Ways to Past People and Past People's Ways

Date/Time: 
Saturday, May 18, 2019 - 12:00pm
(CST)
Room: 
Saint-Louis (Posters)
Presentations
12:00 PM: Building a Response to Canada’s Coastal Erosion Crisis
Presentation format:
Author(s):
  • Matthew Betts - Canadian Museum of History

At the 51st Annual Meeting of the Canadian Archaeological Association, the Canadian Museum of History hosted a “coast-to-coast-to-coast” symposium about the destruction of archaeological sites due to erosion and global warming. The thirteen participants outlined a crisis of alarming scope. The papers revealed that in regions with comprehensive data, the extent of the problem is so large that the organizations responsible for the sites do not have the capacity to tackle it. In many other regions, the true enormity of the catastrophe can only be partially grasped because known sites have not been audited in decades, and whole coastlines remain unsurveyed. In short, it is a crisis of enormous proportions and the data, resources, and infrastructure necessary to address it simply do not exist. Furthermore, the procedures for assessing and salvaging sites that are critical to Indigenous history and rights need careful consideration. Clearly, a comprehensive solution to this crisis is urgently needed. In a workshop following the symposium, the Museum brought together academics, governmental archaeologists, and Indigenous representatives to brainstorm an answer to the question: “How can we come together to address this heritage crisis?” This poster presents the results of that workshop and outlines the components of a potential program to support the survey, assessment, and salvage of threatened archaeological sites in Canada.

12:00 PM: A meta-analysis of the impact of mobility on human postcranial morphology among hunter-gatherers
Presentation format:
Author(s):
  • Rebecca Rainville

Research on the impact of the Neolithic transition from a nomadic (hunter-gatherer) to a sedentary (agriculture) lifestyle on postcranial morphology is popular in paleoanthropology. The assumption is that hunter-gatherers are generally more mobile than agriculturalists given the high physical demands of acquiring seasonally dependent wild resources. Consequently, having a more active lifestyle, hunter-gatherers would have more robust morphology compared to agriculturalists. Many studies have focused on biomechanical analyses of cross-sectional properties in long bones (femur, tibia and humerus) in order to measure diaphyseal robusticity and shape according to the level of mobility of past populations. However, results from these studies show a large variation in expected morphology among populations depending on the type of agricultural or foraging practices, but also in relation to climatic and environmental factors. In order to better understand the effect of mobility as well as that of climatic and environmental factors on bone structure, the objective of this study is to create a comparative dataset of cross-sectional properties from hunter-gatherer populations living in different environments across Asia, the Americas and Europe. A few samples of horticultural, pastoral and agricultural groups are included for comparison. The aim is to examine variation within hunter-gatherer groups, to test whether they are consistently more robust than populations cultivating their own resources, and to test whether climate is also an important factor affecting bone structure. This meta-analysis of the relevant research to date provides a comprehensive summary of biomechanical evidence on the relationship between mobility, climate and bone structure.

12:00 PM: Excavating the French Fisheries: 2018 Field School in Saint Pierre et Miquelon
Presentation format:
Author(s):
  • Jon LeDrew - Memorial University
  • Adam  Van De Spiegle - Memorial University

Saint Pierre and Miquelon offers a unique setting for a field school, where students gain hands-on experience and skills in international learning experience. The French archipelago has a rich history of Basque, Breton, and Norman fishermans occupying its shores. Due to geographical features and proximity to rich fishing grounds, Europeans started settling on the islands during the late 17th century. After 1763, the archipelago became the only French region in North America. Given this history, Dr. Catherine Losier has the site of Anse at Bertrand in Saint Pierre and Miquelon to be the location of Memorial University's 2017 and 2018 field schools. Anse à Bertrand runs along the southeastern shore of the St. Pierre harbor and as a result, has been subject to coastal erosion over the years. The 2017 field season proved that many historic artifacts and features remain. During the 2018 field season, the team decided that they would expand the borders of the initial trench. This excavation was divided into four sectors with three students assigned to work. This poster will present a brief overview of the 2018 field school and the second season of archaeological investigations at Anse à Bertrand.

