16 - 20 MAI MAY 16 - 20 - Canadian Archaeological Association

and ethnic variations reflected in them. Five sites, will be compared:
Draper and Keffer-late pre-contract Huron villages; Roebuck and
McKeown - late pre-contact St. Lawrence Iroquoian villages; and
Steward, a stratified St. Lawrence Iroquoian fishing station.
Jamieson, Susan M. (Trent University) • Rethinking Trigger’s Wendat
Socio-Political Model [23]
Bruce Trigger’s Wendat socio-political construct continues to be
widely cited and generally accepted as fact by archaeologists working
in southern Ontario. However, Trigger’s underlying assumptions of
Northern Iroquoian homogeneity and neo-evolutionary understandings
of such concepts as `egalitarianism’ and `hierarchy’ limit questions
asked of the archaeological record and cause us to uncritically
dismiss historical documents. Similarly, our archaeological interpretations
are constrained by his predominantly rationalist interpretations
for trade items. I conclude that approaches of the sort termed
`romantic’ by Trigger provide a means to address intensified group
ritual, especially as expressed by the Feast of Souls/Feast of the Dead
and its associated feasting and gifting. In turn, they allow us to more
forcefully interpret networks of social obligation and agencies of
cultural transformation that resulted in varying degrees of political
centralization in southern Ontario during the late sixteenth and early
seventeenth centuries.
Jenkinson, Anthony, Richard Nuna and Stephen Loring • An “Archaic”
boat building site at Kamestastin [18]
Since 1999 Tshikapisk Foundation, (an organization promoting Innu
experiential education and historical and archaeological research)
has pursued archaeological work in the tundra regions of Northern
Labrador and adjacent Northern Quebec. This region is the homeland
of the Mushuau Innuts, the People of the Tundra, the northern
most group of Innu. So far this research has discovered over 260 sites
(143 of these dating from the pre-contact era) including occupations
from all recognized archaeological periods in the region, from about
7000 BP to the present. Unique among the pre-contact sites in the
Kamestastin region is the Kaniuekutat site (GlCs-15.) This paper will
describe the characteristics and discuss the significance of what appears
to be an archaic era canoe building site with an assemblage
consisting entirely of quartz and slate.
Un site de construction de canoe de la période Archaïque à Kamestastin
Depuis 1999 la Fondation de Tshikapisk, (une organisation vouée à la
promotion de l’apprentissage innu expérientielle dans le domaine de
la recherche historique et archéologique) réalise des recherches dans
la toundra du Labrador et du Nord du Québec. Cette région est occupée
par les Mushuau Innuts, les Gens de la Toundra, le groupe innu le
plus septentrional. À ce jour, ces recherches ont permis d’enregistrer
plus de 260 sites (dont 143 datent de la période pré-contact) associés
à toutes les périodes archéologiques reconnues dans la région, depuis
7000 ans BP à aujourd’hui. Parmi ceux-ci, le site Kaniuekutat (GlCs-
15), dans la région Kamestastin, est unique. Cette conférence décrira
les caractéristiques de ce site et discutera de la signification de ce qui,
vraisemblablement, s’apparente à un site de fabrication de canoë de
la période archaïque, dont l’assemblage lithique se compose entièrement
de quartz et d’ardoise.
Jennings 1 , Cecilia, Andre Robichaud 2 , James M. Erhman 3 , and Colin
P. Laroque 1 ( 1 Mount Allison University; 2 Université de Moncton,
campus de Shippagan; 3 Digital Microscopy Facility, Mount
Allison University) • Odes of Joy, or Sounds of Silence? How do you
sample a “priceless” artifact? [13]
Antonio Stradivari’s violins are famous around the world for their superior
quality and incredible cultural and financial value, but only a
fraction of authentic Stradivari survive today, making them a common
subject of replication. The MAD Lab received an old violin from a client,
with a label claiming it had been built by Stradivarius in 1734. In
order to determine whether or not this violin was a fake, the wood of
the violin had to be dated, since any growth past 1734 would prove
the instrument false. We relied on traditional dendroarchaeological
methods, but in order to ensure there was no damage to a potentially
priceless instrument, we also used new applications of a replication
polymer technology in conjunction with a scanning electron microscope,
as we tried to trace the violin’s wood back to its origins and
discover when and where it was made.
