Exploring the Woodland Period Within the Lake Wawanosh Region Through Two Archaeological Sites: AgHn-12 and AgHn-14
Abstract
This thesis focuses on two archaeological sites from the Woodland Period, Blackwell One (AgHn-12) and Blackwell Two (AgHn-14), which lie roughly 8 km northeast of Sarnia, Ontario. Specifically, the sites are situated near the historic Lake Wawanosh, which was drained in the late 1800s, and roughly 400 m south of the Lake Huron shore. Blackwell One has evidence of an Early Woodland Meadowood occupation in its West Locus and Late Woodland, Younge to Springwells phase occupations, within its East Locus. Blackwell Two falls within the Middle Woodland period and is a component of the archaeologically defined Saugeen cultural complex. The analysis of these sites, which focuses on feature contents, considered a variety of materials from the lithic, ceramic, faunal and floral assemblages. This cultural material was considered within the context of environmental interaction in this area which required a reconstruction of the Woodland period environment and of Lake Wawanosh. The settlement patterns identified, and their functionality, were also analysed. Overall, these analyses developed a brief window on how the occupants of these sites thrived within the environment near Lake Wawanosh during the Woodland period.