Field School Experience Par Excellence

 

by Erin Collins and Frances Harding

 

 

David Norris (HBA'98) is leading an archaeological dig near Thunder Bay that has uncovered a remarkable number of artifacts dating as far back as 9,000 years. He and a team of employees - many of whom are university students and graduates from across Canada - have been working furiously at the Mackenzie Site to find, catalogue, and store the ancient artifacts before the site is closed for highway construction.

The Mackenzie Site is located just 20 km northeast of Thunder Bay near where the water of the MacKenzie River flows under the TransCanada Highway on its way to Lake Superior. It and several other sites of similar age were identified last year during preliminary work for construction of a four-lane highway between Thunder Bay and Nipigon. 

In May 2010, Western Heritage Services Inc., a Saskatoon-based cultural resource management company, began excavating throughout the summer and early fall, with David Norris serving as project archaeologist. To date, thousands of artifacts have been found, including over 100 projectile points plus other tools - many of which are made of taconite, an iron-rich rock found in a formation that extends from northern Minnesota to the Thunder Bay area.

The Mackenzie Site will be completely excavated, in accordance with guidelines set out by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, before construction proceeds.

After finishing his undergraduate degree at Lakehead University in 1998, Norris went on to complete a master's degree in Anthropology at the University of Saskatoon. He credits Lakehead with helping him discover a career in archaeology.

Through his employment with Western Heritage, Norris says he has been able to "develop new techniques for testing archaeological sites, present papers at conferences, and disseminate the information that we have acquired during the course of our work." There were 30 employees working at the Mackenzie Site this summer, including two new Lakehead University graduate students who have developed thesis topics relating to the site − Christine Shultis in Geology and Samantha Markham in Environmental Studies: Northern Environments and Cultures (NECU).
 
"We know that this site was once the shoreline of Lake Minong, a huge super lake that predated Lake Superior," says Norris. "I like to think this was a good place for the Paleo-Indians to be - fishing in the nearby rivers and perhaps trading with people from other places around the Lake. This year we had a long, hot summer, but up here on the dig there was always a cool breeze coming off the Lake."

Dr. Scott Hamilton, a professor in the Department of Anthropology, notes that the Mackenzie site is one of several sites in the area occupied shortly after deglaciation. "The large excavation sample and the diversity of recoveries make it very important," he says. "The students are getting a chance to work at a kind of site that few archaeologists get to see. Several local archaeologists, including Lakehead faculty, are assisting in the project and will be contributing to the analysis. Lakehead University will also be the final home for the collection, assuring that it is locally available for study in the future.


"For me, such projects are important because Lakehead students and faculty will be in a position to help maximize research and education about the ancient past. Our students are also getting a wealth of practical archaeological experience in an environmental assessment field to supplement their academic training.

"Having the artifacts stored at Lakehead University - a publicly funded institution that is a 30-minute drive from the site - means the collection will be readily accessible to all scholars interested in Aboriginal heritage."

Arlene Lahti has two degrees from Lakehead (an Honours Bachelor of Science in Anthropology and a Master of Science in Biology) and 10 years' experience working in forensic DNA with Molecular World and Lakehead's Paleo-DNA Lab.  She was one of approximately 17 Lakehead students and alumni hired by David Norris this past summer to work at the site - and she is expecting to be re-hired again next summer.

"I loved it," says Lahti. "I spent about three-quarters of my time digging and the rest of the time in the lab organizing the field data. I think this project has been wonderful for the crew.  It is great for Lakehead students looking for field school experience and really wonderful for the City of Thunder Bay!" 

Zebedee Kawei, Lindsay Curran, Margaret Schweitzer, Erin Collins and Shayna Mihalus were among the Lakehead undergraduates who worked on the site. For Zeb Kawei the job was more a mental challenge than a physical one, and overall it was a great learning experience. "It confirmed for me that I wanted to be an archaeologist," he says. "It helps when you get to actually touch the tools you read and hear about."

Lesley Kingsmill, Dave Finch, and Doug Yahn worked as field supervisors while NECU graduate students Andrew Lints and Jennifer Surette served as field and lab workers. "For the most part, everyone was excited to dig and to find that next interesting artifact," says Lesley Kingsmill. "You never knew what you were going to find, no matter how much experience you had. That's what makes archaeology fun."