Archaeological Landscapes during the 10–8 ka Lake Stanley Lowstand on the Alpena‐Amberley Ridge, Lake Huron

Abstract

Archaeologists have long been interested in the Lake Stanley lowstand event (ß10-8 ka) in the Lake Huron basin, as archaeological sites from the Late Paleoindian/Early Archaic cultural periods were inundated by subsequent high water levels. Recent archaeological and paleoenvironmental investigations of this submerged landscape have documented stone structures that were likely utilized for caribou hunting by these cultural groups during the late Lake Stanley lowstand phase of Lake Huron. In 2011 and 2012, a total of 67 core, sediment, and rock samples were collected in a 50 km 2 area by divers and a ponar sampler deployed from a survey vessel. These samples were analyzed for sediment size, sorting, morphology and source, organic and carbonate content, testate amoebae, and organic materials. A series of indicators, including distinct microfossil assemblages (such as species only found in sphagnum moss and boggy arctic ponds), rooted trees (tamarack and spruce), and charcoal (ca. 8-9000 yr old) reveal a series of microenvironments that are consistent with a subarctic climate. The analysis of the Alpena-Amberley Ridge provides a detailed picture of the environment exploited by ancient peoples during the Lake Stanley lowstand period. The methodologies employed in this study can in turn help identify other unique microregions that may yield more archaeological sites with less obvious archaeological footprints. C 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Coastal archaeological site visibility problems and underwater prospects in the Northern Lake Superior Basin

“…B.P. ), the lake was hydrologically closed (Lewis et al, 2007, 2008) and the Alpena–Amberley ridge was a narrow, terrestrial, corridor covered with a mix of upland herbaceous, arboreal, and wetland plant taxa (O'Shea & Meadows, 2009; Sonnenburg & O'Shea, 2017). O'Shea et al (2014) argue that the ridge was a magnet for early hunter‐gatherers, who subsisted in part on caribou; the natural funneling effect of the ridge on caribou herds was enhanced through construction of drive lanes in a strategy like that used by later Arctic peoples (O'Shea & Meadows, 2009).…”

“…Most structures are located at 20–40 m water depth, which is below the fair‐weather wave base (Fraser et al, 1977) and within the range of non‐decompression scuba diving. Due to the steep and narrow topography of the Alpena–Amberley ridge (Sonnenburg & O'Shea, 2017), lacustrine sediment accumulation following submergence was minimal and early mid‐Holocene archaeological features are visible on the surface.…”

Holocene regional climate change and formation of southern Ontario's largest swamp inferred from a kettle-lake pollen record

“…Onset of the lake-effect snowfall In the Early Holocene, Lake Huron (as Lake Stanley stage) had extremely low water levels that lasted from 11,300 to 8400 cal yr BP (Lewis et al, 2007;Sonnenburg and O'Shea, 2017), influenced by widespread drought across the upper Great Lakes region (Lewis et al, 1994(Lewis et al, , 2005McCarthy and McAndrews, 2012). According to the pollen-based climate reconstruction, the temperature seasonality remained high during this low lake interval, when the annual mean temperature was rising fast (Fig.…”

“…In temperate latitudes, snowfall can also be important to support groundwater-connected wetlands (Todd et al, 2006;Jiménez-Moreno et al, 2019). Postglacial hydroclimatic change is also related to wetland development via shifts in the Great Lakes water levels through the Early Holocene Lake Stanley stage and Late Holocene Nipissing rise (Magnuson et al, 1997;Booth et al, 2004;Lewis et al, 2005Lewis et al, , 2007McCarthy and McAndrews, 2012;Sonnenburg and O'Shea, 2017). Paleoenvironmental analyses from this location on the leeward side of Lake Huron are relevant to addressing region-specific climate dynamics, such as the initiation and intensity of lake-effect snowfall (Henne and Hu, 2010;Shi and Xue, 2019), associated implications for wetland development, and the drivers of accumulation of soil carbon stocks.…”