Arky Midtem 2: (3) Guest lec Jeremy, Middle Oxbow

What was washed up in the calgary flood of 2013

Lots of dislodged bone

damage was done to arky sites along where

• Bow river

• Highwood river

• Sheep creek

• Tongue creek 

• Kananaskis river

What was found at jumpingpond creek

• giant mass of eroding bone found at the lands cross section

• very thick deposits

• bone deposits found in layers

where were effects really strong

• Flood investigations happened along buffalo jump

  • Bone deposits were exposed, and tonnes washed down the river

buffalo jump: how thick was bone bed, how often was it used, and what was the condition of recent bones

• Almost 60 cm thick bone bed 

• Appeared to be used multiple times 

• Leaves recent bones in tact

• 10-20,000 bison buried closer to the water

how many bone beds and cultural horizons at buffalo jump

6 bone beds and 12-13 cultural horizons, this is probably the biggest in the northern plains

nina piskan

blackfoot tradition , the arean men lived before coming together with women

which horizons did we get from excavation of the buffalo jump

horizon b, c, d, e,f

horizon b

• ochre

• metal point used to make musket hole and cut mark on bones

• processing took place here

• marrow extraction for pemmican production

horizon c

• fetal bones found (young bison were preferred)

• old womens phase points

• skull with damage

• bone choopers

• cut marks on bones caused by metal instruments

horizon d

• bone choppers

• older owp points (old womens phase)

• less finely made points

horizon e/f

• skulls were opened up to obtain brain inside for hide tanning

• hearth with sandstone was found

• roasting pits were found

• people were probably working on brain and cooking at same time

insect activity at buffalo jump, what % had damage

they colonized and chewed through the done deposits, deteriorating a lot of practices

10% of the bones had insect deposits

What were the 7 late middle precontact phases

• oxbow

• mckean

• pelican lake

• besant

• avonlea

• prairie side notch

• plains side notch

Defining characteristics of oxbow phase: lithics, subsistence + hunting style + habits, origins

lithics

• atlat and local materials

subsistence

• bison and boiling pits

• no evidence of large scale mass kills, they were more opportunistic and stalked their prey quietly

• large scale pemmican production

• lots of fbr

• grease extraction

location

• first found in north Saskatchewan, develops out of mummy cave on northern plains

• we think its in situ development cuz we see it co-occur with bitterroot, lusk, gowen

oxbow points, flaking, base and notch, and location

• evolved from mummy cave

• 
  

  

• we see the shoulders are rounded, if we flip the point it looks like mickey mouse

• random flaking

• concave base and side notched

• found in central plains, northern plains, boreal forest

What are 3 oxbow phase sites

• harder site

  • harder assemblage

• gray site

• Majorville medicine wheel

Harder site, site type, point types, artifacts, faunal, occupation time

• campsite, one of the biggest oxbow ones

• we see oxbow points here

  • we see them in excavations of sand dunes

• we see 6 circular concentrations of artifacts found

  • circular usually suggests its a housing unit

• we see bison remains

  • lots of bison bones from separate kill events

  • extremely smashed and slammed for marrow and grease extraction

  • weren’t actually any kill sites because they didnt use large scale kills (remember they were opportunistic stalkers)

  • we see bone pieces and boiling pits

• we think this is a winter kill occupation because of the tooth eruption and wear patterns

Harder site faunal assemblage, motivation for killing faunal, what was found on dog bones

• processing site

• remains include wolf, coyote and fox

  • butchering was done for pelts and also to reduce bison competition (everyone wanted bison so we need to relax so they don’t go extinct)

  • we find stress evidence on dog bones because of pulling travois

    
    

Gray site, site type and significance

• mass burial site

  • attachment to a place is rare, burials are rare, so the fact that there is a site with 98 graves, 305 individuals in 60% of the site

  • suggests strong attachment to a place

  • these guys are nomads and move a lot, so settling to bury is big

  • multiple primary burials, some secondary

  
  

Gray site burial types grave details (goods, etc), connections to where

• Multiple primary burials and some secondary bundle burials

• grave goods were mostly personal possessions

  • special items in graves included eagle talons, copper, and shells from the east, west and gulf coast

  • the shells is large evidence of trade, they are from abroad

Why is copper in the gray site graves significance

• this is remnant of old copper culture, which was a period where copper was prominently used to make tools and other items

• copper was used for trade a lot back then, so seeing copper in this time is evidence that there may have been trade with other communities in the oxbow period

Main evidences of trade in the oxbow period

• copper comes from the east which suggests that oxbow traded across the plains.

• The east also has complex burials too which suggests connection to the east 

• the shells in the oxbow burials were from the east, west, and gulf sites

Gray site sand dune complex

• Sand dune complex

  • Blackfoot belief that spirits go to the sand dunes when released

Majorville medicine wheel: the blackfoot story

• they believe its the site where morning stars human wife (the wife of the actual star) and her son scarface were lowered from heaven onto the ground

• they were send down because they picked up a forbidden sun turnip

• that left a hole in the sky

Medicine wheel construction, offerings, connections

• constructed gradually over the years through accumulations of offerings

• there is a cairn in the middle (whole point of a medicine wheel)

• cut off finger bones can be found as offerings

• this site highlights connection to a place

Describe oxbow lifeways in terms of environment, transportation, weapons, subsistence, and social

environment

• environment is stabilizing

• sand dune is stabelizing

transportation

• use of canines for travois

weapons

• local materials and atlatl

subsistence

• bison, wolves, (fox and coyote for pelts)

social

• attachment to areas (burial site)

• connections to east and west

what are key innovations from the oxbow phase

• travois and lodges (transportation)

  • dog bones have stress induced pathologies

  • stress marks on femur

• clear establishment of trade

• first culture with evidence of tipis

  • stone circles were first seen here

What are the changes in the oxbow lifeways compared to mummy cave (hunting patterns + artifacts)

• we see that they are more specialized in hunting bison

• there is lots of FBR present

  • lots of harvesting and processing of foods

• opportunistic hunting