Matthew Betts
Biographic Data
| ID | 4124685 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Matthew Betts |
| GIVEN NAMES | Matthew |
| FAMILY NAME | Betts |
| SIGNATURE | BETTS M |
| AFFILIATIONS | Musée de la Civilisation |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 20 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 82 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 19 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2000 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2023 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Late Maritime Woodland period hunter-fisher-gatherer complexity in the Far Northeast: Toward an historical and contingent approach
The Archaeology of the Atlantic Northeast
The first comprehensive look at the archaeological history of the Atlantic Northeast, this book presents the archaeology of the region from the earliest Indigenous occupation to the first centuries of European occupation
Place-Making in the Pretty Harbour: The Archaeology of Port Joli, Nova Scotia
Introduction: North American East Coast Shell Middens
Archaeological shell bearing deposits, or shell middens, are ubiquitous along the Atlantic Seaboard, and have been the focus of archaeological interest for more than a century. This volume presents recent research on shell-bearing deposits from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Chesapeake Bay. The papers cover topics ranging from fundamental subsistence changes as reflected in archaeofaunas, to the role of select species in hunting practices and diets,…
An Economic History of the Maritime Woodland Period in Port Joli Harbour, Nova Scotia
Five seasons of survey and excavation in Port Joli Harbour, NS, Canada, have resulted in a high-resolution archaeofaunal sample from 2 contrasting shell-bearing sites: AlDf-24, and AlDf-30 (Jack's Brook). In this paper, we discuss the evidence for differences in mollusk-, fish-, and mammal-harvesting strategies between contemporaneously occupied sites. Furthermore, we highlight shifts in Mi'kmaw exploitation of coastal resources around the Middle…
A Relational Approach to Hunter-Gatherer Architecture and Gendered Use of Space at Port Joli Harbour, Nova Scotia
Dwellings are unique arenas in which hunter-gatherers meet socially on a daily basis. Increasingly, archaeologists recognize that the relationships between people, entities, places, and objects form the basis of hunter-gatherer ontology. The spatial patterning of dwellings and the activities within them are among the ways that relational ontologies are expressed and maintained. We consider the gendered patterning of Maritime Woodland period archi…
How Animals Create Human History: Relational Ecology and the Dorset-Polar Bear Connection
Carvings that represent polar bears (Ursus maritimus) are commonly found in Dorset Paleo-Eskimo archaeological sites across the eastern Arctic. Relational ecology, combined with Amerindian perspectivism, provides an integrated framework within which to comprehensively assess the connections between Dorset and polar bears. By considering the representational aspects of the objects, we reveal an ethology of polar bears encoded within the carvings' …
Human-ecosystem interactions in relation to Holocene environmental change in Port Joli Harbour, southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada
A high-resolution pollen record from Path Lake in Port Joli Harbour, Nova Scotia, Canada, provides a paleo-ecological perspective on Holocene climate and vegetation variability within the context of local archaeological research. Pollen assemblages in the early Holocene reflect a post-glacial forest dominated by Pinus , Tsuga , Betula and Quercus . During this time, a lower frequency of radiocarbon dated cultural material suggests lower human set…
Identifying ritual structures in the archaeological record: A Maritime Woodland period sweathouse from Nova Scotia, Canada
Identification of a Pre-Contact Polar Bear Victim at Native Point, Southampton Island, Nunavut, Using 3D Technology and a Virtual Zooarchaeology Collection
The skeletal remains of an adult Sadlermiut woman with obvious trauma to her cranial and post-cranial skeleton were excavated from Native Point (KkHh-1), Southampton Island, Nunavut, in 1954. In order to determine the possible cause of this damage, we first documented the skeletal injuries using traditional bioarchaeological techniques. We then created a three-dimensional model of the cranium and mandible to permit better visualization and analys…
Zooarchaeology of the Historic Cod Fishery in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
Allometry and growth-increment aging of archaeological fish remains has the potential to reveal much about past fishing strategies, fish processing and trade, and fish populations. This paper documents the age and size characteristics of four samples of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) bones from early European contexts at Red Bay, Ferryland, Bay Bulls, and Crouse, which collectively span the middle 16th to early 19th centuries AD. The samples, which …
Archaeofaunal signatures of specialized bowhead whaling in the Western Canadian Arctic: A Regional Study
Betts, Matthew W., Friesen, Max (2013): Archaeofaunal signatures of specialized bowhead whaling in the Western Canadian Arctic: a regional study. Anthropozoologica 48 (1): 53-73, DOI: 10.5252/az2013n1a3, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5252/az2013n1a3
