9,474 research outputs found
Exhibition catalogue - De T'a Hoti Ts'eeda: We Live Securely By the Land. Edited by Thomas D Andrews
An exhibition of Dene material selected from the collections of National Museums Scotland
The Dogrib Birchbark Canoe Project
The Dogrib are one of the Athapaskan, or Dene groups occupying the Mackenzie Valley area in the Northwest Territories (see map). Their hunting canoes, though engineered for traversing a rugged landscape, had elegant and flowing lines. ... Although there is a reasonably good collection of archival photographs of Dogrib canoes, mostly due to the efforts of the anthropologist J. Alden Mason ..., the historical record has preserved little knowledge pertinent to canoe construction and use, and only a small number of canoes have survived in museum collections. During our recent archaeological research on two important Dogrib canoe routes, however, we recorded the remains of nearly 30 hunting canoes .... Today, in the Dogrib communities of Snare Lake, Rae Lakes, Wha Ti and Rae-Edzo, the oral tradition is full of canoeing and canoe-related stories and remembrances, although very few surviving elders actually built one in their youth. This fact, and the large number of canoes recorded in our research, gave us a new appreciation of the importance and role they had played in travel, and led to an exciting cultural revival project: to build and document a Dogrib birchbark canoe. ... [This article briefly describes the canoe project, sharing some of what the elders taught us about Dogrib hunting canoes.
Archaeological Investigations of Alpine Ice Patches in the Selwyn Mountains, Northwest Territories, Canada
Inspired by the groundbreaking investigation of ice patch archaeology in Yukon Territory, the authors began exploring the Mackenzie, Selwyn, and Richardson Mountains for ice patch archaeological sites in 2000. Through remote sensing analysis, followed by intensive field surveys in the Selwyn and Mackenzie Mountains, we documented eight ice patch sites containing well-preserved archaeological artifacts and biological specimens. Twenty additional ice patches exhibit the key indicators of ice patch archaeological sites (permanent or intermittent ice and snow lenses containing caribou fecal matter, faunal material, or both), but so far these patches have not yielded artifacts. Collections from ice patches in the Selwyn Mountains include examples of three precontact hunting technologies: throwing dart (atlatl), bow-and-arrow, and snare. Atlatl technology, represented by the distal ends of two darts dating to 2410 and 2310 14C yr BP, predates bow-and-arrow technology, represented by two complete arrows, two distal shaft fragments, and a partial bow dating between 850 and 270 14C yr BP. A ground squirrel snare dates to 970 14C yr BP. Caribou dominates the faunal remains recovered from the ice patches. These data suggest that hunting on ice patches was part of a broader-spectrum summer subsistence economy focused on a broad alpine valley, known locally as K’atieh, and that hunters tended to target ice patches close to other subsistence locations in this area.InspirĂ© par les travaux rĂ©volutionnaires de l’archĂ©ologie des nĂ©vĂ©s menĂ©s dans le territoire du Yukon, les auteurs ont commencĂ© en l’an 2000 l’exploration des montagnes du Mackenzie, de Selwyn et de Richardson afin d’y trouver des sites archĂ©ologiques associĂ©s Ă des nĂ©vĂ©s. L’analyse des donnĂ©es de la tĂ©lĂ©dĂ©tection suivie d’un programme de prospection intensif dans les montagnes de Selwyn et du Mackenzie a permis de documenter huit sites de nĂ©vĂ©s qui contiennent des objets archĂ©oÂlogiques et des spĂ©cimens biologiques bien conservĂ©s. Vingt autres sites prĂ©sentent les caractĂ©ristiques des sites archĂ©oloÂgiques de nĂ©vĂ©s (soit des lentilles de glace et de neige permanentes ou semi-permanentes contenant des matières fĂ©cales et (ou) de la faune), mais n’ont livrĂ© pour l’instant aucun artefact. Les collections des nĂ©vĂ©s des montagnes Selwyn comprennent des exemplaires de trois systèmes d’armes de chasse antĂ©rieures au contact. La technique du tir au propulseur est reprĂ©sentĂ©e par les extrĂ©mitĂ©s distales de deux lances datant de 2410 et 2310 annĂ©es radiocarbones BP et est antĂ©rieure Ă celle de l’arc et de la flèche qui consiste en deux flèches complètes, deux fragments distaux de hampe et un arc incomplet datĂ©s entre 850 et 270 annĂ©es radiocarbones BP. Un piège Ă spermophile date de 970 annĂ©es radiocarbones BP. Les ossements de caribou dominent les restes de faune trouvĂ©s dans les nĂ©vĂ©s. Ces donnĂ©es laissent entendre que la chasse dans les zones alpines faisait partie d’une Ă©conomie de subsistance estivale dans laquelle un large Ă©ventail d’espèces Ă©tait chassĂ©. Ces activitĂ©s de subsistance se concentraient dans les larges vallĂ©es alpines, connues localement sous le nom de K’atieh et les chasseurs avaient tendance Ă cibler les nĂ©vĂ©s localisĂ©s Ă proximitĂ© des autres ressources de la rĂ©gion
Morphology and Development of Ice Patches in Northwest Territories, Canada
Permanent ice patches in the western Canadian Subarctic have been recently identified as sources of cryogenically preserved artifacts and biological specimens. The formation, composition, and constancy of these ice patches have yet to be studied. As part of the Northwest Territories (NWT) Ice Patch Study, ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and ice coring were used to examine the stratigraphy and internal structure of two ice patches. Results show the patches are composed of a core of distinct offset units, up to several metres thick, covered by a blanket of firn and snow. The interfaces between the units of ice are often demarcated by thin sections of frozen caribou dung and fine sediment. Radiocarbon dates of dung extracted from ice cores have revealed a long history for these perennial patches, up to 4400 years BP. Ice patch growth is discontinuous and occurs intermittently. Extensive time gaps exist between the units of ice, indicating that summers of catastrophic melt can interrupt extended periods of net accumulation. The results of this work not only display the character of ice patch development, but also indicate the significant role that ice patches can play in reconstructing the paleoenvironmental conditions of an area.Récemment, on a déterminé que les névés permanents du subarctique de l’Ouest canadien constituent des sources d’artefacts et de spécimens biologiques préservés cryogéniquement. La formation, la composition et la constance de ces névés n’ont toujours pas été étudiées. Dans le cadre de l’étude des névés des Territoires du Nord-Ouest, on a recouru à des géoradars (GPR) et au carottage de la glace pour examiner la stratigraphie et la structure interne de deux névés. Les résultats indiquent que les névés sont composés d’un noyau d’unités distinctes et décalées, mesurant plusieurs mètres d’épaisseur et recouvertes d’une couverture de vieille neige et de neige. L’interface entre les unités de glace est souvent démarquée par de minces sections de déjections de caribou gelées et de sédiments fins. La datation au radiocarbone des déjections extraites des carottes de glace révèle que ces névés pérennes ont une longue histoire, remontant jusqu’à 4400 ans BP. L’amplification des névés est discontinue et se produit de manière intermittente. Des écarts de temps considérables existent entre les unités de glace, ce qui laisse entendre que des étés de fonte catastrophique peuvent interrompre les périodes prolongées d’accumulation nette. Les résultats de cette étude laissent non seulement entrevoir le caractère de la formation des névés, mais indiquent également le rôle important que les névés peuvent jouer dans la reconstruction des conditions paléoenvironnementales d’une région
- …