Abstract

The excavation, in 1997, of an archaeological site (MlVm-4) located on the southwestern portion of the Old Crow Flats area has provided valuable information concerning the traditional land use patterns of Native people in the northwestern Yukon Territory. The site is located on a sand bar, at the confluence of Schaeffer creek with a smaller stream locally know as Dechyoo (goose with red feet and nose) njik (creek). A single radiocarbon date on worked antler suggests a very late context of protohistoric occupation. The lithic and osseous industries encountered at the site appear to be culturally affiliated with the Klo-kut Phase (A.D. 700 up to the Historic Period), recognized at Klo-kut and Rat Indian Creek, two caribou hunting camps located on the Porcupine River. Historic remains were also collected at the site, thus indicating the presence of a more recent occupation. The analysis of the faunal remains revealed that the site was a multifunctional location, primarily used for fishing, muskratting, and bird hunting. The presence of these three dominant taxa in the collection indicates that the occupations at the site mostly took place somewhere between March and late September. Thus, it seems that MlVm-4 represent a complement to locations such as the Klo-kut and Rat Indian Creek sites. While these were almost exclusively used for the acquisition of caribou, at MlVm-4, supplementary resources were used for subsistence.