Quartz flakes in lakes: Microdebitage evidence for submerged Great Lakes prehistoric (Late Paleoindian–Early Archaic) tool-making sites

Abstract

Exploration for submerged prehistoric archaeological sites in the Great Lakes (North America) is a major challenge due to difficulties in locating scant cultural artifacts in lake-bottom sediments. Stone tool microfragments (microdebitage, <1 mm) can be abundant (>10 6 per tool) and more dispersed around tool-making sites, but have not been identifi ed previously in an underwater context. To evaluate their use as a submerged site indicator, microdebitage analysis was conducted on fi ve lake sediment cores from a shallow lagoon adjacent to a long-occupied prehistoric site (McIntyre site, Rice Lake, Ontario). We identifi ed 155 microdebitage fragments within a distinctive muddy peat horizon (2-2.5 m depth) using light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy methods. The microdebitage consisted of angular to very angular quartz fragments (400-1000 µm) with characteristic conchoidal fractures and fl ake scars produced by mechanical percussion. The microdebitage horizon had a distinctive bimodal particle size peak and contained a low-diversity soil thecamoebian assemblage (Phryaginella, Bullinularia sp.) indicative of a wetland environment that formed during an early Holocene shoreline transgression. Accelerator mass spectrometry 14 C dating of wood fragments yielded ages of 9470-8760 ± 50 yr B.P. (11,070-9560 cal [calibrated] yr B.P.), indicating a Late Paleoindian-Early Archaic age for the deposit. Results demonstrate that coring and microdebitage analysis are effective tools in the search for underwater prehistoric sites and can be employed more broadly in exploration of submerged landscapes in the Great Lakes basins.

A new water-level history for Lake Ontario basin: evidence for a climate-driven early Holocene lowstand

“…For example, shallowing was evident at Swan Lake by 9-8 (10.1-8.9 cal) ka BP and intermittent to 6 (6.8 cal) ka BP, and Bruce Creek Bog transformed from a lake with marl deposition to a bog with peat deposition at 8.3 (9.3 cal) ka BP (Anderson 1997). A lowstand in Rice Lake dated 9.5-8.8 (11.1-9.6 cal) ka BP (Sonnenburg et al 2011), east of the Moraine in the Trent River valley (Fig. 1), is also consistent with the Lake Ontario lowstand.…”

Quantitative geomorphological analysis of drumlins in the peterborough drumlin field, ontario, canada

“…There is also a possibility that additional drumlins may lie submerged below Rice Lake (Sonnenburg et al . ). Drumlins are not present on top of the Oak Ridges Moraine and are rare in areas south of the Lake Iroquois shoreline (Fig.…”

Archaeology and paleogeography of a Lake‐Wetland complex: Modeling the postglacial evolution of the Kawartha Lakes, Ontario

“…This will not only inform current understanding of the lakes and their recent history but also provide additional information to assist in the interpretation of patterns of use into the deeper archaeological past. Portions of the regional landscape that have been inundated through shoreline transgression can be identified and targeted for further investigation to correct biases in representation (e.g., Sonnenburg, Boyce, & Reinhardt, ; Sonnenburg et al, ).…”