The Elbow Sand Hills and the adjacent South Saskatchewan and QuAppelle River valleys in south-central Saskatchewan have long been recognized as the locus of extensive precontact Plains cultural settlement throughout the post-glacial period. The objectives of this geoarchaeological investigation are to identify the extent to which 1) Holocene environmental changes and landscape evolution impacted precontact settlement patterns and archaeological site preservation and visibility, and 2) to investigate the relationship between archaeological site location and the environmental elements on a Northern Plains landscape using a Geographical Information System (GIS). The lithostratigraphic record suggests that this region experienced significant Holocene climatic changes with repetitive alternations between arid and humid climatic conditions over the past 5,000 years. Holocene climatic conditions influenced settlement patterns as indicated by extensive occupations of the study area, particularly in the aeolian sand dunes, during prolonged humid climatic intervals that are recorded by paleosols. Precontact cultural groups departed the Elbow Sand Hills and the adjacent uplands for the nearby South Saskatchewan and QuAppelle River spillways during extended arid climatic intervals characterized by aeolian activity and sand dune development. <p>GIS analyses reveal that precontact cultural settlement patterns were focused on certain environmental characteristics according archaeological site distribution. Precontact cultural groups apparently concentrated their settlement activities within the glacial meltwater spillways and aeolian sand dunes, which are topographically complex and situated in close proximity to water resources where natural resources were abundant and diverse. The glaciofluvial plains and glaciolacustrine plains are topographically subdued landforms, and along with the hummocky moraine, are distal to permanent water resources. These landforms are characterized by a lower intensity of occupation because of a consequence of lower resource availability and diversity. Archaeological site visibility and preservation varies within the region with the hummocky moraine and glaciolacustrine plains displaying the greatest degree of site visibility and preservation. The aeolian sand dunes, meltwater spillways, and glaciofluvial plains were physiographic elements that exhibit the lowest site visibility and preservation potential. These landforms were more strongly influenced by post-glacial climatic conditions, geomorphic processes, and the recent formation of the Lake Diefenbaker reservoir.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:USASK/oai:usask.ca:etd-09152006-002022 |
| Date | 18 September 2006 |
| Creators | Evans, Christopher Peter |
| Contributors | Walker, Ernest G., Noble, Bram F., de Boer, Dirk H., Aitken, Alec E. |
| Publisher | University of Saskatchewan |
| Source Sets | University of Saskatchewan Library |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://library.usask.ca/theses/available/etd-09152006-002022/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Saskatchewan or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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