12:00 PM: How Hot is too Hot? Petrographic and Oxidization Analyses Give Clues to Ceramic Firing Temperatures in Late Woodland Southern Ontario
Presentation format:
Author(s):
  • Nicholas Williams - McMaster University
  • Daniel Ionico - McMaster University

Among one Neutral Iroquoian site cluster, potters produced a significant change in

tempering choices. Local sites exhibit almost no shell-tempered vessels up to A.D. 1600, but

communities from 1600-1650 show a marked increase in shell-tempering, representing up to

64% of one site’s assemblage. The appearance of shell-temper at Neutral sites makes firing

temperatures an important attribute to consider for local ceramic technological systems, as the

risk of ‘limespalling’ at temperatures above 650ºC presents a unique structural risk to vessels

made with this paste. We employed step-based oxidation analysis (sherd re-firing) and ceramic

petrography on body sherds from the 17 th century Christianson (AiHa-2) and Hamilton (AiHa-5) villages, located in Flamborough, Ontario. These analyses allowed us to examine how, and if,

firing regimes changed with the adoption of this new paste. Our findings also provide a broader

insight into the firing technologies of Late Woodland ceramics, an underexplored feature of

Iroquoian archaeology.

12:00 PM: Investigating Diet, Identity, and Human-Dog Relationships in British Columbia
Presentation format:
Author(s):
  • Anna Sparrow - Memorial University of Newfoundland
  • Alison  Harris - Stockholm University / University of York
  • Meghan Burchell - Memorial University of Newfoundland

Using a multi-scalar approach we interpret the agency of dogs and their unique entanglement with the Coast Salish of British Columbia. Isotope data are used to explore the dietary relationships between dogs, people, and their landscapes between ~3500-1000 cal. BP. Over 100 dog bones and teeth, excavated in the 1970s from six archaeological sites on southern Vancouver Island were acquired from the Royal British Columbia Museum archaeological collections. After initial zooarchaeological assessment, we conducted carbon and nitrogen isotope ratio analysis on collagen extracted from 60 dog specimens and radiocarbon dated 12 of those samples. When these results are contextualized along with other temporal and dietary data from the Pacific Northwest Coast, long-term, diachronic dietary continuity between dogs and their people are observed. These results, in conjunction with traditional narratives, indicate that dogs could be considered to have a kind of personhood, being provisioned with similar foods eaten by people. By going beyond the simple categorization of dogs as faunal material, and thinking beyond ‘dogs as proxies for human diets’ we are able to investigate the relationships and interactions between individuals of different species.

12:00 PM: Invisible Women: An Archival and Archaeological Approach to Unearthing the Historic Sex Trade in St. John’s, Newfoundland
Presentation format:
Author(s):
  • Johanna Cole - Memorial University of Newfoundland

Evidence for historic sex work is often hidden within archival sources, surrounded by the menial occurrences of past lives. For this reason, historic sex workers often remain invisible until deliberately searched for. In St. John’s, Newfoundland, the Great Fire of 1892 destroyed most of the city, leaving no material culture for the study of sex work. My research seeks to reconstruct and understand historic sex work in St. John’s from first settlement until the Great Fire through an in-depth search for evidence in archival records and intersite analysis. This will help determine the nature of material culture produced at brothel sites and explore the living conditions of historic sex workers. Additionally, I will examine how marginalized peoples are depicted in these records and how sexualized spaces are produced and regulated within a community. As the retrieval and consolidation of archival fragments has never been attempted in the region, this research project is the first to illustrate the historic sex trade by producing a temporal and spatial description of the existence and origins of sex work in St. John’s.

12:00 PM: Oalthkyim: A shíshálh Defensive Site on the Northwest Coast
Presentation format:
Author(s):
  • Kali  Sielsky - University of Saskatchewan

The site of Oalthkyim (DjRw-2), is located in Coast Salish lands on the Northwest Coast of North America, and is thought to be defensive in nature. Excavated as part of the shíshálh Archaeological Research Project (sARP) over the past three years,  I took on the column samples as a part of my independent research project to try to gain an overview of the site in terms of ecological and household factors. Defensive sites are known to be in use from approximately 500-800 B.P. in the Salish Sea region, which coincides with a period of increased warfare and raiding. Used as a means of refuge and protection, these naturally defensible landscapes housed individuals for periods of time until it was safe to return home. My presentation will examine the use of defensive sites on the Northwest Coast, specifically those within the Coast Salish region while looking into the potential differential living conditions that would have occurred while Oalthkyim was occupied in comparison to other shíshálh village sites. 

