Canada / SK / EeMw-26 (Lebret) / S-2794

Lab number

S-2794

Material dated

charcoal; charbon de bois

Locality

between Mission Lake and Katepwa Lake in the Qu'Appelle Valley, Saskatchewan

Map sheet

62 L/12

Submitter

E.G. Walker

Date submitted

July 11, 0096

Measured Age

2590 ± 790

Normalized Age

2590 ± 790

δ¹³C (per mil)

-25.0

Significance

culture?

Stratigraphic component

Level B7

Context

Area B, level 7 (layer 13), paleosol on sand and gravel shoreline deposit

Associated taxa

see S-2798

Comments

EeMw-26, Lebret: Four excavation areas (A, B, R, and S) revealed stratified deposits containing cultural remains for which 13 radiocarbon dates were obtained. The cultural levels were generally well separated by layers of colluvial and alluvial sediment in Areas A and B, although the upper layers were disturbed by cultivation. Area A, at the west end of the site, yielded historic (Métis) and late prehistoric artifacts in a plowzone arbitrarily divided into Levels 1 and 2. Level 3 yielded four Avonlea side-notched points, three Avonlea triangular points, and a radiocarbon date on bison bone (S-2691). In Level 4 a single Sandy Creek point was associated with dated bison bone (S-2791). Smith (1986) points out that the Level 4 date is significantly earlier than previously obtained dates from other Sandy Creek components and that it helps to fill a temporal gap between Sandy Creek and its most likely predecessor, the Oxbow complex (cf. Dyck 1983: 108). Area B, near the east end of the site, was covered by a mixture of historic and late prehistoric artifacts in a plowzone. A component labelled Level 2A contained a tentatively identified Prairie side-notched point base and yielded a date on charcoal (S-2795). Level 3 contained three Avonlea triangular points and produced a date on bison bone (S-2797); a McKean lanceolate point from Level 3 was associated with a rodent burrow and is probably intrusive. Bison bone from Level 4 yielded an anomalous date (S-2801), and no projectile points were recovered in this poorly defined, intermittent paleosol. Level 5 was marked by a well defined paleosol but lacked projectile points and yielded a second anomalous date on bison bone (S-2792). One Sandy Creek point was found in Level 6 and dated on charcoal (S-2796). Three dates on Level 7, with no projectile points, can be averaged. Smith (1986) rejects the dates from Levels 4 and 5. He notes that cultural level 4 was poorly defined during excavation and yielded very little cultural material. The bone selected for S-2801 was the largest found in this stratigraphic layer, and it was not associated with any diagnostic artifacts. He suggests that the bone, and perhaps the other items, could have been redeposited from other layers, perhaps by rodent disturbance. S-2792 from Level 5 is also out of sequence with respect to S-2797 from Level 3. Smith (1986) prefers the latter date because the sample was larger and had a better documented association with the cultural level. He notes that S-2792 was selected for dating out of necessity rather than choice. The dates on the Avonlea complex can be interpreted in two ways, depending upon one's interpretation of Area B. Even if S-2801 on dubiously defined Level 4 is ignored, the dates on Level 3 (S-2797) and Level 5 (S-2792) remain out of sequence. Smith (1986) rejects the latter date and suggests that Level 5 may represent a Besant complex occupation on the basis of its stratigraphic position. However, in the absence of diagnostic artifacts, it is equally plausible to interpret Level 5 as a correctly dated Avonlea component, close in age to Avonlea in Area A, and to suggest that the Level 3 has been made spuriously old by rodent disturbance. Area R, at the east end of the site, was excavated partly with archaeological methods and partly with a backhoe. Smith (1986) generally excluded this area from his analysis, but he reported two radiocarbon dates of which one (S-2800) is attributed to the Avonlea complex. The other (S-2762) has no known cultural affiliation. Area S, also at the east end of the site, was excavated with archaeological methods but only to a depth specified by the landowner who used the pit as the basement for his cottage. Stratigraphic layers were difficult to recognize during excavation, and 5 cm arbitrary levels were employed with depth measurements recorded for each artifact. Cultural levels were reconstructed using the depth measurements, and these proved to correspond to paleosols that were visible in profile: (1) Métis artifacts in the upper 7 cm (2) one Plains side-notched point, 7-20 cm BS; (3) no diagnostic artifacts, 25-40 cm BS; and (4) net-impressed Avonlea ceramics associated with a date (S-2799) on bison bone.

References

• Dyck, 1983
• Morlan, 1993
• Smith, 1986
• Smith and Walker, 1988
• Faunmap 3872