Lawrence Jackson completed his Ph.D. on Gainey phase sites in the Rice Lake region of south-central Ontario. He is currently affiliated as a researcher with Trent University and President of the Ontario Association of Professional Archaeologists. His consulting firm, Northeastern Archaeological Associates, also carries out directed research on Early Palaeo-Indian and Middle Woodland sites on Rice Lake. In 2019, he published Early Palaeo-Indian Occupation in the Rice Lake, Otonabee River and South Kawartha Lakes Watersheds. Much of his work is influenced by early experience on caribou interception sites in northern Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories working for the National Museum of Canada. He also field directed Early Palaeo-Indian research for the Royal Ontario Museum on the shores of glacial Lake Algonquin which located the Udora site complex. Through the 1980s, he co-directed winter research projects in Belize, Central America and in 1994 earned his Ph.D. from Southern Methodist University, Dallas. While completing his Ph.D. he carried out original research in New Mexico on the history of the original Folsom site discovery and the palaeontologists who excavated it. His recent work is on the subject of ethnicity in 1,000 to 1650 A.D. period southern Ontario - the time of the Ontario Woodland Tradition. He lives near Rice Lake, Ontario with his wife Donna, son Daniel, and six eclectic cats.
Presentation to AGM, Ontario Association of Professional Archaeologists, 2018
A review of evidence for Algonquin (Anishinabek) cultural presence in southern Ontario over the p... more A review of evidence for Algonquin (Anishinabek) cultural presence in southern Ontario over the past four centuries as well as prior to European contact. Archaeological constructs and terminology used in Ontario Iroquoian archaeology are contrasted with the absence of such constructs and terminology for Ontario Anishinabek archaeology. Statements of ethnicity, linking living peoples with archaeological constructs based on material culture, are questioned as unlikely to have validity.
From Rageneau's account of the Algonquin Missions in the Jesuit Relation of 1648-1649, Chapter X: "On the south shore of this fresh-water sea, or Lake of the Hurons, dwell the following Algonquin tribes: Ouachaskesouek, Nigouaouichirinik, Outaouasinagouek, Kichkagoneiak, and Ontaanak, who are all allies of our Huron With these we have considerable intercourse, but not with the following, who dwell on the shores of the same Lake farther toward the West, namely: the Ouchaouanag, who form part of the Nation of fire; the Ondatouatandy and the Ouinipegong, who are part of the Nation of the Puants".
Association of Professional Archaeologists (Ontario). Occasional Papers in Ontario Archaeology, No. 3, 2019
This paper proposes that the Rice Lake region of south-central Ontario had substantial Early to ... more This paper proposes that the Rice Lake region of south-central Ontario had substantial Early to Middle Archaic occupations (circa 8,900-7,500 RCYBP)-using evidence, from comprehensive regional surveys conducted in the 1980s and largely unpublished site excavation data from the 1970s. These occupations were contemporaneous with gradual Holocene flooding of the Rice Lake basin due to isostatic rebound. Two projectile point "horizons" are documented: 1) a late Early Archaic bifurcate base horizon, (typically on small triangular bladed, eared corner-notched points with deep basal concavity); and 2) an early Middle Archaic corner-notched/stemmed horizon (with small, triangular bladed points varying from corner-notched to straight stemmed and eared, but lacking base bifurcation). Projectile point data is presented from 14 sites on or near Rice Lake and the Trent River. These sites suggest that widely distributed late Early Archaic bifurcate and early Middle Archaic stemmed point horizons existed during a lengthy period of cool and wet climate. A hypsithermal warm and dry interval began about 6,560 RCYBP after the early Middle Archaic (Yu and McAndrews 1994). Detailed water level mapping in relation to site locations indicates a significant focus on wetlands which were being constantly created by incremental flooding of the Rice Lake basin and also much wetter than modern interior valley environments near streams, headwaters, and artesian springs. The juxtaposition of riverine, estuarine, lacustrine and marshland environments on island and palaeo-shoreline Rice Lake sites would have presented considerable ecodiversity and resource exploitation opportunities to Archaic populations.
APA Occasional Papers available online by student, associate or professional membership in Association of Professional Archaeologists or one-time fee download..
This six chapter book, released in October of 2024 by major booksellers, examines Ontario Woodlan... more This six chapter book, released in October of 2024 by major booksellers, examines Ontario Woodland Tradition archaeology in the context of archaeological statements of ethnicity and their reliability in the interpretation of the archaeological record. It focuses on southern Ontario in the period circa 1300 to 1650 A.D. - the time of the Algonquin and Huron Alliance (Sioui and Labelle 2014). Evidence is provided for a highly interactive multi-cultural landscape in which Algonquian-speaking peoples did not disappear with the rise and spread of Iroquoian village life. Instead they were part of a regionally unique ethnogenesis, at different times and places, with Iroquoians. Examination of historical records, Indigenous oral tradition and archaeological sites and artifacts suggests a much different pre-contact reality than the preferred narratives of southern Ontario archaeology currently suggest. A unique ethnogenesis of new cultural forms arising from the close interaction of two powerful language groups, Algonquin and Iroquoian, has remained unappreciated. When it is examined through the lens of Indigenous oral tradition and history, balanced with archaeological evidence and ethnohistoric narratives, a more vibrant picture emerges of lower Great Lakes societies both pre- and post-contact with Europeans.
Ontario Association of Professional Archaeologists Newletter, 2024
This short paper outlines the history of engagement by the Association of Professional Archaeolog... more This short paper outlines the history of engagement by the Association of Professional Archaeologists (Ontario) with Six Nations, HDI and the Williams Treaties Anishinabek First Nations. It chronicles APA involvement with setting up some of the first archaeological training schools for First Nations in Ontario and graduating a large number of Indigenous archaeological liaisons. The paper also touches on APA's professional investigations of issues of archaeological site protection and misplaced blaming of archaeologists in highly charged political situations. Two such investigations resulted in extensive documentation of widely misunderstood events at the sites of Skandatut and also Allandale in southern Ontario. It is important that Ontario archaeologists look beyond superficial explanations which can serve other agendas.
Ontario Public Register of Archaeological Reports, 2020
Report prepared by Patty Morrison and Lawrence Jackson
A Stage 1 archaeological assessment was re... more Report prepared by Patty Morrison and Lawrence Jackson A Stage 1 archaeological assessment was requested by the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation to cover all reserve lands. This work was carried out by Northeastern Archaeological Associates Ltd. in 2017 and 2018 and identified areas of high archaeological potential and provided a detailed background history of the reserve lands.
Rediscovering Our Past: Essays on the History of American Archaeology, Worldwide Archaeology Series, edited by Jonathan Reyman, 1992
Worldwide Archaeology Series 1992
Archival research into the circumstances of the original Folsom... more Worldwide Archaeology Series 1992 Archival research into the circumstances of the original Folsom site discovery in 1926 clearly demonstrates that paleontologists from the Colorado Museum of Natural History were actively looking for associations of ancient humans and extinct fauna. Their documentation of the Folsom site was critical to its acceptance by archaeologists. In 1989, the authors rediscovered a lost 1926-1928 field journal of Folsom crew member Carl Schwachheim in Raton, New Mexico. This journal documents a well-informed and deliberate search for extinct fauna and human associations.
Lawrence Jackson, Christopher Ellis, Alan V. Morgan and John H. McAndrews
This article investiga... more Lawrence Jackson, Christopher Ellis, Alan V. Morgan and John H. McAndrews
This article investigates changing lake levels in the late Pleistocene eastern Great Lakes in order to gain insights into the Early Palaeo-Indian occupations. Significant new information bearing on lake level history is provided, notably the first well-documented deposits of a high water level above modern in the ca. 11,000–10,300 B.P. period in the southern Lake Huron basin. The lake level information, along with paleoenvironmental and site data, reinforces site age estimates to the 11th millennium B.P.; suggests significant numbers of sites have been inundated by rising water levels; provides specific information on the setting of archaeological sites such as placing the Parkhill site adjacent to a large lake estuary ;indicates reasons for the attractiveness of shorelines to Palaeo-Indians including persistence of more open areas conducive to higher game productivity; and points to ideal areas for future archaeological site survey, particularly in the Lake Erie drainage
Ontario Paleo-Indian site situation in regions dominated by proglacial sediments, on or near lake... more Ontario Paleo-Indian site situation in regions dominated by proglacial sediments, on or near lake-edge features (strands), adjacent to strand-dissecting tributaries, and within major interior river valleys with lacustrine associations, implies selectivity reflecting a primary hunting adaptation.This pattern extends to other areas of the Northeast and is also characteristic of Southwestern and Great Basin fluted point sites found along the shores of now-extinct lakes (Davis and Shutler 1969; Judge 1973). Survey strategies have only recently attempted to evaluate how strand sites are representative of larger Paleo-Indian settlement and adaptive patterns.