12:00 PM: OCCUPATION AMÉRINDIENNE DANS LES HAUTES-LAURENTIDES, JOS MOFERRAND ET LA COLLECTION COURSOL : RECHERCHES ARCHÉOLOGIQUES DANS LE SECTEUR DES RAPIDES DU WABASSEE, RIVIÈRE DU LIÈVRE
Presentation format:
Author(s):
  • Francis Lamothe - Consultant
  • Karine Taché - CUNY Queens College
  • Roland Tremblay - Consultant
  • Evan Mann - CUNY Graduate Center
  • Aida Romera - CUNY Graduate Center

Depuis 2015, des recherches archéologiques ont été entreprises dans les Hautes-Laurentides, une région jusqu’à maintenant très peu documentée. En 2018, les travaux se sont concentrés sur une portion de la rivière du Lièvre, les rapides du Wabassee, où un résident a rassemblé au fil des ans une très importante collection d’artefacts préhistoriques. Un inventaire archéologique a permis de confirmer la présence de sites préhistoriques intacts en retrait des zones érodées d’où proviennent les découvertes de surface. De plus, des vestiges associés à la première ferme du Wabassee, érigée dans les années 1830 sous la supervision du célèbre Jos Monferrand, ont pu être localisés. Cette affiche présente la localisation particulière du secteur des rapides du Wabassee à l’intérieur du paysage plus vaste des Hautes-Laurentides et des régions limitrophes, la collection Coursol en cours d’analyse ainsi que les résultats obtenus lors de l’inventaire archéologique de 2018.

12:00 PM: Reassessing Inuit Lifeways at Avertok
Presentation format:
Author(s):
  • Jacinda Sinclair - Memorial University

What can be learned from an archaeological site that has been built-over? Or from one that has been problematically excavated? Both of these questions were central to The Avertok Archaeology Project’s (AAP; Memorial University) reassessment of Avertok. The original Inuit settlement of Hopedale, Labrador, this site is significant for many reasons: in the 17th-18th centuries it was an important part of whaling and coastal trade networks, in 1782 a Moravian mission was established nearby, and in 1934 it was the primary focus of Junius Bird’s Hopedale Area Survey. Yet despite its importance, many questions about lifeways at Avertok persist. These questions are complicated further by: (1) the limits of early archaeology and the possibility that 1930s thinking may have led Bird to poor methodological choices and inaccurate conclusions, and (2) the continued habitation of Hopedale. Prompted by requests from community partners in the Nunatsiavut and Hopedale Inuit Community governments, the AAP sought to achieve the dual goals of reassessing the accuracy of Bird’s conclusions and gaining new insight about lifeways at Avertok. To accomplish these tasks, it was necessary to conduct fieldwork at not only Avertok, but also two additional sites -- Karmakulluk and Old Hopedale. Over two years (2017-2018), multiple sources of field and museum-based data were combined to create a picture of Inuit lifeways.  The results reveal both practices of change and persistence, such as the progressive adoption of European-derived material culture and the continued hunting of marine mammals.

12:00 PM: Résultats de la campagne archéologique 2018 à l’Habitation Loyola en Guyane française
Presentation format:
Author(s):
  • Jean-François  Guay - Université Laval

À la fin du XVIIe et au début du XVIIIe siècle, les jésuites construisent en terrasse leur complexe résidentiel, religieux et industriel sur le versant de la montagne. Ce complexe, qui est abandonné vers 1768, comprend une maison de maître entourée d’une chapelle, d’un cimetière, un aqueduc, d’une cuisine, d’un hôpital, d’un magasin, d’une forge et d’une purgerie (bâtiment qui sert à l’affinage du sucre).

