A reanalysis of the Long Creek Site : 45 years after the excavation

The Long Creek Site was excavated in 1957 as part of an Impact Assessment of the Boundary Dam construction and subsequent reservoir. The Long Creek Site was the deepest stratified site that had been uncovered on the Northern Plains at the time of its excavation. The resultant cultural chronology at the site helped define the chronology for the entire Northwestern Plains region. Archaeological investigations over the last 45 years have uncovered a wealth of knowledge that when applied to the Long Creek assemblage drastically changes the results of this significant site. There are two main objectives associated with this research. The first involves the reanalysis of the ceramic assemblage of levels one and two. These second major objective is the redefinition of the lower cultural levels. The result of this study confirms the long occupation of the Long Creek site. The ceramic assemblage of level one has been clearly defined as belonging to the Mortlach phase. Avonlea, Blackduck and Besant ceramics represent a small portion of the overall assemblage. Based on projectile point morphology and radiocarbon date information the lower cultural levels have been redefined as the Mummy Cave Series and possibly Mummy Cave/Oxbow transitional occupations. An unexpected result of this study has been the development of a new stratigraphic sequence that exhibits up to 17 cultural occupations rather than the nine that were originally identified. In general, this thesis examines the cultural chronology of the last 6000 years in southeastern Saskatchewan