Secondary Sources

This thesis looks at faunal recoveries from Upper Fort Garry (DlLg-21). Over 5000 specimens were analysed with the goals of reconstructing the pattern of animal utilisation during the occupation of the fort; comparing this reconstruction with historical and archaeological records of animal use in the Red River Settlement (mid-a800s); and examination of how diet and economic position relate. Identification of the faunal remains, and archival and documentary investigations determined animal utilisation differed in terms of species and selected body parts and that varied social and economic contexts are reflected in chosen food items. It is concluded that faunal remains can be used in considering economic position of consumers, thus enhancing interpretation of Upper Fort Garry.

This thesis documents analysis of faunal assemblages from The Forks, spanning the Archaic (Hanna), Late Woodland (Blackduck), and Fur Trade (Fort Gibraltar I, Fort Garry, and Upper Fort Garry) periods. Archaeological and documentary information regarding subsistence are compared for a better understanding of the following: faunal exploitation; possible areas of disagreement and bias; and explanations for faunal exploitation pattern changes at a stable locality. From the analysis it was determined that there is a high degree of variability among the samples. The comparative data identified the following factors affecting resource use patterns at The Forks: technology, length of occupation (nomadic vs. tade focus), and nature of subsistence economy (focused vs. diffuse).

Various data show that the Red and Assiniboine rivers cut the valleys they occupy today within a thousand years of the regression of Lake Agassiz. A decrease in sedimentation rate at 1400 BP is coincident with the shift in the position of the Assiniboine from the valley of the La Salle River to its present position.

In this article the author examines the ceramic assemblage recovered from within the walls of Upper Fort Garry during the 1996-1998 reconstruction of Main Street. Patterns and marks are described in detail, and manufacturers are identified where possible. Manufacturers Spode/Copeland, John Meir & Sons, J. & M.P. Bell & Company are discussed in terms of pattern, marks, and their connection to the Hudson Bay Company, where relevant.