is unclear whether the point was finished or not. The edges and base seem to be very slightly ground, however this may be due to water wear, rather than purposeful modification. The grinding is much lighter than on any of the other points of this type recovered from the site. Also, on one basal lateral juncture, there is a portion of a thick platform left intact, which seems unusual if the point had been completed, given the high quality of workmanship it exhibits. On both the dorsal surface and ventral surfaces a series of four short, wide flakes have been worked up from the base to thin the form (longest scar is 7.81 mm). Some of the scars 372 have hinged short of their intended completion, but the base was definitely on its way to being thinned. It is possible that the point broke during manufacture.

4-UlL 349R6C1: 1 cm

349R12D1:1 is a small complete point with a slightly damaged tip manufactured from a light grey to white, very fine grained quartzite. It was recovered from the periphery of the "gravel bar" in Area 1, during surface examination in the spring of 2000 (Landals 2001). The presence of this point, combined with the Clovis point recovered by Fedje in 1983, and the stone circle, microblade and Plainview point base documented in the same general area in 1993 (Landals 1994) are of considerable interest in terms of site taphonomy and erosion. Since any signs of the massive fine grey loess unit have long been removed from this area, leaving only interbedded sands and thin skiffs of loess, these finds suggest that cultural layers may be present at considerable depth within the site, extending to just above the basal till/outwash gravels. These layers are presumed to be few and far between, but potentially very old. Shovel testing in this area of the site was unsuccessful in identifying any buried, intact cultural material, however it should be 373 emphasized that testing in this area of the site has never been undertaken with the same intensity as within Area 2 (i.e. on a ten meter grid).

Mw|

Jw^s^V*8n§^vh gE^r&^oM ljf,| BJ^a/NsSrYlK

349R12D1:! (actual size)

This small point is lanceolate in overall form, with very gently excurvate lateral edges converging slightly to a deeply concave base. The base and lateral edges are heavily ground. The point is only 32.08 mm in maximum length, 19.59 mm in maximum width, 18.66 mm in width at the base and 5.42 mm thick. The point has been very heavily waterworn, making description of flaking patterns tenuous. It does not appear to have been clearly fluted, however at least two obscured basal thinning flake scars on the dorsal surface extend approximately one quarter of the way up the form (approximately 7.54 mm). The ventral surface of the base has also been thinned, but the flake scars are fully obscured. The thinned portion of the base is only approximately 2.29 mm in thickness, indicating that considerable attention was paid to thinning, especially considering the difficulty of the raw material. Heavy grinding extends 13.17 mm up the right lateral edge and 16.48 mm up the left lateral edge, however lighter grinding may extend to approximately 26.02 mm up the left lateral edge; if so, this may indicate that the point has been reworked. This point fits at the very smallest range of the fluted point /basally thinned series in Alberta (Gryba, personal communication 2001). 374

349R100A1:10 was discovered by a knowledgeable Banff Park Warden in the spring of 2004 during a trip to monitor erosion at the Lake Minnewanka site. The site has been closed during its spring exposure for the last several years in order to hinder illegal artifact collection; the recovery of this artifact suggests that this policy may be successful in minimizing the loss of diagnostic artifacts. The artifact was recovered from Area 2 of the site, near the eroded stone circle and stone line at the tip of Sheep Point. It represents the first known instance of a point stylistically earlier than Agate Basin/Vermilion Lake Stemmed being recovered from eroded context in Area 2, providing a testament to the incremental effects of erosion in this area, which was almost fully covered by the strong red Bt horizon in the mid 1970s and still retained a thin remnant of red soil in 2001. Additional earlier points should be exposed in Area 2 over the next few years as erosion progresses deeper into the grey loess.

The point is manufactured from a non-descript black chert, with patches of white patination; it is unclear if this material is of local origin or not. The raw material is not of particularly good quality, thus the point should be considered quite well made. Unfortunately, one basal/lateral edge exhibits an impact scar and was carried away, making complete measurement impossible; otherwise the point is complete. It is lanceolate, with gently excurvate lateral edges that converge towards the concave base. Length is 56.71 mm, maximum width is 24.67 mm and it is relatively thick (6.57 mm). The dorsal surface is more ridged and the ventral surface flatter, giving it a slightly D shaped lenticular cross section. The flake scars on the dorsal surface are fairly wide, regular and perpendicular, either meeting at the mid-line of the form or hinging off short of it. However on the ventral surface the flake scars are slightly thinner, longer and more angled, with several carrying across the center line. The base is difficult to describe fully due to the impact scar; it was clearly concave, and may have been almost slightly eared; the basal edge is ground but not as heavily as the lateral edges (the remnant lateral edge exhibits heavy grinding extending 14.90 mm up the edge). On the dorsal surface there are two short, rounded basal thinning flakes visible on the remnant portion of the base 375

(the largest is 6.27 mm long and 4.10 mm wide). Only one basal thinning flake is visible on the ventral surface, additional flakes may have been carried away on the broken portion. However, enough of the form is retained to indicate that the base was never intensively thinned. This point is thus most similar to forms classified as Goshen/Plainview.

