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ZOOARCHAEOLOGY IN THE SOUTH CENTRAL CANADIAII SHIELD: AI{ ASSESSMENT OF ITS CURRXMI USE AND POTEMIAL T^TITH AN EXAMPLE FROM I.AKE OF THE WOODS by Ann Balner Department of Anthropology Submitted in partial fulfillnent of the requirements for Èhe degree of Haster of Arts Faculty of Graduate Studies The Unfversity of Manitoba I.tinnipeg, Manitoba July 1983 ZOOARCHAEOLOGY IN THE SOUTH CENTRAL CANADIAN SHIELD: AN ASSESSMENT OF ITS CURRENT USE AND POTENTIAL I,{ITH AN EXAMPLE FROì,I LAKE OF THE I,IOODS by Ann L. Bal"mer A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies of the University of Manitoba in partial fulfillment of the requirenrents of the degree of MASTER OF ARTS o 1983 Permission has been granted to the LIBRARY OF THE UNIVER- SITY OF MANITOBA to lend or sell copies of this thesis. to the NATIONAL LIBRARY OF CANADA to microfilnr this thesis a¡rd to lend or sell copies of the film, and UNIVERSITY MICROFILMS to publish an abstract of this thesis. The author reserves other publication rights, and neither the thesis nor extensive extracts from it may be priuted or other- wise reproduced without the author's writte¡r pernrissiorr. 1\ '1 i:T ü. I,i ¡J {.lI ri,i..rilJ / tì:t&4 {,s,fIåË$ ABSTRACT A review of archaeological síte reports from sites in the souËh- central Canadian Shield (northwesËern Ontario and adjacent areas of northern and eastern Manítoba and norËhern Minnesota) de¡nonstrates that minímum requirements for the recovery, analysis and reporting of zoo- archaeological- data are not consistently meË in this area. consequenËly, these daÈa are not being used to their ful-l potentíal. Reasons for this situation are ísolated and t$ro categories are identifíed: 1) Ëhe general approach of researchers Ëo zooarchaeological data, and 2) physical con- ditions of the deposits and the samples encountered during excavatíon and anal-ysis. Modifications to the exisEing approaches Ëo zooarchaeological- data are suggested. Major problems wiLh zooarchaeological analysis in the study area are Èhe lack of clear seasonality indicators, and the lack of stratifi- cation ín the cultural deposits. A procedure for anËícípatíng and in- terpreting subsistence activit,ies represented by faunal assemblages from sites characterÍzed by Ëhese problems is presented. Emphasis is placed on the recogníËion of sets of subsistence activities that characterize different tÍmes of the year (Rogers L962:C4; Jochim 1976:45). These economic seasons are presenËed as multiple working hypotheses wiËh spe- cífic test irnplícations regarding the relative abundance of different taxa in the faunal remains from occupation duríng each season. The faunal material from three siËes on Lake of the Woods is used Èo test the hypoËheses and two of the sites are provisionally identified as predominanÈly spring occupation remains, and one as predominantly fal1 oceupation remaíns. This analysis and a regional comparíson r¿ith faunal l-al_ assemblages from other sites in Ehe study area indícate that some taxa consistently appear Ín the sites, whí1e some are very scarce. In view of the seasonal hypotheses and test ímplications, this suggests: 1) that some kinds of archaeological data, representing segnenEs of the seasonal- subsisËence strategy, are rare or missing, 2) the ethnographÍc descriptions do not wholly apply to prehistoric subsistence adapËations in the study area, and/or 3) the possibility of prehistoric subsisÈence al-ternatives. The results of the analysis and theír inplícatÍons for the pro- cedure, the traditional perception of'subsistence patterns in the study atea' and the archaeological sample are discussed. Modifications Ëo the procedure outlined are suggested, including: 1) more rigorous use of ecologícal and ethnohistorical daÈa in formulating the seasonal hypo- theses and test implications, and 2) incorporation of the possibility of more than one set of subsistence activities associated wiEh a.par- ticular season. Irnportant Èopics for further research indicated by this study are presented. 1V ACKNOI,.ILEDGEMENTS Howard Savage encouraged my initial interest in subsístence sEudies and provided my first opportunity Ëo learn the ruCÍments of faunal analy- sis, and to him r arn grateful. The faunal material used ín Ehis thesis comes from three siEes on Lake of the Woods t,hat were excavated under an Ontario Ministry of Citizenship and Culture 1Ícence held by C.S. Reid (Northwest Regional Archaeologist) berv¡een 1975 and Ig77. I.t/ou1d. like to thank him for his support in providing additional site information in the ínitÍa1 stages of the analysis. Also, r would like Eo thank the readers on my committee, Dr. E. Leigh syms (archaeological curaEor, Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature) and Dr. !.'I.o. pruiLt (DepartmenE of Zoology, university of Manitoba) for many useful comments and suggestions. rn parÈicular, r extend. thanks to my thesis advisor, Dr. Greg Monks (Department of Anthropology, Uníversity of ManiÈoba), whose interesÈ and experÍ'ence in subsistence studies r¡rere very valuab1e. Linda Galen and John PeËers did most of the drafting and r am grateful for Êheir assis- tance' Dr' Robert tr^Iall, John Peters and Rebecca Balcom provided ad.vice, ideas and valuable comments in Ehe course of numerous conversaEions. rt is to John, for his consÈant support, encouragement, assistance and. compani.onship that I am especially grareful. v TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE LIST OF TABLES v1 LIST OF FIGURES vtl_ . LIST OF APPENDICES v].l-t CHAPTER I OUTLINE OF THE PROBLU-I I InËroduetion I An Ecologícal Orientation I Zooarchaeology 3 Conceptual Approach 5 Minimum Requirements and the Sample . 