Plano Traditions
8000 - 6000 BC
The Late Palaeo Period is represented in Manitoba by the Plano tradition. The
transition to this new phase is not fully documented or understood and has been
the subject of several debates. All Late Palaeo cultures shared a distinctive
method of chipping stone that produced artifacts that differed from the fluted
points of the earlier phases. However, other cultural elements retained
characteristics of previous traditions within their tool kits, settlement patterns,
and subsistence practices. Accordingly, many archaeologists believe that the
Late Palaeo Period was a continuation of the Folsom traditions
The term Plano, applied to the artifacts and other cultural remains of the sub
period is derived from the Spanish word for Plains, the region over which the
tradition was dominant. Its full distribution extended from the Keewatin
District of the Northwest Territories to the Gulf of Mexico. In Manitoba this
phase was marked by an increase in population and migrations to new regions
in the wake of important environmental changes. The ice sheet that had
dominated much of the province disappeared in the southern and central
regions by 8,000 B.C., and Lake Agassiz diminished in size dramatically. The
climate was warmer and drier than during the Early Palaeo Period and the south
central Plains were transformed into a to semi-desert. Periodic occurrences of
drought reduced water supplies and caused the grasslands to expand
northwards, creating new grazing areas for bison.
Native populations also migrated into newly accessible land areas of the
northern and eastern parts of the province. Adaptations to regional
environmental conditions allowed the Plano groups to expand their distribution
from the Plains northward into the subarctic to specialize in caribou hunting
and eastward into the Boreal Forest areas, where they exploited diverse
woodland species, including moose, small mammals, and fish.
In accordance with development of divergent technologies specialized to
exploit different ecological zones, the Late Palaeo Period can be divided into
three geographical variants:



Western Plano,
Northern Plano, and
Eastern or Boreal Forest Plano (Caribou Lake Complex)
PLANO DISTRIBUTIONS
Western Plano
8,000-4,500 B.C.
Western Plano artifacts and associated cultural features originated on the
Plains, predominantly in response to the bison hunting. The standard fluted
spear points of earlier times gave way to points that were manufactured in
many new styles. The seasonal climatic changes and conditions had a
significant effect on every aspect of Western Plano life. The variety of
resources utilized by the people increased and were able to support denser and
more widely distributed populations as indicated by the increased number of
Manitoba archaeological sites during the period.
Subsistence Base and Technology
The Native peoples who developed the Western Plano culture hunted bison
both communally and individually depending on seasonal conditions. Summers
were spent on the grasslands where groups organized communal hunts
employing bison "jumps". This technique involved the stampeding of herds
over cliffs, river terraces, and valley walls. The Plano people then moved into
the bison wintering ground in the better wooded and sheltered areas before the
animals arrived in order to prepare kill sites at rivers and creeks where bison
were known to cross. The hunters positioned themselves at these strategic
locations in order to kill the animals as they emerged from the water and
became mired in the mud. Small animals, berries, fish and bird remains from
later Plano sites indicate that a wide variety of other resources were collected
for food and other uses, such as medicine.
The Plano projectile points serve as cultural and temporal
indicators of the period. They provide some of the finest
examples of stone tools ever manufactured in the province .
The Eden point for instance was 10-15 cm in length and less
than 3 cm wide. The flaking technique which was employed
produced a fine rippled effect. The delicacy of these points
made them extremely fragile and they may have been
produced for artistic or ceremonial rather than more
utilitarian uses.
Eden Point
Photo Credit: Biron
Ebell
In Manitoba, excavated Western Plano sites include the Duck River and TeePee
sites in the Swan River Valley. Other remains are limited to surface finds of
two types of projectile points: stemmed and unstemmed orlanceolate.
Stemmed Point
Lanceolate Point
(Agate Basin)
The stemmed points, which include
Scottsbluff, Alberta, Eden and a unique
form of knife called the Cody Knife, occur
in the western higher lying part of the
province above the Campbell Beach
Ridge and are grouped together as
the Horner or Cody Complex, dated
between 8,000 and 7,000 B.C. ( Pettipas
1970, 1985).
Lanceolate forms are part of the Sister
Hills Complex that replaced the Horner
Complex in the following millennium.
They include several types of projectile
points, such as Hell Gap and Agate Basin,
and are found over most of the southern
half of the province. It appears that, as
Lake Agassiz diminished, people
belonging to the Sister Hills Complex
moved into the new lands.
Settlement Pattern and Social Organization
Hunters and gatherers of the Western Plano period continued their
predecessors' patterns of nomadism. However the more diversified subsistence
pattern encouraged seasonal migrations between ecological zones, rather than
the general mobility of the Clovis and Folsom hunters tied to the movement of
big game animals. Foraging groups, possibly nuclear families, left innumerable
small campsites across the region. However, the limited remains offer little
information. The majority of excavated Western Plano sites are large kill sites
( Frison 1978) or quarries. Dwellings from the Western Plano period are rare
and they were probably structures that left little indication of their presence.
Western Plano
8,000-4,500 B.C.
Western Plano artifacts and associated cultural features originated on the
Plains, predominantly in response to the bison hunting. The standard fluted
spear points of earlier times gave way to points that were manufactured in
many new styles. The seasonal climatic changes and conditions had a
significant effect on every aspect of Western Plano life. The variety of
resources utilized by the people increased and were able to support denser and
more widely distributed populations as indicated by the increased number of
Manitoba archaeological sites during the period.