Keron, James (University of Western Ontario) • Archaeology and
Spatial Statistics [3]
This paper presents the history and intellectual traditions of spatial
statistics in archaeology, discusses some of the methodological problems
and reviews the tools available to assist the archeologist in conducting
this form of analysis. Thirty-five years ago a focus of processual
archaeology was the application of spatial statistics. After 1990,
with the advent of the post processual approach, emphasis waned
and, in the more extreme forms, was simply rejected altogether. Despite
this shift, some focus has been maintained and advances have
been made in other areas of the academy. The spatial nature of most
archaeological material imposes constraints on statistical analysis in
that it violates one of the conditions for application of traditional statistics
- homogeneity. Familiarity with the nature and applicability
of spatial statistics is critical to valid statistical analysis. Fortunately,
there are a number of statistical packages available which implement
the more common methods.
Kitchel, Nathanial (University of Wyoming) • The Newest of Worlds:
Quarries as Proxy Measures of Landscape Learning in the Pleistocene
Northeast [2]
Quarries and toolstone acquisition areas of fined grained siliceous
materials provide fixed points on the landscape with particular importance
to prehistoric populations. Despite the occurrence of a constellation
of lithic raw materials during the Paleoindian period, questions
remain about the rapidity with which these early populations
acquired knowledge of tool stone sources. It is also unclear whether
the acquisition of this knowledge is archaeologically visible. In this
study the presence or absence of various raw materials in early and
middle fluted point sites from northeastern North America is used
to investigate changes in toolstone use between earlier and later Paleoindian
populations. These differences may help us understand the
process of landscape learning and other phenomenon associated with
the colonization of uninhabited landscapes. This study will evaluate
different models of colonization and how quickly stone quarries and
tool stone sources became places of lasting importance throughout
prehistory.
Kolhatkar, Manek (Université de Montréal) • Loosening the bonds
of technical practice: the chaîne opératoire as a flawed metaphor [25]
For the past half-century, the chaîne opératoire approach has allowed
its practitioners to gain a better understanding of the technical practices
of people, through the belief that form should not preclude the
deeper structural explanation of such practices. In this regard, the
chaîne opératoire can be understood as a metaphor as to how we
should link gestures together, that is, a sequential but linear, programmatic
as well as ultimately homogenizing reconstruction and
understanding of technical activities. Here, through my analysis of the
manufacture of projectile points that occurred at the Late Paleoindian
site of La Martre (Gaspe peninsula, Quebec), I will show that such an
approach is useful but insufficient for it brings one to confuse the different
logical links that happen at various scales of technical practice,
where the craftsman and the social group end up being considered
as the same person. Other, more complex metaphors, could be used
so as to make more room for the variability that archaeologists try to
describe with increasing levels of details.
Les failles de la chaîne opératoire, et la libération de la pratique technique
Depuis les années 60, l’approche de type chaîne opératoire a permis
aux archéologues d’acquérir une meilleure connaissance des pratiques
techniques des populations étudiées, au travers d’une analyse
structurelle plutôt que formelle de telles pratiques. La chaîne opératoire
peut ainsi être comprise comme une métaphore permettant de
lier les gestes techniques de façon séquentielle, mais aussi linéaire,
prédéterminée et homogénéisée. Mes analyses de la fabrication de
pointes de projectiles qui ont eu lieu sur le site paléoindien récent
de La Martre (Gaspésie, Québec) montrent qu’une telle approche est
utile mais insuffisante car elle ne fait pas suffisamment la distinction
entre les différents liens logiques qui se manifestent dans les multiples
échelles de la pratique technique. D’autres métaphores plus
complexes pourraient être utilisées de telle sorte que la variabilité
dont les archéologues tentent de rendre compte puisse s’exprimer
avec moins de restrictions.
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