Besant revisted : the Fincastle site (DIOx-5) and archaeological cultures on the northwestern plains, 2500 B.P.-1250 B.P.

Abstract

An assemblage of distinctive projectile points from the Fincastle site (DlOx-5), Alberta at c. 2500 B.P. instigated an analysis of archaeological cultures on the Northern Plains during the late Middle Prehistoric Period. Archaeological sites included in this study are from the Pelican Lake Phase, the Besant Phase, the Sandy Creek Complex, a previously Unnamed Complex, and the Plains Woodland at approximately 2500 – 1250 B.P. A projectile point analysis was conducted on assemblages from Fincastle, EbPi-63, EgPn-111, Kenney (DjPk-1), Leavitt (24LT22), Muhlbach (FbPf-1), and Smith-Swainson (FeOw-1) sites. As part of this study, nearly 40 metric and non-metric attributes were examined in approximately 500 projectile points from these seven sites. Research findings indicate that two coeval groups existed in Alberta, identified as the Kenney and Sonota subphases of the Besant Phase. Two additional subphases are hypothesized for the Besant Phase in Wyoming and Montana.