A single radiocarbon date from an unattributed ossuary excavated near Cobourg, Ontario is re-exam... more A single radiocarbon date from an unattributed ossuary excavated near Cobourg, Ontario is re-examined in the light of known problems with the calibration curve in the period 1500 to 1600 A.D. Originally reported by McKillop and Jackson (1991), the Poole-Rose burial site was not given a cultural affiliation due to a complete absence of artifacts but was determined to have an ossuary pattern comparable to descriptions in the Jesuit Relations accounts of the Feast of the Dead. A 2011 media account (Ormsby 2011) claimed the site was Huron-Wendat when no such determination was possible. Representatives for the Deceased in the case of this site excavation were the Anishinabek treaty holders of Alderville First Nation. Alternative explanations are offered in this paper for both possible cultural affiliations and dating of the site prior to European contact. Designations of ethnicity are considered beyond any available archaeological evidence which raises larger questions about cemeteries regulations requiring statements of cultural affinity.
Strata, Newsletter of the Ontario Chapter of the OAS, Vol. 13:29-33, 2023
To honour the memory of Gidigaa Migizi-ban (Doug Williams), Elder of the Michi Saagiig of Curve L... more To honour the memory of Gidigaa Migizi-ban (Doug Williams), Elder of the Michi Saagiig of Curve Lake, Ontario, Julie Kapyrka and the Peterborough Chapter of the OAS put together a volume of reminiscences by friends and archaeologists. My contribution is to look at how Doug changed our perceptions in the little world of Ontario archaeology and opened our eyes to the meaning and use of oral tradition in constructing archaeological views of the past. Doug's major published work (2018) Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg: This is our Territory, has triggered a re-evaluation of the Anishinabek presence throughout Ontario's past. He records the true and meaningful relationships between groups of Indigenous peoples (specifically The Algonquin and Huron Alliance) prior to and during European contact. Doug spent his life conveying the teachings of his Elders and ensuring that the Michi Saagiig did not remain forgotten in the time archaeologists determined to be that of the Ontario Iroquois Tradition.
A 2014 article by Georges Sioui and Kathryn Labelle frames the concept of the “Algonquian-Wendat ... more A 2014 article by Georges Sioui and Kathryn Labelle frames the concept of the “Algonquian-Wendat Alliance”, a significant 17th century indigenous alliance which may have existed for 250 years in southern Ontario. In 2018, Gidigaa Migizi (Doug Williams), published “Michi Saagiig Nishnabeg: This is our Territory” which chronicles Algonquin oral tradition in southern Ontario since about 1,000 A.D. In this short article, I will explore some of the facts of the Algonquin and Huron alliance drawn from oral history, ethnohistory and archaeology. Ontario archaeologists need to adapt their reconstructive methodologies and include oral tradition if they wish to properly understand the true indigenous relationships of New France and the multi-ethnic nature of Late Woodland village life.
Ontario Association of Professional Archaeologists Newsletter, 2020
This paper summarizes recent research into perceptions of ethnicity in southern Ontario archaeolo... more This paper summarizes recent research into perceptions of ethnicity in southern Ontario archaeology which have tended to regard the 17th century Algonquin presence as invisible. Specific accounts in the Jesuit Relations and in later 17th century French documents make it clear that Algonquins were widely present across the landscape of southern Ontario at the same time as the Iroquois. And that they shared material culture with the Iroquois and had their own tradition of ossuary burial as the Algonquin Feast of the Dead/ Michi Saagiig Elder Doug Williams recounts that the Iroquois were invited into southern Ontario to grow corn and that there developed a mutually beneficial centuries long alliance between Algonquins and Iroquois. Although the exact timing of the beginning of this alliance is unknown it could have been as early as the end of what we call the Middle Woodland period. The in situ theory of cultural development in Ontario tends to disregard the presence of Algonquin peoples. What we have from a First Nation Elder account is an alternative view, not in situ, not migration, but invitation and alliance. Some thoughts are also presented on how perceptions of village ethnicity fail to account for the diversity of survivor populations in a time of contact, widespread disease, and warfare. It is suggested that researchers increase their efforts to recognize Algonquin sites and that the overwhelmingly dominant Ontario Iroquois Tradition concept be replaced with the simple alternative of the Ontario Woodland Tradition - which does not presume ethnicity, an elusive archaeological concept.
Ontario Association of Professional Archaeologists Newsletter, Spring 2022(1):6-9, 2022
This paper discusses a new series of four AMS dates for the Early Woodland Vinette 1 site of Daws... more This paper discusses a new series of four AMS dates for the Early Woodland Vinette 1 site of Dawson Creek on the north shore of Rice Lake in south-central Ontario. Focusing on the presence of distinctive, smoothed-over cord-marked Vinette 1 with incipient punctationin Feature 14, we present evidence for its us use in the latter half of the Hallstatt Plateau circa cal. 800 to 400 B.C. Nearly of the Early Woodland dates at the site fall within the Hallstatt Plateau and have multiple intercepts with the radiocarbon curve - something not considered in most discussions of Early Woodland radiocarbon dates in the Northeast.. This plateau is the infamous :"radiocarbon disaster" of European archaeology. The Dawson Creek AMS dates typically have probabilities for at least 3 or 4 different intercepts and significantly raised sigma variation. They nevertheless fall consistently within the Plateau and give us our first good fix on the age of Vinette 1 in Ontario. We are currently preparing a review of 23 new AMS dates for the Dawson Creek site.
Currently available from University of Michigan Press, Museum of Anthropological Archaeology, Mem... more Currently available from University of Michigan Press, Museum of Anthropological Archaeology, Memoir 32 Approximate cost $26 U.S.
With Foreword by Henry T. Wright and Phytolith Analysis by Anita Buehrle
A comprehensive study of the Gainey phase in the Rice Lake region of Ontario, with focus on the Sandy Ridge logistical and Halstead residential sites. Each site produced evidence of a small suite of subsoil hearth and pit features, associated with tools on Collingwood chert, and provides a template for recognition of small and medium size Gainey phase sites where fluted point production was not a dominant activity.
Paleoindian Archaeology - A Hemispheric Perspective, J. Morrow and C. Gnecco, Eds., 2006
Junius Bird's work at Fell's Cave, Chile in 1936 and 1937 established the presence of Early Paleo... more Junius Bird's work at Fell's Cave, Chile in 1936 and 1937 established the presence of Early PaleoIndian peoples using "fish tail" fluted points in southernmost South America. Compiling data from various researchers, including numerous radiocarbon dates, it appears that South American "fish tails" are co-eval with Folsom. Other discoveries, including an unpublished fluted point recorded by Bird, are good Clovis analogues.
Christopher Ellis, D. Brian Deller and Lawrence Jackson This report describes excavations at th... more Christopher Ellis, D. Brian Deller and Lawrence Jackson This report describes excavations at three small interior Early Paleoindian sites in southwestern Ontario carried out in 1990. Small sites can offer more distinct views of activity area patterning and site function.
Arch Notes, Newsletter of the Ontario Archaeological Society, 1994
This short study published three conventional radiocarbon dates for the Ontario Woodland Traditio... more This short study published three conventional radiocarbon dates for the Ontario Woodland Tradition Gibbs site in south-central Ontario. At that time the dates suggested a late Middleport occupation. Recent AMS dating of carbonized maize shows site use may span from late Pickering to the end of Middleport. ( if we continue to use OIT stage terminology from Wright 1966) during the time of the Algonquin and Huron Alliance (Sioui and Labelle 2014). Pooled mean calibrated ages for three maize AMS samples, run in 2022 and 2023, fall in the early , middle and late 14th century A.D. Samples are from controlled excavation contexts and have SPD age distributions that are typically bimodal.
Smith (2021), in a review of available southern Ontario radiocarbon dates, places Pickering, traditionally dated 1000 to 1300 A.D., from OxCal estimations at A.D. 990 +- 50 to 1380 +- 35 A.D.
Arch Notes, Newsletter of the Ontario Archaeological Society, 1979
A brief research note providing description and drawing of an Early Archaic bifurcate based proje... more A brief research note providing description and drawing of an Early Archaic bifurcate based projectile point found at the Morrow site on the Trent River, south-central Ontario. The point closely resembles examples referred to as Le Croy bifurcate base.
