Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/375259
f a l l 2 0 1 4 | w e s t w o r l d 15 leather, punched out for a similar purpose. And then there are metal "beaver but- tons," used only on Hudson's Bay Company coats. Four have been found here so far, real evidence of the site's company affiliations. Made in England, the buttons are embossed with an X and have a beaver in each of the four quadrants. Candice laughs: "They are funny-looking beaver, more like pigs. I guess the buttons were designed by someone who had never seen a real beaver, only its pelt." In the days that follow, other field school volunteers arrive and more of the cellar is uncovered – though we never do reach down to its floor. e work is slow. But adding to the array of artifacts is another first for the site, two pieces of birchbark (for mending canoes?). Rarely does organic material sur- vive, buried in the earth for so long. As for me, I unearth very little in the way of arti- facts, but I find great thrill in the search and sharing the discoveries of others. When the field school is over at the end of summer, the site is closed for another year. While the final analysis has yet to be made, the current (albeit hesitant) thinking seems to be that this probably is South Branch House. With its evidence of fire (charred wood, charcoal, melted glass and oxidized nails) and remains of the wooden stockade, the southern ruins might have been the new house, and the north site, where we have been finding a lot of personal items (buttons, beads, pipes, lead shot), could have been the old post, used perhaps as a storeroom after the new house was built. But was it the HBC post, or the NW Com- pany post, also known as South Branch House and said to have been nearby? The HBC buttons seem to settle this, yet I can't get a consensus on any of the other ques- tions. But then . . . I like a good mystery! W e field schools, held at several different locations each summer, are arranged by the Saskatchewan Archaeological Society to increase public knowledge and encourage involvement in archaeology. Anyone can join the society, which is professionally managed and works closely with the University of Saskatchewan. And anyone can sign up for the field schools to learn some of the tricks of the trade. Next time, it could be you who turns up the metal arrowhead, the beaver but- ton or the Kitty Fisher's Eye. 306-664-4124; saskarchsoc.ca