Subsistence Base and Technology
The Native peoples who developed the Western Plano culture hunted bison
both communally and individually depending on seasonal conditions. Summers
were spent on the grasslands where groups organized communal hunts
employing bison "jumps". This technique involved the stampeding of herds
over cliffs, river terraces, and valley walls. The Plano people then moved into
the bison wintering ground in the better wooded and sheltered areas before the
animals arrived in order to prepare kill sites at rivers and creeks where bison
were known to cross. The hunters positioned themselves at these strategic
locations in order to kill the animals as they emerged from the water and
became mired in the mud. Small animals, berries, fish and bird remains from
later Plano sites indicate that a wide variety of other resources were collected
for food and other uses, such as medicine.
The Plano projectile points serve as cultural and temporal
indicators of the period. They provide some of the finest
examples of stone tools ever manufactured in the province .
The Eden point for instance was 10-15 cm in length and less
than 3 cm wide. The flaking technique which was employed
produced a fine rippled effect. The delicacy of these points
made them extremely fragile and they may have been
produced for artistic or ceremonial rather than more
utilitarian uses.
Eden Point
Photo Credit: Biron
Ebell
In Manitoba, excavated Western Plano sites include the Duck River and TeePee
sites in the Swan River Valley. Other remains are limited to surface finds of
two types of projectile points: stemmed and unstemmed orlanceolate.
Stemmed Point
Lanceolate Point
(Agate Basin)
The stemmed points, which include
Scottsbluff, Alberta, Eden and a unique
form of knife called the Cody Knife, occur
in the western higher lying part of the
province above the Campbell Beach
Ridge and are grouped together as
the Horner or Cody Complex, dated
between 8,000 and 7,000 B.C. ( Pettipas
1970, 1985).
Lanceolate forms are part of the Sister
Hills Complex that replaced the Horner
Complex in the following millennium.
They include several types of projectile
points, such as Hell Gap and Agate Basin,
and are found over most of the southern
half of the province. It appears that, as
Lake Agassiz diminished, people
belonging to the Sister Hills Complex
moved into the new lands.
Settlement Pattern and Social Organization
Hunters and gatherers of the Western Plano period continued their
predecessors' patterns of nomadism. However the more diversified subsistence
pattern encouraged seasonal migrations between ecological zones, rather than
the general mobility of the Clovis and Folsom hunters tied to the movement of
big game animals. Foraging groups, possibly nuclear families, left innumerable
small campsites across the region. However, the limited remains offer little
information. The majority of excavated Western Plano sites are large kill sites
( Frison 1978) or quarries. Dwellings from the Western Plano period are rare
and they were probably structures that left little indication of their presence.
Eastern Plano
6000B.C. - 4000 B.C.
The Eastern, or Boreal Forest, Plano tradition extended from the southeastern
edge of glacial Lake Agassiz to Lake Superior. It is very well represented in
Manitoba by the Caribou Lake Complex named after a lake on the
Manigotagan River system. The Caribou Lake designation for this cultural
phase is one of the few instances in which a Manitoba location has been
identified as major archaeological unit and points to the importance of the sites
in the area.
The series of Manigotagan archaeological finds and the Sinnock Site on the
Winnipeg River form this complex which likely represents a late Plano
adaptation to the Boreal Forest/Plains transition zone. During this time (6,000
BC) the dryer conditions led to the eastward expansion of the prairie and
accordingly the range of the bison. Aboriginal bison hunters followed the game
into the newly formed grasslands and, in addition, took advantage of the forest
resources that were present on the eastern margins of their habitation.
Subsistence and Technology
The Native people of the Caribou Lake Complex were predominantly bison
hunters who followed the herds to the outer edge of the prairie, where stands of
woodland offered the animals a protected winter habitat. If the bison failed to
reach their wintering grounds from time to time, the hunters would have turned
to the resources of the Boreal Forest, such as moose, caribou and small
mammals, in order to survive until spring. The technology for hunting bison
could easily be adapted to other game animals.
The Caribou Lake Complex is characterized by narrow,
leaf-shaped lanceolate points, which are similar to Agate
Basin, but not as well made. and trihedral adzes, threesided ground or chipped stone tools which were used as
woodworking implements. Local stone, such as rhyolite,
quartz, quartzite, chert, basalt and granite were used to
make the various tools. Organic remains of food and other
Trihedral adze,
mounted on a
reconstructed handle.
Courtesy of the
Department of
Anthropology,
resources are absent.
University of
Winnipeg
Generalized Sequence of Occupation of
EfKv-6, Caribou Lake Site
While Pettipas has argued that this complex is an offshoot of the Late Sister
Hills Complex of southwestern Manitoba, that is Western Plano (Pettipas
1985), Harrison et al. (1995) emphasize its affinities to sites the east, observing
that:
"technological similarities, as well as the almost continuous distribution of
LHC (Lakehead Complex) and CLC (Caribou Lake Complex) related sites
across the region between Lake Superior and southeastern Manitoba, and
the apparent east-west movements of certain commodities like lithic raw
materials...point to a close cultural and possible ethnic link between the
Paleo-Indian groups of the region." (Harrison 1995:16).
Settlement Patterns and Social Organization
Little is known about the social organization of Caribou Lake Complex people.
They were probably organized into small groups. Their campsites indicate that
they inhabited the area at all seasons, taking advantage of the many different
available resources, but made local moves from site to site as the seasons
changed. Shallow, ash-filled hearth pits found within tent rings provide the first
direct evidence of dwelling structures in the Province.
The distribution of artifacts from the Sinnock Site, indicate that specialized
activity areas were set up. For example, a high proportion of butchering tools
near the water suggested that preliminary butchering took place here. As well,
stone scrapers and abraders in another location mark a hide preparation area
(Buchner 1984).
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aleoindian/plano.html