Co-authored with Donna Morrison
A research note highlighting some lithic materials excavated at t... more Co-authored with Donna Morrison A research note highlighting some lithic materials excavated at the Jerseyville Estates property Smith site (AhHa-11) near Ancaster, Ontario in the 1990s. Bifurcate base and Narrow Points (Lamoka) from Area E are briefly discussed. Local ravine topography suggests a game ambush site, likely for large cervids, used from late glacial to recent times.
Research report on file with Northeastern Archaeological Associates, 2012
This research report details additional investigations of the Linton Springs (BaGn-80) multi-comp... more This research report details additional investigations of the Linton Springs (BaGn-80) multi-component hunting camp in 2011. With co-operation of Alderville First Nation, a team of Williams Treaties First Nations students from four different communities, both Chippewa and Mississauga, were taught basic excavation and site recording techniques while exploring the potential of this site. Results confirmed prior work in 2009 identifying the Linton North locality as a significant campsite with multiple occupations, with the primary activity the refurbishing of spear and projectile points. Although the assemblage is dominated by Archaic materials, there later proved to be a small parkhill phase Palaeo-Indian and a Middle Woodland site use (see 2018 report).
Presentation to AGM, Ontario Association of Professional Archaeologists, 2018
A review of evidence for Algonquin (Anishinabek) cultural presence in southern Ontario over the p... more A review of evidence for Algonquin (Anishinabek) cultural presence in southern Ontario over the past four centuries as well as prior to European contact. Archaeological constructs and terminology used in Ontario Iroquoian archaeology are contrasted with the absence of such constructs and terminology for Ontario Anishinabek archaeology. Statements of ethnicity, linking living peoples with archaeological constructs based on material culture, are questioned as unlikely to have validity.
From Rageneau's account of the Algonquin Missions in the Jesuit Relation of 1648-1649, Chapter X: "On the south shore of this fresh-water sea, or Lake of the Hurons, dwell the following Algonquin tribes: Ouachaskesouek, Nigouaouichirinik, Outaouasinagouek, Kichkagoneiak, and Ontaanak, who are all allies of our Huron With these we have considerable intercourse, but not with the following, who dwell on the shores of the same Lake farther toward the West, namely: the Ouchaouanag, who form part of the Nation of fire; the Ondatouatandy and the Ouinipegong, who are part of the Nation of the Puants".
Association of Professional Archaeologists (Ontario). Occasional Papers in Ontario Archaeology, No. 3, 2019
This paper proposes that the Rice Lake region of south-central Ontario had substantial Early to ... more This paper proposes that the Rice Lake region of south-central Ontario had substantial Early to Middle Archaic occupations (circa 8,900-7,500 RCYBP)-using evidence, from comprehensive regional surveys conducted in the 1980s and largely unpublished site excavation data from the 1970s. These occupations were contemporaneous with gradual Holocene flooding of the Rice Lake basin due to isostatic rebound. Two projectile point "horizons" are documented: 1) a late Early Archaic bifurcate base horizon, (typically on small triangular bladed, eared corner-notched points with deep basal concavity); and 2) an early Middle Archaic corner-notched/stemmed horizon (with small, triangular bladed points varying from corner-notched to straight stemmed and eared, but lacking base bifurcation). Projectile point data is presented from 14 sites on or near Rice Lake and the Trent River. These sites suggest that widely distributed late Early Archaic bifurcate and early Middle Archaic stemmed point horizons existed during a lengthy period of cool and wet climate. A hypsithermal warm and dry interval began about 6,560 RCYBP after the early Middle Archaic (Yu and McAndrews 1994). Detailed water level mapping in relation to site locations indicates a significant focus on wetlands which were being constantly created by incremental flooding of the Rice Lake basin and also much wetter than modern interior valley environments near streams, headwaters, and artesian springs. The juxtaposition of riverine, estuarine, lacustrine and marshland environments on island and palaeo-shoreline Rice Lake sites would have presented considerable ecodiversity and resource exploitation opportunities to Archaic populations.
APA Occasional Papers available online by student, associate or professional membership in Association of Professional Archaeologists or one-time fee download..
This six chapter book, released in October of 2024 by major booksellers, examines Ontario Woodlan... more This six chapter book, released in October of 2024 by major booksellers, examines Ontario Woodland Tradition archaeology in the context of archaeological statements of ethnicity and their reliability in the interpretation of the archaeological record. It focuses on southern Ontario in the period circa 1300 to 1650 A.D. - the time of the Algonquin and Huron Alliance (Sioui and Labelle 2014). Evidence is provided for a highly interactive multi-cultural landscape in which Algonquian-speaking peoples did not disappear with the rise and spread of Iroquoian village life. Instead they were part of a regionally unique ethnogenesis, at different times and places, with Iroquoians. Examination of historical records, Indigenous oral tradition and archaeological sites and artifacts suggests a much different pre-contact reality than the preferred narratives of southern Ontario archaeology currently suggest. A unique ethnogenesis of new cultural forms arising from the close interaction of two powerful language groups, Algonquin and Iroquoian, has remained unappreciated. When it is examined through the lens of Indigenous oral tradition and history, balanced with archaeological evidence and ethnohistoric narratives, a more vibrant picture emerges of lower Great Lakes societies both pre- and post-contact with Europeans.
Ontario Association of Professional Archaeologists Newletter, 2024
This short paper outlines the history of engagement by the Association of Professional Archaeolog... more This short paper outlines the history of engagement by the Association of Professional Archaeologists (Ontario) with Six Nations, HDI and the Williams Treaties Anishinabek First Nations. It chronicles APA involvement with setting up some of the first archaeological training schools for First Nations in Ontario and graduating a large number of Indigenous archaeological liaisons. The paper also touches on APA's professional investigations of issues of archaeological site protection and misplaced blaming of archaeologists in highly charged political situations. Two such investigations resulted in extensive documentation of widely misunderstood events at the sites of Skandatut and also Allandale in southern Ontario. It is important that Ontario archaeologists look beyond superficial explanations which can serve other agendas.
Ontario Public Register of Archaeological Reports, 2020
Report prepared by Patty Morrison and Lawrence Jackson
A Stage 1 archaeological assessment was re... more Report prepared by Patty Morrison and Lawrence Jackson A Stage 1 archaeological assessment was requested by the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation to cover all reserve lands. This work was carried out by Northeastern Archaeological Associates Ltd. in 2017 and 2018 and identified areas of high archaeological potential and provided a detailed background history of the reserve lands.
Rediscovering Our Past: Essays on the History of American Archaeology, Worldwide Archaeology Series, edited by Jonathan Reyman, 1992
Worldwide Archaeology Series 1992
Archival research into the circumstances of the original Folsom... more Worldwide Archaeology Series 1992 Archival research into the circumstances of the original Folsom site discovery in 1926 clearly demonstrates that paleontologists from the Colorado Museum of Natural History were actively looking for associations of ancient humans and extinct fauna. Their documentation of the Folsom site was critical to its acceptance by archaeologists. In 1989, the authors rediscovered a lost 1926-1928 field journal of Folsom crew member Carl Schwachheim in Raton, New Mexico. This journal documents a well-informed and deliberate search for extinct fauna and human associations.
Lawrence Jackson, Christopher Ellis, Alan V. Morgan and John H. McAndrews
This article investiga... more Lawrence Jackson, Christopher Ellis, Alan V. Morgan and John H. McAndrews
This article investigates changing lake levels in the late Pleistocene eastern Great Lakes in order to gain insights into the Early Palaeo-Indian occupations. Significant new information bearing on lake level history is provided, notably the first well-documented deposits of a high water level above modern in the ca. 11,000–10,300 B.P. period in the southern Lake Huron basin. The lake level information, along with paleoenvironmental and site data, reinforces site age estimates to the 11th millennium B.P.; suggests significant numbers of sites have been inundated by rising water levels; provides specific information on the setting of archaeological sites such as placing the Parkhill site adjacent to a large lake estuary ;indicates reasons for the attractiveness of shorelines to Palaeo-Indians including persistence of more open areas conducive to higher game productivity; and points to ideal areas for future archaeological site survey, particularly in the Lake Erie drainage
Ontario Paleo-Indian site situation in regions dominated by proglacial sediments, on or near lake... more Ontario Paleo-Indian site situation in regions dominated by proglacial sediments, on or near lake-edge features (strands), adjacent to strand-dissecting tributaries, and within major interior river valleys with lacustrine associations, implies selectivity reflecting a primary hunting adaptation.This pattern extends to other areas of the Northeast and is also characteristic of Southwestern and Great Basin fluted point sites found along the shores of now-extinct lakes (Davis and Shutler 1969; Judge 1973). Survey strategies have only recently attempted to evaluate how strand sites are representative of larger Paleo-Indian settlement and adaptive patterns.
