Inundation taphonomy of selected submerged heritage resources in Alberta

Abstract

A variety of sites in three regions of Alberta were selected to study the taphonomic (chemical and mechanical) processes affecting submerged cultural remains. The research described in this dissertation serves three main purposes. First, it provides information about the taphonomic processes, both cultural and natural, occurring as a result of the freshwater inundation of both historic and prehistoric cultural resources. Second, it records a number of specific sites and documents the processes these are undergoing. Third, it provides a management tool for these and other comparable archaeological resources. The dissertation's value as a tool is evident in that the research makes specific reference to reservoir situations, is long term, and includes an experimental component. The latter tests and evaluates a variety of means of protecting sites in situ; it examines the effects of inundation on buried sites, surface features and on the movement of artifacts on the surface. This facilitates the formulation of both predictions about the effects of inundation on different types of sites under various conditions, and, recommendations as to how these predictions may be addressed. The research encompassed by this dissertation provides sufficient information to permit reliable statements, even as generalizations, about the taphonomic effects of inundation on both historic and prehistoric cultural remains.