This study is an analytical examination of a stylistic anomaly observed among Middleport Iroquoian village sites (dating c. A.D. 1300-1450) located near Crawford Lake in southcentral Ontario, Canada. The anomaly is characterized by differing percentages of two forms of ceramic smoking pipes from closely spaced, contemporaneous village sites. This distinction occurs throughout southern Ontario, but is particularly pronounced in the Crawford Lake area. In order to develop and test a model to explain this anomaly, an approach employing a hierarchy of inference, including formal, spatial, temporal, economic, social, and cultural levels, is proposed. This is applied to an analysis of pottery and smoking pipes from eight Middleport sites. The key elements of the explanation are: (1) the two styles represent two distinct prehistoric communities; (2) these communities competed with each other for limited resources; and (3) they symbolized this competition through differences in pipe styles. This conclusion indicates that both the material culture and social relations among Middleport communities may be more complex than has previously been inferred.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.76753 |
| Date | January 1987 |
| Creators | Smith, David Gray |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Department of Anthropology.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 000564763, proquestno: AAINL44444, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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