Conclusions
Tasks included quartzite knapping, lancehead manufacture and repair, butchering and meat-drying, roasting and the working of hides and wood. While caribou herd behavior directly influences choice of water-crossings and hence, hunting camps, Chipewyan hunting band behavior was also repetitive in the sequence of tasks carried out by ancestral Chipewyan for the past three thousand years.
Repetitive caribou herd and Chipewyan band behavior and range reconstruction is of interest to archeologists and biologists because it enhances the study of ancient human and Rangifer behavior in a world where animals exerted fundamental control over cultural expression. The presence of these palimpsests also indicates to caribou biologists that the same general seasonal pattern of migration by caribou on this range has been in place for thousands of years and gives support for the persistence of an overall fixed but annually flexible pattern of traditional migratory behavior over time, even under changing environmental conditions.
After deciphering each of the palimpsests into gender-based tasks in two earlier papers (Gordon, In Press, a, b), I combined all to show continued use of the same spots for all tasks for many centuries. Why is this? Certainly, the knoll where the KjNb-7 overlook is located, is small, wind-swept for insect control, and ideal for spotting caribou. But other factors were at work, and were likely social – perhaps some form of assembly line where intense butchering, meat-drying and hide-preparation for winter, allowed women to communicate and relieve the tedium. Bear in mind that fresh meat must be processed quickly for preservation, but also for a reasonably fast departure in following the track of the herd south for winter. Mothers may have taught their daughters those skills needed in marriage, while men did the same for their sons in hunting. Knapping stations were where men could hone and teach their skills. With more palimpsest deciphering in our other sites, perhaps we will find more answers on a sociological level.
Acknowledgments
I thank Raymond Cheng for selecting and customizing the software and teaching students and volunteers how to use it; Elizabeth Creary for formulating queries; Lori Howey and Elizabeth for plotting overlay tasks, artwork and editing; and Pavel Dvorak for final artwork and assembly. I am endebted to Frank Miller for his revisions and Frank Bayerl for a final edit .
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