Canadian Historic Sites: Occasional Papers in Archaeology and History No. 26

Analysis of Animal Remains from the Old Fort Point Site, Northern Alberta

by Anne Meachem Rick

Birds

Bird bones are scarce at this site. Only 57 pieces were recovered, of which 29 (50.8 per cent) were identified at least to family. The 28 (49.1 per cent) which could not be identified were mainly small fragments of long bones. Only two families are represented, Anatidae (ducks, geese and swans) and Tetraonidae (grouse and ptarmigan). These families contain many of the native Canadian species usually considered edible. At least seven species and 12 individuals are present.

Olor buccinator. Trumpeter swan

A partial left femur was found west of the building and a right femur shaft came from the sub-floor pit in the north room. Their sizes are similar and thus there is no way of determining whether they came from the same or two different individuals. Therefore the MNI is one.

The left femur has faint crosswise cuts along the shaft which probably represent nicks made when meat was removed from the bone. The other bone lacks both ends and has deep cuts at the shaft edges. The purpose of these cuts is unclear.

Richardson (1836: 512) notes that the trumpeter swan is the first of the waterfowl to reach the fur country in spring. This species and the whistling swan, Olor columbianus, were killed both for meat and skins, the latter being an important export item from the fur-trade posts. MacFarlane, quoted in Preble (1908: 309-10), states that 2,705 swan skins (probably from both species) were sent from the Athabasca district between 1858 and 1884, most of them coming from Fort Chipewyan. The trumpeter bred throughout the area at the time of Fort Wedderburn II's existence.

A method of hunting the trumpeter is described by Richardson (1836: 512). "Being difficult of approach, it is most frequently killed at a long shot by a single ball."

Goose, medium

Eight bones from at least three individuals were found either within the building or down the slope west of the structure. Three of the eight specimens were recovered from pits: a humerus from the sub-floor pit in the north room and a humerus and scapula from the northwest pit.

Goose bones of this size could have come from a medium-sized Canada goose (Branta canadensis subspecies), a lesser snow goose (Chen caerulescens), or a white-fronted goose (Anser albifrons). Only a few skeletal elements of these genera possess diagnostic shape characteristics which allow their identification, and size overlap precludes identification on that basis alone. Unfortunately, none of the diagnostic elements were present among the eight bones. One femur shaft represents an individual smaller than the rest and may be attributable to one of the smaller Canada goose subspecies; it is larger than femora of the tiny Ross's goose (Chen rossii). a species which stops at Lake Athabasca during migration.

A right humerus distal end from the sub-floor pit in the north room has a cut across the external condyle, probably made during removal of the lower wing at the elbow.

Geese were a mainstay of diet at many fur-trade posts. They were usually hunted in spring and fall during migration and in late summer when birds which bred in the area were molting and flightless and the young were not yet fully feathered. Geese were either frozen or salted, depending on the season in which they were caught (Preble 1908:297; Richardson 1836: 515). Richardson (1836: 516) says of the white-fronted (laughing) goose, "Its flesh is superior to that of the Canada goose," and, remarking on another species (1836: 517), "The snow goose when fat is a very excellent bird, vying with the laughing goose in its qualities as an article of diet." Goose skins were trade items at some fur-trade posts (Innis 1970: 307).

Goose, large

Four bones from large geese were found west of the building. a fifth in the sub-floor pit of the north room and a sixth in the northwest pit. A fragment of a right humerus head from the north room sub-floor pit matches another fragment found in the northwest pit. The two pieces could have been deposited originally in the two localities or erosion could have separated them. At least two geese are represented by the faunal material.

One fragment of a right humerus shaft bears a crosswise cut which may have been made during meat removal.

These bones are larger than average for geese of the region, as indicated by museum skeletal collections. They may have come from large individuals of species known in the area, or possibly from birds of more southerly Canada goose subspecies. The large forms Branta canadensis maxima and B. c. moffiti breed in southern Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba but some individuals have been known to migrate northward in late summer prior to their final southward migration (W. Earl Godfrey: pers. com.).

Anas platyrhynchos. Mallard

A complete right radius from a mallard was found to the west of the building. Mallards are abundant in the area, especially in the lowlands at the western end of the lake, and were available to the fur traders during spring, summer and fall.