A single radiocarbon date from an unattributed ossuary excavated near Cobourg, Ontario is re-exam... more A single radiocarbon date from an unattributed ossuary excavated near Cobourg, Ontario is re-examined in the light of known problems with the calibration curve in the period 1500 to 1600 A.D. Originally reported by McKillop and Jackson (1991), the Poole-Rose burial site was not given a cultural affiliation due to a complete absence of artifacts but was determined to have an ossuary pattern comparable to descriptions in the Jesuit Relations accounts of the Feast of the Dead. A 2011 media account (Ormsby 2011) claimed the site was Huron-Wendat when no such determination was possible. Representatives for the Deceased in the case of this site excavation were the Anishinabek treaty holders of Alderville First Nation. Alternative explanations are offered in this paper for both possible cultural affiliations and dating of the site prior to European contact. Designations of ethnicity are considered beyond any available archaeological evidence which raises larger questions about cemeteries regulations requiring statements of cultural affinity.
Strata, Newsletter of the Ontario Chapter of the OAS, Vol. 13:29-33, 2023
To honour the memory of Gidigaa Migizi-ban (Doug Williams), Elder of the Michi Saagiig of Curve L... more To honour the memory of Gidigaa Migizi-ban (Doug Williams), Elder of the Michi Saagiig of Curve Lake, Ontario, Julie Kapyrka and the Peterborough Chapter of the OAS put together a volume of reminiscences by friends and archaeologists. My contribution is to look at how Doug changed our perceptions in the little world of Ontario archaeology and opened our eyes to the meaning and use of oral tradition in constructing archaeological views of the past. Doug's major published work (2018) Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg: This is our Territory, has triggered a re-evaluation of the Anishinabek presence throughout Ontario's past. He records the true and meaningful relationships between groups of Indigenous peoples (specifically The Algonquin and Huron Alliance) prior to and during European contact. Doug spent his life conveying the teachings of his Elders and ensuring that the Michi Saagiig did not remain forgotten in the time archaeologists determined to be that of the Ontario Iroquois Tradition.
A 2014 article by Georges Sioui and Kathryn Labelle frames the concept of the “Algonquian-Wendat ... more A 2014 article by Georges Sioui and Kathryn Labelle frames the concept of the “Algonquian-Wendat Alliance”, a significant 17th century indigenous alliance which may have existed for 250 years in southern Ontario. In 2018, Gidigaa Migizi (Doug Williams), published “Michi Saagiig Nishnabeg: This is our Territory” which chronicles Algonquin oral tradition in southern Ontario since about 1,000 A.D. In this short article, I will explore some of the facts of the Algonquin and Huron alliance drawn from oral history, ethnohistory and archaeology. Ontario archaeologists need to adapt their reconstructive methodologies and include oral tradition if they wish to properly understand the true indigenous relationships of New France and the multi-ethnic nature of Late Woodland village life.
Ontario Association of Professional Archaeologists Newsletter, 2020
This paper summarizes recent research into perceptions of ethnicity in southern Ontario archaeolo... more This paper summarizes recent research into perceptions of ethnicity in southern Ontario archaeology which have tended to regard the 17th century Algonquin presence as invisible. Specific accounts in the Jesuit Relations and in later 17th century French documents make it clear that Algonquins were widely present across the landscape of southern Ontario at the same time as the Iroquois. And that they shared material culture with the Iroquois and had their own tradition of ossuary burial as the Algonquin Feast of the Dead/ Michi Saagiig Elder Doug Williams recounts that the Iroquois were invited into southern Ontario to grow corn and that there developed a mutually beneficial centuries long alliance between Algonquins and Iroquois. Although the exact timing of the beginning of this alliance is unknown it could have been as early as the end of what we call the Middle Woodland period. The in situ theory of cultural development in Ontario tends to disregard the presence of Algonquin peoples. What we have from a First Nation Elder account is an alternative view, not in situ, not migration, but invitation and alliance. Some thoughts are also presented on how perceptions of village ethnicity fail to account for the diversity of survivor populations in a time of contact, widespread disease, and warfare. It is suggested that researchers increase their efforts to recognize Algonquin sites and that the overwhelmingly dominant Ontario Iroquois Tradition concept be replaced with the simple alternative of the Ontario Woodland Tradition - which does not presume ethnicity, an elusive archaeological concept.
Ontario Association of Professional Archaeologists Newsletter, Spring 2022(1):6-9, 2022
This paper discusses a new series of four AMS dates for the Early Woodland Vinette 1 site of Daws... more This paper discusses a new series of four AMS dates for the Early Woodland Vinette 1 site of Dawson Creek on the north shore of Rice Lake in south-central Ontario. Focusing on the presence of distinctive, smoothed-over cord-marked Vinette 1 with incipient punctationin Feature 14, we present evidence for its us use in the latter half of the Hallstatt Plateau circa cal. 800 to 400 B.C. Nearly of the Early Woodland dates at the site fall within the Hallstatt Plateau and have multiple intercepts with the radiocarbon curve - something not considered in most discussions of Early Woodland radiocarbon dates in the Northeast.. This plateau is the infamous :"radiocarbon disaster" of European archaeology. The Dawson Creek AMS dates typically have probabilities for at least 3 or 4 different intercepts and significantly raised sigma variation. They nevertheless fall consistently within the Plateau and give us our first good fix on the age of Vinette 1 in Ontario. We are currently preparing a review of 23 new AMS dates for the Dawson Creek site.
Currently available from University of Michigan Press, Museum of Anthropological Archaeology, Mem... more Currently available from University of Michigan Press, Museum of Anthropological Archaeology, Memoir 32 Approximate cost $26 U.S.
With Foreword by Henry T. Wright and Phytolith Analysis by Anita Buehrle
A comprehensive study of the Gainey phase in the Rice Lake region of Ontario, with focus on the Sandy Ridge logistical and Halstead residential sites. Each site produced evidence of a small suite of subsoil hearth and pit features, associated with tools on Collingwood chert, and provides a template for recognition of small and medium size Gainey phase sites where fluted point production was not a dominant activity.
Paleoindian Archaeology - A Hemispheric Perspective, J. Morrow and C. Gnecco, Eds., 2006
Junius Bird's work at Fell's Cave, Chile in 1936 and 1937 established the presence of Early Paleo... more Junius Bird's work at Fell's Cave, Chile in 1936 and 1937 established the presence of Early PaleoIndian peoples using "fish tail" fluted points in southernmost South America. Compiling data from various researchers, including numerous radiocarbon dates, it appears that South American "fish tails" are co-eval with Folsom. Other discoveries, including an unpublished fluted point recorded by Bird, are good Clovis analogues.
Christopher Ellis, D. Brian Deller and Lawrence Jackson This report describes excavations at th... more Christopher Ellis, D. Brian Deller and Lawrence Jackson This report describes excavations at three small interior Early Paleoindian sites in southwestern Ontario carried out in 1990. Small sites can offer more distinct views of activity area patterning and site function.
Arch Notes, Newsletter of the Ontario Archaeological Society, 1994
This short study published three conventional radiocarbon dates for the Ontario Woodland Traditio... more This short study published three conventional radiocarbon dates for the Ontario Woodland Tradition Gibbs site in south-central Ontario. At that time the dates suggested a late Middleport occupation. Recent AMS dating of carbonized maize shows site use may span from late Pickering to the end of Middleport. ( if we continue to use OIT stage terminology from Wright 1966) during the time of the Algonquin and Huron Alliance (Sioui and Labelle 2014). Pooled mean calibrated ages for three maize AMS samples, run in 2022 and 2023, fall in the early , middle and late 14th century A.D. Samples are from controlled excavation contexts and have SPD age distributions that are typically bimodal.
Smith (2021), in a review of available southern Ontario radiocarbon dates, places Pickering, traditionally dated 1000 to 1300 A.D., from OxCal estimations at A.D. 990 +- 50 to 1380 +- 35 A.D.
