Dental Polish as an Indicator of Seasonality and Applications to Archaeological Bison from Southern Alberta

Date
2018-09-05
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Abstract
This thesis evaluates dental polish in archaeological bison as a means of determining season of death for these specimens. Dental polish analysis techniques are created and applied to bison teeth to assess polish signatures left by grasses with varying moisture and exogenous grit to infer the season at death for these specimens, as moisture and grit content vary seasonally. Correlations of dental polish with seasonal patterns are identified based on modern observation and collection of local grasses, which identified four distinct seasonal categories within southern Alberta based on these variables. Dental polish of bison from EePf-1 and EgPn-440 are examined, allowing for assessment of a seasonality of death for these individuals. These interpretations determined that EePf-1 may have been recurrently used during the spring and summer months, and that the assemblage from EgPn-440 represents at least three, distinct occupations, two in the fall and one in the spring.
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Keywords
dental polish, microwear, bison, seasonality, Southern Alberta
Citation
Ewald, T. (2018). Dental Polish as an Indicator of Seasonality and Applications to Archaeological Bison from Southern Alberta (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/32905