Aboriginal History Unit: Neat Stuff - Archaeology
Jacobsen Bay Pot
It's a little known fact that, in Saskatchewan, First Nations people made pottery for almost 2000 years before European traders arrived with copper and iron pots.
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This pot, which is approximately 500 years old, is the finest example of First Nations pottery found in the province. It was discovered by scuba divers swimming in Anglin Lake near Prince Albert National Park. It is one of only three intact vessels found in Saskatchewan. It is an example of a style of pottery that was made throughout the boreal forest from northwestern Ontario to central Saskatchewan sometime between AD 1400 and 1500. The people who made it were most probably ancestors of the Cree. The pot was used for cooking, as can be seen from the carbonized remains on the inside. |
The "Big Pot" from Avonlea
It's a little known fact that, in Saskatchewan, First Nations people made pottery for almost 2000 years before European traders arrived with copper and iron pots.
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This pot, which is approximately 1600 years old, is one of the oldest made in the province. It was found at a site near the present town of Avonlea where people had stayed while they had killed bison in a nearby pound. Pottery of this style is found throughout southern Saskatchewan and northern Montana. The pot is conoidal (coconut shaped), and the surface was paddled with a grooved paddle, leaving oblique grooves on the outside. It is quite large – about 34 cm in diameter and about 60 cm high. Very thick carbonized remains on the interior indicate that it was used to cook several meals. |
Atlatl Weight
The atlatl, or throwing board, is a tool for throwing darts and spears. The name comes from the Nahuatl language of the Aztecs. The atlatl-and-dart system was used by First Nations for over 7000 years, and was replaced only 2000 years ago by the bow and arrow.
This weight was attached to the atlatl, but its function is still largely conjectural. They appear in a variety of shapes, some simple geometric, others animal.
Offset Knife
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The lowest occupation level of the Long Creek site in southeastern Saskatchewan contained a hearth, a bison shoulder blade, and several tools made of Knife River flint. One of the tools was this beautiful, asymmetrical biface which is 10 cm long and 3.5 cm wide. No projectile points were found in this level, but a radio carbon date of almost 5500 years ago suggests that it belongs to the Mummy Cave complex. |
Drinking Falls Pot
It's a little known fact that, in Saskatchewan, First Nations people made pottery for almost 2000 years before European traders arrived with copper and iron pots.
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This pot, which is about 800 years old, was found near the falls on Drinking Lake on the Churchill River in northern Saskatchewan. It shouldn't be there. The "homeland" for this style of pottery, called Duck Bay Ware, is on the west side of Lake Winnipegosis in west central Manitoba. However, an analysis of the clays indicates that the pot was made from clay local to the Churchill River region. |
How did the pot get into central Saskatchewan? One explanation is that a family from the Lake Winnipegosis area went to visit some relatives on the Churchill River. While there, the family's potter (we assume it was the women who made pottery) made a new pot using local clays and decorated it in her own style.
For further information contact the Curator of Aboriginal History.
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