Arch Notes, Newsletter of the Ontario Archaeological Society, 1979
A brief research note providing description and drawing of an Early Archaic bifurcate based proje... more A brief research note providing description and drawing of an Early Archaic bifurcate based projectile point found at the Morrow site on the Trent River, south-central Ontario. The point closely resembles examples referred to as Le Croy bifurcate base.
Co-authored with Donna Morrison
A research note highlighting some lithic materials excavated at t... more Co-authored with Donna Morrison A research note highlighting some lithic materials excavated at the Jerseyville Estates property Smith site (AhHa-11) near Ancaster, Ontario in the 1990s. Bifurcate base and Narrow Points (Lamoka) from Area E are briefly discussed. Local ravine topography suggests a game ambush site, likely for large cervids, used from late glacial to recent times.
Research report on file with Northeastern Archaeological Associates, 2012
This research report details additional investigations of the Linton Springs (BaGn-80) multi-comp... more This research report details additional investigations of the Linton Springs (BaGn-80) multi-component hunting camp in 2011. With co-operation of Alderville First Nation, a team of Williams Treaties First Nations students from four different communities, both Chippewa and Mississauga, were taught basic excavation and site recording techniques while exploring the potential of this site. Results confirmed prior work in 2009 identifying the Linton North locality as a significant campsite with multiple occupations, with the primary activity the refurbishing of spear and projectile points. Although the assemblage is dominated by Archaic materials, there later proved to be a small parkhill phase Palaeo-Indian and a Middle Woodland site use (see 2018 report).
Mercury Series, Archaeological Survey of Canada, Paper 159, 2000
Review of: An Early Paleo-Indian site near Parkhill, Ontario by Christopher Ellis and D. Brian D... more Review of: An Early Paleo-Indian site near Parkhill, Ontario by Christopher Ellis and D. Brian Deller. With contributions by William B. Roosa, Alan V. Morgan, and John H. McAndrews. A chapter by chapter review of publication of a major Canadian Paleo-Indian site, Parkhill, first discovered in the 1970s.
A one page review of Tanaka's interpretation and presentation for children of the world famous d... more A one page review of Tanaka's interpretation and presentation for children of the world famous discovery of the Iceman.
Review of a series of four children's books on North American indigenous groups by Bobbie Kalman.... more Review of a series of four children's books on North American indigenous groups by Bobbie Kalman. With illustrations by Barbara Bedell, Margaret Amy Reich, and Bonna Rouse. The four books, all excellent for children, are Nations of the Plains, Life in a Longhouse Village, Native Homes and Life in a Plains Camp.
Ontario Public Register of Archaeological Reports, 2017
In 2016, Northeastern Archaeological Associates Limited carried out an achaeological assessment ... more In 2016, Northeastern Archaeological Associates Limited carried out an achaeological assessment to facilitate building a new foundation for the 19th century Needler's Mill on Baxter Creek, in the village of Millbrook, Ontario. Stage 1 research indicated that the property is of high potential for deeply buried archaeological resources due to its proximity to areas of historic development, existing watercourses, historic transportation corridors, and registered archaeological sites. In consultation with the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport, a strategy for investigating the area by trench excavation was undertaken. The development lands consist of a small (0.02ha) rectangular impact zone where footings for the new mill foundation will be excavated. The study area is adjacent to Needlers Lane, a short distance from the original mill location at the outflow of the mill pond on Baxters Creek. The subject property was assessed using hand excavation of test trenches followed by machine removal of disturbed fill in accordance with MTCS 2011 Standards. This survey resulted in the discovery of a variety of historic material in a disturbed context, as well as a portion of wooden beam in its original location near the top of the water table. This wood beam was uncovered and recorded. Given this result it is the recommendation of Northeastern Archaeological Associates Limited that no further archaeological work be required on the assessed area.
Late Wisconsin Environments and Palaeo-Indian Occupation in the Northeastern United States and Southern Ontario, 1978
This chapter is an older study of southern Ontario vertebrate faunal records current to 1978. ... more This chapter is an older study of southern Ontario vertebrate faunal records current to 1978. It provides an overview of many 19th and 20th century discoveries and associated context or conventional dating.
Strata, Newsletter of the Peterborough Chapter of the OAS, Vol. 13, Summer 2023, 2023
This article discusses the work of Gidigaa Migizi-ban (Elder Doug Williams) teaching archaeologis... more This article discusses the work of Gidigaa Migizi-ban (Elder Doug Williams) teaching archaeologists to learn about the past using Anishinabek oral tradition. It briefly examines the dominant Iroquoian archaeological narrative in Ontario as a means to understand how archaeological constructs channel our views of the past. In the southern Ontario example, they have rendered the Algonquin aspect of the Algonquin and Huron Alliance as not worth consideration - even when major insights which help solve long-standing problems in reconstruction have been given to us by Elders (such as Gidigaa Migizi-ban).
See: Gidigaa Migizi 2018 Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg: This is Our Territory. Arp Books. Winnipeg
This Conservation Report for Northumberland County and Durham Region documents a research survey ... more This Conservation Report for Northumberland County and Durham Region documents a research survey in Durham north of the Oak Ridges Moraine and on the east side of Lake Scugog in 1989. Surface collections were mainly small lithic assemblages of various ages. One Late Woodland site was also recorded. Work in the Rice Lake region both north and south of the Oak Ridges Moraine in Northumberland County took place at five sites including BaGn-6, the Sandy Ridge site (also known as McMahon), a Gainey phase, Early Palaeo-Indian site on the northwest shore of Rice Lake.
Conservation Licence Report to Ontario Ministry of Culture and Recreation, 1988
This brief report on Conservation Licence activity in Northumberland County, Ontario in 1988 note... more This brief report on Conservation Licence activity in Northumberland County, Ontario in 1988 notes direction of a Trent University field school at the Gibbs village site (BaGo-29) near Garden Hill, Ontario, a small site boundary excavation at the Halstead Palaeo-Indian site at Rice Lake, discovery of a new small lithic site near Garden Hill, and notes on a private collection which includes a distinctive Adena-like projectile point. This is the seventh in a series of annual Conservation Licence reports.
This 1986 report summarizes conservation licence work in the County of Northumberland in 1986. T... more This 1986 report summarizes conservation licence work in the County of Northumberland in 1986. Two geographic areas were investigated, Plainville Valley directly south of the western Rice Lake basin, and the environs of the Ganaraska River just north of the Town of Port Hope and Lake Ontario. Significant results of the Plainville Valley work included the first test excavation work at the Halstead site (BaGn-65), a major Gainey phase Early Palaeo-Indian site, exploration of the Marshman site (BaGn-81) a probable Gainey phase site, and testing of the Inner City Angels site (BaGn-76) where the first projectile point of Late Palaeo-Indian Plainville type was discovered. The Ganaraska River work identified several new sites, including one with Archaic period Broad points.
Conservation Report filed with Ontario Ministry of Culture and Communications, 1987
Additional survey, test excavations and collector interviews in 1987 under Conservation Licence ... more Additional survey, test excavations and collector interviews in 1987 under Conservation Licence 97-34 produced records for five archaeological sites in Hope and Hamilton Townships of Northumberland County. Sites included Halstead Palaeo-Indian site (BaGn-65), Zion School (AlGo-2) a possible Pickering phase camp - highly eroded, the Monk and Clarke sites (AlGn-5 and 6) in a residential area of Port Hope, and the Boughen site (AlGo-18) with Small Point Archaic and possible Laurentian Archaic. Site leads indicate a wealth of information is held in private hands.
This licence report on Conservation Activity in the province of Ontario focuses on work in three ... more This licence report on Conservation Activity in the province of Ontario focuses on work in three regions, northern Ontario near the area of Burk's Falls and Parry Sound, and southern Ontario in the Kawartha Lakes and Rice Lake. Sites reported include Early and Late Palaeo-Indian, Early and Middle Archaic, and Woodland.
Test excavations in 1997 at the Blezard II site (BaGn-71) in Plainville Valley south of Rice Lake... more Test excavations in 1997 at the Blezard II site (BaGn-71) in Plainville Valley south of Rice Lake, Ontario attempted to locate Late Paleo-Indian artifacts in a plough disturbed site context. The location, on a small sandy knoll directly south of Plainville Stream, produced only a small assemblage of artifacts, with evidence for Late Paleo-Indian and later use, as well as presence of Upper Mercer chert typically found only on Early Paleo-Indian sites in this region. In addition, plough zone excavations produced large quantities of fire-cracked rock, suggesting that cultural features had once been present prior to modern ploughing. The Blezard II site had previously produced a large number of isolated projectile points of multiple time periods from surface collection of the southern sand ridge running parallel to Plainville Stream.