349R100A1: 1

1717R1A1:1 was recovered during a high altitude survey of the Clearwater Pass (Vivian 1997). The point was recovered from the eroded surface of an alluvial fan just east of the summit of the pass, and is described here for comparative purposes, since it is the only other Clovis point recovered from Banff National Park, and certainly the most beautiful. It is made from siltstone, which was probably originally a dark black or grey, but has patinated to a relatively uniform tan colour. It is lanceolate, with excurvate lateral edges that converge gently towards the base, which is concave and V shaped. The tip appears to have been damaged during impact, but even with this damage the point is clearly a long, classic Clovis form. Length is greater than 65.95 mm, maximum width is 27.36 mm, width at the base is 23.25 mm, and thickness is 6.44 mm. Both of the lateral edges and 376 base are heavily ground, the base slightly less than the lateral edges. Grinding extends 20.81 mm up the left lateral edge and only 11.57 mm up the right lateral edge. On the dorsal surface the flake scars are relatively wide, regular and perpendicular to the long axis of the point; most meet at the midline but some carry partially across the midline. There is a single flute, 14.73 mm long and 12.99 mm wide. Some slight damage to the basal edge may have been caused by a nipple carrying off during fluting. On the ventral surface, the flake scars are relatively even, wide and perpendicular, with several carrying three quarters of the way across the midline (none are completely overshot). The single flute is 18.76 mm long and 14.72 mm wide.

Scale TxuxL. •w- 1717R1A1: 1

Other points from the Parks Canada Collection

Several other points in the Parks Canada collection are interesting relative to the known record for early period material in the Park. One specimen, classified in the collection as a possible Clovis related form, was recovered from a pre-Mazama context at the 377

Christensen site, but has not been dated (360R3A4:148). This item is clearly a flake point, manufactured on a slightly twisted flake made from an exotic, patinated brown chalcedony (probably not Knife River Flint, source unknown). Its outline (excurvate lateral edges and straight to slightly concave base) and large size is somewhat reminiscent of Clovis/Plainview (L=45.69 mm, max width=22.73 mm, width at base 14.37 mm, thickness=6.61 mm). The dorsal surface exhibits a random assortment of perpendicular and oblique flakes, along with some of the original flake cortex and two definite basal thinning flakes. The ventral surface is unretouched with the exception of extremely fine, regular, marginal retouch extending all along the perimeter of the form. The point appears quite similar to an early flake point from the Indian Creek site, illustrated by Davis.

A final point style in the Banff collections worthy of note has been recovered from two different pit-house sites, at Drummond Glacier and the Spring site (G. Langemann personal communication 2006). These points appear similar in outline to somewhat small, bulbous Clovis points, with deep basal concavities and pronounced ears, and are manufactured on flake preforms, rather than bifaces. They may exhibit extensive basal thinning, somewhat reminiscent of fluting, but in comparison to true Paleolndian points the workmanship is much less exacting and they definitely do not exhibit the hallmark basal and lateral edge grinding typical of the early forms. They are only superficially similar to McKean points of the Plains, and appear to represent a distinct type from the interior Cordillera or plateau. They are mentioned here due to the potential for confusion with small Clovis forms when recovered from undated contexts on the eastern slopes. 378

Appendix B: Lithic Raw Material Types

The lithic raw material analysis for the Lake Minnewanka site was done solely by the author based on visual criteria such as colour, texture and luster. A "lumping" approach was utilized due to the proclivities of the analyst and the perception that there is a considerable range of variability within the major raw material types from the Banff area. Lithic raw materials have not been studied in great detail for the Banff area, beyond the studies undertaken by Fedje (1988), Fedje and White (1984, 1988) and Gorham (1994).

For this study, lithic artifacts were separated into a series of major classes such as chert, chalcedony, siltstone, silicified sandstone and quartzite. Common names in wide use in the literature were applied for the local black and grey cherts (Banff Chert and Norquay Chert). The term "Undifferentiated Coarse" was applied to coarse grained materials of unknown lithology (probably a mixture of limestones, dolomites and quartzose sandstones). Colour modifiers were used when appropriate (e.g. white chert, brown quartzite). Guesses (identified as such) were made when materials "seemed" exotic based on the authors familiarity with material types from the Banff area gleaned from working on and conducting lithic analysis (under the direction of Fedje) for the Vermilion Lakes, Norquay and Eclipse sites, as well as the Lake Minnewanka site. It is impossible to be absolutely certain whether some of these materials represent true exotics or simply atypical cherts, chalcedonies or agates obtained from pebble sources. However, some material types used in this study require clarification, due to the tendency of different local researchers to use different names for the same material types. 379

