The beginning of the twentieth century saw a boom economy for the coal and coke industry. Located in the Crowsnest Pass of Alberta, the coal mining town of Lille existed for about a decade in the early twentieth century, from approximately 1901-1912. Towns such as this are ephemeral in nature, and as such, offer interesting opportunities to investigate a very definite period in time. Lille can provide a unique snapshot of life in the Canadian Rockies at the beginning of the last century. <p>Two archaeological investigations were carried out upon this time slice in 1979 and early 1981. Further analysis of artifactual material was undertaken in order to reconstruct life in a company town. The present study combines the two archaeological assemblages for study. It focuses upon material remains found at the town site, as well as spatial relationships between different residences and parts of the business district. Lille is discussed using a framework of corporate paternalism as it was a company town and it is hypothesized that there are stratified residential areas based upon occupational status. The degree to which inhabitants followed this ascribed status is investigated through their material remains. Additional factors affecting the town and its residents, such as company policy, union strikes and the coal market will be discussed. This examination of Lille provides an opportunity to explore daily life in remote mining communities in the early 20th century.
Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:USASK/oai:usask.ca:etd-04052006-194712 |
Date | 06 April 2006 |
Creators | Porter, Meaghan Kelly |
Contributors | Kennedy, Margaret A. |
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-04052006-194712/ |
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. |
Page generated in 0.002 seconds