Overview of the 1992 Field Season (Luc Nolin)

Overview of the 1992 Field Season
by
Luc Nolin
NOGAP Archaeologist
Canadian Museum of Civilization

Summary

Excavations in Area B of MjTp-3, at Fishing Bear Lake, provided additional information on semi-subterranean structures as well as the oldest yet radiocarbon date (1580±55 B.P.) for such a feature in the southwest Anderson Plain. A second, much more recent historic occupation was also documented which harkens to a time when dog teams were still in use. The limited testing in Area B of MjTp-3 yielded additional material remains from the two superimposed occupation layers; one dating to the second half of the XIXth century and the other prehistoric.

Archaeological investigations at MiTr-1, the site on the "Flats" at Arctic Red River demonstrated a succession of 7 well-separated occupation layers which contained abundant faunal and artifact samples usually concentrated around combustion areas. AMS dating of faunal remains from these layers showed the earliest occupation to have taken place at least 1375±55 years ago. This important site is an important reference for other site in the area.

Objectives

I had two main objectives for the 1992 field season. The first was to return to MjTp-3 located between Fishing Bear-Whirl Lakes. In 1986, preliminary testing in Area B had revealed a relatively large inventory of lithic raw material types in association with both calcined and non-calcined faunal remains. Also, the identification, in the test pits, of two separate layers of cultural remains suggested that the area was occupied more than once. During that field season, Area C of the same site was also tested. A small grey chert flake was found in a test pit inside a circular depression measuring 2.5-3.0 m in diametre. An earth berm or a low ridge was noted surrounding the depression. This feature demonstrated caracteristics of housepits or semi-subterranean structures, similar to ones identified elsewere in the southwest Anderson Plain. The resorption of the berm around the depression and the apparent great accumulation of organic material inside suggested a relatively significant antiquity to the feature. Permafrost precluded more testing in Area C in 1986. The presence of an important depression (5 x 2.5 x 1 m) which is probably the remains of an housepit, found partially disturbed by wolf dens in Area A of MjTp-3, offered an image of the intensity of occupation of the site during the past. Also, "(...) the proximity of the site to a semi-subterranean structure less than half a kilometre from Gordon's MjTp-1, microblade/semi-subterranean structure site (Gordon & Savage 1973) make this locality a potentially very informative one" (...)(Pilon 1992:2).

A second goal was to evaluate by systematic testing and excavation the condition of MiTr-1, located on the lower terrace in front of the village of Arctic Red River. The site was recognized as a stratified archaeological deposit in 1951 during the brief passage of R. MacNeish. He identified "super-imposed burned hearths" along the river bank below the Roman Catholic Mission, and excavated a series of bone tools in association with four white glass beads (MacNeish 1953:31). In 1986 J.-L. Pilon came back to Arctic Red River for a short time to assess the potential of the site. He confirmed and refined MacNeish's observation about the stratification of the site and identified 3 separates layers of occupation along the river bank. Large quantities of fish bones and scales were recovered from each of the 3 different layers. A sky blue glass bead was found associated with a hearth feature in the deepest occupation layer. A charcoal sample from this hearth (Pilon 1987) yielded a radiocarbon date of 360±95 BP (S-2841). Pilon also discovered a variety of artifacts all along the severely eroded river talus, such as a wooden toboggan fragment, bone and antler tools, a fragment of a birch bark container, lithic debitage, faunal remains and fire broken-rocks.

The work of J.-L. Pilon at Arctic Red River revealed two important things. First, his brief research demonstrated the excellent quality of preservation of the organic remains in the silty sedimentary soil matrix which covers the different cultural layers. Secondly, according to the information obtained in Arctic Red River from Mr. Gabe André, Pilon estimated that as much as 7 to 8 m of the low terrace has eroded since MacNeish visited the site 35 years before. Consequently, it became evident that the archaeological remains still in place had to be salvaged as soon as possible.

Itinerary

The field work detailed in this report took place between June 11th and August 6th 1992, a total of 8 weeks under NWT Archaeologists Permit 92-737. Seventeen days were spent in the Fishing Bear/Whirl Lakes area and 38 days in the village of Arctic Red River. The rest of the time was devoted to preparing field gear and purchasing supplies in Inuvik. Most of the crew members arrived in Inuvik June 7th and left August 10th. The Inuvik Research Laboratory of the Science Institute of the Northwest Territories and the Polar Continental Shelf Project provided us with logistic support during the summer. The field crew was comprised of Michelle Drapeau (field assistant, Montréal), Michael Jackson (field assistant, Fort Good Hope), Robert Humen (field assistant, Calgary), James Mooney (field assistant, Whitehorse) and myself. Lisa André (field assistant, Arctic Red River) and Anna May McLeod (field assistant, Arctic Red River) became part of the crew when we started the excavation in Arctic Red River.

Acknowledgements

The field season described in this report was quite productive and without the help of the following people it could never have been considered a success. I wish to thank the entire field party for the quality of their work and their commitment to the project. The crew consisted of Michael Jackson of Fort Good Hope, Lisa André and Anna May McLeod of Arctic Red River, Michelle Drapeau of Montréal, Robert Humen of Calgary and James Mooney of Whitehorse.

Also I am grateful to a wide range of individuals who helped us in different ways: Mr. Gary White, Les Kutny and Mabel Logan of the Inuvik Research Centre, Chief Peter Ross and David Cook, Band Manager of the Arctic Red River Band Council, and all the people of Arctic Red River for their warm welcome. A special thanks to Mr. Hyacinthe André, elder of Arctic Red River for our very interesting discussions about the past and Mr. Dale Clark, elder of Arctic Red River for the donation to the Canadian Museum of Civilization of an old Hudson's Bay cooking pot and an bullet mould found in the village years ago.

I would like to thank Mr. David Laverie of the Canadian Museum of Civilization for the final drawing of the illustrations in the report, Mr. Ron Cruishank of the Arctic Red River Heritage Project for giving me free access to his documentation and for our interesting discussions, Anne Benoit, administrative clerk of the Archaeological Survey of Canada, for her help during the weeks preceeding the preparation of the project, Dr. Greg Brooks, Terrain Science Division, Geological Survey of Canada for information concerning hydrology and sedimentology in the Arctic Red River region, Dr. Richard Morlan who kindly accepted to analyse dog scat samples collected on the site of Arctic Red River.

Special thanks to Dr. Jean-Luc Pilon, Coordinator of the NOGAP Archaeology Project at the Canadian Museum of Civilization, for helping with the English of the present report during a very busy period of the year and for is unswerving support of the project. Also, for our very interesting discussions which helped me improve my interpretation of the archaeological data.