Northwest Territories (State / Territory) (Geographic Keyword)

DOCUMENT Citation Only Alyce Sadongei.

The use of museum collections by tribal researchers began as a result of cultural and political efforts. The combined movement of cultural resurgence and political expression culminated in the passage of NAGPRA which provided entrée for a variety of tribal researchers and practitioners to engage with cultural objects and archival information. Since the passage of NAGPRA, tribal researchers have primarily been focused on the eligible categories of museum collections for repatriation. However,...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Chelsea Colwell-Pasch. Vanessa Sullivan.

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Traditional systematic subsurface testing has been common practice in CRM since the 1970s, when archaeological survey methods were utilized to rescue material culture from a boom in land development projects across North America. Conventional test pits are hand-dug; however, innovations that emerged from an industry partnership between Colbr Consulting...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Chelsea L Colwell-Pasch.

This is a poster submission presented at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Traditional systematic sub-surface testing for AIAs is common practice in CRM since the land development boom of the 1970s when the use of rapid survey methods were created to rescue material culture. Conventionally test pits are hand dug with shovels and processed with bipedal screens, however innovations out of New Brunswick have seen this five-decades old methodology develop in...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Ryan Harris.

Penetrating into the Western Arctic in 1850, HMS Investigator and its crew enjoyed initial success -- the charting of Prince of Wales Strait heralded at the time as the long-awaited discovery of the elusive Northwest Passage. A year later, however, the fortunes of the expedition would take a downward turn when Investigator was navigated into the confines of Mercy Bay and the regrettable decision was made to overwinter. The arrival of freeze-up would seal the fate of the ship, as it would remain...

DOCUMENT Citation Only François Lanoë. Joshua Reuther.

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Dramatic environmental changes occurred in central Alaska during the Early Holocene as mixed woodlands and grasslands transitioned to boreal forest ecosystems. Despite 80 years of research in this region, we are just beginning to understand how interior Alaskan populations coped with the extinction of the large grazers (bison and elk) that constituted their...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Paul Szpak.

Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses of fauna from archaeological sites in the Central Canadian Arctic Archipelago were performed to examine the environmental context of the Dorset-Thule transition. Isotopic data from a large number of ringed seals demonstrate that there was a reduction in the importance of primary production derived from sea ice-associated algae during the Thule occupation relative to the earlier Dorset occupation; these data are consistent with an increase in open water...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Malu Fleischer. Michael Nielsen.

In 2016, the Ersersaaneq project was instigated by three students from the University of Greenland to create an online repository of 3D models of the Gustav Holm collection. In Greenlandic the word ersersaaneq captures the idea of producing knowledge through the creation of visual images. The goal is to digitally re-unify parts of the collection and develop coherency within a global context. Project partners include Greenland National Museum, The Smithsonian Institution and The National Museum...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Rachel ten Bruggencate. S. Brooke Milne. Mostafa Fayek. Robert Park. Douglas Stenton.

Difficulties in physically or chemically distinguishing between chert from closely situated quarries have made a multi-scalar approach to chert provenance analysis necessary in some regions. We present the preliminary results of a multi-scalar chert provenance project focused on the eastern Canadian Arctic. On a regional scale, we examine ICP-MS trace element results for chert from two quarries and five archaeological sites on southern Baffin Island. Chert from the quarries and archaeological...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Hilary Hilmer. Dougless Skinner.

This is an abstract from the "Archaeology of Alaska, the Gateway to the Americas" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The western Alaska Brooks Range contains a diverse arctic ecosystem, scenic landscapes, and deep cultural roots. The foothills of the western Brooks Range crosses BLM, NPS, State, and Tribal lands, and it spans Iñupiaq and Koyukon Athabsacan homelands. Archaeological research from the region is minimal and remains relatively unexplored....

DOCUMENT Citation Only Senna Catenacci. Briana Doering.

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This project aims to better understand the lifestyles of nomadic hunter-gatherers in Alaska by analyzing early Holocene lithic material from the multicomponent Delta Creek site (XBD-110). This was achieved by conducting a functional lithic analysis of the tools and lithic debitage found within the rich early Holocene component, dated to 9,435±100 calibrated...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Brian Wygal. Kathryn Krasinski. Charles Holmes. Barbara Crass. David McMahan.

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The recently discovered Holzman site lies along the west bank of Shaw Creek, a northern tributary of the Tanana River, Interior Alaska. Excavations beginning in 2015 revealed an expedient stone technology alongside well-preserved hearths, avifauna and large mammal remains including a mammoth tusk in deeply buried deposits. Evidence of food preparation and...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Mélissa Burns.

In the last few decades, most gender studies have focused on women, creating a gap in the understanding of male-only societies. This paper will discuss the question of masculinity in archaeology through the case study of the migratory fishing room, Champs Paya. For almost 400 years, French fishermen left Brittany every spring to spend their summer fishing in northern Newfoundland. Once the salted-dried cod fishing season was over they returned to France to sell their cargo. During these four...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Marc-André Bernier. Ryan Harris.

