Papers by Thomas D Andrews
Mountain Research and Development, 2022
We describe collaborative archaeological research on caribou hunting sites in the homeland of the... more We describe collaborative archaeological research on caribou hunting sites in the homeland of the Shúhtagot'ine in the central Mackenzie Mountains of Canada's Northwest Territories. Shúhtagot'ine Elders and cultural resource managers are working together to investigate important cultural places that are at risk of destruction from climate-driven landscape changes. We use 3 case studies to illustrate how knowledge production in the context of long-term, place-based research has led to key insights about ancestral caribou hunting sites, including perennial alpine ice patches and wood hunting structures, and how that knowledge is being mobilized to help conserve important values in the Shúhtagot'ine cultural landscape. Archaeological research promotes the sustainability of Indigenous cultural landscapes through the preservation of cultural heritage, via the recall of “landscape memories,” and by unlocking archives of ancient biological material. The process of knowledge coproduction is mutually beneficial for all participants, especially when Indigenous Elders and youth are brought together in fieldwork settings.
Canadian Journal of Archaeology, 2022
The web-based program retroReveal has been used primarily for providing improved visibility of d... more The web-based program retroReveal has been used primarily for providing improved visibility of documents with faint text, including stamps, currency, music, and so forth. It has yet to be used to its full potential by archaeologists interested in rock art. The plugin DStretch, used on the ImageJ platform, has been the standard for enhancement of faint red ochre rock art images. We introduce retroReveal as a supplement to photographic investigation through comparison of images from four rock art sites in Alberta, Canada. Processing photographs with the two techniques typically yields comparable results, but often with slight differences. In a few cases, retroReveal makes certain features more apparent than is the case with DStretch; in other instances, the opposite is true. Other positive and negative aspects of the two techniques are discussed. Experiments with black pictographs indicate that retroReveal does not perform satisfactorily with these images. Overall, our results indicate that retroReveal should be added to the toolkit for illuminating painted rock art images.
Paddling Pathways: Reflections from a Changing Landscape, eds. B. Henderson and S. Blenkinsop, 240-252. Regina: YNWP Publishing., 2022
By Thomas D. Andrews, Ingrid Kritsch and Leon Andrew
Forests, 2022
The Moose Horn Pass Caribou Fence site (KjRx-1) consists of three wooden fences located in a remo... more The Moose Horn Pass Caribou Fence site (KjRx-1) consists of three wooden fences located in a remote area of the Mackenzie Mountains in Canada's Northwest Territories. Situated in the traditional homeland of the Shúhtagot'ine (Mountain Dene), they were used to assist past hunters to harvest northern mountain caribou by channeling multiple animals toward kill zones. The main fence is nearly 800 m in length and terminates in a corral structure after descending from high ground into a valley. The two smaller fences are located north and south of the main fence, and they do not descend into the valley. Standard dendrochronological methods were employed to determine the ages of wood taken from the fence structures. Seventy-five living white spruce (Picea glauca) trees in the area were cored to determine the overall tree-ring growth patterns in the local environment. The chronology of living trees was supplemented by the inclusion of 29 standingdead trees to establish a longer chronology of dated ring widths. Sixty-two of 89 cross-sections cut from the fence timbers were crossdated and added to the overall chronology, which created a wellreplicated chronology of ring-widths from 972 to 2016 C.E. The terminal dates of material from the three fence systems suggest that the complex was built from trees that died over a wide temporal period, spanning the years 1314 to 1876 C.E, with clusters of dates between ca. 1420-1480 and 1580-1750 C.E. The millennial-long chronology developed in this study can now be used as a base to assist in dendroarchaeological dating of many more artifacts from the region.
Arctic, 2021
Unlike large community centres that may have formal, well-funded archives, small communities ofte... more Unlike large community centres that may have formal, well-funded archives, small communities often rely on the knowledge of Elders to preserve local history. Increasingly, Indigenous and local knowledge is being combined with emerging scientific technologies to supplement historical data. In this paper, we describe an example of how geomatics, geophysics, and the knowledge of Elders can be effectively used in combination to map the position, configuration, and subsurface conditions of a valued cultural-historic site. In the summer of 2003, the Fort Providence Métis Council requested a geophysical survey to delimit the boundaries of a cemetery no longer in use. Though we wrote this paper soon after the survey was completed, for a variety of reasons, it was never published. In light of the efforts in Canada in 2021 to uncover numerous unmarked graves at Indian Residential Schools, we are presenting this paper now in the hope that our experience will aid others as the search for graves continues.