La campagne archéologique menée par l’Université Laval et l’Association pour la Protection du Patrimoine Archéologique et Architectural de la Guyane (APPAAG) au cours du mois d’août 2018 constituait la deuxième étape du projet triennal de fouilles programmées à l’Habitation Loyola en Guyane française. Les objectifs de cette campagne consistaient à documenter les aires de circulation et les liens entre la cour de la chapelle, la purgerie et le cimetière ainsi que l’accès principal à l’habitation. La fouille en aire ouverte a permis de mettre en évidence divers vestiges et aménagements : un passage dallé entre la cour et le cimetière ; deux états de construction du mur de clôture de la cour ; un système d’évacuation des eaux ; une aire de circulation ancienne en contrebas de l’habitation. De plus, une quantité importante de mobilier archéologique a été trouvée, dont des fragments de pipes à fumer le tabac en terre cuite locale (objets personnels associés aux esclaves), des céramiques sucrières (forme à sucre et pot de raffineur), des céramiques importées (faïence, grès et porcelaine) et un petit vase sur pied en alliage cuivreux.

12:00 PM: Support for the existence of multiple contemporaneous cultural groups in pre-contact Cuba based on different patterns of plant consumption at Canímar Abajo and Las Carolinas, Cuba
Presentation format:
Author(s):
  • Tekla Cunningham
  • Yadira Chinique de Armas - University of Winnipeg
  • Mirjana Roksandic - University of Winnipeg

The use of cultigens and wild plants by Archaic Age inhabitants in Cuba is just beginning to be understood. Traditionally, people were viewed as hunter gatherers, but recent starch evidence from dental calculus of individuals at the estuarine site of Canímar Abajo (1380BCE-950CE) has indicated that cultigens like sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas), maize (Zea mays), and common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) were consumed along with wild plants. At the riverside site of Las Carolinas (1-600CE), starch grain analysis of dental calculus from two individuals showed the presence of arrowhead (Sagittaria latifolia) and probable marunguey (Zamia sp.), indicating the consumption of wild plants instead of cultigens like at Canímar Abajo. Isotopic studies undertaken on four Las Carolinas skeletons demonstrated differences in the carbon and nitrogen values when compared with those of Canímar Abajo. These differences can be considered to be due to differential plant consumption. The two sites were occupied at the same time and only located 15 km away from each other, which leads us to question what kinds of cultural factors might account for the isotopic and dietary dissimilarities. We suggest that different diets point to different cultures, which supports Chinique de Armas’ hypothesis of the existence of multiple cultural groups in pre-contact Cuba. The different diets between sites suggests a far more complex cultural panorama in early Cuba than previously assumed.

12:00 PM: Technology and Commodity: A Case for the Legal and Ethical Regulation of Osteological 3D Modelling
Presentation format:
Author(s):
  • Maryssa Barras - University of Toronto

 

As of 2018 the black market for cultural and archaeological materials - including human remains - is estimated to be the third largest in the world. Seeing this commercial interest for human remains, few people have addressed how the widespread use of 3D technology risks creating a new virtual, downloadable, market for human bone. This is particularly alarming when considering that there are currently no legal, institutional, or professional regulations governing 3D data collection, ownership, or dissemination by archaeologists in Canada. As such, my research seeks to understand what it means for human autonomy to intersect with virtual reproduction in order to argue that unregulated 3D modelling by archaeologists and anthropologists participates in the commercialization and objectification of human remains.

In order to do so, I examine (1) the extensive legal debates between archaeologists, museums, and Indigenous communities in Canada on the repatriation of human remains to their appropriates descendant communities, (2) the ways in which current practice in 3D data ownership and dissemination ethically mirrors the issues faced with the ownership of physical remains, and (3) how 3D models relate to the commodification of human remains, especially when considering how they relate to the demands of the black market.

In balancing the particular legal and ethical intersections between human autonomy, repatriation, research inquiries, and capitalist ventures, my research ultimately proposes a functional framework aimed at guiding professional organisations and institutions through the process of creating regulations that can help address this overlooked ethical conundrum.