Browsing by Author "Walde, Dale"

Now showing 1 - 9 of 9
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    Archaeology of the Invisible: Phytolith Analysis at the Cluny Fortified Village (EePf-1)
    (2018-09-19) Dowkes, Shalcey; Walde, Dale; Kooyman, Brian P.; Gerlach, S. Craig; Oetelaar, Gerald A.; Chee-Tak Yeung, Edward
    The Cluny Fortified Village site (EePf-1) is the only known fortified village on the Canadian Plains. Archaeologically, the main cultural layer indicates patterns that are not commonly seen elsewhere on the Plains. Many of the larger questions about the people of this site are largely left unanswered, and the experimentation of different methods can offer new perspectives to complement the ongoing excavations at the site. Phytolith analysis has not been extensively explored at the site and can offer perspectives about the presence of natural and cultural signatures. Phytolith analysis has been combined with charcoal analysis and used to explore queries regarding cultural signatures as well as the present and past environment. Three preliminary projects provided opportunities to refine the appropriate laboratory methods for this project which ultimately improved the overall phytolith counts. Over the course of the 2015 and 2016 field seasons at the Cluny Fortified Village matrix samples from both occupational layers were sampled as well as several hearth and non-hearth features. In 2016, a larger scaled survey was conducted to collect samples from the area surrounding the site. These samples form the natural control that will be compared against cultural samples. The Old Women’s Phase site of DkPi-2 (Junction Site) was used as a contemporary cultural comparative. Both phytolith and charcoal sample analyzed were provided by Lifeways of Canada Ltd. A total of 71 phytolith samples and 70 charcoal samples were analyzed. Results are indicative of a stable grassland that has seen little change over the past 300 years. Poaceae grasses are dominant amongst the datasets, with other families contributing less. Through examining phytoliths of productive plants in an archaeological context, a possible cultural signature may be presence.
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    Dental Polish as an Indicator of Seasonality and Applications to Archaeological Bison from Southern Alberta
    (2018-09-05) Ewald, Tatyanna; Kooyman, Brian P.; Walde, Dale; Mather, Charles M.
    This thesis evaluates dental polish in archaeological bison as a means of determining season of death for these specimens. Dental polish analysis techniques are created and applied to bison teeth to assess polish signatures left by grasses with varying moisture and exogenous grit to infer the season at death for these specimens, as moisture and grit content vary seasonally. Correlations of dental polish with seasonal patterns are identified based on modern observation and collection of local grasses, which identified four distinct seasonal categories within southern Alberta based on these variables. Dental polish of bison from EePf-1 and EgPn-440 are examined, allowing for assessment of a seasonality of death for these individuals. These interpretations determined that EePf-1 may have been recurrently used during the spring and summer months, and that the assemblage from EgPn-440 represents at least three, distinct occupations, two in the fall and one in the spring.
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    Determining the Mobility of Old Women's Phase People on the Southern Alberta Plains as Evidenced by Lithic Assemblages
    (2016-02-03) Krahulic, Tobi; Kooyman, Brian; Walde, Dale; Hughes, Lisa
    The mobility of Old Women’s phase people on the southern Alberta Plains will be explored in this research through the analysis of lithic assemblages. Due to a paucity of research concerning mobility and its influence on lithic assemblages in this region, multiple theories regarding how mobility affects the organization of technology will be explored. This strengthens any inferences regarding mobility by using multiple lines of evidence, as well as evaluates the theories efficacy in this region against each other. It was found that the use of tool form, patterns in the tools and debitage, and intersite variability provided consistent interpretations regarding the mobility of past inhabitants of the Plains. It was also found that distance-decay theory could be used to suggest a directionality of movement within a minimal seasonal round. Therefore, it is apparent that the organization of technology is a viable method for understanding mobility on the southern Alberta Plains.
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    Efpm-2: a Fish Creek campsite and bison kill
    (2008) Girard, Stephan M.; Walde, Dale
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    Place on the Plains: Modelling Past Movement Along the Red Deer River
    (2018-08-31) Beaulieu, Terry; Oetelaar, Gerald A.; Walde, Dale; Dawson, Peter Colin; Jacobson, Dan; Kennedy, Margaret
    This study explores the results of acknowledging philosophical and theoretical biases when undertaking a landscape archaeological investigation of movement by past people through one of the warmest and driest regions in the province of Alberta - the edges of the Red Deer River valley and adjoining coulees. Models of movement through the environment that reflect actual avenues of travel rather than just gross movement patterns of people are constructed employing Geographic Information Systems techniques. Prior to addressing the specifics of that movement, however, the current study explores the nature of reality, placing the research within a realist philosophical perspective, and examines the implications of acknowledging that objectivity in archaeology is but a myth. It also details some key concepts critical to understanding a landscape archaeological approach: space, place, and environment. By employing a Newtonian conception of space it draws from objectivist landscape archaeological techniques while, by defining place as wholly dependent upon human perception, simultaneously embraces subjectivist landscape archaeological views. The study thus attempts to bridge some of the divisions separating objectivist and subjectivist landscape archaeological approaches. Two seasons of field work led to the discovery and recording of close to 1,000 cobble features, comprised of rings, cairns, medicine wheels, and numerous other feature types. Recognizing the relational affordances active between past people and the environment enabled the identification of past significant places, revealed by the lasting imprints left by past place making activities, and the GIS modelling of probable past pedestrian routes through the study area. Such modeling uncovered past travel patterns that led to the locating of a previously unrecognized river crossing and illustrated the critical role place occupies in archaeological investigations. Additionally, the acknowledged importance of visibility was employed to identify possible physical locations of an as yet unknown medicine wheel. This study revealed that, while we exist within a world limited to biased perceptions of reality, when archaeologists acknowledge the existence of such perceptive biases they can subvert much of the negative effect caused by the inability to achieve true objectivity and uncover richer, more satisfying, pictures of the past.
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    Social identity in historic Fish Creek: an archaeological investigation
    (2006) Boland, Dale Elizabeth; Walde, Dale
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    The Archaeology of Gender
    (The University of Calgary, 1991) Walde, Dale; Willows, Noreen D.
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    Toward a history of the Oromo of Wallaga in southwestern Ethiopia: an ethnoarchaeological study of ceramic technological style and tuber crop domestication.
    (2016-01-28) Wayessa, Bula Sirika; Lyons, Diane; Kooyman, Brian; Walde, Dale
    The primary objective of this study is to determine a material means to investigate the little known history of Wallaga Oromo and their contribution to tuber crop domestication in southwestern Ethiopia using an ethnoarchaeological approach. This goal is addressed through a unique approach that first determined the ceramic technological style of Wallaga Oromo potters using a chaîne opératoire methodology, and then linking the chaîne opératoire with Wallaga Oromo culinary practices that are associated with tuber crops that leave residues on steaming pots. Both technological style and cuisine are considered as strong markers of specific social groups and are a strong proxy for investigating Oromo history and use of specific tuber crops. This assertion was supported by a comparative study of the culinary practices and pottery technological styles of two neighboring groups: the Yem and the Dawro. These groups have separate and distinct technological styles and culinary practices. Data were collected using ethnoarchaeological methods of interview and observation of farmers and potters in the study area. In this region, potters experience a low social status within the Oromo social stratification system. The study further demonstrates how Oromo pottery is engaged in daily and ritual practice in the region. The research represents the first comprehensive study of marginalized Oromo potters, the relationship between Oromo pottery and cultural cuisine, and how Oromo history and worldviews are expressed through material culture associated with pottery-making and its consumption. The study also investigated Oromo women’s contributions to indigenous technology and their agricultural knowledge of tuber production and consumption.