Anthropology/Indigenous Studies 2233G – Assignment 1
Article/Monograph Review of a Paleo-Indian or Archaic Site Report
(using Turnitin)
For this assignment you are asked to read and critique an archaeological site report on a Paleo-
Indian or Archaic site from the Ontario/Great Lakes region. The report may be a monograph (in
book form) or a substantial article in a peer-reviewed journal.
In conducting your review and critique you should consider the following questions:
– What is the intended audience of the article or monograph?
– What are the goals of the report/article, are they clearly articulated? Were these goals
achieved?
– Were there specific questions addressed through the research?
– Was the period of occupation and cultural affiliation of the site clearly explained? What
archaeological cultures/complexes are represented in the site(s) discussed?
– Was the artifact collection adequately described and analyzed? What aspects of the
collection were discussed?
– Was the artifact collection adequately illustrated (through drawings or photos)?
– Were the results of the analysis clearly presented?
– Would the report be useful as a comparative document to someone studying related
archaeological collections?
– In your judgement, are there aspects of the analysis that were omitted and should have
been discussed?
– Were there any new questions raised through the analysis that could form the basis for
future research? These may be identified by the authors, or they may be questions that
occurred to you that the authors did not consider.
Be sure to cite the analyzed article/monograph as necessary, along with any other sources you
use, and list them in a bibliography. APA style is preferred for in text citations and the
bibliography. Your review should be double-spaced and approximately 1200 words in length,
not including the bibliography. Please upload your assignment in Word or a compatible format
with your last name in the document title (i.e. Timmins Assn 1).
You will find relevant site reports in monograph form in the library catalogue, including reports
in the National Museum of Canada Mercury Series. Most site reports will only be available in
hard copy, while journal articles may be available digitally. Some important monographs and
compilations of articles on early Great Lakes sites include:
An Early Paleo-Indian Site Near Parkhill, Ontario. 2001. Christopher Ellis & D. Brian Deller
Thedford II: A Paleo-Indian Site in the Ausable River Watershed of Southwestern Ontario. 1992.
D. B. Deller and C. Ellis
The Vail Site: a Palaeo-Indian Encampment in Maine. 1982. Michael Gramly
Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene paleoecology and archaeology of the eastern Great Lakes
region: proceedings of the Smith Symposium, held at the Buffalo Museum of Science, October
24-25, 1986. Edited by Richard S. Laub, Norton G. Miller, David W. Steadman.
A report on the Banting and Hussey Sites: two Paleo-Indian campsites in Simcoe County,
Southern Ontario. 1979. Peter Storck. National Museums of Canada, Mercury Series.
The Fisher Site: Archaeological, Geological and Paleobotanical Studies at an Early Paleo-Indian
Site in Southern Ontario, Canada. 1997. Peter Storck.
The Cummins Site Complex and Paleoindian Occupations in the Northwestern Lake Superior
Region. 1994. Patrick Julig.
The Late Palaeo-Indian Great Lakes: Geological and Archaeological Investigations of Late
Pleistocene and Early Holocene Environments. 2004. L.J. Jackson and A. Hinshelwood, eds.
The Adder Orchard Site: Lithic Technology and Spatial Organization in the Broadpoint Late
Archaic. Occasional publication of the London Chapter, Ontario Archaeological Society, No. 3,
1997.
Site reports may also be found in several regional and national archaeological journals, some of
which are available online: Ontario Archaeology, Canadian Journal of Archaeology, American
Antiquity, Northeast Anthropology (formerly Man in the Northeast), Midcontinental Journal of
Archaeology, Archaeology of Eastern North America, North American Archaeologist, Wisconsin
Archaeologist, and bulletins and reports of the New York State Museum. You will also find
several site reports listed in the References section of your Before Ontario text.