Confluences: Fluted Points in the Ice-Free Corridor

ABSTRACT

We undertake an expanded analysis of the Western Canadian Fluted Points database. Given clear evidence of biotic habitability along the entire Corridor by 13,000 years ago, fluted point spatial clusters likely reflect both Clovis contemporaneous and later fluted point instances. Points were overwhelmingly fashioned on local toolstones, featuring a bimodal length distribution (larger, relatively unaltered fluted points versus reworked, smaller fluted points at the end of their use life), mainly found in dispersed landscape settings rather than major kills or campsites. The temporal cline from older Clovis forms south of the ice masses to younger fluted points in Alaska suggests fluted point makers traversing the Corridor eventually met populations bearing eastern Beringian traditions. Corridor fluted point morphologies may indicate the degree to which diffusion or demic expansion mediated north-south interactions: deeper bases, parallel sides and multiple basal thinning flakes reflect intermediate forms similar to Younger Dryas-aged Alaskan fluted points.

KEYWORDS:

• Ice-Free Corridor
• Clovis
• Folsom
• Western Canada Fluted Point Database
• fluted-point densities
• landscape signature

Acknowledgements

The nature of the Western Canadian Fluted Points Database means that we are indebted to Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan offices for archaeological heritage, many local and regional museums, and an even larger number of avocational collectors. We thank them all. For access to collections or photographs, we are particularly grateful to Bob Dawe and the Royal Alberta Museum, Todd Kristensen and Darryl Bereziuk (Archaeological Survey of Alberta), and Eugene Gryba, as well as Madeline Coleman, Amandah Merlin, and Reid Graham (in their capacities assisting the Archaeological Society of Alberta in Brazeau Reservoir work), Sharon Thompson (Parks Canada), Shayne Tolman, Matt Rawluk, Liz Robertson, Kyle Belanger, Martin Magne, Jean-Luc Pilon, Jon Driver, David Meyer, Muriel Carlson, Jerry Iverson, Jon Hall, Michael Billinger, Dale Fisher, Jeff Martyn, John Wozniak, and Joel Janetski. Our work has been facilitated by funding from the Landrex Distinguished Professorship, University of Alberta. We thank Heather Smith and Jesse Tune for their invitation to participate in the Society for American Archaeology symposium on which this special issue is based. Two anonymous reviewers made helpful suggestions improving the paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

John W. Ives' interests lie in Plains, Subarctic, Great Basin and Northeast Asian prehistory, kinship and economic organization, and Paleoindian studies. He leads an interdisciplinary investigation of the Promontory Caves (Utah) for traces of Subarctic Dene ancestors who had left Canada and were to become Navajo and Apache ancestors. From 1979–2007, he served with the Archaeological Survey of Alberta, the Royal Alberta Museum, and the Historic Resources Management Branch, with senior management responsibilities as Alberta’s Provincial Archaeologist, and extensive experience in Aboriginal policy initiatives (including leading the drafting team for Canada’s only repatriation legislation). He has undertaken executive and curatorial roles in developing the World Heritage Site of Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, the Royal Alberta Museum’s Gallery of Aboriginal Culture and international exhibitions (Rise of the Black Dragon). Ives received the University of Michigan’s Distinguished Dissertation Award, three Alberta Premier’s Awards, and the University of Alberta’s Landrex Distinguished Professorship.

Gabriel Yanicki is Curator, Western Archaeology at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, QC. His research explores prehistoric intergroup relations, examining how such objects as lithic raw materials and ceramics can serve as indicators of contact, trade, and demographic change.

Dr Kisha Supernant is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Alberta. She specializes in spatial analysis of past landscapes using digital mapping techniques and GIS, with a research focus on Indigenous archaeology and collaborative research practice.

Courtney Lakevold received her B.Sc. from the University of Lethbridge and her M.A. from the University of Alberta. She is currently the Archaeological Information Coordinator, Archaeological Survey, Historic Resources Management Branch, Alberta Culture and Tourism.

ORCID

John W. Ives http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7494-6363

Gabriel Yanicki http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3094-5534

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Landrex Distinguished Professorship.