AlaSTRACT.-The tissue allocation hypothesis states that functional maturity and rapid embryonic g... more AlaSTRACT.-The tissue allocation hypothesis states that functional maturity and rapid embryonic growth are incompatible at the tissue level. This could explain why precocial birds, which have more mature tissues at hatching, grow more slowly than altricial birds. We evaluated this hypothesis in Greater Snow Geese (Chen caerulescens atlantica), which nest in the high arctic where the growing season is very short. We examined growth patterns and dry-matter content (an index of tissue maturation) of various tissues, and the accumulation of fat in 176 goslings collected from hatch on Bylot Island, Northwest Territories, to their staging area at Cap-Tourmente, Quebec (1 to 110 days). The mass-specific growth constant (K = 0.093) of goslings was among the highest of all precocial birds, including ducks. Goslings fledged at only 68% of adult mass, a low value compared with other species. The timing and rate of growth differed among tissues, indicating major shifts in the allocation of protein during growth. Growth rates for body mass, body ash, and total body protein were moderate. Leg muscles and digestive organs had an early and rapid growth rate. Breast muscles had one of the highest growth rates but started to grow very late. Fat accumulation began after fledging, forcing goslings to start southward migration with very little fat reserves. In early-growing tissues (digestive organs and leg muscles), water content was low at hatch, peaked before fledging, and decreased thereafter. This contrasts with the typical pattern in birds of peak values at hatch followed by a monotonic decline during growth. The high dry-matter content of tissues at hatch could be an adaptation to increase thermogenesis of goslings in cold water. A strong inverse relationship between exponential growth rate and functional maturity was found in breast muscles but was absent in early-maturing tissues. Ecological factors seem more important than embryonic constraints in explaining fast growth rates in geese.
Growth rate in geese is sensitive to the feeding conditions during the broodrearing period, and l... more Growth rate in geese is sensitive to the feeding conditions during the broodrearing period, and late-hatched goslings grow at a lower rate than early-hatched ones. We examine how the seasonal decline in food supply affected the development of body components of late-hatched and early-hatched goslings in male and female Greater Snow Geese (Chen caerulescens atlantica). We collected and autopsied 48 early-hatched (EH, mean age at capture = 42.4 days) and 48 late-hatched goslings (LH, mean age = 34.8 days), divided equally among sexes, near fledging at four different sites on Bylot Island, Northwest Territories. After statistically adjusting for differences in body size between the two groups, EH goslings had more body protein than LH ones. However, the development of all organs was not affected equally. The mass of most supplying organs (the food acquisition apparatus: legs, esophagus, intestine, and liver), which develop early during growth, was similar between EH and LH goslings. In contrast, LH goslings had much smaller breast muscles than EH goslings, even after adjusting for size differences. Body fat was very low and similar in both groups. Body mass, body protein, intestine, and breast muscles showed a sexual dimorphism favoring males in EH, but not in LH, goslings. These results show that poor feeding conditions encountered by LH goslings disproportionately affected late-developing organs compared to early-developing ones, and males compared to females. Differences in organ development could reflect an adaptive response to reduced food availability. Prioritizing the development of supplying organs at the expense of other organs when food availability is low could help goslings maintain a high nutrient intake.
Together with the development of ancestral Huron-Wendat village life in what is now southern Onta... more Together with the development of ancestral Huron-Wendat village life in what is now southern Ontario, Canada, unusual deposits consisting of animal parts, small stones, and manufactured items such as smoking pipes were occasionally sequestered in sweat lodges, longhouse post holes, and other features. In instances where such deposits have received comment, most turn on notions of ritual behavior that betray commitments to a modernist distinction between sacred and profane acts. Such deposits, it is thought, align with the former category and can be reduced to their veiled symbolic meanings. In this paper, we seek to reframe this understanding by drawing upon Indigenous scholarship, particularly the Huron-Wendat philosophy and theology of Georges Sioui, along with the early documentary record and archaeological evidence. We argue that such deposits are better understood as the material vestiges of gatheringsconcerted efforts to reveal latent yet ever-powerful beings or forces by bringing together seemingly disparate things and siting them in important places. Recast as products of an immanent rather than transcendent ontology, Huron-Wendat gatherings work against traditional notions of ritual as applied in archaeological settings. The late fourteenth through mid-fifteenth century ancestral Huron-Wendat village known as Grandview provides the case study for exploring these ideas.
The passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) was once the most abundant bird species in North Am... more The passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) was once the most abundant bird species in North America. Flocks of these birds witnessed in the early 19th century were so vast that they were said to darken the sky for days as they passed. Early syntheses of passenger pigeon remains in archaeological contexts in the eastern United States, in contrast, found them to be relatively rare in relation to other fowl, leading to the suggestion that the colonial‐era hyper‐abundance of passenger pigeons was a post‐European‐contact phenomenon resulting from contact‐induced demographic and ecological changes. In this paper, we provide new insights into passenger pigeon historical ecology through a synthesis and GIS‐based analysis of zooarchaeological data on skeletal remains from 157 Late Woodland (ca. 900–1650 CE) sites in Ontario, Canada. Our results reveal that passenger pigeon bones are common, and often abundant, in Late Woodland archaeological assemblages in Ontario, which speaks to the spe...
Meaningful collaborations between archaeologists and descendant communities and nations is a nece... more Meaningful collaborations between archaeologists and descendant communities and nations is a necessary component of archaeological practice in the 2020s and beyond. While calls for decolonising the social sciences and humanities have become a common refrain, practical methodologies for supplanting settlercolonial research practice have been less apparent. We detail how the development of independent radiocarbon-based chronologies in archaeology is one such substantive path forward. As a joint group of Indigenous and Euro-American and Euro-Canadian researchers, we outline how collaborative research agendas that privilege the knowledge and interests of descendant communities and include independent chronology building can be developed and achieved, securing mutual benefit and distributing authority in the construction of archaeologically derived Indigenous histories.
High collared pottery rim sherds from sites designated as Huron-Wendat and St. Lawrence Iroquoian... more High collared pottery rim sherds from sites designated as Huron-Wendat and St. Lawrence Iroquoian are analysed using a community of practice approach. Using several analytical methods on the same ceramic sherds, we aimed to determine the technological choices made by potters. We focused specifically on clay selection, temper selection and processing, preparation of the clay body and formation of the rim. Our findings demonstrate that for each step in the production process there are a range of practices represented within the study region. However, comparison with adjacent areas and earlier periods shows that there is consistency in technological choices that are specific to our study area. We argue that this is consistent with connections between the pottery making traditions in the Simcoe Uplands in Ontario and the St. Lawrence Valley areas. As traditions were maintained by people, so we envision connected communities across the study area.
It is a well-known fact that archaeological cultures constructed by archaeologists do not always ... more It is a well-known fact that archaeological cultures constructed by archaeologists do not always overlap with actual past ethnic groups. This is the case with the St. Lawrence Iroquoians of the Northeast. Up until recently, conventional narratives viewed this group as distinct from all other historic Iroquoian populations. However, the Huron-Wendat and the Mohawk consider themselves to be their direct descendants. Our paper is an attempt to reconcile oral history and archaeological interpretations by suggesting that part of the disparity between Huron-Wendat and archaeological conceptions of the group identity of the St. Lawrence Iroquoians lies in differential understandings of the very nature of ethnicity by each party.
The Huron-Wendat have had their ancestors’ villages and burial sites investigated archaeologicall... more The Huron-Wendat have had their ancestors’ villages and burial sites investigated archaeologically for over 170 years. Past and ongoing land disturbance and invasive archaeological excavation have erased dozens of Huron-Wendat village sites in Ontario, hindering Huron-Wendat duty to care for their ancestors. Consequently, over the last 20 years, in addition to large-scale repatriation of ancestral remains, the Huron-Wendat have requested that archaeologists make every effort to avoid any further excavation of ancestral sites. This poses a new challenge for archaeologists about how to learn about the Huron-Wendat past with minimal disturbance to ancestral sites. Honoring the cultural responsibilities of the Huron-Wendat, the authors have employed minimally invasive remote sensing methods of investigation on Ahatsistari, a forested early seventeenth-century Huron-Wendat village site in Simcoe County, Ontario. Remote sensing methods (e.g., magnetic susceptibility survey, high-resolutio...