Report to Ontario Ministry of Citizenship, Culture and Recreation, 1998
This report describes site survey work at the Pleasant Point site on the Otonabee River, Traill h... more This report describes site survey work at the Pleasant Point site on the Otonabee River, Traill homestead on Rice Lake, and Judd, Distress River, and Stopper sites in the Burk;s Falls area of Parry Sound District (sites are designated BbGn-17, BaGn-111, BjGu-1, BkGu-1 and BjGu-2, respectively). Conservation reports covered a period of 20 years from 1982 to 2002 and included new site survey work, test excavations, and reports of site locations. The current study includes materials of the Archaic period, an unassigned site producing quartz artifacts and quartz crystal and a possible petroglyph site near Burk;s Falls, Ontario.
Report to Ontario Ministry of Tourism and Culture, 2010
This brief report documents the first Stage 2 and 3 test excavations at the Linton Springs site (... more This brief report documents the first Stage 2 and 3 test excavations at the Linton Springs site (BaGn-80) in the Plainville Valley region south of Rice Lake in south-central Ontario. The site was discovered by surface collection in 1980 and yielded a wide array of lithic tools from Late Paleoindian and Archaic time periods. This report on 2009 co0investigations with Dr. James Conolly of Trent University identified Early and Late Archaic materials in the northern section of the site on the banks of a relict pond and spring. Subsequent investigations at Linton Springs documented Early Paleo-Indian Parkhill phase and Small Point Archaic occupations.
Occasional Papers in Archaeology, Association of Professional Archaeologists Available online by membership in Ontario Association of Professional Archaeologists, 2019
This paper proposes that the Rice Lake region of south-central Ontario had substantial Early to M... more This paper proposes that the Rice Lake region of south-central Ontario had substantial Early to Middle Archaic occupations (circa 8,900-7,500 RCYBP)-using evidence, from comprehensive regional surveys conducted in the 1980s and largely unpublished site excavation data from the 1970s. These occupations were contemporaneous with gradual Holocene flooding of the Rice Lake basin due to isostatic rebound. Two projectile point "horizons" are documented: 1) a late Early Archaic bifurcate base horizon, (typically on small triangular bladed, eared corner-notched points with deep basal concavity); and 2) an early Middle Archaic corner-notched/stemmed horizon (with small, triangular bladed points varying from corner-notched to straight stemmed and eared, but lacking base bifurcation). Projectile point data is presented from 14 sites on or near Rice Lake and the Trent River. These sites suggest that widely distributed late Early Archaic bifurcate and early Middle Archaic stemmed point horizons existed during a lengthy period of cool and wet climate. A hypsithermal warm and dry interval began about 6,560 RCYBP after the early Middle Archaic (Yu and McAndrews 1994). Detailed water level mapping in relation to site locations indicates a significant focus on wetlands which were being constantly created by incremental flooding of the Rice Lake basin and also much wetter than modern interior valley environments near streams, headwaters, and artesian springs. The juxtaposition of riverine, estuarine, lacustrine and marshland environments on island and palaeo-shoreline Rice Lake sites would have presented considerable ecodiversity and resource exploitation opportunities to Archaic populations. 2
Submitted to Association of Professional Archaeologists Newsletter, 2019
Early Woodland Meadowood phase C14 dates from pit and feature excavations in 1976 and 1981 at the... more Early Woodland Meadowood phase C14 dates from pit and feature excavations in 1976 and 1981 at the Dawson Creek site, Rice Lake, are calibrated. Two new AMS dates are added to provide a good statistical overview of the probable age of Meadwood in south-central Ontario.
This research report, filed in the Ontario Public Register of Archaeological Reports, describes 2... more This research report, filed in the Ontario Public Register of Archaeological Reports, describes 2016 and 2017 excavations at the Linton Spring site, a multi-component site in Northumberland County, south-central Ontario. Overlapping campsites of Early Palaeo-Indian, Early and Middle Archaic, small point Archaic, and Middle Woodland periods were localized on the northeast side of a large interior wetland and pond near a natural artesian spring. The wetland showed significant edge terracing documenting a high stage at an unknown time period. Although historic ploughing had destroyed all subsoil features at the site, there were a large number of diagnostics, principally projectile points, and faunal remains identifying this as a significant hunting locality over many millenia. The most unique artifact at the site was a Parkhill phase Early Palaeo-Indian preform of a Barnes fluted point.
Ontario Public Register of Archaeological Reports, 2019
2018 and 2019 Archaeological investigations of North Bottle :Lake, Kawartha Highlands Provincial ... more 2018 and 2019 Archaeological investigations of North Bottle :Lake, Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park, central Ontario were carried out as part of a long term research design of Dr. James Conolly, Trent University, Department of Anthropology. in the Kawartha Highlands area. We were very pleased to take a break from routine consulting activities and carry out a small canoe survey and testing in areas where archaeologist Tom Ballantine had previously recorded small shoreline sites. While this research only augmented existing collections, thought to be Shield Archaic, our crew enjoyed the sandy beaches and black flies of Bottle Lake. We look forward to seeing the future research results of Dr. Conolly in this archaeologically neglected area of central Ontario.
Research report on file with Northeastern Archaeological Associates, 2012
This research report describes additional investigations of the Linton Springs (BaGn-80) hunting ... more This research report describes additional investigations of the Linton Springs (BaGn-80) hunting camp in 2011. Surface collected since 1980, the site was determined in 2009 to have a lithic activity area in ploughed field margins adjacent to a fresh-water spring. With the encouragement of Alderville First Nation, a team of Williams Treaties First Nations student from four communities, Chippewa and Mississauga, learned excavation and recording methods at the site in 2011. Recovered materials further documented Archaic occupation, as indicated by the 2009 work, and clearly show a recurrent hunt camp occupation with the primary on site activity being refurbishing of spear and projectile points. Excavations in 2016 and 2017, see Linton Springs paper in drafts section, documented an Early Palaeo-Indian Parkhill phase, multiple Early and Late Archaic, Middle Woodland, and historic Euro-Canadian occuaptions.
Licence Report on file with Northeastern Archaeological Associates, Port Hope, 1992
This Conservation Licence report for Northumberland County, Ontario documents the destruction of ... more This Conservation Licence report for Northumberland County, Ontario documents the destruction of a large section of a significant wetland and at least two associated archaeological sites. Wetland soils covering several acres, which contained fossil caribou and other vertebrate remains, were excavated and trucked away. A small geological drumlin on the property was torn down and used to fill in the wetland. The author obtained permission to visit the property and documented two archaeological sites but there was no support to stop the excavation or preserve sites. The Ministry of Natural Resources was notified and took no action. The Ministry of Tourism and Culture responsible for archaeology did write to the owner but to no effect. CBC film footage of the wetland destruction was included on a David Suzuki documentary on Wetland Destruction in Canada. At least two archaeological sites, one of unknown age and one historic Euro-Canadian were lost. The Sandy Ridge Gainey phase site is only 2 km northeast along the shore of Rice Lake. The location is noted for its artesian springs.
ETHNICITY IN THE ONTARIO WOODLAND TRADITION is now available at major book sellers, 2024
This six chapter book examines Ontario Woodland Tradition archaeology in the context of archaeolo... more This six chapter book examines Ontario Woodland Tradition archaeology in the context of archaeological statements of ethnicity and their reliability in the interpretation of the archaeological record. It focuses on southern Ontario in the period circa 1300 to 1650 A.D. - the time of the Algonquin and Huron Alliance (Sioui and Labelle 2014). Evidence is provided for a highly interactive multi-cultural landscape in which Algonquian-speaking peoples did not disappear with the rise and spread of Iroquoian village life. Instead they were part of a regionally unique ethnogenesis, at different times and places, with Iroquoians. Examination of historical records, Indigenous oral tradition and archaeological sites and artifacts suggests a much different pre-contact reality than the preferred narratives of southern Ontario archaeology currently suggest.
ETHNICITY IN THE ONTARIO WOODLAND TRADITION is now available in hard and soft cover editions, October 2024, through major book sellers such as Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Indigo/Chapters, etc.
Worldwide Archaeology Series, No. 6 (Series editor Ross Samson), 1997
The papers in this out-of-print volume provide a variety of perspectives on Rangifer (caribou/rei... more The papers in this out-of-print volume provide a variety of perspectives on Rangifer (caribou/reindeer) and use by prehistoric peoples of the northern latitudes of both Old and New Worlds. Since the work of Lartet and Christy in the late 1800s recognizing L' Age du Renne, use of Rangifer by prehistoric Europeans has been well-known. Less understood is the economic significance of Rangifer as compared with other food sorrces, and relationships with human ranging and social behavior since the Upper Palaeolithic.