Banff Chert is a black, primarily opaque chert with a dull to moderately vitreous luster. Occasional pieces can be of higher quality, almost translucent at the edges, with a more vitreous luster. Fedje and White (1988) distinguish two major subtypes, Banff Nodular Chert and Banff Bedded Chert, with eight minor subtypes, based on the intensity of colour, quality, and presence of dolomite rhombs of silt size in the bedded cherts that can give a silty banded appearance. It can be extremely difficult to consistently distinguish these fine variations in different types of Banff Chert at the level of an individual artifact. Both of the major types originate in outcrops from the Lower Livingstone and Upper Banff Formations that are common throughout the Bow Valley. Although the material is of satisfactory quality and was the major material type used in the Banff area throughout the Precontact Period, Banff Chert is typically obtainable in workable form as small nodules or brecciated pieces chiseled from bedrock; it is very difficult to obtain larger, flawless pieces suitable for making large bifaces. For this study, Banff Chert was not distinguished as to the different subtypes, although the catalog records make note of the perceived overall quality of the material using a tripartite division (good, moderate, or poor quality).

Norquay Chert also occurs in both nodular (Plate 1) and bedded forms within the Bow Valley. It is a much lighter grey to grey white to green-grey chert. Fedje and White (1988) distinguish Norquay Chert I (an opaque chert, with medium to dull luster, sometimes appearing banded) from Norquay Chert n, a much finer, blue to blue-grey to grey-white chert that can grade from opaque to translucent, with a dull to almost waxy luster. Norquay Chert is again typically obtained from small nodules or brecciated tablets that are unsuitable for the consistent manufacture of large bifaces. Norquay Chert is available from numerous outcrops of the Rocky Mountain Group, common in the Bow Valley. For this study, the term "Norquay Chert" was reserved for Norquay Chert I, a generally poor to moderate quality, opaque, dull grey to grey white chert. The finer quality materials were classified as grey chert or grey 380 chalcedony, respectively, depending upon the degree of translucency and luster. Virtually all of the grey cherts/chalcedonies are believed to have been locally obtained, with none of the distinctive "Top of the World" Chert from southeastern British Columbia identified in the excavated assemblage from the site.

Plate 1 Coarse grey Norquay Chert bipolar core with interior nodule of high quality chert

The materials classified as silicified siltstone and patinated siltstone in this study are relatively distinctive, yet known by a variety of different names by researchers working in the mountains of Alberta. This siltstone is a very fine, uniform, opaque, relatively soft material with good to excellent flaking qualities and a dull to medium luster, ranging in colour from grey to black to brown. The fine grain and softness of the material have lead some to classify it as a "mudstone" (Gryba personal communication 2005). A distinctive quality of the material is the tendency of some pieces to exhibit a "wormy" pattern on the surface, which Fedje (1988:64) suggests is root etching due to differential weathering in a bioturbated matrix. Both Fedje (1988) and Gryba (personal communication 2005) believe this material can be 381 obtained locally or near locally in the Bow Valley from alluvial gravels, although the exact mineralogical source is unclear. Fedje (1988; Fedje and White 1984) refers to it as either a "cherty siltstone" or black siliceous siltstone, but notes that patination can turn the surface to light grey or red grey. Most importantly, it occurs in much larger, uniform nodules than the local cherts (with occasional pebble cortex) and can be easily worked into larger tools and bifaces. It is unclear whether the materials identified as silicified siltstone and patinated silicified siltstone in this study are a uniform type or represent multiple types. Some pieces of this siltstone from the Lake Minnewanka site are so heavily patinated as to be extremely brittle, such that they will snap when touched with a trowel, whereas others (from the same stratigraphic context) are much less patinated; thus this distinction (patinated vs. non patinated) has been made in the analysis. This degree of patination is rare for local silicified siltstone and may be partially due to the effects of water saturation for the past 50 years.

A grey to grey-green to grey-tan to grey-white silicified sandstone was present in some quantity within specific activity areas at the site. Within Operation 7, a massive bedrock slab core of this material with an unusual mineralized quartzitic sheen on one face indicates that it comes from a local bedrock source. The material is uniform and homogeneous, although it contains occasional thin linear inclusions of darker material, and bears some similarity to Beaver River Sandstone from the Ft. MacMurray area, however it does not exhibit any "sparkle". Quartz clasts are rare, but sometimes present. It is easy to work, and quite soft, and would be easy to mistake for a patinated silicified siltstone. Presumably this material was obtained from a bedrock source quite close to the site, however the source is unknown. Some very large flakes and bifaces were manufactured from this material type at the site.

A variety of locally available quartzites were documented in the site. Fedje (1988) indicates that these may include quartzose sandstones, which is abundant in local 382 alluvial gravel and glacial deposits. Quartzites could have been obtained from the Rocky Mountain Group, Gog Group and in the Mt. Wilson Formation. The colours are typically dull white, grey, back, blue grey or pink, and silt sized speckled mineral inclusions are common. Additional discussion of quartzites and quartzite sources is provided in text.