Environmental isotopes can provide information about the composition of groups and the movement o... more Environmental isotopes can provide information about the composition of groups and the movement of people across landscapes. The archaeological record of Huron-Wendat communities in south-central Ontario is one of numerous drainage-based sequences of small villages among which families or larger population segments moved. These villages amalgamated in the early to mid-sixteenth century into fewer, larger communities. Strontium isotope values (87 Sr/ 86 Sr) are used to test hypotheses about these early localized interactions and later amalgamations. There is little prior information about strontium values from this region which was recently glaciated and receives ample precipitation. From the late thirteenth century onward, ancestral Huron-Wendat communities had distinct burial practices of primary burial followed by secondary, collective ossuary burial. Strontium values from tooth enamel of 118 human first permanent molars from 15 archaeological contexts spanning four centuries are interpreted in a framework of archaeologically derived deer (N = 34), small (N = 35) and other large (N = 7) mammals. Reflecting their local origins, 87 Sr/ 86 Sr values of small mammals from three geological substrates differ significantly from one another. Each small mammal group clusters more tightly than those of deer. Most human 87 Sr/ 86 Sr values agree with small mammal values, by region. Three sites, out of six with more than 10 data points, show mean human 87 Sr/ 86 Sr values that differ significantly from the small mammal values of their geological substrate, signaling community movement and individual in-migration. Interpretation of individual human values outside local ranges is informed by information from dietary isotopes. Environmental isotopes substantiate and enhance our prior understandings of the ancestral Huron-Wendat.
Depuis plusieurs années, le Bureau du Nionwentsïo de la Nation huronne-wendat réalise des recherc... more Depuis plusieurs années, le Bureau du Nionwentsïo de la Nation huronne-wendat réalise des recherches dans les archives et dans la tradition orale concernant la présence historique des Hurons-Wendat sur leur territoire ancestral. Les résultats de ces travaux sont notamment utilisés afin de protéger les lieux patrimoniaux et d’identifier les zones de potentiel archéologique requises par les processus d’harmonisation forestière et les consultations provinciales et fédérales. La Nation huronne-wendat s’implique de plus en plus dans l’archéologie au Québec, tout comme en Ontario. Récemment, l’archéologie a été mise en oeuvre afin de supporter le projet d’aire protégée des Hurons-Wendat dans la région de Ya’nienhonhndeh (lac à Moïse), dans la Réserve faunique des Laurentides. En 2016 et 2017, des écoles d’été en archéologie ont eu lieu dans cette région en collaboration avec l’Université Laval et ont mené à des découvertes significatives. L’usage de l’archéologie par la Nation huronne-wen...
Existe uma história longa de estudo acadêmico do povo Huron-Wendat no século dezessete no Ontario... more Existe uma história longa de estudo acadêmico do povo Huron-Wendat no século dezessete no Ontario. Apesar disso, é muito recente o engajamento dos arqueólogos e de outros acadêmicos com a comunidade Huron-Wendat em relação às escavações de sítios Huron-Wendat no Ontario. Este engajamento constitui um primeiro passo, porém não representa uma verdadeira colaboração considerando que na maioria dos casos as investigações não são parcerias e não se baseiam em perguntas diretamente formuladas pelos membros da Nação. Em 2015, para marcar o aniversario de quatrocentos anos da chegada de Champlain no Ontario, membros da Nação Huron-Wendat e arqueólogos co-organizaram um colóquio sobre temas de grande interesse para a Nação, incluindo a relação com os “St. Lawrence Iroquoians,” os Wendat e a história dos Wyandot depois de 1650, assim como análises bio-arqueológicas. Este artigo apresenta uma breve história da pesquisa arqueológica sobre o passado dos Huron-Wendat e revela alguns novos, e mais...
