CONSULTING
HUSON SITE
Doug Todd and Andrew Clish recording artifact locartions at the Huson Site.
In the fall of 2001, Archaeological Services Inc. conducted detailed investigations
of an Early Archaic campsite, discovered during a routine pre-development
archaeological assessment of a new road right-of-way in the Region of Niagara. The site was
found through test-pitting an undisturbed woodlot. Almost all of the artifacts from the 50
square metre site were piece-plotted throughout all soil horizons yielding evidence of three,
undisturbed, subsurface pit features.
As the Huson site was undisturbed, the horizontal and vertical positions of each artifact were recorded.
A contour 3-d image of artifact densities on the site.
Soil and flotation samples taken from these features have yielded evidence of a boreal forest environment
at the time the site was occupied.
Fourteen pollen taxa were identified from Features 1 and 3. Both features are clearly dominated by
pine pollen, contributing around half to each population. Systematic measurement of pine pollen (60 grains)
revealed that 80 percent were jack pine (Pinus banksiana), the
dominant species during the early Holocene (early Zone 2, dating 8,000 to 10,000 BP (Mc Andrews 1994)). This is
accompanied by lower percentages of spruce, oak, cedar, birch, and alder among others. Comparison of subsurface with four
pollen samples - two from leaf litter (O soil horizon); and two from underlying mineral surface layer
(A soil horizon) - reveals important patterns. Pollen percentages from the mineral surface layer (A horizon) are
similar to the feature soil, supporting the idea that sediments close to the present surface are relatively undisturbed
and old (early to mid Holocene). Pollen percentages from the overlying organic layer (O horizon) contrast strongly
with both this underlying mineral layer and the feature soil. Pollen from the organic layer reflect present forest composition,
dominated by oak and hickory, with beach and maple as lesser contributors. Pine is present
in all surface samples but pine pollen in the organic layer samples reflects white pine (pinus stroubus),
which is prevalent in the region today. Ragweed is the most abundant non-forest pollen type in
all surface samples. Its strong presence reflects absence of forest cover-and either late Pleistocene or
post-mid-19th century open environmental conditions.
The recovered artifact assemblage includes over 6,500 artifacts, of which only three are
formal tools.
To learn more about the Hutson Site visit the Reports page and download the site report.
528 Bathurst Street - Toronto, ON M5S 2P9 - T: (416) 966-1069 F: (416) 966-9723
