Place on the Plains: Modelling Past Movement Along the Red Deer River
Date
2018-08-31
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Abstract
This study explores the results of acknowledging philosophical and theoretical biases when undertaking a landscape archaeological investigation of movement by past people through one of the warmest and driest regions in the province of Alberta - the edges of the Red Deer River valley and adjoining coulees. Models of movement through the environment that reflect actual avenues of travel rather than just gross movement patterns of people are constructed employing Geographic Information Systems techniques. Prior to addressing the specifics of that movement, however, the current study explores the nature of reality, placing the research within a realist philosophical perspective, and examines the implications of acknowledging that objectivity in archaeology is but a myth. It also details some key concepts critical to understanding a landscape archaeological approach: space, place, and environment. By employing a Newtonian conception of space it draws from objectivist landscape archaeological techniques while, by defining place as wholly dependent upon human perception, simultaneously embraces subjectivist landscape archaeological views. The study thus attempts to bridge some of the divisions separating objectivist and subjectivist landscape archaeological approaches. Two seasons of field work led to the discovery and recording of close to 1,000 cobble features, comprised of rings, cairns, medicine wheels, and numerous other feature types. Recognizing the relational affordances active between past people and the environment enabled the identification of past significant places, revealed by the lasting imprints left by past place making activities, and the GIS modelling of probable past pedestrian routes through the study area. Such modeling uncovered past travel patterns that led to the locating of a previously unrecognized river crossing and illustrated the critical role place occupies in archaeological investigations. Additionally, the acknowledged importance of visibility was employed to identify possible physical locations of an as yet unknown medicine wheel. This study revealed that, while we exist within a world limited to biased perceptions of reality, when archaeologists acknowledge the existence of such perceptive biases they can subvert much of the negative effect caused by the inability to achieve true objectivity and uncover richer, more satisfying, pictures of the past.
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Keywords
Landscape Archaeology, GIS
Citation
Beaulieu, T. (2018). Place on the Plains: Modelling Past Movement Along the Red Deer River (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/32886