Our Lands Speak, Occasional Papers in Ontario Archaeology No. 1 With a Foreword by Jonathan Lothrop, 2019
Available Now for Purchase from Amazon.ca Paperback $34.95 Can. E-boo... more Available Now for Purchase from Amazon.ca Paperback $34.95 Can. E-book Download from icpublishing.ca , $19.95 Can. and tax. Direct order: https://www.icbookstore.ca:10400/earlypalaeoindianoccupation May also be ordered at apaontario.ca, go to online store.
This paper focuses initially on the 2005 discovery of a small Early Palaeo-Indian site along the Otonabee River in the northeast part of the city of Peterborough and broadens to discuss the regional context of occupation in the south Kawartha Lakes/Otonabee River and Rice Lake watersheds based on 40 years of intermittent survey and excavations. The Waverly Heights site (BcGn-13) was found during a shovel test survey with a single positive shovel test leading to a full Stage 4 excavation. The site is on the gentle north slope of a small glacial drumlin between two branches of the Otonabee River. Assigned to time period on the basis of distinctive channel flakes from the manufacture of fluted points, the site had a small hearth with bifacial debitage, a projectile point basal ear and calcined mammal bone. The calcined bone from the site indicates not just the hunting of large cervids but also consumption of fish. Proximity to a possible caribou water crossing of the glacial Otonabee River is raised. Channel flake width measurements suggest a Parkhill or later phase Palaeo-Indian occupation, perhaps Holcombe at the end of the Early Palaeo-Indian fluting tradition. Waverly Heights provides new information on small resource extraction sites and indicates there may be much larger regional networks of small Early Palaeo-Indian site types, originally predicted from comprehensive survey work in the Rice Lake region 20 km to the south (Jackson1990). More than a dozen Early Palaeo-Indian sites in the western Rice Lake area include logistical game processing, hunting ambush, and multi-purpose residential camps. Significantly, reconstruction of palaeogeographic landscapes indicates that the entire western lake bed of Rice Lake would have been a mosaic of small wetlands and dry land in the late glacial period circa 12,000 to 10,000 years B.P. Multiple discoveries of fossil caribou remains from later Holocene contexts at Rice Lake, circa 6,000 to 3,000 years B.P. strongly indicate that caribou was a persistent resource for human occupants of the area. It is highly likely that many early Palaeo-Indian sites are currently inaccessible below the now flooded western Rice Lake basin because of the Holocene effects of isostatic rebound.
The papers in this volume provide a variety of perspectives on Rangifer (caribou/reindeer) and it... more The papers in this volume provide a variety of perspectives on Rangifer (caribou/reindeer) and its use by prehistoric peoples in the northern latitudes of both Old and New Worlds. Since the early work of Lartet and Christy in the late 1800s and their recognition of "L' Age du Renne, use of Rangifer (reindeer) by prehistoric Europeans has been well known. Less understood has been the actual economic significance of Rangifer, as compared with other food sources, and its relationship to human ranging and social behavior during the Upper Paleolithic.
Memoirs, Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Number 32, 1998
This is the complete text of the 1998 University of Michigan Memoir presenting an integrated anal... more This is the complete text of the 1998 University of Michigan Memoir presenting an integrated analysis of the Sandy Ridge (BaGn-6) and Halstead Gainey phase sites in the western basin area of Rice Lake, Ontario. Discussion focuses on the identifying traits of Gainey sites, moving beyond just fluted points, and compares and contrasts neighbouring logistical resource extraction (Sandy Ridge) and residential sites (Halstead) in the Binfordian sense. Complete description and analysis of artifact assemblages from both sites is provided to facilitate comparison with other sites. Lithic source materials are overwhelmingly dominated by Collingwood chert at both sites with logical relationships to the northwest with the Udora complex of sites and the Collingwood (Fossil Hill) chert quarries in the Blue Mountain area of Ontario. Arguments are presented for the principal use of both sites related to the exploitation of late glacial caribou herds in the region. This is not the full story of Gainey phase occupation and resource utilization but an initial building block for regional studies.
WITH A FOREWORD BY HENRY T. WRIGHT AND PHYTOLITH ANALYSIS BY ANITA BUEHRLE.
As an Addendum to help with raw material comparisons, I have added colour photos of select artifacts from Sandy Ridge and Halstead where lithic assemblages are dominated by use of Collingwood chert (also known as Fossil Hill)
Canadian Museum of Civilization, Mercury Series Paper No. 165, 2004
edited by Lawrence J. Jackson and Andrew Hinshelwood
Covers, Abstract, Preface, Dedication, Table... more edited by Lawrence J. Jackson and Andrew Hinshelwood Covers, Abstract, Preface, Dedication, Table of Contents
This volume of 13 articles dealing with Late Palaeo-Indian archaeological sites and environments in the Great Lakes region offers a detailed overview of this little understood time period. ... The contributions included in this volume cover both cultural and historical aspects of this critical time in the Great Lakes region, as well as issues dealing with the dynamic nature of the landscape.
Trent University Occasional Papers in Anthropology No. 5, 1988
This study approaches the problem of small site settlement and subsistence interpretation through... more This study approaches the problem of small site settlement and subsistence interpretation through the comprehensive analysis of remains from hearth and pit features at the multi-component Dawson Creek site on the northwest shore of Rice Lake, Ontario. Synthesizing the results of archaeological, botanical, faunal and radiocarbon analyses of individual features in period groups, this approach permits assessment of continuity and consistency in site use over nearly 4,000 years of recurrent Amerindian occupation.
Updated Information: Recent AMS dating of charcoal from Feature 25 places it, and a diagnostic Meadowood point with bifacially reworked drill tip, directly in the early part of the Early Woodland period (cal. 1170 +- 130 B.C. at two sigma variance).
Dating of maize kernels from Feature 11 by Eric Beales (2014) as part of his Trent University Master's thesis, determined these charred remains were not associated with the Middle Woodland feature charcoal date but rather with some event circa 1450-1700 A.D. Bioturbation of upper Feature levels is suspected.
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Papers by Lawrence J . Jackson
From Rageneau's account of the Algonquin Missions in the Jesuit Relation of 1648-1649, Chapter X: "On the south shore of this fresh-water sea, or Lake of the Hurons, dwell the following Algonquin tribes: Ouachaskesouek, Nigouaouichirinik, Outaouasinagouek, Kichkagoneiak, and Ontaanak, who are all allies of our Huron With these we have considerable intercourse, but not with the following, who dwell on the shores of the same Lake farther toward the West, namely: the Ouchaouanag, who form part of the Nation of fire; the Ondatouatandy and the Ouinipegong, who are part of the Nation of the Puants".
APA Occasional Papers available online by student, associate or professional membership in Association of Professional Archaeologists or one-time fee download..
A Stage 1 archaeological assessment was requested by the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation to cover all reserve lands. This work was carried out by Northeastern Archaeological Associates Ltd. in 2017 and 2018 and identified areas of high archaeological potential and provided a detailed background history of the reserve lands.
Archival research into the circumstances of the original Folsom site discovery in 1926 clearly demonstrates that paleontologists from the Colorado Museum of Natural History were actively looking for associations of ancient humans and extinct fauna. Their documentation of the Folsom site was critical to its acceptance by archaeologists. In 1989, the authors rediscovered a lost 1926-1928 field journal of Folsom crew member Carl Schwachheim in Raton, New Mexico. This journal documents a well-informed and deliberate search for extinct fauna and human associations.
This article investigates changing lake levels in the late Pleistocene eastern Great Lakes in order to gain insights into the Early Palaeo-Indian occupations. Significant new information bearing on lake level history is provided, notably the first well-documented deposits of a high water level above modern in the ca. 11,000–10,300 B.P. period in the southern Lake Huron basin. The lake level information, along with paleoenvironmental and site data, reinforces site age estimates to the 11th millennium B.P.; suggests significant numbers of sites have been inundated by rising water levels; provides specific information on the setting of archaeological sites such as placing the Parkhill site adjacent to a large lake estuary ;indicates reasons for the attractiveness of shorelines to Palaeo-Indians including persistence of more open areas conducive to higher game productivity; and points to ideal areas for future archaeological site survey, particularly in the Lake Erie drainage
Some thoughts are also presented on how perceptions of village ethnicity fail to account for the diversity of survivor populations in a time of contact, widespread disease, and warfare. It is suggested that researchers increase their efforts to recognize Algonquin sites and that the overwhelmingly dominant Ontario Iroquois Tradition concept be replaced with the simple alternative of the Ontario Woodland Tradition - which does not presume ethnicity, an elusive archaeological concept.
