Interactive Dynamics of Intrusive Horticultural Groups Coalescing in South-Central Manitoba during the Late Prehistoric Period—The Vickers Focus

Abstract

Recent fieldwork has demonstrated the presence of several intrusive horticultural complexes in southern Manitoba during Late Prehistoric times. These groups probably first began entering the area circa 1000 B.P. and disappeared from the archaeological record some 600 years later—about 150 years prior to the entry of Europeans. An examination of the ceramics indicates that no single migration theory or simple diffusion of technology can account for these assemblages. The diversity of the wares, derived from identifiable antecedents elsewhere, indicates a complex mingling and syncretism of cultural elements drawn from widely separated sources resulting in some form of hybrid ethnicity. Subsequent work has indicated a localized dispersal of these unusual assemblages during the terminal Late Prehistoric period. The material assemblage of one such composite society is evident at the Lowton site which has provided the ceramic type collection for an initial definition of the Vickers Focus within the larger context of the Scattered Village Complex. The sheer abundance of cultural materials in the Lowton assemblage, when compared with other sites containing these ceramics, indicates that the Lowton site was the most important of the known sites for people belonging to this segment of the Scattered Village Complex and may have been a regional center for a coalescing polyethnic society.

Archaeobotanical evidence of prehistoric maize (Zea mays) consumption at the northern edge of the Great Plains

“…In fact, no artifacts associated with gardening (e.g., scapula hoes, squash knives) have been recovered from the OLS site cluster, and therefore sites in this region were previously interpreted as short-term, seasonal, occupations by small groups of foragers [22]. At other sites, such as Lovstrom, Lowton, and Lockport, however, occasional recovery of scapula or stone hoes and grinding stones suggests that gardening may have occurred locally [32,33,35]; the Lowton site is also unusually large (400 Â 200 m) in contrast to other Plains Woodland sites on the Canadian Prairies [32]. This diversity in the archaeological record suggests that maize may have entered the region through multiple 'pathways', including: During the early historic period, for example, Cree and Assiniboin hunter-gatherers were engaged in extensive trade with the Mandan and Hidatsa [6].…”

“…Local horticulture: Maize and other cultigens may also have been grown locally on the eastern Canadian Prairies. Nicholson [32,33] and Nicholson et al [35] argue, for example, that the Vickers focus (AD 1350e1650) represents an intrusive horticultural manifestation in southern Manitoba, based primarily on similarities in the ceramic assemblage to Plains Village wares, and the recovery of a possible scapula hoe and grinding stones in the TH. Evidence of maize macroremains, scapula hoes, and bell-shaped pits from the Lockport site [13,14] provide somewhat more compelling evidence of horticulture, although this site has received only superficial analysis and remains largely unpublished.…”

“…Artifactual evidence of local gardening is rare to absent, although recoveries from Vickers focus sites in the TH include some grinding stones and a possible bison scapula hoe [32]. One of us [32,33,35] has argued for the practice of small-scale horticulture as support for a foraging subsistence strategy in the TH. In contrast, Vickers sites in the OLS e where no gardening implements have been found e are interpreted as short-term, seasonal, occupations by huntergatherers [22].…”

“…Two of these locales e the Tiger Hills and Oak Lake Sandhills ( Fig. 1) e are particularly important because they have been subject to intensive archaeological research over the last decade; this work has revealed several sites with clear cultural affinities to farming populations in the Dakotas and Minnesota [32,33].…”

Alliances, Clusters, and Spatial Analysis: A Multiscalar Approach to Studying Warfare in the Middle Missouri

“…Trade items included copper, marine shell, catlinite (red pipestone), Knife River flint, and pottery, almost certainly accompanied by maize and bison meat and hides. The widespread occurrence of technologically and morphologically hybrid ceramic assemblages throughout the Heart River interaction zone indicates that this system, like the earlier Initial Middle Missouri network, involved not only material exchange, but also the movement of people and the adoption of new cultural practices (Ahler 1984;Michlovic 2008;Nicholson 1991).…”