Perspectivism, Mortuary Symbolism, and Human-Shark Relationships on the Maritime Peninsula
Shark teeth are commonly found in mortuary and ritual contexts throughout the Northeast. On the Maritime Peninsula, shark teeth have been identified in mortuary assemblages spanning the Late Archaic through to the Late Woodland periods (ca. 5000 B.P. to 950 B.P.). Beyond the Maritime Peninsula, shark teeth have been recovered from Woodland period contexts ranging from Chesapeake Bay to the Ohio River. Amerindian perspectivism, or cosmológical dei…
Virtual zooarchaeology: Building a web-based reference collection of northern vertebrates for archaeofaunal research and education
The Mackenzie Inuit Whale Bone Industry: Raw Material, Tool Manufacture, Scheduling, and Trade
The bones of bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) were used by Mackenzie Inuit groups in producing a number of items essential to transportation and procurement. However, the whale bone industry, and its relationship to Mackenzie Inuit economic and social systems, is poorly understood. A recently excavated archaeological assemblage from McKinley Bay, Northwest Territories, provides a record of intensive Nuvugarmiut whale bone tool manufacture, whi…
Declining foraging returns from an inexhaustible resource? Abundance indices and beluga whaling in the western Canadian Arctic
Seven Focal Economies for Six Focal Places: The Development of Economic Diversity in the Western Canadian Arctic
The Mackenzie River Delta is, by arctic standards, an area of unique ecological productivity and richness. Capitalizing on this resource abundance, Neoeskimo groups inhabiting the Mackenzie Delta region developed a diverse range of focal subsistence strategies, which evolved to support one of the most populous Inuit societies in the Canadian Arctic. By the historic period, the Mackenzie Inuit (the ancestors of the modern Inuvialuit) appear to hav…
Quantifying hunter–gatherer intensification: A zooarchaeological case study from Arctic Canada
Middle Epipalaeolithic Sites in Wadi Ziqlab, Northern Jordan
L 'étude des outils microlithiques de deux sites épipaléolithiques de la vallée du Wadi Ziqlab, au nord de la Jordanie, résiste à l 'application simple des systèmes typochronologiques ordinaires. L 'examen systématique des caractères individuels, de ces typologies, permet d'attribuer les deux assemblages à l'Epipaléolithique Moyen, malgré les différences qu'ils présentent. Cette interprétation et l 'association de ces sites avec un paléosol disti…
Rock Surface Hardness as an Indication of Exposure Age: An Archaeological Application of the Schmidt Hammer
A Schmidt Hammer was employed in evaluating the surface hardness of rocks which line ancient anthropogenic pit features, known as Pukaskwa pits, on the north shore of Lake Superior, Canada. This technique offers a possible new method of producing relative ana absolute dates for such exposed stone features Analysis of the data has provided a relative chronology for the pit features, representing two distinct construction phases. The range of absol…
Virtual zooarchaeology: Building a web-based reference collection of northern vertebrates for archaeofaunal research and education
Perspectivism, Mortuary Symbolism, and Human-Shark Relationships on the Maritime Peninsula
Shark teeth are commonly found in mortuary and ritual contexts throughout the Northeast. On the Maritime Peninsula, shark teeth have been identified in mortuary assemblages spanning the Late Archaic through to the Late Woodland periods (ca. 5000 B.P. to 950 B.P.). Beyond the Maritime Peninsula, shark teeth have been recovered from Woodland period contexts ranging from Chesapeake Bay to the Ohio River. Amerindian perspectivism, or cosmológical dei…
How Animals Create Human History: Relational Ecology and the Dorset-Polar Bear Connection
Carvings that represent polar bears (Ursus maritimus) are commonly found in Dorset Paleo-Eskimo archaeological sites across the eastern Arctic. Relational ecology, combined with Amerindian perspectivism, provides an integrated framework within which to comprehensively assess the connections between Dorset and polar bears. By considering the representational aspects of the objects, we reveal an ethology of polar bears encoded within the carvings' …
Declining foraging returns from an inexhaustible resource? Abundance indices and beluga whaling in the western Canadian Arctic
Middle Epipalaeolithic Sites in Wadi Ziqlab, Northern Jordan
L 'étude des outils microlithiques de deux sites épipaléolithiques de la vallée du Wadi Ziqlab, au nord de la Jordanie, résiste à l 'application simple des systèmes typochronologiques ordinaires. L 'examen systématique des caractères individuels, de ces typologies, permet d'attribuer les deux assemblages à l'Epipaléolithique Moyen, malgré les différences qu'ils présentent. Cette interprétation et l 'association de ces sites avec un paléosol disti…
An Economic History of the Maritime Woodland Period in Port Joli Harbour, Nova Scotia
Five seasons of survey and excavation in Port Joli Harbour, NS, Canada, have resulted in a high-resolution archaeofaunal sample from 2 contrasting shell-bearing sites: AlDf-24, and AlDf-30 (Jack's Brook). In this paper, we discuss the evidence for differences in mollusk-, fish-, and mammal-harvesting strategies between contemporaneously occupied sites. Furthermore, we highlight shifts in Mi'kmaw exploitation of coastal resources around the Middle…
