Reproductions for NLAS Edukit

Stone, bone, ivory, wood, antler,
red ochre, and sinew
artifact reproductions

Here's an overdue look at the reproductions that I recently completed for a new exhibit in a suitcase that is being designed and assembled by Robyn Lacy for the Newfoundland and Labrador Archaeological Society.  The pieces that I made primarily represent the Indigenous and Pre-Contact cultures of the Province.  The diverse array of materials used in the reproductions include wood, antler, ivory, whalebone, sealskin, sinew, slate, chert, steel, caribou bone, red ochre, and cotton cordage.  In addition to the pieces that I made, Robyn gathered and made several more pieces that represent the Norse and European presence in the province.  Using reproductions allows the edukit to be used in a much more interactive way than if it was stocked with real artifacts.

Roughing out the composite pieces, including a slate ulu, wood snow goggles, and a steel crooked knife.  The small object in the middle is a reproduction of a Dorset polar bear head carving made from walrus tusk ivory.

Snow googles (Inuit), Maritime Archaic slate lance, Dorset knife, Beothuk arrowhead, Palaeoeskimo hafted side-scraper, Maritime Archaic whalebone barbed fish spear prong, ground slate ulu (Inuit), roof slate (Historic European), polar bear head carving (Dorset), Beothuk pendant, and crooked knife (Mi'kmaq/Innu)

The wood snow goggles are reproductions of Inuit goggles used to prevent snow blindness on bright spring days seal hunting.  The leather straps are sealskin and they are lashed in place with sinew.

Ground slate ulu, with a wood handle and sinew lashing.  This reproduction is based on a slate ulu blade from Labrador that is on display in The Rooms. The arrowhead in the upper right hand corner is a Little Passage or Beothuk style point.

I made two different styles of Dorset polar bear head carvings. The more natural carving on the left is the one in the kit.  The one on the right is a highly stylized 2D carving of a bear head.

Photo Credits: Tim Rast

Crooked Knife

Crooked knife made from a file like the one
shown beside it

I recently completed a set of reproductions based on artifacts from Newfoundland and Labrador for the Newfoundland and Labrador Archaeological Society.  The NLAS is making an exhibit in a suitcase that contains reproductions and activities that can travel around and be used in places like schools to help interpret the Province's archaeological past.  One of the tools in the kit is a crooked knife.  The crooked knife is an historic tool that is still used today by Innu and Mi'kmaq in the Province.  The reproduction that I made is generic enough that it might be at home on the Island or in Labrador, although I primarily used Innu tools as references. My main source was this one in the collections of the Canadian Museum of History.  

The file fits into a slot cut into the side of the handle

Crooked knives were made from re-purposed iron, especially iron files.  I used a file to make this one.  I broke an inch or so off of the end of the file, so that I'd have a 4-5" long blade.  I sharpened it along one edge (and then dulled it again to make it safe to handle).  A bit of heat and a hammer and anvil is enough to curve the tip.  These are a type of draw knife and the crook in the handle is there to support your thumb as you draw the blade towards you.  

A matching wood plug fits into the socket

The tang of the file/knife blade is fit into the wood handle by gouging out an open socket on one side of the handle.  The way the blade is fit into the handle seems to be one of the slight variations in design between the knives made on the Island of Newfoundland and those made in Labrador.   On the Island, the Mi'kmaq would fit the blade in a slot in the middle of the handle or the back edge rather than an open faced socket, like this one, which is modeled after an Innu example.  A matching wooden plug is carved to close the socket and everything is then lashed securely in place.  I used a cotton thread for this lashing.  I've seen reference to rawhide being used here, but I haven't really come across any good ethnographic examples with rawhide.  Rawhide makes good lashing, but on a handle like this, I could imagine the sweat from someone's hand making the binding rubbery and loose on a hot summer's day.  I think something that doesn't expand of loosen with moisture would be more desirable.

The assembled knife, ready for lashing

Finished.

Photo Credits: Tim Rast

Elfshot and NLAS

Pieces for a sandbox dig

I've been splitting my time over the past week in a few different places.  I should be spending the bulk of my time on Elfshot, as that is what pays the bills these days, but volunteering with the Newfoundland and Labrador Archaeological Society is a lot of fun, too.  I'm not often home in August, so I guess this is all bonus time anyhow.  

