Long but not forgotten: Recent contributions to the study of the Archaic period in North America

Date/Time: 
Saturday, May 18, 2019 - 9:00am to 12:00pm
(CST)
Room: 
Beauport
Organizer(s): 
  • Amy N. Fox, University of Toronto.
  • Ingrid-Morgane G. Gauvin, University at Albany, SUNY.
Contact Email: 
amy.fox@mail.utoronto.ca
Session Description (300 word max): 

Cette session désire partager de nouvelles et excitantes recherches à propos de la large démarcation de 8000 ans connu sous le nom de l’Archaïque en Amérique du Nord. Alors que plusieurs chercheur-e-s établi-e-s et en début de carrière théorisent l’Archaïque de façons novatrices, la dissémination de cette recherche se voit difficile due à la régionalisation et à la spécificité de cette période. Cette session servira de lieu d’accueil pour les chercheur-e-s examinant l’Archaïque, afin d’identifier des parallèles, des associations, et des comparaisons autrement inexaminés par notre discipline. Nous encourageons particulièrement les approches introspectives sur notre discipline, ses outils analytiques, ses concepts, qui questionnent ses a priori, et qui étendent ses horizons à des régions considérés comme périphériques ou qui emploient de nouvelles méthodes ou cadres théoriques. Nous encourageons la soumission de communiqués qui partagent des résultats préliminaires, ainsi que des communiqués de chercheur-e-s en début de carrière en recherche d’un réseau d’appuis. Les organisatrices de la session tiennent à entretenir un espace ouvert à la diversité d’opinion, de recherches, et d’expériences envers la période Archaïque. Nous reconnaissons que l’exam de la diversité culturelle de cette période nécessite une diversité de perspectives et de voix de la part de ses chercheur-e-s. Notre session représentera cet idéal. // This session opens the floor to share new and exciting research about the 8000-year demarcation of time known as the Archaic Period in North America. While many established and early career researchers are theorizing the Archaic in novel ways, disseminating research to a wide audience is difficult because this time period is known for its localness and specificity. This session will serve as a meeting place for Archaic Period researchers such that we may discern parallels, associations, and otherwise-overlooked connections present in our community. Particularly encouraged are perspectives on the Archaic that look inward at our field and its traditional analytic tools and constructs, that question its assumptions, and that expand its purview such as studies on traditionally-peripheral regions or ones that employ a novel methodology or theoretical framework. In particular, we welcome submission of papers sharing preliminary results and papers from early career researchers looking for a supportive networking community.
The session organizers value and will be holding space for diverse opinions, research, and experiences relating to the Archaic Period. We know that the social diversity present during this time demands a diversity of perspectives and voices from its researchers; our session will embody this ideal.

Presentations
09:10 AM: Technical Proficiency in time and space: Examination of knapping proficiency amongst Late and Terminal Archaic populations in the Middle Hudson valley, Eastern New York
Presentation format:
Author(s):
  • Ingrid-Morgane Gauvin - University at Albany, SUNY

This paper presents an examination of the spatiality and temporality of knapping skill acquisition in the non-complex societies present within the Hudson valley during the latter half of the Holocene. The distinctness of the bifacial technologies of the Late Archaic (5500 to 4500 BP) and Terminal Archaic (4500 to 3200 BP), and the elaboration of a ceremonial aspect of production and consumption of bifaces during the latter half of the Terminal Archaic, provide a bountiful framework to examine the variation and development of technical proficiency. An analysis of typical indicators of knapping proficiency will be presented and placed within the greater context of technological change within the study region, with a particular interest in the prioritization of final form characteristics (size, shape, volume, etc) and its impact on the retention or non-correction of commonly produced mistakes. Raw material use will be briefly discussed in terms of the trade-offs created by material properties and package size and form.
09:40 AM: South Bend and Ridge Pine 2: Fraternal Twins
Presentation format:
Author(s):
  • Gabby Belyea - University of Western Ontario