A Relational Approach to Hunter-Gatherer Architecture and Gendered Use of Space at Port Joli Harbour, Nova Scotia
Dwellings are unique arenas in which hunter-gatherers meet socially on a daily basis. Increasingly, archaeologists recognize that the relationships between people, entities, places, and objects form the basis of hunter-gatherer ontology. The spatial patterning of dwellings and the activities within them are among the ways that relational ontologies are expressed and maintained. We consider the gendered patterning of Maritime Woodland period archi…
Seven Focal Economies for Six Focal Places: The Development of Economic Diversity in the Western Canadian Arctic
The Mackenzie River Delta is, by arctic standards, an area of unique ecological productivity and richness. Capitalizing on this resource abundance, Neoeskimo groups inhabiting the Mackenzie Delta region developed a diverse range of focal subsistence strategies, which evolved to support one of the most populous Inuit societies in the Canadian Arctic. By the historic period, the Mackenzie Inuit (the ancestors of the modern Inuvialuit) appear to hav…
Archaeofaunal signatures of specialized bowhead whaling in the Western Canadian Arctic: A Regional Study
Betts, Matthew W., Friesen, Max (2013): Archaeofaunal signatures of specialized bowhead whaling in the Western Canadian Arctic: a regional study. Anthropozoologica 48 (1): 53-73, DOI: 10.5252/az2013n1a3, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5252/az2013n1a3
Late Maritime Woodland period hunter-fisher-gatherer complexity in the Far Northeast: Toward an historical and contingent approach
Zooarchaeology of the Historic Cod Fishery in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
Allometry and growth-increment aging of archaeological fish remains has the potential to reveal much about past fishing strategies, fish processing and trade, and fish populations. This paper documents the age and size characteristics of four samples of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) bones from early European contexts at Red Bay, Ferryland, Bay Bulls, and Crouse, which collectively span the middle 16th to early 19th centuries AD. The samples, which …
Rock Surface Hardness as an Indication of Exposure Age: An Archaeological Application of the Schmidt Hammer
A Schmidt Hammer was employed in evaluating the surface hardness of rocks which line ancient anthropogenic pit features, known as Pukaskwa pits, on the north shore of Lake Superior, Canada. This technique offers a possible new method of producing relative ana absolute dates for such exposed stone features Analysis of the data has provided a relative chronology for the pit features, representing two distinct construction phases. The range of absol…
Middle Epipalaeolithic Sites in Wadi Ziqlab, Northern Jordan
L 'étude des outils microlithiques de deux sites épipaléolithiques de la vallée du Wadi Ziqlab, au nord de la Jordanie, résiste à l 'application simple des systèmes typochronologiques ordinaires. L 'examen systématique des caractères individuels, de ces typologies, permet d'attribuer les deux assemblages à l'Epipaléolithique Moyen, malgré les différences qu'ils présentent. Cette interprétation et l 'association de ces sites avec un paléosol disti…
Quantifying hunter–gatherer intensification: A zooarchaeological case study from Arctic Canada
Seven Focal Economies for Six Focal Places: The Development of Economic Diversity in the Western Canadian Arctic
The Mackenzie River Delta is, by arctic standards, an area of unique ecological productivity and richness. Capitalizing on this resource abundance, Neoeskimo groups inhabiting the Mackenzie Delta region developed a diverse range of focal subsistence strategies, which evolved to support one of the most populous Inuit societies in the Canadian Arctic. By the historic period, the Mackenzie Inuit (the ancestors of the modern Inuvialuit) appear to hav…
Declining foraging returns from an inexhaustible resource? Abundance indices and beluga whaling in the western Canadian Arctic
The Mackenzie Inuit Whale Bone Industry: Raw Material, Tool Manufacture, Scheduling, and Trade
The bones of bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) were used by Mackenzie Inuit groups in producing a number of items essential to transportation and procurement. However, the whale bone industry, and its relationship to Mackenzie Inuit economic and social systems, is poorly understood. A recently excavated archaeological assemblage from McKinley Bay, Northwest Territories, provides a record of intensive Nuvugarmiut whale bone tool manufacture, whi…
Virtual zooarchaeology: Building a web-based reference collection of northern vertebrates for archaeofaunal research and education
Perspectivism, Mortuary Symbolism, and Human-Shark Relationships on the Maritime Peninsula
Shark teeth are commonly found in mortuary and ritual contexts throughout the Northeast. On the Maritime Peninsula, shark teeth have been identified in mortuary assemblages spanning the Late Archaic through to the Late Woodland periods (ca. 5000 B.P. to 950 B.P.). Beyond the Maritime Peninsula, shark teeth have been recovered from Woodland period contexts ranging from Chesapeake Bay to the Ohio River. Amerindian perspectivism, or cosmológical dei…