Tim Rast (President, NLAS), Darin King (Minister

 of Business, Tourism, Culture and Rural 

Development), John Riche (Chair, Admiralty 

House Museum), Steve Kent (Deputy Premier)

Last week, the Minister of Business, Tourism, Culture and Rural Development, Darin King, announced $1.2 Million Dollars in support of the heritage sector in Newfoundland and Labrador.  The NLAS receives a small part of that money to deliver the Community Collections Archaeology Research Project and I was invited to speak briefly at the announcement about our project.  It was good exposure for the NLAS and I was happy to attend the event held at Admiralty House and Museum in Mount Pearl.

"The Great Wall" at
Hant's Harbour

On Saturday, the NLAS held it's first field trip.  In total, 17 people toured the curious stone features at Hant's Harbour.  Local tradition suggests that some of the features have an aboriginal origin, although numerous archaeological examinations of the features suggest a more recent early-mid 19th Century European context for the stone walls, rock piles, and cobble paths.  We had beautiful weather and a walk through the woods always does a person good.  You can read more about the trip and see more photos on the NLAS Blog: Hant's Harbour Field Trip 2015.

Discussing the origins of the rock pile

A walrus ivory and copper Thule Inuit harpoon
head reproduction and an antler and chert
Dorset Palaeoeskimo harpoon head.

Back in the workshop, I've been finishing up the Dorset Palaeoeskimo and Thule Inuit sets of artifact reproductions for use in a travelling sandbox dig for students in Nunavut.  The pieces are all finished now, except for a bit of antiquing.  I should be able to do the final photography on them tomorrow and move on to some other aspects of the project.  We want to include a hands-on artifact replication component to the travelling kit, so I'll need to construct a few bow drills and think about the logistics of keeping the kit resupplied between uses.

Photo Credits:
1,5: Tim Rast
2-4: Lori White

Happy 2nd Birthday NLAS!

The Newfoundland and Labrador Archaeological Society was incorporated two years ago today - on May 29, 2013.  Happy Birthday and congratulations to all the volunteers who've been working to make the organization grow!

Photo Credit: From the Newfoundland and Labrador Archaeological Society Facebook Page.

Dr. Barry Gaulton talks about Ferryland on Youtube

Dr. Barry Gaulton's Coffee and Culture talk entitled George Calvert, David Kirke, and Jim Tuck: three visionaries and their impact on Ferryland, Newfoundland is now on the Newfoundland and Labrador Archaeological Society's YouTube channel.  Thanks to The Rooms for hosting this talk.  You can watch it here.

Photo Credit: Screen Capture from NLAS Arch Youtube Channel

NLAS Talks at The Rooms

Dr. Moro speaking at The Rooms

I'm getting in the door now after attending Dr. Oscar Moro Abadia's suberb talk at The Rooms on the history of Palaeolithic art.  Dr. Moro talked about the earliest attempts by scholars to understand the complexity of artistic images from the Palaeolithic as they were first discovered in the late 19th century.  He went on to explore the subsequent evolution of our understanding of Palaeolithic art during the 20th century and the diversification of the discipline that has taken place in the past 30 years or so.  It was fascinating to journey to follow.

You can check out the complete talk on the NLAS Youtube channel .

Tomorrow afternoon, Dr. Barry Gaulton will be speaking about the history and archaeology of Ferryland.  I hope to see you there!

Photo Credits: Tim Rast

Two NLAS Archaeology Talks at The Rooms This Week

Excavating the Mansion
house at Ferryland

This week, the Newfoundland and Labrador Archaeological Society and The Rooms are proud to present talks by Dr. Oscar Moro Abadia and Dr. Barry Gaulton, both from the Archaeology Department at Memorial University of Newfoundland.  The talks will take place in The Rooms theatre, here in St. John's.

Dr. Oscar Moro Abadia will be speaking as part of The Rooms Engaging Evenings speaker series on Wednesday, April 1st at 7:00 PM.  His talk is titled: One Hundred and Fifty Years of Prehistoric Art: A History of Paleolithic Images. More information is available on the NLAS website. 

