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Excavation of Thule houses #2 and #3 at Davidson Point. Frobisher Bay. |
Davision
Point |
Robert W. Park of the University of Waterloo, with a crew of five, spent a second field season at a small Thule site on Davidson Point, just across the Sylvia Grinnell River from Iqaluit. Three weeks of work at the site allowed us to excavate its remaining two winter houses. An important goal of our analysis of the findings from both summer's excavations will be to learn if there are any differences in the way small groups of people like those who lived at the Davidson Point site spent the winter when compared to the larger groups that inhabited nearby much bigger Thule winter sites. Another goal will be to learn about how all the animal bones came to be in the houses. Were they all from animals hunted by the houses' occupants, or were some of the bones put into the house pits long after they had been abandoned?
The project had several components: the continuation of work at the Qajartalik site (JhEv-2); the excavation of two Thule semi-subterranean dwellings at JhEv-3 on Assuukaaq Island; the partial excavation and sampling of three Palaeo-Eskimo sites on Assuukaaq and Qajartalik; and surveys in Burgoyne Bay at Upirngivik Point and Qikirtaaluk Island.
Most of the work was done on Assuukaaq Island where a team of three archaeologists and four Inuit students excavated two Thule structures. Although few artifacts were found, the structures appear to have been occupied in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century. Evidence of an underlying Dorset occupation was found in both structures, but its traces had later been scattered in building the semi-subterranean houses.
Work was also carried out on a newly-discovered Early Palaeo-Eskimo site at the north end of Assuukaaq. One structure was completely excavated and two others were partially excavated. Milky quartz, possibly obtained locally, is the predominant raw material of stone artifacts, and several artifacts bear a striking resemblance to Independence 1 tool types. Charcoal samples sufficient for dating purposes were collected from two of the structures. Another site on the northwestern end of the island was also tested and yielded a few Dorset artifacts, as well as a datable carbon sample. Most of the structures on both sites had a mid-passage.
A site (JhEv-32) on Qajartalik was also tested by excavating units in the mid-passages of two structures. Although few artifacts were collected, they are similar in style to Independence I collections, and again milky quartz is the predominant raw material. One charcoal sample was retrieved.
; Work continued on the Petroglyph site (JhEv-2). Over 150 engravings on the three soapstone outcrops have been identified; many of the petroglyphs are becoming more difficult to distinguish because of the erosion of the soapstone blocks. Recent extraction activities were also noted indicating that the site is still visited by carvers searching for soapstone. Further testing of the area around the petroglyphs was unproductive and the nearby rock shelter yielded only two bones.
Qikirtaaluk Island was surveyed. Six new sites, ranging from Pre-Dorset times to post-contact occupations, were located on the southeast end of the island; a seventh site was found near JhEv-11 where a sixty-metre long alignment of rocks was recorded last summer. The new site is of Dorset origin and has another rock alignment, but this one is only 19 metres in length and incorporates two alcove-like features at both ends instead of circular features as in the longer alignment. Dorset artifacts are scattered throughout the area and a mid-passage structure is located near the south end of the alignment. A third rock alignment was also observed. This one is composed of two rows of rocks, 100 metres long; the rocks are spaced a metre apart. No other features were discovered in the vicinity and its origin is unknown.
Survey around Burgoyne Bay yielded 23 new sites, including Pre-Dorset and Dorset sites previously mentioned and five others on Assuukaaq. The remaining sites are located on the mainland.
Finally, a quick survey of Upirngivik Point resulted in the identification of eight sites including a petroglyph site (JgEu-1). This site had not been visited since its discovery in 1961. Eleven engravings are still visible on the soapstone outcrop which measures six square metres. The site itself is much larger and includes many dwellings from different time periods and extends for several hundred metres toward the south. The other sites near Upirngivik range form Pre-Dorset times to post-contact occupations.
 Norman Jolly (right) and Richard Small visit Norman's old berry-picking camp near the probable site of the Charles Town Settlement (1631-32), Charlton Island, James Bay |
A team of four people representing the Iyiyuu People of Waskaganish First Nation did preliminary historical, archaeological and cultural fieldwork on Charlton Island. |
The team was made up of Iyiyuu "tallyman" Norman Jolly, Annie Jolly, Richard Small as interpreter/assistant and Jim Chism as archaeologist and cultural-historical researcher.
Surface examination of active beaches and wind-eroded patches of fossil beaches yielded no evidence of pre-European occupations at this preliminary stage of work. Surface examinations of the general area proposed to be the site of Thomas James' 1831-32 "Charles Town" settlement was negative; subsurface testing will be necessary. The 1681-86 Hudson's Bay Company transhipment settlement, partially excavated by Walter Kenyon's Royal Ontario Museum team in 1971 was relocated. The Northeast half of the depot (actually a depot-residence) has been lost to erosion. Forty-nine Iyiyuu place names/stories were collected along with numerous facts and stories related to the history and pattern of land-use during the last two generations. A historic cemetery, a burial cairn and building traces from a 1900-1931 Hudson's Bay Company transhipment site were also mapped. More work is foreseen.