Archaeofaunal signatures of specialized bowhead whaling in the Western Canadian Arctic: A Regional Study
Betts, Matthew W., Friesen, Max (2013): Archaeofaunal signatures of specialized bowhead whaling in the Western Canadian Arctic: a regional study. Anthropozoologica 48 (1): 53-73, DOI: 10.5252/az2013n1a3, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5252/az2013n1a3
Human-ecosystem interactions in relation to Holocene environmental change in Port Joli Harbour, southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada
A high-resolution pollen record from Path Lake in Port Joli Harbour, Nova Scotia, Canada, provides a paleo-ecological perspective on Holocene climate and vegetation variability within the context of local archaeological research. Pollen assemblages in the early Holocene reflect a post-glacial forest dominated by Pinus , Tsuga , Betula and Quercus . During this time, a lower frequency of radiocarbon dated cultural material suggests lower human set…
Identifying ritual structures in the archaeological record: A Maritime Woodland period sweathouse from Nova Scotia, Canada
Identification of a Pre-Contact Polar Bear Victim at Native Point, Southampton Island, Nunavut, Using 3D Technology and a Virtual Zooarchaeology Collection
The skeletal remains of an adult Sadlermiut woman with obvious trauma to her cranial and post-cranial skeleton were excavated from Native Point (KkHh-1), Southampton Island, Nunavut, in 1954. In order to determine the possible cause of this damage, we first documented the skeletal injuries using traditional bioarchaeological techniques. We then created a three-dimensional model of the cranium and mandible to permit better visualization and analys…
Zooarchaeology of the Historic Cod Fishery in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
Allometry and growth-increment aging of archaeological fish remains has the potential to reveal much about past fishing strategies, fish processing and trade, and fish populations. This paper documents the age and size characteristics of four samples of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) bones from early European contexts at Red Bay, Ferryland, Bay Bulls, and Crouse, which collectively span the middle 16th to early 19th centuries AD. The samples, which …
How Animals Create Human History: Relational Ecology and the Dorset-Polar Bear Connection
Carvings that represent polar bears (Ursus maritimus) are commonly found in Dorset Paleo-Eskimo archaeological sites across the eastern Arctic. Relational ecology, combined with Amerindian perspectivism, provides an integrated framework within which to comprehensively assess the connections between Dorset and polar bears. By considering the representational aspects of the objects, we reveal an ethology of polar bears encoded within the carvings' …
Introduction: North American East Coast Shell Middens
Archaeological shell bearing deposits, or shell middens, are ubiquitous along the Atlantic Seaboard, and have been the focus of archaeological interest for more than a century. This volume presents recent research on shell-bearing deposits from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Chesapeake Bay. The papers cover topics ranging from fundamental subsistence changes as reflected in archaeofaunas, to the role of select species in hunting practices and diets,…
An Economic History of the Maritime Woodland Period in Port Joli Harbour, Nova Scotia
Five seasons of survey and excavation in Port Joli Harbour, NS, Canada, have resulted in a high-resolution archaeofaunal sample from 2 contrasting shell-bearing sites: AlDf-24, and AlDf-30 (Jack's Brook). In this paper, we discuss the evidence for differences in mollusk-, fish-, and mammal-harvesting strategies between contemporaneously occupied sites. Furthermore, we highlight shifts in Mi'kmaw exploitation of coastal resources around the Middle…
A Relational Approach to Hunter-Gatherer Architecture and Gendered Use of Space at Port Joli Harbour, Nova Scotia
Dwellings are unique arenas in which hunter-gatherers meet socially on a daily basis. Increasingly, archaeologists recognize that the relationships between people, entities, places, and objects form the basis of hunter-gatherer ontology. The spatial patterning of dwellings and the activities within them are among the ways that relational ontologies are expressed and maintained. We consider the gendered patterning of Maritime Woodland period archi…
Place-Making in the Pretty Harbour: The Archaeology of Port Joli, Nova Scotia
The Archaeology of the Atlantic Northeast
The first comprehensive look at the archaeological history of the Atlantic Northeast, this book presents the archaeology of the region from the earliest Indigenous occupation to the first centuries of European occupation
Late Maritime Woodland period hunter-fisher-gatherer complexity in the Far Northeast: Toward an historical and contingent approach
Geography (19 works) · Archaeology (18 works) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (15 works) · Ecology (12 works) · Indigenous Studies and Ecology (12 works) · Biology (11 works) · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology (9 works) · Arctic (5 works) · Ecology (5 works) · Fishery (5 works)