Abstract
The 2010 University of Alberta Institute of Prairie Archaeology field school produced thousands of artifacts including diagnostic projectile points that provide evidence of multiple occupations spanning a 10,000 year period. As is typical of archaeological sites with limited surface deposition, a lack of visible stratigraphy makes it difficult to associate the assemblage with these temporal and cultural diagnostics, or assess changing occupation patterns over time. The authors present here a method reliant upon diligent attention to three-point proveniencing and analysis using low-cost, easily accessible software to complement the otherwise weak stratigraphic record; the resulting empirically segretated data show multiple components, the earliest of which correlates with an Agate Basin/Hell Gap complex occupation.
Highlights
An abundance of highly fragmented faunal remains in Area A, and the presence of a boiling pit filled with calcined bone, indicate that this part of the site was used for food processing
At the depositionally similar cal to that of Soucey and colleagues (2009, 54), Strathcona Science Park site (FjPi-29), Pyszczyk who noted that the lack of substantial stratigraphy (1981) showed that projectile point forms tended in the units excavated hindered analysis of the ar- to obey their correct chronological order even in chaeological phases and complexes that might be a compressed stratigraphic setting
Ahai Mneh is an example of an important from the 2010 excavations focused on determinkind of site in Alberta—where there is a rich and ing whether multiple discrete components could ancient archaeological record, but thin or com- be identified at Ahai Mneh
Summary
Decisions made from the outset of excavation in the 2010 field school through to the conclusion of cataloguing had a direct impact on the nature and quality of the data available, and are discussed briefly . Subsequent analysis focused on whether the excavation areas could be separated into discrete components using low-cost and readily available tools. This included 3D modeling of the lithic assemblage using Apple’s Grapher Version 1.1, which provided a qualitative visual overview of the site; devising a mathematical method to correct for slope, which enabled comparison by depth across units with varied microtopography; and quantitative analysis using Microsoft Excel, which allowed for more robust characterization of changes in site utilization over time
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