1991 Field Report
(Part 5)
by
Jean-Luc Pilon
NOGAP Archaeologist
Canadian Museum of Civilization

Revisited Sites

Vidiitshuu (lac à Truite)

Field No: 85JLP-26
Borden No: MlTj-2

This site was revisited in order to determine if the presence of the fire suppression camp had impacted the remains of the birch bark canoe which was found there in 1985 (Pilon 1985:20-22). It was with much relief that the remains of that craft were found to be in the same state as when last seen in 1987.

Field No: 85JLP-19
Borden No: MlTk-1

This site was revisited during the course of the survey of the east end of Vidiitshuu (lac à la Truite or Trout Lake). Since the fire fighters' camp was unoccupied at that time, it offered a good opportunity to assess the impact that the fire suppression camp had had on this archaeological site identified in semi-subterranean structure was discovered near a portable outhouse located on the first terrace beside the beach helicopter pad and fuel storage area. The structure is about 30 metres from the shore of the embayment and about 75 metres from the point.

The feature consists of an oval depression measuring about 1.5 m x 1 m x 30 cm deep. A distinct ridge or berm was noted along all sides of the depression. A test pit placed in the centre of the depression suggests its recent use since pieces of polyethylene were found under the sod.

A test pit placed on the west lateral berm revealed a humus layer with a decomposing pole under 7-10 cm of fine sand which was overlain by about 10 cm of sphagnum. The humus rested on a fine sand of unknown depth. A second shovel test pit excavated into the south end berm revealed a similar stratigraphy. Charcoal was found in the buried humus along with pieces of decomposing wood.

Field No: 85JLP-38
Borden No: MlTk-2

A base camp was established at MlTk-2 on Vidiitshuu (lac à la Truite or Trout Lake) on the 14th of June and a crew maintained there for the entire course of the field season, although the size of this crew varied primarily as a result of survey work. The site was discovered in 1985 and investigations were conducted there during the 1986 and 1987 field seasons.A detailed discussion of the 1991 excavations undertaken and supervised by Luc Nolin, research assistant with the NOGAP Archaeology Project can be found in Nolin (1992). Only a summary will be presented here.
Edge Test Unit

This area was initially tested in 1987 when a total of 13 square metres were excavated (Pilon 1988:77-79). At that time the base of a lanceolate projectile point was found in apparent association with artifacts suggestive of the manufacture of linear debitage. The few microblade-like fragments and a possible core rejuvination flake seemed reminiscent of the microblade technology documented at NbTj-3 on Hyndman Lake (Nolin 1991:30-52; Pilon 1989:57-76). The 1991 excavations there were thus intended to verify this association and hopefully obtain further materials relating to this as yet poorly defined technology.

This year's work in the Edge Test Unit resulted in the further excavation of a total of 23.5 square metres on either side of the original 1987 excavations. Within these areas a number of distinct combustion zones or hearth areas were identified. Some of these features were so described on the basis of soil reddening, but the added presence of faunal remains and/or fire-cracked rocks was judged necessary for attributing function to the stained sand. Quite simply, the thinness of the soils and the recurrence of forest fires in this kind of environment can result in reddened sands without human intervention. Lithic scatters were often found in close proximity to or surrounding these features.

Although large amounts of lithic debitage were recovered from these excavations, implements or fragments thereof were quite few. The predominant lithic types used were siliceous argillite with lesser quantities of coarse-grained white quartzite. Cherts were relatively infrequent and restricted to the eastern part of the excavation area where a small quantity of chert debitage and at least one implement were found.

At present it is difficult if not impossible to establish the relationship between the various hearth areas with any degree of certainty. Rather, it seems more likely that these excavations have exposed the intensity to which the terrace edge area has been utilized over the course of centuries.

Within the 1987 excavations, the lanceolate point base, microblade-related debitage and debitage from chipping of a coarse-grained raw material were found in proximity to a large cumbustion zone. Neither of these three artifacts were found in the adjacent areas exposed in 1991. This suggests that the association between these three elements may be due to more than chance circumstances alone.


