| Dates: | 550 to 170 yr BP |
| Lithics: | Projectile points were small and side-notched with a square base and a very triangular body. |
| Technology: | Bison hunting dominated subsistence patterns. The projectile points were small and hafted onto arrow shafts. Two subdivisions of Plains Side-notched are recognized, based on differences in pottery styles, but it is not certain which cultural groups the subdivisions represent. The first, Mortlach, has characteristics of Selkirk (some or all of the following: smoothed fabric impressions on the pot exteriors, cord-wrapped tool impressions on the lip, and a row of punctates near the rim) and of the Middle Missouri cultures (particularly check-stamping). The second, late Old Women's phase, characterized by cord-impressed exterior surfaces, globular bodies, definite shoulders narrowing toward the neck, and straight or out-flaring rims. |
| Distribution: | Mortlach sites are distributed in North Dakota and Montana and across southern Saskatchewan as far north as Saskatoon. Late Old WomenÕs sites are found in west-central Saskatchewan and into Alberta. |
| Sites: | In Saskatchewan, late Old WomenÕs phase materials have been found at the Sherwin-Campbell site, a camp site near Elrose, and is well-known from bison jump and trap sites in Alberta. Mortlach camp sites include the Mortlach Site near Mortlach, the Lake Midden Site near Bulyea, the Preston Avenue site in Saskatoon, and the Sanderson site near Estevan. Plains side-notched points have also been found at bison jumps sites like the Gull Lake site near Gull Lake. |
| Environment: | The warmer and drier conditions of the Scandic Period (1690 to 1100 yr. BP) were ending just at the start of the Late Side-Notched Series. Following this was the Neo-Atlantic Period (1000 to 760 yr. BP) where conditions continued to be warm but moisture levels increased. The Pacific Period (760 to 410 yr. BP) followed and was characterized by drier conditions. After this the Neo-Boreal Period (410 to 114 yr. BP) had begun bringing with it colder, moister conditions. This culminated in the "Little Ice Age" where glacier ice made the largest advances since the last ice age. |
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