Dr. Barry Gaulton will be speaking on Thursday, April 2nd at 2:30 PM during The Rooms Coffee and Culture lectures.  Dr. Gaulton's talk is called: George Calvert, David Kirke, and Jim Tuck: three visionaries and their impact on Ferryland, Newfoundland. More information is available on the NLAS website.

As always, the talks will be live streamed and archived on the NLAS Arch Youtube channel.

Photo Credit: Dr. Barry Gaulton

It's all still worth it.

The Happiest Little Ulu

Its Friday night and the week just keeps rolling along.  Tomorrow we have an NLAS Board meeting and on Sunday I have housework.  I'm not terribly good at multi-tasking, so this week has kept me hopping.  Most of Wednesday was dedicated to preparation for all the different meetings that I had lined up for Thursday.  On Thursday morning I worked with the Open Minds students at The Rooms, where we talked about Inuit tools and experimental archaeology and then made ground stone artifact reproductions.

Always a favourite teacher and class to work with in the Open Minds program at The Rooms

Getting closer...

Since I was at The Rooms already, I popped down to the archaeology lab and visited the Ikaahuk artifacts.  There's a certain amount of deep breathing necessary to transition from working with two dozen 10 year olds to planning millimetre by millimetre cuts to antler and ivory reproductions.  In the afternoon I played catch-up on e-mail then in the evening we had our last evening of the MUNArch flintknapping workshop, where we worked with glues and sinew to haft stone tools.

Knapping and hafting tools in the Great Hall with MUNArch

 Photo Credits: Tim Rast

A good long day

It was a busy day of busy work.  We had a new washer and dryer set delivered to the house after the transmission went in the old washing machine and covered a load of white laundry with little black grease spots.  The delivery could have meant hours of hanging around and waiting for the Sears truck., but luckily we were one of the first on the list, so after dismantling and remantling the patio door, basement, and laundry room I still had enough time in the day to get an Elfshot order in the mail.  The evening was fun, too.  Lori and I got to hang out with the new Newfoundland and Labrador Archaeological Society Executive Committee at our old pub for the first NLAS exec meeting of the 2014/2015 year.

Photo Credits: Tim Rast

French Archaeology in Newfoundland and the NLAS AGM

Dr. Amanda Crompton speaking at The Rooms

To cap off a busy day, the NLAS helped organize a talk this evening at The Rooms followed by our 2nd Annual General Meeting.  Amanda Crompton spoke about her research into understanding the French history of the region of Newfoundland called the Chapeau Rouge. This prominent landmark, which looks a little like a squashed hat, has an interesting, but poorly understood history.  With at least 50 people in the room, this was the best attended NLAS event to date.  You can view Amanda's talk on the NLAS youtube channel here.

Immediately following the talk, the NLAS held a brief AGM where we presented the results of our last year's activities and talked a little bit about our future plans.  You can view the AGM on our Youtube Channel here.

Photo Credits: Tim Rast

NLAS AGM and Talks, November 12&13

The Newfoundland and Labrador Archaeological Society is holding its Annual General Meeting on the evening of November 12 at The Rooms.  The AGM follows a talk by Amanda Crompton.  The next day, members of the Coastal Archaeological Resource Risk Assessment (CARRA) Project will be speaking at the Rooms about their work.

Photo Credits: NLAS

Elfshot News

Flintknapping for Arch 2480

Earlier this week I did a flintknapping demo at Memorial University of Newfoundland for the Archaeology 2480 students.  The instructor, Amanda Crompton, took this photo and submitted a brief write-up to the department website, which you can view here: Archaeologist Tim Rast demonstrates flintknapping techniques to students.  If you're in St. John's you may recognize Amanda's name because she is giving an NLAS talk at The Rooms next Wednesday evening (Nov 12, 7PM) called "FINDING THE CHAPEAU ROUGE: THE HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY OF FRENCH SETTLEMENT IN PLACENTIA BAY BEFORE 1720", and if you're a member of the Canadian Archaeological Association, then you may recognize Amanda's name as the Conference Chair of the 2015 CAA Conference being held in St. John's at the end of April.  

