2023 OAS Symposium Preliminary Events, Workshops
and Sessions
Events
Friday Evening Reception (Nov. 3, 2023 – 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm) – Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre
OAS Annual Business Meeting (Saturday Nov. 4, 2023 – 4:15 pm – 6:00 pm) – Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre (online registration only)
Saturday Evening OAS Annual Awards Ceremony and Reception (Saturday Nov. 4, 2023 – 6:00 pm – 10:30 pm) – Southampton Town Hall
Sunday Afternoon Tours:
Out and About in Central Bruce: The Saugeen-Southampton-Port Elgin area persists as a hub of cultural activity from Main Lake Algonquin times onwards. A sampling of well-known archaeological sites (eg., Donaldson and Nodwell), locations of significant 19th century events on the Saugeen First Nation (including a spectacular view of the Saugeen River valley), and even a smattering of post-glacial shorelines will be visited. Guided vehicle tour (transportation not provided).
Anishinaabwe Endaat Gallery Tour: Guided Tour by Saugeen Ojibway Nation member of the Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre’s Anishnaabwe Endaat Gallery.
Aunt Annie’s Cottage: Guided tour by Historic Saugeen Métis member of local historical landmark Aunt Annie’s Cottage.
Workshops
Register for workshops as part of your symposium registration here. If you have already registered for the symposium and would like to register for a workshop, please contact Susan Dermarkar (oas-symposium@ontarioarchaeology.org) to sign-upk.
Indigenous Ceramics
Susan Dermarkar and David Smith
Saturday, November 4, 9:00 am-11:00 am – G.C. Huston Public School Gym
An very preliminary introduction to Indigenous ceramics found in the field. This will include basic types of vessel body and rim shapes, a rough introduction to different vessel styles and decoration and distinctive vessel differences throughout the last milleneum.
Zooarchaeology
Suzanne Needs-Howarth and Trevor Orchard
Saturday, November 4, 1:40 pm-3:40 pm – G.C. Huston Public School Gym
• gain a general appreciation of what zooarchaeological analysis is about and what it can and cannot tell us
• learn the basics of best practices for washing, bagging, labelling, and storage
• obtain some hands-on experience separating faunal material by class
• understand the importance of training, experience, and the use of an appropriate reference collection for producing reliable data
The Geo-physical Environment of Southern Ontario
Rob MacDonald
Friday, November 3, 2:00 pm-4:00 pm – Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre (Bruce Power Theatre)
A working knowledge of the geo-physical environment is a fundamental skillset for professional archaeologists. Landforms arising from both the bedrock and surficial geology influence the nature and distribution of the bio-physical environment and human land-use in the past. Soils which have developed on surficial deposits are also influential and the ability to differentiate between natural soil stratigraphy and the stratigraphy of cultural deposits is an essential archaeological skill. This workshop will explore the geo-physical environment of southern Ontario, starting with bedrock geology and progressing through Quaternary geology and pedology. Changes in the geo-physical environment throughout human history in Ontario will be reviewed as it pertains to both changing land-use patterns and the survival and visibility of archaeological sites.
Paper Sessions
The Seven Generations and Two Worlds of Archaeology in Bruce County
Organized by Bill Fitzgerald and Holly Martelle
Archaeological and Indigenous Perspectives on Ancient Gathering Places
Organized by Peter Timmins and Jessica Susan Russell
The Tools of Tomorrow, Helping Understand Yesterday: Empowering Archaeological Research with Affordable Remote Sensing Tools
Organized by Isaac Bender
The Future of Ontario’s Past: Gathering to Consider Archaeology and Critical Heritage (Student Session)
Organized by Rob MacDonald and Katherine Patton