Canada / SK / FbNp-1 (Tipperary Creek) / S-2810

Lab number

S-2810

Material dated

bison bone collagen; collagène osseux de bison

Taxa dated

Bison sp. (197 g, id. by E.G. Walker)

Locality

just north of Saskatoon, on a prominent point bar at the mouth of Opimihaw Creek, Wanuskewin Heritage Park, South Saskatchewan drainage, Saskatchewan

Map sheet

73 B/02

Submitter

E.G. Walker

Date submitted

July 11, 0096

Measured Age

790 ± 135

Normalized Age

870 ± 135

δ¹³C (per mil)

-20.0

Significance

Woodland, Plains, Prairie; Sylvicole

Stratigraphic component

Level 6

Context

Level 6, Area A, units 461s/56e, 461s/55e, 462s/54e, 461s/53e, paleosol in alluvium

Associated taxa

Mammalia 6000, Bison bison 156, Antilocapra americana 1, Canidae 1, Canis sp 8, Canis lupus 2, Castor canadensis 3, Vulpes sp 2, Leporidae 13, Lepus americanus 2, Lepus townsendii 1, Sciuridae 3, Spermophilus sp 4, Rodentia 171, Sigmodontinae or Zapodidae 4, Sigmodontinae 1, Onychomys leucogaster 2, Arvicolinae 8, Clethrionomys gapperi 8, Microtus sp 6, Microtus pennsylvanicus 5, Zapodidae 10, Zapus sp 6; Aves, Reptilia, Amphibia, Pisces

Comments

FbNp-1, Tipperary Creek: At least 20 occupation levels have been recognized on paleosols buried by overbank sedimentation, and 15 of these have been dated by radiocarbon. Since the appearance of previous publications mentioning some of these dates (Morlan 1988, 1993; Walker 1988b; Walker, et al. 1986, 1987), analysis of continuous stratigraphic profiles through trenches linking the two main site areas has revealed the need to re-number some of the levels in Area A to make them correspond to the numbering of a larger excavation in Area D. The level assignments of four radiocarbon samples have been changed, and three new radiocarbon dates have been obtained. Level 1 is protohistoric in age (S-2805) and yielded a Plains side-notched point along with artifacts of metal and glass. Level 2 produced Plains side-notched points and a date on bone (S-2806). Levels 3 and 4, with Plains side-notched points, were dated on charcoal (S-2807, S-2808). Level 5, with Plains side-notched points, was dated on bone (S-2809). Level 6 contained both Plains and Prairie side-notched points, and a date was obtained on bone (S-2810). The same point types occurred in Level 6a (previously numbered Level 7) with a date on charcoal (S-2811). In Level 7 (previously numbered Level 8) there was pottery but no points, and a date was obtained on bone (S-2812). Similarly, Level 8 (previously numbered Level 9) yielded pottery but no points, along with a date on bone (S-2813). Level 9 has not been dated. Level 10, with a date on bone (S-2814), yielded only a fragment of a point belonging to the side-notched series. A date on bone from Area A (S-2815), previously assigned to Level 11, is now known to belong to Level 12. Avonlea points were recovered from Level 12, and a date on a bison atlas from Area D (Beta-70705) can be averaged with S-2815. Level 13, with Besant points, has been dated with a bison femur from Area D (S-2885). Deeper levels of the site lack diagnostic artifacts, but three levels have been dated. Level 14 has a date on bone from Area A (S-2816) that was originally assigned to Level 12. This is an important reassignment, because S-2816 was previously thought to belong to the Avonlea complex and was the oldest Avonlea date on the northern Plains (Morlan 1988, 1993). In the deeper portions of the site, only some of the numbered levels have yielded evidence of human occupation. Level 19 has been dated with a bison scapula (Beta-70706), and Level 25 with a bison sacrum (Beta-70707). Neither of these levels produced diagnostic artifacts. The first date obtained from this site (S-2368) was on a sample from a backhoe trench, and its position in the sequence is unknown. Fauna: Aves 26, Coturnicops sp or Porzana sp 2, Passeriformes 2, Contopus sp or Sayornis sp 1, Hirundinidae 1, Corvus brachyrhynchos 3, Sialia sp 1, Emberizidae 1, Parulinae 3, Emberizinae or Parulinae 1; Reptilia: Thamnophis sp 1; Amphibia: Anura 17, Bufo sp 7, Pseudacris triseriata 11, Rana sp 9; Pisces 25, Esox lucius 2, Catostomidae 3, Lota lota 1; Class uncertain 4943

References

• Harington, 2003: 451
• Morlan, 1988, 1993, 1997
• Walker 1988b
• Walker, et al., 1986, 1987
• Faunmap 3887