Journal of Unmanned Vehicle Systems, 2020
Indigenous peoples of Canada’s North have long made use of boreal forest products, with wooden dr... more Indigenous peoples of Canada’s North have long made use of boreal forest products, with wooden drift fences to direct caribou movement towards kill sites as unique examples. Caribou fences are of archaeological and ecological significance, yet sparsely distributed and increasingly at risk to wildfire. Costly remote field logistics requires efficient prior fence verification and rapid on-site documentation of structure and landscape context. Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and very high-resolution (VHR) satellite imagery were used for detailed site recording and detection of coarse woody debris (CWD) objects under challenging Subarctic alpine woodlands conditions. UAVs enabled discovery of previously unknown wooden structures and revealed extensive use of CWD (n = 1745, total length = 2682 m, total volume = 16.7 m3). The methodology detected CWD objects much smaller than previously reported in remote sensing literature (mean 1.5 m long, 0.09 m wide), substantiating a high spatial resolution requirement for detection. Structurally, the fences were not uniformly left on the landscape. Permafrost patterned ground combined with small CWD contributions at the pixel level complicated identification through VHR data sets. UAV outputs significantly enriched field techniques and supported a deeper understanding of caribou fences as a hunting technology, and they will aid ongoing archaeological interpretation and time-series comparisons of change agents.
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2019
Pyrometamorphic rocks produced by natural coal combustion appear at archaeological sites across N... more Pyrometamorphic rocks produced by natural coal combustion appear at archaeological sites across North America but have received little archaeological attention regarding provenance studies. Tertiary Hills Clinker is a distinct pyrometamorphic rock from Subarctic Canada utilized by hunter-gatherers from 10,000 years ago to European contact. We employ X-ray diffraction, thin section analyses, and electron probe microanalyses to characterise Tertiary Hills Clinker and inform archaeometric studies of rock produced by combustion metamorphism. We geochemically compare pyrometamorphic rocks used by pre-contact people across North America to demonstrate that Tertiary Hills Clinker can be sourced using portable X-ray fluorescence. Results indicate that Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene exchange networks in North America were larger than previously thought. A later change in the distribution of Tertiary Hills Clinker may relate to a Late Holocene volcanic eruption (White River Ash east) that fragmented modes of lithic exchange and associated social networks with potential stimulus for a subsequent large-scale migration of northern hunter-gatherers across the continent. Provenance studies of pyrometamorphic artifacts offer untapped opportunities to study social networks in coal-bearing regions across the world.
State of the Mountains Report, The Alpine Club of Canada, 2019
Alpine ice patches in the Selwyn and Mackenzie Mountains hold an incredible archive of the millen... more Alpine ice patches in the Selwyn and Mackenzie Mountains hold an incredible archive of the millennia-long relationship between perennial ice, northern mountain caribou, and pre-contact Shúhtagot’ine hunters. Caribou seek out ice patches on hot summer days to cool off and escape the hordes of parasitic and biting insects that infest the alpine tundra and forests. Melting ice patches are ringed by a thick black band of caribou dung accumulated by many generations of caribou. For human hunters, ice patches were predictable places to find and kill caribou during the summer, and now, melting ice patches are revealing perfectly preserved hunting weapons – some thousands of years old – that were lost or abandoned during the hunt. With climate change tipping the balance towards the catastrophic melt of alpine ice patches, it is important to take stock of what will be lost. Fragile archaeological artifacts released from the ice will degrade rapidly if they are not immediately collected.
This article is the first in the Alberta Lithic Reference Project series, the goal of which is to... more This article is the first in the Alberta Lithic Reference Project series, the goal of which is to assist the identification of raw materials used for pre-contact stone tools in the province. Each article focuses on one raw material; the current article discusses a partially fused, glassy, vesicular rock that originates in Northwest Territories called Tertiary Hills Clinker (THC). THC appears in archaeological sites in northern and central Alberta. A suite of techniques indicates that it can be geochemically sourced much like obsidian. The accurate identification of THC can reveal significant relationships between occupants of Alberta and the Mackenzie Basin to the north.
This chapter provides an overview of precontact hunter-gatherer land use in the
Subarctic region ... more This chapter provides an overview of precontact hunter-gatherer land use in the
Subarctic region of northwest Canada. The earliest evidence of human presence in this
region is found in the unglaciated areas of Yukon Territory at Bluefish Caves and the
Little John Site. The role of an ice-free corridor in the Mackenzie Valley in the dispersal of
early peoples remains unclear. Caribou-hunting strategies are used as a theme to explore
regional histories between 7,000 B.P. and the beginning of the historic period. Migratory
tundra caribou were a focal resource for many hunter-gatherer societies in this region.
