Independence I driftwood arrow

Independence I arrowhead
in driftwood foreshaft

 The workshops and demonstrations that I'm doing this week in Resolute and next week in Grise Fiord are focused on the Independence I muskox hunters who lived in Quttinirpaaq National Park up to 4500 years ago.  They left behind their tiny stone arrowheads and hearths filled with muskox bones, so its not a stretch to suggest that the little arrowheads were used to hunt musk ox.  Independence I bows and arrows would likely have been built from driftwood, and reinforced with horn, antler, or bone and held together with sinew.  I've started building an arrow with a knapped chert point and scarfed together sections of driftwood.  I've also decided to try to build it without the use of any glue, just twisted sinew held in place with friction.

Reproduction arrowhead from
Quttinirpaaq in forground

To the best of my knowledge, there has never been an Independence I arrow found, so I am using the uncannily well preserved Saqqaq sites in Greenland as references for the organic pieces.  Unlike the Saqqaq arrows, I'm working from driftwood twigs and branches, rather than driftwood logs that have been split, but otherwise I am following the Saqqaq model as closely as possible for arrowshaft dimensions and design details. I'm using Bjarne Grønnow's 2012 article in Études/Inuit/Studies called "An archaeological reconstruction of Saqqaq bows, darts, harpoons, and lances" as my guide.

The arrow is about 75 cm long,
scarfed together from 3 pieces
of driftwood

The main design elements that I'm incorporating from the Saqqaq arrows into the Independence I reconstruction are the open bedded style of haft for the arrowhead, the 14 cm long foreshaft, the scarfed joins along the shaft, the diameter and cross-section of the main shaft and the shallow nock style.  The Saqqaq arrows are missing feathers, althought they are presumed to have had them.  For the moment, my Independence I arrow is also missing feathers, although I think I have half the school kids in town on a mission to find me some wing feathers so that we can complete the project.

Laying out the arrow, and some of the stone tools used to assist its construction.

Does he look worried?

 Reference:

Grønnow, Bjarne
2012 An archaeological reconstruction of Saqqaq bows, darts, harpoons, and lances in Études/Inuit/Studies, Volume 36(1), 2012, p. 23-48

Photo Credits: Tim Rast

Remembrance Day Flintknapping in Resolute

I didn't plan to spend Remembrance Day flintknapping with members of the 440 Squadron out of Yellowknife, but then again, they didn't plan to be weather delayed in Resolute Bay, either.  I usually try to get out to the War Memorial in St. John's on November 11th, but I have a feeling this day will be one that I won't soon forget either.

Reproductions of Arctic artifacts

 The red and white themed room and military green tarp were purely accidental as well. 

Photo Credits: Patrick Carroll, Parks Canada

Arctic Artifact Casts

Dorset "Shaman's Tube" and Human Figurine

 I'm heading to Resolute Bay tomorrow for the first of two Parks Canada sponsored artifact replication workshops in northern communities.  Along the way, I stopped in Ottawa to borrow 16 casts from the Canadian Museum of Civilization.  These pieces were cast directly from some of the most spectacular artifacts from the Canadian Arctic.  In the workshops, the casts will help illustrate the cultures of the Palaeoeskimo pioneers and the early Inuit people in the Eastern Arctic, as well as give the participants exposure to other methods of creating artifact reproductions than the stone tools that we will be focusing on in the workshop.  The casts are incredibly well done and handling and studying them is the next best thing to working with the originals.

Some of the casts will serve as models for the student projects, like this microblade knife and Independence I point.   I'm excited to have the chance to study these casts in a workshop setting.  I expect that I'll get as much out of the experience as the students. 

Photo Credits: Tim Rast (All casts courtesy of the Canadian Museum of Civilization)

Ground Stone Endblades

A pair of replacement ground stone endblades for a Thule harpoon that I made earlier this year.  The one on the left is made from slate and the one on the right is nephrite.  The slate one is sharp and quick to make, while the much more time consuming nephrite enblade is durable and long lasting.

Photo Credits: Tim Rast

Artifact Replication Workshops in Resolute Bay and Grise Fiord

Quttinirpaaq Artifacts (R) and Reproductions (L)

I'll be in Canada's two northernmost communities during November teaching artifact replication workshops based on the archaeological finds from Quttinirpaaq National Park.  This is a follow-up project to the Independence I artifact reproductions that I made in 2010.  I'll be teaching 10 people in each community how to chip stone tools and haft them into handles using traditional materials.  We will cover topics like hard hammer percussion, pressure flaking, signing your work, processing sinew, and working with baleen and driftwood.

Resolute Bay: Mon-Fri, November 11-15 at the South Camp Inn

Grise Fiord: Mon-Fri, Nov 18-22 at Umimmak School

If you or someone you know lives in Resolute or Grise Fiord, please contact Patrick Carroll with Parks Canada in Iqaluit to register for this free course: 867-975-4796, patrick.carroll@pc.gc.ca.

(click to enlarge)

Photo Credits:
1) Tim Rast
2) Parks Canada

Free Public Lecture: MUN Archaeology Field School Talk and NLAS AGM

This Monday night Dr. James Lyttleton will be giving a free public talk on the 2013 Memorial University Archaeology Field School that was held on the grounds of Admiralty House, in Mount Pearl.  Here is a newspaper article on the site from July: Excavation Begins at Admiralty House.

Immediately following the talk, the Newfoundland and Labrador Archaeological Society will be holding its first Annual General Meeting.  This brief meeting will be an excellent recap of the Society to date and an opportunity for you to become a member and help us vote in the new Constitution and welcome our first Executive Committee and Board of Directors.

Where: QC 4028, Queen's College, MUN 

When: November 4, 7 PM 

How Much: Free (Doors open at 6:30 and you can become an NLAS member, although membership is not mandatory to attend this event)

Photo Credit: Newfoundland and Labrador Archaeological Society 

62 Million Things to Do

Finished Pressure Flakers

Office days are always hard to write about.  I usually build my blog posts around a few photos taken during the day.  So if I'm not working on something tangible, I find it hard to come up with a topic worth documenting.  Most of this week I've been answering e-mails and preparing lists, agendas, and powerpoint presentations for upcoming meetings and workshops.  I've been able to dart out to the shed from time-to-time to work on all those little projects that I'm trying to finish up.  When my Dad would get busy, he'd say that he had "62 million things to do."  I don't have that many, but there's enough.  I completed two dozen pressure flakers and I'm close to finishing the slate and nephrite endblades that I started last week.  Half of the pressure flakers are for upcoming workshops and the other half are for flintknapping kits for the lithic analysis class being offered at MUN next semester.

This hole was filled back in by noon, but then they dug two
more just as big

There are also all kinds of house related jobs on the go. The last 12 months has seen nearly continuous work in and around the house. Maybe we put off necessary maintenance too long or we're just having a string of bad luck, but it really seems like we've been hit by a lot of surprise upkeep this year.  Some was voluntary, like putting new clapboard and windows in, but others, like the leaks in the roof and the sewer upgrades, were unavoidable.  There is a big sewer upgrade happening on our street right now and they've started ripping up the road right in front of our house.  This isn't even the main upgrade - this is just one of the little holes that they dig to hook up the temporary pipes so that they can rip up the whole street and put in the really big pipes.  The big dig will probably hit our section of street early next spring when they start up again, so there's really no end in sight to living in a construction zone.

Lori raking the back lawn.  At least this side of the house looks peaceful.

Photo Credits: Tim Rast