Little Cabins on the Prairie: Preliminary Results from Geophysical Exploration and Archaeological Survey of the Chimney Coulee Métis Wintering Site, Canada

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Applications of remote sensing in historical archaeology have typically been surveys designed to locate large structures and have been less focused on the identification of ephemeral structural remains resulting from short-term occupation sites. Our research uses remote sensing methods, specifically ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and magnetic gradiometry, to delineate structural remains (wood cabin foundations and chimneys) at mid-19th century Métis wintering site of Chimney Coulee (DjOe-6), near Eastend, Saskatchewan, Canada. The results of these surveys were compared to data from current and previous archaeological research at the site and were assessed for their utility. Both geophysical techniques provided useful information contributing to site interpretations; however, GPR was found to be the most useful in delineating cabin structural remains. Supported by ground-truthed data, preliminary results show that the geophysical surveys were successful at locating two to three Métis cabins. Future surveys should incorporate a wider range of geophysical techniques to better understand archaeological sites. Finally, this survey is one of the first geophysical investigations related to the Métis in Canada, and has demonstrated the utility of remote sensing in surveying small targets at historical archaeology sites.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 24894