Ecological Islands And Vickers Focus Adaptive Transitions In The Pre-Contact Plains Of Southwestern Manitoba

Abstract

Archaeological reconnaissance in southwestern Manitoba has revealed a small zone of intensive late Plains Woodland (Vickers Focus) occupation in the northeastern extreme of the Plains region. In light of significant environmental changesover the past I 20 years, site interpretation is heavily dependent upon landscape reconstruction using archival records, intersite mapping, and site modeling using Geographic Information Systems. Vickers Focus occupation is strongly correlated with isolated forested wetlands within the mixed grass prairie, and indicates a seasonally scheduled economy that alternated between warm season foraging and cold season bison procurement. It is proposed that these sites represent a transition from intensive woodland foraging to bison hunting as these Plains Woodland groups migrated westward into the northern Plains.