Prior to the Investigator’s abandonment in June 1853 much of its provisions, stores, and the ship’s boats were cached ashore. Shortly thereafter the crew loaded sledges with gear and rations for an eastward journey to other Royal Navy ships. Additional items were landed in May 1854 when the ship was revisited. Otherwise everything that had been on the ship was sealed-up under the hatches. During the 2011 survey a host of artefacts were found exposed on and around the ship’s hull, ice having...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Thomas F. Beasley.

Underwater Archaeology started soon after scuba diving began in the early 1950s. For about the next 20 years, divers began to discover, document and analyze shipwrecks. In the early 1970s, those divers began to form groups to work on larger projects and to learn about archaeology. At about the same time, archaeolgy at universities began to offer courses and the discipline of underwater archaeolgy took root. Some of the avocational groups such as the Nautical Archaelogy Society and the Underwater...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Ashley Hampton. Anna Marie Prentiss. Thomas A. Foor.

At the Bridge River site, British Columbia, evidence for intra-household cooperation appears to center within a time of village growth during late Bridge River 2 (ca.1500-1300 cal. BP) before collapsing into familial-based competitive behavior during Bridge River 3 (ca. 1300-1100 cal. BP). This shift from cooperation to competition occurs in tandem with a rise in inequality as the community experienced a Malthusian ceiling. Building on previous multivariate statistical approaches, further...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Caitlin Coleman.

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In Ontario's Cultural Resource Management industry, we are experiencing a profound change in how we communicate with the public. Where once we relied on newspapers, academic journals, and museums to disseminate our knowledge, we can now communicate directly with the public through social media. This change has led to new questions about what information we...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Emily Draicchio.

This is an abstract from the "Deepening Archaeology's Engagement with Black Studies" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In the popular imaginary, Canada is considered a land of freedom that is inclusive and without a colonial past. This problematic myth of Canadian exceptionalism is founded on a national history that romanticizes the Underground Railroad, while neglecting Canada’s direct participation in the enslavement of Black and Indigenous...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Sage Schmied.

The Barkley Sound region of Vancouver Island has a rich archaeological record that is important to the Nuu-chah-nulth people. Due to changing sea levels, places that were once exposed are now underwater, meaning that the earliest possible occupations cannot be excavated. We excavated in the intertidal at Hup’kisakuu7a because of the possibility of finding evidence of human occupation between 5500-7000 cal years BP when sea levels were just a few meters below modern. From the excavations...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Donald Holly. Christopher Wolff. Amanda Samuels.

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Inspector Island is a large, multi-component site located in Notre Dame Bay, on the island of Newfoundland, Canada. The site was first discovered and excavated by Ralph Pastore of Memorial University in the 1980s, and then revisited and re-excavated this past summer by the two lead authors. Excavations indicate a large Maritime Archaic habitation site...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Éloïse St-Pierre. Jacques Chabot.

This is an abstract from the "Expedient Technological Behavior: Global Perspectives and Future Directions" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In almost every culture of the world, expedient tools are present. They are “tools of the moment.” These flakes were crafted quickly with semi-improvised techniques, then used for a short period of time and discarded. The use of flakes as tools may not only indicate reuse or recycling of debitage waste, but also...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Caelie Butler. Tammy Buonasera. Shelby Anderson.

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Ceramic vessels from the Norton (2800–1500 BP) and Thule (1350–250 BP) traditions often differ in wall thickness and the proportion and type of temper, suggesting they may have performed differently for cooking. This experimental study explores how technological choices (wall thickness, temper, and surface treatments) affected physical characteristics...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Jessica Munkittrick. Vaughan Grimes.

Lead was ubiquitous throughout the cultural environments of the Atlantic World during the 18th and 19th centuries and can be toxic to humans, particularly children. There is a long history of examining human lead exposure using trace element and isotope data in archaeological remains, but most studies have sampled bone tissue, which is prone to diagenetic alteration. More recently, researchers are sampling tooth enamel, which is more likely to retain a biogenic record of lead exposure. Since...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Gerad Smith.

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Pickupsticks site in the Shaw Creek Flats of the Middle Tanana Valley region of interior Alaska represents a short-term ceremonial occupation site of the early Dene tradition (~930 rcybp). In 2010, the remains of a large structural feature were identified there. Intermittent excavations over the following decade confirmed the structural remains were...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Beatrice Fletcher. Aubrey Cannon. Eduard Reinhardt.

Prehistoric human occupation in Southern Ontario, Canada spans the gamut of ephemeral hunter-gatherer usage to intensive Iroquoian village settlements. ITRAX core scanning has the capacity to explore some of this rich history. Initially developed for environmental core analysis, ITRAX technology can highlight differences in culturally generated chemical signatures between intensive and ephemeral occupations. This automated, non destructive x-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis has the potential to...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Briana Doering.

Linguistic and archaeological evidence suggests that Athabaskan-speaking peoples rapidly spread south from present-day Central Alaska and Northwest Canada into the Great Plains region around 1000 years ago. Historically, explanations of this important event have centered on relatively small geographic regions and traditional methodologies. This paper offers an alternative view at both a much larger scale and using distinct methods. I argue that this significant migration event was driven by the...