With Foreword by Henry T. Wright and Phytolith Analysis by Anita Buehrle
A comprehensive study of the Gainey phase in the Rice Lake region of Ontario, with focus on the Sandy Ridge logistical and Halstead residential sites. Each site produced evidence of a small suite of subsoil hearth and pit features, associated with tools on Collingwood chert, and provides a template for recognition of small and medium size Gainey phase sites where fluted point production was not a dominant activity.
Smith (2021), in a review of available southern Ontario radiocarbon dates, places Pickering, traditionally dated 1000 to 1300 A.D., from OxCal estimations at A.D. 990 +- 50 to 1380 +- 35 A.D.
A research note highlighting some lithic materials excavated at the Jerseyville Estates property Smith site (AhHa-11) near Ancaster, Ontario in the 1990s. Bifurcate base and Narrow Points (Lamoka) from Area E are briefly discussed. Local ravine topography suggests a game ambush site, likely for large cervids, used from late glacial to recent times.
From Rageneau's account of the Algonquin Missions in the Jesuit Relation of 1648-1649, Chapter X: "On the south shore of this fresh-water sea, or Lake of the Hurons, dwell the following Algonquin tribes: Ouachaskesouek, Nigouaouichirinik, Outaouasinagouek, Kichkagoneiak, and Ontaanak, who are all allies of our Huron With these we have considerable intercourse, but not with the following, who dwell on the shores of the same Lake farther toward the West, namely: the Ouchaouanag, who form part of the Nation of fire; the Ondatouatandy and the Ouinipegong, who are part of the Nation of the Puants".
APA Occasional Papers available online by student, associate or professional membership in Association of Professional Archaeologists or one-time fee download..
A Stage 1 archaeological assessment was requested by the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation to cover all reserve lands. This work was carried out by Northeastern Archaeological Associates Ltd. in 2017 and 2018 and identified areas of high archaeological potential and provided a detailed background history of the reserve lands.
Archival research into the circumstances of the original Folsom site discovery in 1926 clearly demonstrates that paleontologists from the Colorado Museum of Natural History were actively looking for associations of ancient humans and extinct fauna. Their documentation of the Folsom site was critical to its acceptance by archaeologists. In 1989, the authors rediscovered a lost 1926-1928 field journal of Folsom crew member Carl Schwachheim in Raton, New Mexico. This journal documents a well-informed and deliberate search for extinct fauna and human associations.
This article investigates changing lake levels in the late Pleistocene eastern Great Lakes in order to gain insights into the Early Palaeo-Indian occupations. Significant new information bearing on lake level history is provided, notably the first well-documented deposits of a high water level above modern in the ca. 11,000–10,300 B.P. period in the southern Lake Huron basin. The lake level information, along with paleoenvironmental and site data, reinforces site age estimates to the 11th millennium B.P.; suggests significant numbers of sites have been inundated by rising water levels; provides specific information on the setting of archaeological sites such as placing the Parkhill site adjacent to a large lake estuary ;indicates reasons for the attractiveness of shorelines to Palaeo-Indians including persistence of more open areas conducive to higher game productivity; and points to ideal areas for future archaeological site survey, particularly in the Lake Erie drainage
Some thoughts are also presented on how perceptions of village ethnicity fail to account for the diversity of survivor populations in a time of contact, widespread disease, and warfare. It is suggested that researchers increase their efforts to recognize Algonquin sites and that the overwhelmingly dominant Ontario Iroquois Tradition concept be replaced with the simple alternative of the Ontario Woodland Tradition - which does not presume ethnicity, an elusive archaeological concept.
With Foreword by Henry T. Wright and Phytolith Analysis by Anita Buehrle
A comprehensive study of the Gainey phase in the Rice Lake region of Ontario, with focus on the Sandy Ridge logistical and Halstead residential sites. Each site produced evidence of a small suite of subsoil hearth and pit features, associated with tools on Collingwood chert, and provides a template for recognition of small and medium size Gainey phase sites where fluted point production was not a dominant activity.
Smith (2021), in a review of available southern Ontario radiocarbon dates, places Pickering, traditionally dated 1000 to 1300 A.D., from OxCal estimations at A.D. 990 +- 50 to 1380 +- 35 A.D.
A research note highlighting some lithic materials excavated at the Jerseyville Estates property Smith site (AhHa-11) near Ancaster, Ontario in the 1990s. Bifurcate base and Narrow Points (Lamoka) from Area E are briefly discussed. Local ravine topography suggests a game ambush site, likely for large cervids, used from late glacial to recent times.
See: Gidigaa Migizi 2018 Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg: This is Our Territory. Arp Books. Winnipeg
The Blezard II site had previously produced a large number of isolated projectile points of multiple time periods from surface collection of the southern sand ridge running parallel to Plainville Stream.
Excavations in 2016 and 2017, see Linton Springs paper in drafts section, documented an Early Palaeo-Indian Parkhill phase, multiple Early and Late Archaic, Middle Woodland, and historic Euro-Canadian occuaptions.
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This paper focuses initially on the 2005 discovery of a small Early Palaeo-Indian site along the Otonabee River in the northeast part of the city of Peterborough and broadens to discuss the regional context of occupation in the south Kawartha Lakes/Otonabee River and Rice Lake watersheds based on 40 years of intermittent survey and excavations. The Waverly Heights site (BcGn-13) was found during a shovel test survey with a single positive shovel test leading to a full Stage 4 excavation. The site is on the gentle north slope of a small glacial drumlin between two branches of the Otonabee River. Assigned to time period on the basis of distinctive channel flakes from the manufacture of fluted points, the site had a small hearth with bifacial debitage, a projectile point basal ear and calcined mammal bone. The calcined bone from the site indicates not just the hunting of large cervids but also consumption of fish. Proximity to a possible caribou water crossing of the glacial Otonabee River is raised. Channel flake width measurements suggest a Parkhill or later phase Palaeo-Indian occupation, perhaps Holcombe at the end of the Early Palaeo-Indian fluting tradition.
Waverly Heights provides new information on small resource extraction sites and indicates there may be much larger regional networks of small Early Palaeo-Indian site types, originally predicted from comprehensive survey work in the Rice Lake region 20 km to the south (Jackson1990). More than a dozen Early Palaeo-Indian sites in the western Rice Lake area include logistical game processing, hunting ambush, and multi-purpose residential camps. Significantly, reconstruction of palaeogeographic landscapes indicates that the entire western lake bed of Rice Lake would have been a mosaic of small wetlands and dry land in the late glacial period circa 12,000 to 10,000 years B.P. Multiple discoveries of fossil caribou remains from later Holocene contexts at Rice Lake, circa 6,000 to 3,000 years B.P. strongly indicate that caribou was a persistent resource for human occupants of the area. It is highly likely that many early Palaeo-Indian sites are currently inaccessible below the now flooded western Rice Lake basin because of the Holocene effects of isostatic rebound.
WITH A FOREWORD BY HENRY T. WRIGHT AND PHYTOLITH ANALYSIS BY ANITA BUEHRLE.
As an Addendum to help with raw material comparisons, I have added colour photos of select artifacts from Sandy Ridge and Halstead where lithic assemblages are dominated by use of Collingwood chert (also known as Fossil Hill)
Covers, Abstract, Preface, Dedication, Table of Contents
This volume of 13 articles dealing with Late Palaeo-Indian archaeological sites and environments in the Great Lakes region offers a detailed overview of this little understood time period. ... The contributions included in this volume cover both cultural and historical aspects of this critical time in the Great Lakes region, as well as issues dealing with the dynamic nature of the landscape.
Updated Information: Recent AMS dating of charcoal from Feature 25 places it, and a diagnostic Meadowood point with bifacially reworked drill tip, directly in the early part of the Early Woodland period (cal. 1170 +- 130 B.C. at two sigma variance).
Dating of maize kernels from Feature 11 by Eric Beales (2014) as part of his Trent University Master's thesis, determined these charred remains were not associated with the Middle Woodland feature charcoal date but rather with some event circa 1450-1700 A.D. Bioturbation of upper Feature levels is suspected.