Two sites that lie within two kilometers of each in the Grand Bend area, date to the Middle Archaic, and contain nonlocal chert despite their proximity to the Kettle Point chert outcrop should contain similar lithic assemblages. However, South Bend and Ridge Pine 2 differ dramatically, from the percentage of nonlocal chert to the style of their projectile points. These differences raise questions surrounding what procurement strategies these two groups employed. A detailed analysis of the lithic assemblages from these two sites illustrate just how different these two groups were. These two sites, discovered during the process of an archaeological survey, represent a unique opportunity to study raw material procurement during the Middle Archaic, which is a under researched time period.  
10:30 AM: Cooking Techniques and Wood Collecting Strategies of the Late and Terminal Archaic Groups in the Québec City Area
Presentation format:
Author(s):
  • Marie-Annick Prevost - University of Toronto

Foodways include the types of plants and animals consumed but also how the food was prepared and cooked. This paper analyses the structure, components, fuel, and food remains of 31 hearths dating of the Late and Terminal Archaic from the côte Rouge site (CeEt-481) in Lévis, Québec, to determine their potential function(s) and how cooking techniques changed over time. Wood charcoal from the hearths was identified and dendrologic criteria were recorded to explore a potential correlation between the types of hearth identified and the firewood selected. A selection of stone tools was also observed to determine if they were used to prepare starchy food. The methodological implications of a hearths’ use on the preservation of charred seeds and fruits and the reliability of vegetation and diet reconstructions based on archaeobotanical assemblages will be assessed. Ideas to better document food processing and cooking practices of pre-ceramic groups will be proposed.

 
11:00 AM: Exploring the Broadspears of New York State: a critical typological analysis using outline metrics
Presentation format:
Author(s):
  • Amy Fox - University of Toronto

Using an outline-based geometric morphometric (GM) method, the present study explores the shape space of New York State broadspears. Sites include Piffard, Frontenac Island, Fortin 1, Kuhr, Camelot II, Snook Kill, O’Neill and Kingston Armory. Because GM methods preserve object geometry through all levels of analysis, archaeologists can use these methods to comment on both the qualitative and quantitative properties of shape simultaneously. The shape descriptors that the GM analysis creates for this collection of broadspears take the fore of a discussion on typological constructs and ideas about what it means to label an artifact a broadspear.
11:30 AM: Récentes découvertes paléohistoriques dans le Parc national de la Mauricie
Presentation format:
Author(s):
  • Martin Perron - Direction de l'archéologie et de l'histoire, Parcs Canada
  • André Miller - Direction de l'archéologie et de l'histoire, Parcs Canada

Dans la foulée des projets visant la restauration des niveaux originels des lacs et le réaménagement des terrains de camping du Parc national de la Mauricie, le Service d’archéologie de Parcs Canada a entreprit l’exploration archéologique des berges et l’inventaire archéologique de quelques secteurs de l’arrière-pays qui ont mené à la découverte d’éléments permettant de mieux documenter l’occupation humaine ancienne à l’intérieur des limites du parc. Éclats de taille, bifaces, outils à usages multiples et ébauches ont notamment été exhumés des sols, ou tout simplement récoltés en surface, sur neuf nouveaux sites archéologiques répartis à proximité de quatre lacs n’ayant jamais livré d’indice archéologique, ainsi que sur deux lacs autour desquels des vestiges avaient été relevés dans les années 1970. Ces artefacts, dont les éléments diagnostiques datent principalement de la période archaïque, ont été recueillis en dehors de l’axe formé par les lacs Anticagamac, Caribou et Wapizagonke. Leur présence permet donc d’amorcer de nouvelles réflexions sur l’occupation du territoire au sud de la rivière Matawin et à l’ouest de la rivière Saint-Maurice et d’alimenter nos connaissances sur les réseaux d’approvisionnement des matières premières utilisées dans leur fabrication.