Tag: boreal forest
By Corey Cookson
December 8, 2020
Gear Review: Bug Nets
Working in the boreal forest as an archaeologist can be difficult for several reasons, but one of the biggest annoyances is the swarms of bugs during the summer months. On a typical day, we encounter black flies, mosquitoes, horse flies, and no-see-ums. Unlike in the province’s urban areas, the bugs in the forest are much
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By Corey Cookson
March 25, 2019
Top Ten Sites of 2018!
Now that all the reporting is done, we thought it was a good time to look back on some of the exciting sites we worked on from the past year. We find over 100 sites every year but these sites stand out either because we found interesting artifacts or the site is unique. It doesn’t
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By Madeline Coleman
July 18, 2018
The Whiskey Jack!
In 2015 a two year poll was issued by Canadian Geographic for a new National Bird. In the end, our little Grey Jay took the lead, beating out the common loon, black-capped chickadee, snowy owl, and Canadian Goose. Although not officially recognized as the new National bird yet, it was selected as an avian representation
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By Brian Leslie
July 3, 2018
The Alook Site – HaPl-1
Although the Wabasca-Desmarais regions is rich in cultural heritage, very few in-depth archaeological investigations have been conducted. HaPl-1, also known as the Alook site, is one of the few sites in the region that has actually been excavated or received any interest past its initial identification. In the 1960s and again in the 1070s, a
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By Reid Graham
May 31, 2017
Wedge
This little guy is a wedge, or sometime as it is sometimes known as its french name, pieces esquilles. These tools are thought to have been used to split organic materials like wood and bone, much like an ancient stone chisel. One of the sharp sides of the wedge would be placed against the material that
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By Corey Cookson
March 30, 2017
Bison Jaw and Horse Tooth
At our Archaeological Roadshow event in Lac La Biche, AB Allan and Juanita Gaudreault brought in a collection of fossils. The fossils were fragments of a darkly stained bison jaw and a set of blueish grey horse teeth. Mr. Gaudreault told us the specimens were found in a low area near a lake. We came up
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By Kurtis Blaikie-Birkigt
April 1, 2016
Archaeology of the Marten Creek valley
Last year (2015) archaeologists from Tree Time Services conducted surveys of a number of areas on the Marten Creek valley, from near the mouth of the creek at Lesser Slave Lake to the headwaters at Marten Lakes. These surveys were done in advance of forestry operations by Alberta Plywood and Tolko Industries Slave Lake mill.
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By Kurtis Blaikie-Birkigt
March 18, 2016
Early archaeology on Lesser Slave Lake
From 1979 to 1982, Dr. Ray LeBlanc, then Boreal Archaeologist with the Archaeological Survey of Alberta, conducted baseline surveys of the Lesser Slave Lake region. Before that time there were less than 1000 archaeological sites recorded in the entire Green Zone of northern Alberta (including the Grande Prairie region). Within the Lesser Slave Lake basin there were only
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By Kurtis Blaikie-Birkigt
March 2, 2016
More archaeological research in the Lesser Slave Lake region
From 1979 to 1990 Dr. Raymond Le Blanc conducted archaeological surveys and excavations in the Lesser Slave Lake region, first as a member of the Archaeological Survey of Alberta, and later with an archaeological field school with the University of Alberta. These projects are one of the largest archaeological bodies of work in Alberta’s boreal
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