Late Side-Notched Projectile Points in the Northern Plains

Abstract

The most commonly used classificatory scheme for Late Side-notched projectile points (LSPP) in the northern Plains divides specimens for the entire region into two types: the Prairie Side-notched (ca. 1250-650 B.P.) and the Plains Side-notched (ca. 650 B.P. to the Historic period). An attribute analysis of 2327 points from southern Alberta and southern Saskatchewan indicates that from ca. 1250 to 650 B.P. all specimens exhibited a similar range of morphologies. By ca. 650 B.P., however, points from southeastern Saskatchewan reveal an abrupt change from earlier specimens, with tightly focused variability in attributes. In southern Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan, there is no abrupt change in projectile point morphology. Existing archaeological taxa need to be restructured to reflect these distinctions. We propose the term Mortlach Group for the points from southeastern Saskatchewan in the interval 650 B.P. to the Historic period, and the term Cayley Series for the earlier points in southern Alberta and Saskatchewan, as well as the later points outside of southeastern Saskatchewan. Mortlach Group points are closely associated with Mortlach ceramics and the Mortlach Phase; Cayley Series points are closely associated with Saskatchewan Basin Complex: Late Variant pottery and the Old Women’S Phase.