The emerging archaeological record of alpine ice patches provides a unique view of
hunter-gatherer land use in alpine regions. The archaeological record of the Mackenzie
Valley is one of the poorest known in all of North America. Throughout, the chapter
highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the Subarctic archaeological record for
interpreting precontact land use.
Bison phylogeography constrains dispersal and viability of the Ice Free Corridor in western Canada (PD Heintzman, D Froese, JW Ives, AER Soares, GD Zazula, B Letts, TD Andrews, JC Driver, E Hall, PG Hare, CN Jass, G MacKay, JR Southon, M Stiller, R Woywitka, MA Suchard, and B Shapiro) The Ice Free Corridor has been invoked as a route for Pleistocene human and animal dispersals bet... more The Ice Free Corridor has been invoked as a route for Pleistocene human and animal dispersals between eastern Beringia and more southerly areas of North America. Despite the significance of the corridor, there are limited data for when and how this corridor was used. Hypothetical uses of the corridor include: the first expansion of humans from Beringia into the Americas, northward postglacial expansions of fluted point technologies into Beringia, and continued use of the corridor as a contact route between the north and south. Here, we use radiocarbon dates and ancient mitochondrial DNA from late Pleistocene bison fossils to determine the chronology for when the corridor was open and viable for biotic dispersals. The corridor was closed after ∼23,000 until 13,400 calendar years ago (cal y BP), after which we find the first evidence, to our knowledge, that bison used this route to disperse from the south, and by 13,000 y from the north. Our chronology supports a habitable and traversable corridor by at least 13,000 cal y BP, just before the first appearance of Clovis technology in interior North America, and indicates that the corridor would not have been available for significantly earlier southward human dispersal. Following the opening of the corridor, multiple dispersals of human groups between Beringia and interior North America may have continued throughout the latest Pleistocene and early Holocene. Our results highlight the utility of phylogeographic analyses to test hypotheses about paleoecological history and the viability of dispersal routes over time.
Throughout the Western Arctic, the thawing of ice-rich permafrost is leading to significant therm... more Throughout the Western Arctic, the thawing of ice-rich permafrost is leading to significant thermokarst landscape disturbance, which is in turn impacting cultural resources. Assessment and monitoring of the extent of impacts to cultural resources from climate change-induced landscape erosion is hampered by the vast and remote geography of the Northwest Territories, yet heritage managers are in need of a way to identify areas where the risks from these processes are greatest. In this paper we describe the integration of traditional land use data and information on retrogressive thaw slump density to create a GIS-based heritage risk assessment for the Gwich’in cultural landscape in northwest Canada. Our results indicate that the greatest risk to Gwich’in cultural resources from thaw slumping occurs along the Peel Plateau, while areas adjacent to the Mackenzie River and Delta appear to be at lower risk of impact from this process. It is hoped that the risk map can be used to assist in prioritizing management actions for climate change impacts to cultural resources in this area.
Y-chromosome analysis reveals genetic divergence and new founding native lineages in Athapaskan- and Eskimoan-speaking populations. (MC Dulik, AC Owings, JB Gaieski, MG Vilar, A Andre, C Lennie, MA Mackenzie, I Kritsch, S Snowshoe, R Wright, J Martin, N Gibson, TD Andrews, TG Schurr) For decades, the peopling of the Americas has been explored through the analysis of uniparentally... more For decades, the peopling of the Americas has been explored through the analysis of uniparentally inherited genetic systems in Native American populations and the comparison of these genetic data with current linguistic groupings. In northern North America, two language families predominate: Eskimo-Aleut and Na-Dene. Although the genetic evidence from nuclear and mtDNA loci suggest that speakers of these language families share a distinct biological origin, this model has not been examined using data from paternally inherited Y chromosomes. To test this hypothesis and elucidate the migration histories of Eskimoan- and Athapaskan speaking populations, we analyzed Y-chromosomal data from Inuvialuit, Gwich’in, and Tłi˛cho˛ populations living in the Northwest Territories of Canada. Over 100 biallelic markers and 19 chromosome short tandem repeats (STRs) were genotyped to produce a high-resolution dataset of Y chromosomes from these groups. Among these markers is an SNP discovered in the Inuvialuit that differentiates them from other Aboriginal and Native American populations. The data suggest that Canadian Eskimoan- and Athapaskan- speaking populations are genetically distinct from one another and that the formation of these groups was the result of two population expansions that occurred after the initial movement of people into the Americas. In addition, the population history of Athapaskan speakers is complex, with the Tłicho˛ being distinct from other Athapaskan groups. The high-resolution biallelic data also make clear that Y-chromosomal diversity among the first Native Americans was greater than previously recognized.