Me and my camera

Speaking of the CAA conference, I have some overdue news to report from the 2014 Conference held in London, Ontario.  I won a Canadian Archaeology Association YouTube Award! Its for the video clips that I made last spring talking about the Dorset Palaeoeskimo drum reproductions and the sequence of markings that adorn the drum frame.  I was nominated by Matt Betts and the award was sponsored by the Canadian Museum of History.  I wasn't able to attend the conference for the announcement or to receive the prize, which was waiting for me in a pile of post-fieldwork and post-Italy mail.  The awards committee let me know about the prize shortly before the conference, which was when I was gearing up for the field, so I pre-emptively spent the prize money on a new camera.  It seemed appropriate, since my last camera died while I was visiting the Canadian Museum of History in the spring to research the Dorset drums.  I bought a Nikon Coolpix P600 and I've used it to take almost all of the photos shown on this blog since June. 

Photo Credits:
1: Amanda Crompton
2: Lori White

A busy week for the NLAS

Dorset Palaeoeskimo Endblades from
The Anstey Site, Twillingate

I've been home for a little over a week now and already the summer feels like a lifetime ago.  I'm taking babysteps back towards getting back into the workshop and the production side of Elfshot up and running again, but last week was all about the Newfoundland and Labrador Archaeological Society (I'm the current NLAS President).  Last week we had a Board meeting, an Executive meeting, a Planning Committee meeting, and a meet-and-greet at the MUNArch mixer.  Already this week we've issued a Press Release and done one quick VOCM radio interview about our big summer Community Collections Archaeological Research Project.

Photo Credit: Robert Anstey, courtesy of the Newfoundland and Labrador Archaeological Society

It's important to stay hydrated

Photo Credits: Tim Rast

Our NLAS CafePress order arrived!

The first order from the new Newfoundland and Labrador Archaeological Society CafePress Shop arrived yesterday afternoon.  This was my first time ordering anything from CafePress, so I wasn't sure what to expect.  I'm really happy with the quality of all the products.  Lori got a canvas tote bag and a 1 litre sigg water bottle. I got the same water bottle and a hat.

The NLAS will be rolling out new products from time to time, but there is already a lot to choose from.  I'd certainly recommend the water bottles and canvas bags to friends.  The hat is a good quality hat, but there's something about a transfer print on a hat that looks a little flat.  We'll get embroidered hats sometime, but for now, if the printing on the t-shirts is anything like the printing on the bag, then I'd say get a t-shirt instead.  I'm really happy with this shop and Catherine Jalbert and the NLAS events committee deserves a big pat on the back for this.  The NLAS share of sales from the shop goes towards sponsoring our upcoming talks and workshops; like the Archaeology Skills Workshop: How to Report an Archaeology Site coming up this Sunday, May 18th.

Photo Credits: Tim Rast

NLAS Skills Workshop: How to Report an Archaeology Site

In the first of a series of Archaeology Skills Workshops presented by the Newfoundland and Labrador Archaeological Society, Steve Hull will present "How to Report an Archaeology Site."  Steve works in the Provincial Archaeology Office.  He edits the Provincial Archaeology Office Annual Review and is the man behind the award winning "Inside Newfoundland and Labrador Archaeology" blog.  

This workshop is open to anyone 16 years of age and older, regardless of your archaeology background.  Steve will cover everything from what to do it you accidentally find an artifact to how to correctly fill out Site Record Forms.  The workshop is geared especially towards members of the public with no formal archaeology background and archaeologists in training who may not have held a permit or reported a site yet, although anyone with an interest in archaeology in the Province can get something out of it.  I plan to take it as a refresher on the permit paperwork in the Province and the Historic Resources Act.  I want to know exactly what advice I should be giving to people when they come to me with an artifact that they have found.