AlaSTRACT.-The tissue allocation hypothesis states that functional maturity and rapid embryonic g... more AlaSTRACT.-The tissue allocation hypothesis states that functional maturity and rapid embryonic growth are incompatible at the tissue level. This could explain why precocial birds, which have more mature tissues at hatching, grow more slowly than altricial birds. We evaluated this hypothesis in Greater Snow Geese (Chen caerulescens atlantica), which nest in the high arctic where the growing season is very short. We examined growth patterns and dry-matter content (an index of tissue maturation) of various tissues, and the accumulation of fat in 176 goslings collected from hatch on Bylot Island, Northwest Territories, to their staging area at Cap-Tourmente, Quebec (1 to 110 days). The mass-specific growth constant (K = 0.093) of goslings was among the highest of all precocial birds, including ducks. Goslings fledged at only 68% of adult mass, a low value compared with other species. The timing and rate of growth differed among tissues, indicating major shifts in the allocation of protein during growth. Growth rates for body mass, body ash, and total body protein were moderate. Leg muscles and digestive organs had an early and rapid growth rate. Breast muscles had one of the highest growth rates but started to grow very late. Fat accumulation began after fledging, forcing goslings to start southward migration with very little fat reserves. In early-growing tissues (digestive organs and leg muscles), water content was low at hatch, peaked before fledging, and decreased thereafter. This contrasts with the typical pattern in birds of peak values at hatch followed by a monotonic decline during growth. The high dry-matter content of tissues at hatch could be an adaptation to increase thermogenesis of goslings in cold water. A strong inverse relationship between exponential growth rate and functional maturity was found in breast muscles but was absent in early-maturing tissues. Ecological factors seem more important than embryonic constraints in explaining fast growth rates in geese.
Growth rate in geese is sensitive to the feeding conditions during the broodrearing period, and l... more Growth rate in geese is sensitive to the feeding conditions during the broodrearing period, and late-hatched goslings grow at a lower rate than early-hatched ones. We examine how the seasonal decline in food supply affected the development of body components of late-hatched and early-hatched goslings in male and female Greater Snow Geese (Chen caerulescens atlantica). We collected and autopsied 48 early-hatched (EH, mean age at capture = 42.4 days) and 48 late-hatched goslings (LH, mean age = 34.8 days), divided equally among sexes, near fledging at four different sites on Bylot Island, Northwest Territories. After statistically adjusting for differences in body size between the two groups, EH goslings had more body protein than LH ones. However, the development of all organs was not affected equally. The mass of most supplying organs (the food acquisition apparatus: legs, esophagus, intestine, and liver), which develop early during growth, was similar between EH and LH goslings. In contrast, LH goslings had much smaller breast muscles than EH goslings, even after adjusting for size differences. Body fat was very low and similar in both groups. Body mass, body protein, intestine, and breast muscles showed a sexual dimorphism favoring males in EH, but not in LH, goslings. These results show that poor feeding conditions encountered by LH goslings disproportionately affected late-developing organs compared to early-developing ones, and males compared to females. Differences in organ development could reflect an adaptive response to reduced food availability. Prioritizing the development of supplying organs at the expense of other organs when food availability is low could help goslings maintain a high nutrient intake.
Together with the development of ancestral Huron-Wendat village life in what is now southern Onta... more Together with the development of ancestral Huron-Wendat village life in what is now southern Ontario, Canada, unusual deposits consisting of animal parts, small stones, and manufactured items such as smoking pipes were occasionally sequestered in sweat lodges, longhouse post holes, and other features. In instances where such deposits have received comment, most turn on notions of ritual behavior that betray commitments to a modernist distinction between sacred and profane acts. Such deposits, it is thought, align with the former category and can be reduced to their veiled symbolic meanings. In this paper, we seek to reframe this understanding by drawing upon Indigenous scholarship, particularly the Huron-Wendat philosophy and theology of Georges Sioui, along with the early documentary record and archaeological evidence. We argue that such deposits are better understood as the material vestiges of gatheringsconcerted efforts to reveal latent yet ever-powerful beings or forces by bringing together seemingly disparate things and siting them in important places. Recast as products of an immanent rather than transcendent ontology, Huron-Wendat gatherings work against traditional notions of ritual as applied in archaeological settings. The late fourteenth through mid-fifteenth century ancestral Huron-Wendat village known as Grandview provides the case study for exploring these ideas.
The passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) was once the most abundant bird species in North Am... more The passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) was once the most abundant bird species in North America. Flocks of these birds witnessed in the early 19th century were so vast that they were said to darken the sky for days as they passed. Early syntheses of passenger pigeon remains in archaeological contexts in the eastern United States, in contrast, found them to be relatively rare in relation to other fowl, leading to the suggestion that the colonial‐era hyper‐abundance of passenger pigeons was a post‐European‐contact phenomenon resulting from contact‐induced demographic and ecological changes. In this paper, we provide new insights into passenger pigeon historical ecology through a synthesis and GIS‐based analysis of zooarchaeological data on skeletal remains from 157 Late Woodland (ca. 900–1650 CE) sites in Ontario, Canada. Our results reveal that passenger pigeon bones are common, and often abundant, in Late Woodland archaeological assemblages in Ontario, which speaks to the spe...
Meaningful collaborations between archaeologists and descendant communities and nations is a nece... more Meaningful collaborations between archaeologists and descendant communities and nations is a necessary component of archaeological practice in the 2020s and beyond. While calls for decolonising the social sciences and humanities have become a common refrain, practical methodologies for supplanting settlercolonial research practice have been less apparent. We detail how the development of independent radiocarbon-based chronologies in archaeology is one such substantive path forward. As a joint group of Indigenous and Euro-American and Euro-Canadian researchers, we outline how collaborative research agendas that privilege the knowledge and interests of descendant communities and include independent chronology building can be developed and achieved, securing mutual benefit and distributing authority in the construction of archaeologically derived Indigenous histories.
High collared pottery rim sherds from sites designated as Huron-Wendat and St. Lawrence Iroquoian... more High collared pottery rim sherds from sites designated as Huron-Wendat and St. Lawrence Iroquoian are analysed using a community of practice approach. Using several analytical methods on the same ceramic sherds, we aimed to determine the technological choices made by potters. We focused specifically on clay selection, temper selection and processing, preparation of the clay body and formation of the rim. Our findings demonstrate that for each step in the production process there are a range of practices represented within the study region. However, comparison with adjacent areas and earlier periods shows that there is consistency in technological choices that are specific to our study area. We argue that this is consistent with connections between the pottery making traditions in the Simcoe Uplands in Ontario and the St. Lawrence Valley areas. As traditions were maintained by people, so we envision connected communities across the study area.
It is a well-known fact that archaeological cultures constructed by archaeologists do not always ... more It is a well-known fact that archaeological cultures constructed by archaeologists do not always overlap with actual past ethnic groups. This is the case with the St. Lawrence Iroquoians of the Northeast. Up until recently, conventional narratives viewed this group as distinct from all other historic Iroquoian populations. However, the Huron-Wendat and the Mohawk consider themselves to be their direct descendants. Our paper is an attempt to reconcile oral history and archaeological interpretations by suggesting that part of the disparity between Huron-Wendat and archaeological conceptions of the group identity of the St. Lawrence Iroquoians lies in differential understandings of the very nature of ethnicity by each party.
The Huron-Wendat have had their ancestors’ villages and burial sites investigated archaeologicall... more The Huron-Wendat have had their ancestors’ villages and burial sites investigated archaeologically for over 170 years. Past and ongoing land disturbance and invasive archaeological excavation have erased dozens of Huron-Wendat village sites in Ontario, hindering Huron-Wendat duty to care for their ancestors. Consequently, over the last 20 years, in addition to large-scale repatriation of ancestral remains, the Huron-Wendat have requested that archaeologists make every effort to avoid any further excavation of ancestral sites. This poses a new challenge for archaeologists about how to learn about the Huron-Wendat past with minimal disturbance to ancestral sites. Honoring the cultural responsibilities of the Huron-Wendat, the authors have employed minimally invasive remote sensing methods of investigation on Ahatsistari, a forested early seventeenth-century Huron-Wendat village site in Simcoe County, Ontario. Remote sensing methods (e.g., magnetic susceptibility survey, high-resolutio...
