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Beaver River Quarry Archaeological Site
Fort MacKay, Near
Statement of Significance
Description of Historic Place
Beaver River Quarry Archaeological Site is situated on 49 hectares of land just north of the confluence of Beaver Creek with the Athabasca River. Set amidst a stand of jack pine on the rim of the Athabasca River valley, this site represents the first identified source of a distinctive bedrock outcrop known as Beaver River Silicified Sandstone (BRSS). This raw material exhibits characteristics well-suited for stone tool manufacture and evidence of this prehistoric activity can be found in abundance at the site. BRSS has represented the overwhelming choice of tool stone for human groups occupying the Lower Athabasca River area throughout the prehistoric time period. Since the discovery of this important site, BRSS has been found in numerous archaeological sites representing a vast array of ancient prehistoric activities.
Heritage Value
The heritage value of the Beaver River Quarry Archaeological Site lies in the repeated use of this locality by prehistoric human groups to quarry this bedrock outcrop to obtain high quality raw materials for making stone tools. The site represents the type source of this distinctive stone material against which newly discovered bedrock outcrops or buried sources can be correlated and compared.
The site represents one of the most significant quarrying and tool working localities used by prehistoric groups in northern Alberta. The thousands of debris flakes, stone tools and weapons recovered through repeated archaeological investigations at the site indicate use primarily as a quarry and tool manufacturing workshop. Analysis of the collected materials reveals much about the processes of ancient tool manufacture in the region and suggests intensive prehistoric use of the locality dating as far back as 10,000 years. Tracking the dispersal of this distinctive stone material to distant archaeological sites has assisted in reconstructions of prehistoric trade networks and seasonal settlement patterns. With its abundance of artifacts and excellent documentation, the Beaver River Quarry Archaeological Site offers vital insights into prehistoric human cultures that inhabited the Lower Athabasca River region of northern Alberta.
Source: Alberta Culture and Community Spirit, Historic Resources Management Branch (File: Des. 900)
Character-Defining Elements
The character-defining elements of the Beaver River Quarry Archaeological Site include such features as:
- location along the rim of the Athabasca River at its confluence with the Beaver River;
- local environment of alder, moss, lichen, and jack pine forest;
- presence of distinctive bedrock outcrop known as Beaver River Silicified Sandstone;
- composition and sequence of geological site strata;
- surface and sub-surface prehistoric artifacts associated with the site;
- information about ancient techniques of tool manufacture, prehistoric trade networks and seasonal settlement patterns.
Location
| Street Address: |
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| Community: |
Fort MacKay, Near |
| Boundaries: |
Portions of the north half of Legal Subdivisions 15 and 16 in Section 36-93-11-W4 and Legal Subdivisions 1 and 2 in Section 1-94-11-W4 |
| Contributing Resources: |
Archaeological Site / Remains: 1
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ATS Legal Description:
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Mer |
Rge |
Twp |
Sec |
LSD |
4
4
4
4
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11
11
11
11
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93
93
94
94
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36
36
1
1
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15 (ptn.)
16 (ptn.)
01
02
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PBL Legal Description (Cadastral Reference):
Latitude/Longitude:
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Latitude |
Longitude |
CDT |
Datum Type |
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57.120151 |
-111.621658 |
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NAD 83 |
UTM Reference:
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Northing |
Easting |
Zone |
CDT |
Datum Type |
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Recognition
| Recognition Authority: |
Province of Alberta |
| Designation Status: |
Provincial Historic Resource |
| Date of Designation: |
1985/12/30 |
Historical Information
| Built: |
N/A |
| Period of Significance: |
N/A |
| Theme(s): |
Developing Economies : Extraction and Production
Peopling the Land : Canada's Earliest Inhabitants
Peopling the Land : People and the Environment
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| Historic Function(s): |
Industry : Natural Resource Extraction Facility or Site
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| Current Function(s): |
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| Architect: |
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| Builder: |
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| Context: |
BUILDING/SITE DESCRIPTION
The Beaver River Quarry is comprised of a series of prehistoric archaeological sites, the most important of which is HgOv-29. Other, somewhat smaller sites including HgOv-31, HgOv-32, HgOv-51, HgOv-54, HgOv-56, HgOc-64, HgOv-65 and HgOv-70, are clustered tightly around HgOv-29. These sites occur on embankments and prominences immediately north and south of the embankments and prominences immediately north and south of the Beaver River, just to the southwest of the Athabasca Bridge. HgOv-29 is centered on a major surface exposure of bedrock known as "Beaver River Sandstone." Beaver River Sandstone is a hard, siliceous stone found within the lowest member of the McMurray Formation-the same geological formation which produces the bituminous sands. This sandstone has fracture or flaking properties which make it highly desirable as a raw material, manufacturing stone tools. Prehistoric Natives first began visiting the sites some 8,000 to 10,000 years ago, and continued to use the Beaver River Sandstone outcrops for stone raw materials until the fur trade made metals more widely available in the eighteenth century. Though some of the sites certainly represent domestic camps, the Beaver River Quarry sites have yielded collections dominated by stone tools, and especially the waste flake by-product from stone tool manufacturing. They thus served as workshop areas at which tools were formed.
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Beaver River Sandstone is by far and away the most important raw stone material to have been used in the Athabasca River valley; virtually every collection in the Fort MacKay region is totally dominated by the raw material. It was clearly vital to the stone technology of the prehistoric Natives living in the region.
Beaver River Quarry is a highly significant site, therefore, because:
1. It is the best-documented locality in which we know the raw material was recovered and put to use.
2. It is comprised of large complex of sites, most of which contain many thousands of artifacts.
3. It is a locality that has been used intensively for this purpose for the last 3,000 years, and probably for the last 10,000 years.
The Beaver River Quarry has a crucial role to play in reconstructing the procedures by which prehistoric stone tools were fashioned, and in charting how prehistoric Native populations moved seasonally throughout the large lower Athabasca region as part of their annual rounds.
(Site Information Summary)
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Additional Information
| Object Number: |
4665-0145 |
| Designation File: |
DES 0900 |
| Related Listing(s): |
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| Heritage Survey File: |
HS 19723
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| Website Link: |
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| Data Source: |
Alberta Culture and Community Spirit, Historic Resources Management Branch, Old St. Stephen's College, 8820 - 112 Street, Edmonton, AB T6G 2P8 (File: Des. 900) |
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