Instructor: Steve Hull (Provincial Archaeology Office)

Place: QC-2013 (Queen's College, MUN Campus, St. John's)

Date: May 18, 2014 

Time: 1-4 PM

Price: $10 for NLAS members, $35 for Non-members

Please RSVP by e-mail to nlas@nlarchsociety.ca

Photo Credit: NLAS Poster

The NLAS has been busy

Planning for the future

I've attended a few Newfoundland and Labrador Archaeological Society meetings in the past week or so.  We had an executive meeting last week and then a public planning meeting on the weekend.  Following the weekend brainstorming session, the Planning Committee got together on Tuesday to distill some of the great ideas we heard into a manageable 3 year plan.  We very nearly have a draft of the plan ready for the board to vote on at our next board meeting in early February.  We'll need the plan in place in order to apply for funding and seek charitable status for the NLAS.  I wish I was as organized with my own business as we are with the NLAS.  Of course having a large pool of energetic volunteers helps a lot.

We had a good turnout and some new faces at the public planning meeting last Saturday.  We generated dozens of ideas for services to offer members and directions to take the society.  We're organizing those ideas into themes and laying them out as a road-map that the society will follow for the next three years.

Photo Credits: Tim Rast

First Order of 2014 - Shipped!

Antler billets and pressure flaking kits

The first Elfshot order of 2014 is out the door and shipped.  A friend in New York ordered a bunch of flintknapping kits and moose antler billets to use with his students. It was the perfect sized order to ease back into the workshop.  Most of the week has gone into planning a flintknapping trip to western Canada for the spring, outlining some potential work with the Inuit Heritage Trust for next winter, and writing a couple of brief reviews.  I am so grateful for (and jealous of) people who are good at organizing and writing, because I find both activities extremely difficult.  This morning, I managed to finish a short summary of the Newfoundland and Labrador Archaeological Society's first year for the Provinicial Archaeology Office's annual report series and this afternoon I'm continuing to stab away at a book review that is increasingly overdue.  Right now, the closest thing that I can find to motivation for writing is a desire to pad out the rest of the work week with a few more productive hours so that tomorrow's planned snowshoe, greasy pub, and wine tasting adventure feels like an earned break.

Assorted small moose antler billets.  The smallest ones can double as pressure flakers.

Photo Credits: Tim Rast

The NLAS has a Board of Directors

NLAS President, Tim Rast, and Vice-President,
Catherine Jalbert, at the 2013 AGM

The Newfoundland and Labrador Archaeological Society had its first board meeting this past weekend.  Looking back through the blog posts from the last month and I'm just realizing now that I haven't mentioned anything here about the outcome of the NLAS Annual General Meeting back on November 4th.  James Lyttleton gave an excellent talk on last summer's archaeology field school at Admiralty House in Mount Pearl and on World War I archaeology in general.  During the AGM we voted to accept our constitution and we also announced our new Board of Directors and Executive Committee.

The NLAS Executive Committee is:

Tim Rast: President

Catherine Jalbert: Vice-President

Lori White: Treasurer

Sarah Ingram: Secretary

The NLAS Board of Directors for 2013-2014 is:

John Erwin

Chris Wolff

Corey Hutchings

Scott Neilsen

Screen capture from
James Lyttleton's talk

At the board meeting this past weekend we struck a few committees responsible for specific tasks, like preparing a 3-5 year business plan, applying for funding, planning events, and developing a website.  One of the things that we'll be putting up on the website are links to videos of NLAS talks and public meetings, including the AGM and James Lyttleton's talk.  In the meantime, you can continue to follow the NLAS Facebook page, where you'll find membership forms and information on how to get more involved.

Photo Credits: Screen Captures from NLAS videos

Free Public Lecture: MUN Archaeology Field School Talk and NLAS AGM

This Monday night Dr. James Lyttleton will be giving a free public talk on the 2013 Memorial University Archaeology Field School that was held on the grounds of Admiralty House, in Mount Pearl.  Here is a newspaper article on the site from July: Excavation Begins at Admiralty House.

Immediately following the talk, the Newfoundland and Labrador Archaeological Society will be holding its first Annual General Meeting.  This brief meeting will be an excellent recap of the Society to date and an opportunity for you to become a member and help us vote in the new Constitution and welcome our first Executive Committee and Board of Directors.

Where: QC 4028, Queen's College, MUN 

When: November 4, 7 PM 

How Much: Free (Doors open at 6:30 and you can become an NLAS member, although membership is not mandatory to attend this event)

Photo Credit: Newfoundland and Labrador Archaeological Society