East Point

The initial discovery and testing of MlTk-2 concentrated on the central portion of this point. At the very tip of the point, the only evidence of past human activity had been the discovery of what was thought to be some kind of a recent cache (Pilon 1985:28). It has since be determined that this underground cache was intended to be a fish storage facility to be used in a commercial fishery (Willie Simon Modeste, personal communication 1988). Repeated random surveys during subsequent stays at this point failed to reveal additional evidence. However, at the instigation of Luc Nolin, NOGAP Archaeology Project research assistant, intensive testing of the tip of the point was undertaken and resulted in a number of positive test pits.

Excavations took place so as to encompass two of the positive areas identified during the testing. One area (Area B) of five square metres was located at the very tip of the point, just north of the recent fish cache and the other (Area A-8 square metres) along the north side of the point, approximately 7 metres from the first.

Within Area B, an Arctic Small Tool tradition component was discovered, in proximity to a possible hearth feature. The inventory of implements includes burins, burin spalls, finely flaked projectile points, microblades, scrapers, pièces esquillées and a possible adze blade. Both calcined and non-thermally altered faunal remains were also recovered.

Within Area A, the base of a lanceolate projectile point exhibiting basal lateral grinding and parallel, oblique flaking was found along with a slightly concave-based, triangular to pentagonal point of vesicular clinker visually identical to the clinker found in Palaeoeskimo sites of the Old Horton Channel on Cape Bathurst Peninsula (LeBlanc 1991:268-277). Another artifact recovered in addition to lithic debitage, was the base of a stemmed point or knife fragment which is likely associated with the ASTt component a few metres away.


Materials from this portion of MlTk-2, along with information gathered from three others in the southwest Anderson Plain (NbTj-8, NbTj-9 and NbTj-17), provided the basis for an analysis of the Arctic Small Tool tradition in the region.

West Point

Following the success at the East Point, testing was continued along the north side of the point to its base. This worked failed to discover any evidence of use other than the known semi-subterranean features located there in 1986 (Pilon 1987:11-22). However, at the base or west end of the point, a square depression measuring approximately 1.5 m x 1.5 m x 20 cm had been noted along with fire-cracked rock protruding from the thin moss and lichen vegetation. Excavations were undertaken in this area with the intention of determining the nature of the depression.

A total of 16.5 square metres were excavated. At least two separate hearth areas were documented. In association with these features were copious quantities of lithic debitage, fire-cracked rock and faunal remains.

The nature of the depression remains, however, enigmatic. The depression had quite vertical walls and was filled with over 1 metre of humus which contained only a few pebbles. The feature appears to truncate a distribution of material associated with a nearby hearth, but other than a few items in the top 10 cm of the fill, no artifacts were found within the humus.

A similar but much smaller humus-filled depression was also found at the western extremity of the excavated area.


Excavations near Structure No.2

Excavation of portions of Structure No.2 had taken place in 1987. Following a fairly intensive testing of the area between Structure No.2 and the break in slope leading down to the shore of Vidiitshuu, two areas were selected form more intensive investigation.

In one area, located less than 3 metres from the southwest corner of the semi-subterranean feature, two separate clusters of fire-cracked rocks were found.

One of the clusters appears to represent the disposal of disaggregated boiling stones by occupants of the semi-subterranean dwelling. It is comprised of a fan-like distribution of fire-cracked rocks, a thin veneer of disaggregated metamorphic rock (smaller pieces of fire-cracked rock) and a small collection of siliceous argillite debitage.

The second concentration appears to document the process involved in the manufacture of stone adzes. A cluster of large heat spalled cobble and boulder fragments was surrounded by a scatter of smaller fragments of the same coarse-grained metamorphic stone, some of which were flakes produced by percussion. Finally, a chipped and distally ground adze was found between the two clusters. A note of caution is sounded by the recovery, in the adze manufacturing area, or 2 microblades and a microblade core rejunivation flake. These items obviously do not relate to the late prehistoric semi-subterranean structure to which the adze manufacturing and fire-cracked rock disposal area are presumed to belong. The bases for any such associations are circumstantial.

The second major testing took place immediately east of the east end of the semi-subterrannean structure. There, a hearth feature was located around which some lithic debitage of both fine-grained materials and coarser metamorphic stone was found. Implements were few but included a chipped adze, a biface preform and possible chert microblade core fragment. Again, this last item suggests caution in attributing materials found outside the semi-subterranean structure with the occupation of that feature.