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The archaeological remains from a surface collection, Fort Vermilion, Alberta

Description

This paper describes a surface collection from the Gull Lake site near Fort Vermilion in northern Alberta. The site yielded an assortment of tools, including a complete microblade core, several... More ≫

Description

This paper describes a surface collection from the Gull Lake site near Fort Vermilion in northern Alberta. The site yielded an assortment of tools, including a complete microblade core, several diagnostic projectile points made from a variety of lithic raw materials (including one specimen resembling Angostura Paleoindian points). We hypothesize that the Gull Lake site represents one of several areas in the northern Alberta Boreal Borest that were prairies purposely maintained by First Nations peoples to attract large game animals such as woodland bison. Once these and other large animals were depleted after contact, First Nations peoples no longer used the site in favor of other still productive game animal areas in northern Alberta.

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Archaeological discoveries and syntheses in Western Canada, 2020

Description

This volume presents a series of archaeological papers that summarize diverse topics including rock art in southern Alberta, atlatl weights in Saskatchewan, microblade technology in northwest... More ≫

Description

This volume presents a series of archaeological papers that summarize diverse topics including rock art in southern Alberta, atlatl weights in Saskatchewan, microblade technology in northwest North America, Napi effigies on the Northern Plains, a material called porcellanite used to make stone tools in Alberta, and a surface collection of artifacts from northern Alberta (the Gull Lake site).

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A personal perspective on microblade and microblade core variability in northeast Asia and northwest North America

Description

Contrary to the prevailing belief that microblade production was a complicated process that involved indirect percussion or assisted pressure and holding devices, a simple free-hand pressure... More ≫

Description

Contrary to the prevailing belief that microblade production was a complicated process that involved indirect percussion or assisted pressure and holding devices, a simple free-hand pressure technique can easily replicate examples comparable to those recovered from pre-contact sites. This paper argues that such a technique prevailed in the past, and that many of the variations in formal and metric attributes of archaeological microblade cores and microblades are the result of a wide range of environmental, behavioural, and functional variables rather than of completely different methods of manufacture.

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The rock art of the Williams Coulee site, EcPl-16, southwestern Alberta

Description

Description Provide a brief description of the contents of the resource (1 to 5 sentences recommended). The Williams Coulee site (EcPl-16), in southwestern Alberta, is an important and strikingly... More ≫

Description

Description Provide a brief description of the contents of the resource (1 to 5 sentences recommended). The Williams Coulee site (EcPl-16), in southwestern Alberta, is an important and strikingly visual rock art site. This article describes the rock art and offers interpretations of narrative scenes. Outside of the Writing-on-Stone region, Williams Coulee offers some of the most complete and most complex narrative scenes that are typical of Plains Biographical tradition art, but also features scenes with static anthropomorphs that bespeak of the Plains Ceremonial tradition.

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The atlatl weights of Saskatchewan

Description

This article describes and classifies seventy-two atlatl weights found in Saskatchewan, almost all from fields under cultivation in the grassland and aspen parkland. The article presents metric... More ≫

Description

This article describes and classifies seventy-two atlatl weights found in Saskatchewan, almost all from fields under cultivation in the grassland and aspen parkland. The article presents metric attributes and illustrations of the weights in each class in order to further the understanding of this little documented group of artifacts by making available representative specimens from known locations within a defined geographical boundary.

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