Environmental isotopes can provide information about the composition of groups and the movement o... more Environmental isotopes can provide information about the composition of groups and the movement of people across landscapes. The archaeological record of Huron-Wendat communities in south-central Ontario is one of numerous drainage-based sequences of small villages among which families or larger population segments moved. These villages amalgamated in the early to mid-sixteenth century into fewer, larger communities. Strontium isotope values (87 Sr/ 86 Sr) are used to test hypotheses about these early localized interactions and later amalgamations. There is little prior information about strontium values from this region which was recently glaciated and receives ample precipitation. From the late thirteenth century onward, ancestral Huron-Wendat communities had distinct burial practices of primary burial followed by secondary, collective ossuary burial. Strontium values from tooth enamel of 118 human first permanent molars from 15 archaeological contexts spanning four centuries are interpreted in a framework of archaeologically derived deer (N = 34), small (N = 35) and other large (N = 7) mammals. Reflecting their local origins, 87 Sr/ 86 Sr values of small mammals from three geological substrates differ significantly from one another. Each small mammal group clusters more tightly than those of deer. Most human 87 Sr/ 86 Sr values agree with small mammal values, by region. Three sites, out of six with more than 10 data points, show mean human 87 Sr/ 86 Sr values that differ significantly from the small mammal values of their geological substrate, signaling community movement and individual in-migration. Interpretation of individual human values outside local ranges is informed by information from dietary isotopes. Environmental isotopes substantiate and enhance our prior understandings of the ancestral Huron-Wendat.
Depuis plusieurs années, le Bureau du Nionwentsïo de la Nation huronne-wendat réalise des recherc... more Depuis plusieurs années, le Bureau du Nionwentsïo de la Nation huronne-wendat réalise des recherches dans les archives et dans la tradition orale concernant la présence historique des Hurons-Wendat sur leur territoire ancestral. Les résultats de ces travaux sont notamment utilisés afin de protéger les lieux patrimoniaux et d’identifier les zones de potentiel archéologique requises par les processus d’harmonisation forestière et les consultations provinciales et fédérales. La Nation huronne-wendat s’implique de plus en plus dans l’archéologie au Québec, tout comme en Ontario. Récemment, l’archéologie a été mise en oeuvre afin de supporter le projet d’aire protégée des Hurons-Wendat dans la région de Ya’nienhonhndeh (lac à Moïse), dans la Réserve faunique des Laurentides. En 2016 et 2017, des écoles d’été en archéologie ont eu lieu dans cette région en collaboration avec l’Université Laval et ont mené à des découvertes significatives. L’usage de l’archéologie par la Nation huronne-wen...
Existe uma história longa de estudo acadêmico do povo Huron-Wendat no século dezessete no Ontario... more Existe uma história longa de estudo acadêmico do povo Huron-Wendat no século dezessete no Ontario. Apesar disso, é muito recente o engajamento dos arqueólogos e de outros acadêmicos com a comunidade Huron-Wendat em relação às escavações de sítios Huron-Wendat no Ontario. Este engajamento constitui um primeiro passo, porém não representa uma verdadeira colaboração considerando que na maioria dos casos as investigações não são parcerias e não se baseiam em perguntas diretamente formuladas pelos membros da Nação. Em 2015, para marcar o aniversario de quatrocentos anos da chegada de Champlain no Ontario, membros da Nação Huron-Wendat e arqueólogos co-organizaram um colóquio sobre temas de grande interesse para a Nação, incluindo a relação com os “St. Lawrence Iroquoians,” os Wendat e a história dos Wyandot depois de 1650, assim como análises bio-arqueológicas. Este artigo apresenta uma breve história da pesquisa arqueológica sobre o passado dos Huron-Wendat e revela alguns novos, e mais...
Uploads
Papers by Louis Lesage