Set in stone: Re-examining stone feature distribution and form on the Northwestern Plains

Abstract

Recently, Reeves and Kennedy [(2017) Stone Feature Types as Observed at Ceremonial Site Complexes on the Lower Red Deer and the Forks of the Red Deer and South Saskatchewan Rivers with Ethnohistorical Discussion. Saskatchewan Archaeological Society, Saskatoon] identified a series of what they argue are unique stone feature types in the Forks area, near the village of Empress in southeastern Alberta. These researchers assert that, to their knowledge, no similar stone features exist in southwestern Alberta. They suggest that this regional difference in distribution and their absence from Blackfoot territory in southwestern Alberta indicates that they were created by the Gros Ventre as part of a distinct ceremonial practice. We examine Reeves and Kennedy’s feature types and provide examples of most from southwestern Alberta along the foothills front. We then examine the hypothesis of a Gros Ventre affiliation for these features and discuss how the evidence from southwestern Alberta informs this hypothesis and larger questions of ethnicity. While some of these stone features may have been created by the ancestral Gros Ventre, it appears others were most likely created by ancestral Blackfoot groups as part of their own cultural practice. This is supported by the presence of these feature types in southwestern Alberta and their consistent association with important landmarks and named places in the Blackfoot cultural landscape.

Keywords:

• Northwestern Plains
• ethnicity
• cultural landscapes
• stone features

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their sincere appreciation to the various landowners that approved and facilitated the work discussed in this paper. Work on Willow Creek was completed as part of the senior author’s dissertation research, made possible from the generous support of the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship Program and the Killam Trusts as well as grants from the Alberta Historical Resources Foundation, Archaeological Society of Alberta and the University of Calgary. Archaeological assessments of the McBride Lake Uplands and Milk River Ridge were part of Historical Resources Impact Assessment studies for various developments, completed by Lifeways of Canada Limited on behalf of several developers. Initial efforts along lower Jumpingpound Creek were partially coordinated, funded and assisted by staff at Stantec in Calgary with particular thanks going to Dr. Alison Landals, Laura Roskowski-Nuttall and Evan Strangward. Recent investigations by the junior author on behalf of the Lower Jumpingpound Creek Archaeological Project (LJAP) were supported by the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology at the University of Calgary and funded by scholarship through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and a grant from the Alberta Historical Resources Foundation. Early drafts of this manuscript benefited greatly from the critical eye of Dr. Gerry Oetelaar at the University of Calgary. Any errors or omissions are the authors alone.

Disclosure statement

The authors confirm that there are no known conflicts of interest associated with this publication and there has been no significant financial support for this work that could have influenced its outcome.

Notes on contributors

Dr. Lindsay Amundsen-Meyer has more than 10 years of experience working with Historical Resources in Western Canada, in the academic, cultural resource management and government sectors. Her expertise lies in the archaeology of the Canadian Plains and adjacent Rocky Mountains, landscape archaeology, and spatial analysis in archaeology including use of geographic information systems. Lindsay completed both her Bachelor’s and Doctoral degrees at the University of Calgary, during which she studied both archaeology and museum and heritage studies. Her doctoral research focused on examination of settlement patterning, cultural landscape and place names along the Old North Trail in Southern Alberta. She has directed a multi-year research project on the Southern Alberta Plains and worked on archaeological investigations in the Plains, Rocky Mountains and Boreal Forest. Lindsay has been involved in diverse projects related to a variety of historical resources, including archaeological sites, standing historic structures, cultural landscapes and sacred places/place names.

Jeremy Leyden is a PhD candidate in the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology at the University of Calgary. He is currently researching a series of related archaeological sites exposed in 2013 by severe flooding along the Rocky Mountain Foothills of southern Alberta. Over the years his research interests have included paleoecology, zooarchaeology, lithic analysis, Pre-contact northern Great Plains archaeology and stable isotope analysis. Jeremy began working in archaeology in the 1990s as a student at the University of Calgary. While pursuing a MA in archaeology from the University of Saskatchewan, he served as president of the Saskatoon Archaeology Society, taught as both a laboratory and sessional instructor for the university and worked as a research assistant at the National Hydrology Research Centre. Upon returning to Alberta in 2004, Jeremy worked for nearly 13 years as a professional archaeologist supervising and assisting with excavations, surveys and traditional knowledge assessments throughout Western Canada.