7 Faunal Remains and Previous Archaeologícal Research in the Study Area T2 Recent Excavation Reports L7 Reasons for the Under-Utilization of Zooarchaeo- logical Data in the Study Area 2 3 Physical Conditions . 2 J Coneeptual and Methodological Approach to the Data 24 Thesis 0utline 27 II A CASE STUDY FROM LAKE OF THE WOODS 28 The SeÈtÍng 28 Physiography 2B C1ínate 31 Vegetat,ion . 31 Fauna 35 The Sites 37 Meek Site 37 Ash Rapids tr^/est SiËe 39 Ash Rapids East Site 42 Excavation Methodology 42 The Artifacts 44 Ceramics 44 Lithics 47 Faunal Remains 47 Artifact ContexÈ and Post-DeposÍtional Disturbance 47 IntroducËion 47 DisËurbance Processes 51 Other Sources of Mixture 57 vl- TABLE 0F CONTENTS (continued) CHAPTER PAGE II Bias and Mixture of the Faunal Samples Disturbance 60 On-Síre Sanpling 60 60 Recovery Techniques . preservation 61 Differential . Suggested Modifícations procedures 62 to 63 III EXPECTATIONS FOR SEASONAL FAUNAL EXPLOITATION 65 Introduction Review of 65 Current Subsistence Strategy Model . Faunal Resource procurement 65 Schedule . 68 Archaeological Test Implícatíons of Six Seasonal Hypotheses for Site OccupatÍon 85 Expected Seasonal Abundancá of Faunal Remains Settlement Location 86 89 IV LAKE OF THE IIIOODS ARCHAEOFAUNAS 95 Introduction Methodology 95 Quantífication 95 Skeletal Elements 95 Assumptions 100 100 Seasonality of Ëhe Occupations Meek Site 101 Ash Rapíds trIest Site 106 Ash Rapíds East Site 110 Skeletal LT4 RepresenËation by Species . Duration and purpose 1i8 of the òccupations 119 General Discussion . Regional Comparisons r24 Mamnals r26 Fish 128 Birds 133 r34 V CONCLUSIONS r37 A Procedure for l_nterpreting Faunal Assernblages from Lake of the Woods and ihe SËudy Area r37 ModifÍcatíons to Ëhe procedure Methodological Considerations r43 Sampling 145 Recovery 145 Reporting r47 r49 Further Research . 150 REFERENCES CITED 151 v1r_ LIST OF TABLES TABLE PAGE 1. Site formation processes 9 2 Examination of Èhe treatment of faunal remains in excavatíon reports from the study area . 20 J Faunal taxonomic breakdown of Lake of the Woods assemblages +U/,a 4 Population characteristj.cs of the primary faunal resources for the study area 69 5 Seasonal_ avaÍlabilÍty of primary faunal resources in the sÈudy area and expected period of maÍn exploitation 76 6 seasonal availability of secondary faunal resources Ín Èhe study area 76 7 Spawning tj.mes and habitats for fish species aggregate Eha t seascnally in Lake of the In/oods 82 I Archaeological test implications of six seasonal hypotheses for site occupations o/, 9 Range of fauna represented. at Ehree Lake of the l^ioods sites . IO2 i0. Meek Site fauna; comparison with expected seasonal abundances . i07 11. Ash Rapids tr{esr Sire fauna; comparison wiEh seasonal expected abundances ll i 12. Ash Rapids Easr SiEe fauna; comparison wiLh seasonal expecEed abundances li5 13. Lithic tool frequencies 14") . LLJ 14. Zoological class breakdown for faunal remains 19 sites in the from stud,y area .127 15 seasonality and Ehe rank ord,ers of Ehe three abundant most species from 19 sites in Ehe study area 1?o I6 Number of occurrences in the rank orders main for the mammalian species from 16 sites in the sËudy area I t^ viii LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE rAU¡- 1. Study area and sites discussed 13 , PhysÍographic regions in che Lake of the Woods area ,a 3. Vegetation zones in the Lake of the Woods area 32 4. Lake of the trIoods and siLe locations 38 5. Meek Site, excavation plan 40 6. Ash Rapids WesË Site, excavation plan 4T 7. Ash Rapids EasÈ SÍte, excavation plan 4J 8. Numerical distribution of Lake of the woods faunal Eaxa gg 1X LIST OF APPENDICES APPENDIX PAGE A The mechanics of frost heave L62 B The Meek Síre DjKp-3, Area B L67 c The Ash Rapids l,iest Sire L73 D The Ash Rapids East Site, Area A 178 E Faunal taxonomic 1ísts 183 I Meek; identifiable bone 185 2 Meek; unidentÍfÍab1e bone 192 3 Ash Rapids l,Iesr; identifíable bone 194 4 Ash RapÍds l{est; unidenrifiable bone 202 5 Ash Rapids Easr; identifiable bone 204 6 Ash Rapids East; unidenrifiable bone. 209 F Fauna: scientÍfÍc nomenclature 2LI G Flora: scientific nomenclature 2r6 x CHAPTER T OUTLTNE OF THE PROBLU"Í Introduction The al-rn of thÍs study is to demonstrate that zooarchaeology has greater potential for archaeological research lrithin the south-central canadian shield than is generally recognized.