APT Bulletin 39(2-3):63-71, 2008
In: Managing Cultural Landscapes. Taylor K & Lennon J. Routledge, p. 253-271.
Exploring the Cultural Value of Nature: a World Heritage Context. Montreal Round Table, School of Architecture, Université de Montreal, March 12-14, 2014. , 2014
In: Northern Ethnographic Landscapes: Perspectives from Circumpolar Nations. Krupnik I, Mason R, & Horton T (eds). Washington: Smithsonian Institution, p. 301-322., 2004
In Nicholas GP & Andrews TD. At a Crossroads: Archaeology and First Peoples in Canada. Burnaby: Archaeology Press, Simon Fraser University, p. 160-177., 1997
This trail we are travelling is the route of our ancestors that they used before contact with the... more This trail we are travelling is the route of our ancestors that they used before contact with the Kwet'11. 1 Now we are at a crossroads where things are not like the way they were in the past. If we tell young people today the history of our ancestors, it seems they don't believe us. We do not want to abandon the old ways of our ancestors. That is why we continue to work along their traditional routes. Through the oral tradition, I know of their choice fishing spots, places where they could obtain food, and their campsites. I am past the age of 60 so I remember our history. My elders used to tell me stories. I witnessed their work and now we are travelling and working along their trails. Though our young people of today do not really know the ways of our people, we want to retain our traditional ways so that whomever survives in the future will use them. So we are in effect, working to help them (Harry Simpson, June 25, 1991).2 I Kwet'll is the Dogrib word for people of English-speaking descent. It translates as "stone or rock people" Helm and Gillespie (1981) have reported that the term is a reference to English HBC traders at Prince of Wales Forton Hudson's Bay, a stone fortification. Younger Dogrib today say it refers to "prospectors" or "geologists" who for many decades have explored Dogrib lands for mineral resources.
In: Sacred Lands: Aboriginal World Views, Claims, and Conflicts. Oakes J, Riewe R, Kinew K, & Maloney E (eds). Edmonton: Canadian Circumpolar Institute, p. 305-320., 1998
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Papers by Thomas D Andrews
Subarctic region of northwest Canada. The earliest evidence of human presence in this
region is found in the unglaciated areas of Yukon Territory at Bluefish Caves and the
Little John Site. The role of an ice-free corridor in the Mackenzie Valley in the dispersal of
early peoples remains unclear. Caribou-hunting strategies are used as a theme to explore
regional histories between 7,000 B.P. and the beginning of the historic period. Migratory
tundra caribou were a focal resource for many hunter-gatherer societies in this region.
The emerging archaeological record of alpine ice patches provides a unique view of
hunter-gatherer land use in alpine regions. The archaeological record of the Mackenzie
Valley is one of the poorest known in all of North America. Throughout, the chapter
highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the Subarctic archaeological record for
interpreting precontact land use.
Subarctic region of northwest Canada. The earliest evidence of human presence in this
region is found in the unglaciated areas of Yukon Territory at Bluefish Caves and the
Little John Site. The role of an ice-free corridor in the Mackenzie Valley in the dispersal of
early peoples remains unclear. Caribou-hunting strategies are used as a theme to explore
regional histories between 7,000 B.P. and the beginning of the historic period. Migratory
tundra caribou were a focal resource for many hunter-gatherer societies in this region.
The emerging archaeological record of alpine ice patches provides a unique view of
hunter-gatherer land use in alpine regions. The archaeological record of the Mackenzie
Valley is one of the poorest known in all of North America. Throughout, the chapter
highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the Subarctic archaeological record for
interpreting precontact land use.
Produced by the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre and the Tłı̨chǫ Treaty 11 Council in partnership with Lone Woolf Television Production Services and Milligan Media Works.
The documentary shows the construction of a Tłı̨chǫ birchbark canoe. The film can be viewed or downloaded at https://www.pwnhc.ca/item/dogrib-birchbark-canoe/
2001. Produced by the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre and the Tłı̨chǫ Treaty 11 Council in partnership with Lone Woolf Television Production Services and Milligan Media Works. The film documents the repatriation of a century-old Caribou skin lodge and the creation of two contemporary copies. The film can be viewed or downloaded at https://www.pwnhc.ca/item/dogrib-caribou-skin-lodge-project/
https://ornamentum.ca/the-dene-in-edinburgh-de-ta-hoti-tseeda-we-live-securely-by-the-land/