Mallard bones cannot be separated from bones of the closely related black duck (Anas rubripes). Although there are rare records of black ducks from the Athabasca delta (Godfrey 1966: 56), the range of this species does not usually extend farther west than Manitoba: therefore this bone is assigned to the mallard.

Mergus merganser. Common merganser

A partial right ulna from a large merganser was found in fill of the northwest pit. It bears a crosswise (meat removal) cut on the shaft.

Common mergansers breed in the region but are not found in large numbers. Preble (1908:275) saw this species near Fort Chipewyan in May 1901.

Merganser meat often has a strong taste due to the bird's fish diet.

Canachites canadensis. Spruce grouse

A right humerus from the central room and a partial right tarso-metatarsus found west of the building are assigned to the spruce grouse. A minimum of one bird was present. This species is a year-round resident at Lake Athabasca but is said to be less common in summer than in fall and winter (Sopor 1942: 45-46). Richardson (1836: 506) mentions its importance as a food item in the north: "from the facility with which it can be killed at certain seasons when game is scarce [the spruce grouse] is of great service to the Indian hunter."

Spruce grouse flesh may have a resinous flavour because the birds often feed on coniferous buds and needles.

Bonasa umbellus. Ruffed grouse

A pelvic fragment found in the central room was identified as ruffed grouse. This species is a permanent resident at the lake.

Lagopus lagopus. Willow ptarmigan

Four bones, a carpometacarpus, right and left humeri fragments and a wing digit were recovered from the central room, north room, northernmost of the southwest pits and the north pit. Although three elements are from a right wing, their scattered location makes it unlikely that they came from a single individual; nevertheless, the MNI is one.

The willow ptarmigan is a winter resident at Lake Athabasca but breeds farther north on the tundra. Soper (1942: 47) remarks that the species "invades the park [Wood Buffalo National Park at the western end of the lake] in large numbers as migrants for the duration of the winter months." The value of these birds as winter food in the northwest was noted by Richardson (1836: 506-7).

This ptarmigan is of still more importance to the Indian population of the fur countries than the preceding grouse [i.e., the spruce grouse], on account of its vast numbers sufficing for the support of many of the tribes for a considerable part of the year... Ten thousand have been caught by nets or snares in one winter at a single post.

Tetraonidae. Grouse and ptarmigan family

One bone was found in the central room and one in the north room; the north and northwest pits each contained a single bone.

Five members of the family Tetraonidae occur in this area: spruce grouse. willow ptarmigan, rock ptarmigan (Lagopus mutus), ruffed grouse and sharp-tailed grouse (Pedioecetes phasianellus). Size and shape overlap in skeletal elements of these four genera make identification of bone fragments and even some whole bones difficult. Therefore these four bones have had to be referred to family only.

A rather large right carpometacarpus may be from a willow ptarmigan or sharp-tailed grouse. One tibiotarsus distal end and a complete tarsometatarsus are quite small and could represent unusually small spruce grouse or willow ptarmigan or may have come from rock ptarmigan (no skeletons of this small species were available for comparison). Rock ptarmigans are known to winter at Lake Athabaska but are absent from the region in summer. The MNI here is one based on the small size of the tibiotarsus or tarsometatarsus; the remaining bones (the carpometacarpus and an ulna fragment) could belong to individuals already in the spruce grouse and willow ptarmigan categories and thus do not add to the MNI.

Unidentified bone: Medium bird

Two fragments were found in the central room and a third in the northernmost of the southwest pits. These bones belonged to a bird about the size of a large duck.

Unidentified bone: Medium to large bird

Four small long-bone fragments from the central room may be long to geese or other medium to large birds.

Unidentified bone: Large bird

Twenty-one bone fragments from large birds were found both inside and outside the building. Four bones were recovered from the central room and four from the north room (including two in the sub-floor pit). West of the building were eight bones and a single fragment occurred north of the structure. Three pieces came from the northwest pit and one from the northernmost of the southwest pits. Although these fragments cannot be identified, their size and shape indicate that they probably came from geese and swans.

Five bone pieces bear cut marks. A distal fragment of femur shaft has deep crosswise cuts near the end of the shaft and an ulna shaft fragment has a deep crosswise cut at its distal end. These marks may indicate sloppy attempts at disarticulation of the wing; they do not seem to be the type of ringing cuts associated with Indian bone bead manufacture or tool-making. Three other fragments show faint transverse cuts, probably resulting from meat removal.