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Vermilion Lakes Site: Adaptations and Environments in the Canadian Rockies during the Latest Pleistocene and Early Holocene

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Daryl W. Fedje ,
James M. White ,
Michael C. Wilson ,
D. Erle Nelson ,
John S. Vogel  and
John R. Southon
Daryl W. Fedje
Affiliation:
Parks Canada, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2P 3H8
James M. White
Affiliation:
Geological Survey of Canada, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2L 2A7
Michael C. Wilson
Affiliation:
Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5A 1S6
D. Erle Nelson
Affiliation:
Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5A 1S6
John S. Vogel
Affiliation:
Center for Accelerator Mass Spectroscopy, Livermore, CA 94551
John R. Southon
Affiliation:
Center for Accelerator Mass Spectroscopy, Livermore, CA 94551
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Abstract

The Vermilion Lakes site in Banff National Park, Alberta, has yielded cultural remains suggesting a possible sheep-hunting focus during the Paleoindian period and providing evidence for windbreaks or shelters dating as early as 10,300 B.P. Debris flows at this site have separated and preserved six or more cultural components dating between the mid-eleventh and mid-tenth millennia before present. Paleoenvironmental evidence suggests that most of these components date to a period of severe climate. Accelerator and conventional carbon dating of these strata suggest that, for at least part of this time, the detail of the temporal sequence is beyond the resolution of these techniques. Apparent 14C inversions can best be explained by 14C plateaus during key periods of the site's occupation.

Resumen

Resumen

El sitio Vermilion Lakes en el Parque National Banff, Alberta, ha producido restos culturales que sugieren un posible foco de caza de oveja durante el período Paleoindio, y proveen evidencia de refugios que datan de 10,300 A.P. Flujos de desecho en este sitio han aislado y preservado seis o más componentes culturales, datando entre la mitad del onceavo milenio y la mitad del décimo milenio antes del presente. La evidencia del paleoambiente sugiere que la mayoría de estos componentes pertenecen a un período de clima severo. Fechados de radiocarbón convencionales así como de acelerador obtenidos de estos estratos sugieren que, por al menos una parte de este tiempo, el detalle de la secuencia temporal se encuentra fuera del alcance de estas técnicas. Inversiones de 14C aparentes pueden ser mejor explicadas por los lapsos estables del 14C durante períodos clave de la ocupación del sitio.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 60 , Issue 1 , January 1995 , pp. 81 - 108
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1995

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