Overview of the 1993 Field Season
by
Luc Nolin
NOGAP Archaeologist
Canadian Museum of Civilization
Summary
Our archaeological survey along the lower Makenzie River, in the Northwest Territories, permitted to resulted in the discovery of six archaeological sites which present a certain variability in their settlement patterns. On two of these sites, historic and lithic remains were found in deeply buried, stratified contexts. The excellent preservation of the organic material of these reoccupied sites, will impose our understanding of the culture-historical framework of the lower Mackenzie Valley, which is actually poorly known.
The continued archaeological excavation at Tsiigehtchic (Arctic Red River) permitted the collection of additional information on some of the seven stratified cultural layers excavated in 1992. We collected numerous faunal remains and artifacts which will allow us to enrich the data for the analysis of this important site.
Objectives
I had two main objectives for the last field season under NOGAP Archaeology Project of the Canadian Museum of Civilization. The first was to determine the presence of archaeological sites in six predetermined locations along the Lower Mackenzie River up- stream of the settlement of Tsiigehtchic (Arctic Red River). The 1986 and 1991 archaeological reconnaissances of Jean-Luc Pilon demonstrated the archaeological potential in a wide range of localities and the possibility of documenting the prehistoric use of the Mackenzie River. Pilon's works demonstrated that "(...) in particular situations, such evidence of prehistoric occupation has been preserved; at the tops of strategic draws leading up to the plateau, on high terraces located at the tributary mouths, and even on low terraces where the river configuration actually permits overbank deposition rather than scouring to take place during seasonal episodes of high waters" (Pilon 1992:82-83).
During the last two weeks of June, we visited six different predetermined localities along the Mackenzie River between Dzien Die Creek (Dzandiee tshik) and Tsidal Trein (Chidaltaii). These localities represent a broad diversity of potential site locations such as the mouth of major tributaries, draws or gullies leading up to the plateau and the hintherland, and low terraces located near eddies where fish concentrate before spawning. During this survey, six new archaeological sites were discovered.
A second goal was to return to the Tsiigehtchic site (MiTr-1) to collect additional information. Our excavations of last summer on the site located at the confluence of the Arctic Red and the Mackenzie Rivers, permitted the discovery of very significant and unique archaeological remains. Testing along the severely eroded terrace edge of the Arctic Red River, demonstrated the presence of archaeological material on many segments of this feature with a higher concentration of remains at its northern end.
In one specific excavation bloc (D-North) we identified seven different layers of archaeological remains dating from the recent historic period to the prehistoric period. The deepest layer was found at 1.57 m below the surface. We returned to Area D-North to extend the excavation and to collect more substantial information regarding the deeper occupations. In 1992, time constraints permitted the excavation of only three excavation units to a depth of over 1.50 m in Area D-North. Preservation is excellent as evidenced by the faunal material and the bone and antler tools found during the 1992 field season. We thought that we had to take advantage of the last NOGAP field season to collect substantial information about the prehistoric use of the site before the temnants of these archaeological archives will be lost to erosion.
Itinerary
The field work detailed in this report took place between June 14th and August 6th 1993, a total of 8 weeks under the NWT Archaeologists Permit #93-753 and under the Scientific Research Licence #12459N. The first eleven days (between June 16-27th) were spent along the Mackenzie River for an archaeological reconnaissance between Dzien Die Creek (Dzandie tshik) and Tsital Trein (Chidaltaii), i.e. a corridor which extends about 35 km up from the settlement of Tsiigehtchic. During the first half of the reconnaissance, our base camp occupied the edge of the elevated terrace located near the second creek up of Dzien Die Creek (Dzandiee tshik). We moved the camp to Tsidal Trein (Chidaltaii) for the second period.
On July 30th we returned to Arctic Red River from Inuvik to continue the excavations on the lower terrace of the village that we started last summer for nearly another five weeks (July 1st to August 2nd). In Arctic Red River the field crew was comprised by 6 assistants: Julie-Ann Andre, Anna May McLeod from Tsiigehtchic, Rita Carpenter from Inuvik, Michelle Drapeau from Montréal, James Mooney from Whitehorse and myself.
The Inuvik Research Centre of the Science Institute of the Northwest Territories (Inuvik Research Laboratory) and the Polar Continental Shelf Project provided logistic support during the summer.
The rest of the time was devoted to preparing field gear and purchasing supplies in Inuvik.
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 survey crew consisted of Gabe Andre of Tsiigehtchic, Michael Jackson of Fort Good Hope, James Mooney of Whitehorse and myself. During the excavations at Tsiigehtchic, Julie-Ann Andre, Anna May McLeod and Rita Carpenter of Tsiigehtchic, Michelle Drapeau of Montréal and James Mooney, assisted the author.
I am also grateful to a wide range of individuals who helped us in different ways: Les Kutny and Mabel Logan of the Inuvik Research Centre, Chief Grace Blake and David Cook, Band Manager of the Tsiigehtchic Band Council, and all the people of the community for their warm welcome. Special thanks to Hyacinthe Andre, Alestine Andre and Ingrid Kritsch for their deep interest in my research and for our interesting discussions which I hope, mutually enchiched us. I think that we are just starting to realize how Ingrid and Alestine's work on traditional knowledge and archaeological field research are complementary.
I would like to thank David Laverie of the Canadian Museum of Civilization for the final drawing of illustrations in the report and Sylvie Ledoux administrative clerk with the Archaeological Survey of Canada for her help during the weeks preceeding the preparation of the project.
A special thanks goes to Dr. Jean-Luc Pilon, Coordinator of the NOGAP Archaeology Project at the Canadian Museum of Civilization, for is unswerving support during the four years of my employment as an archaeologist on this project. These years offered me the great opportunity to explore and to learn about the great cultural and natural richness of the lower Mackenzie Valley region. I am also grateful to a large number of individuals at the museum who helped me at different moments during these years.
