It is understandable that archaeologists studying the North American fur trade often do so through the excavation and analysis of terrestrial sites. This article takes an alternative approach, analyzing assemblages that resulted from canoe accidents. Recovered from eddies and rocky bottoms of the French and Winnipeg rivers in Ontario, Canada, these collections offer unique opportunities to consider new dimensions of these histories: acute examples of loss and failure. An exploratory comparison of river assemblages with terrestrial fur-trade collections reveals new information on the magnitude of such losses. We argue that these unique fur-trade assemblages demonstrate the need for less anthropocentric approaches in historical archaeology that place more emphasis on material affect and nonhuman energy flows (e.g., rivers). We explore this proposition further through close consideration of two of the most common artifact types in the river assemblages: axes and files. Closer attention to the material properties and affordances of these objects offers fresh perspectives on the ways in which materials infused and framed human social relations and capabilities, past and present.

可以理解的是，研究北美毛皮贸易的考古学家经常通过对陆地遗址的挖掘和分析来进行研究。本文采用另一种方法，分析了独木舟事故造成的装配。从加拿大安大略省的法国河和温尼伯河的漩涡和岩石底部回收的这些收藏品为思考这些历史的新维度提供了独特的机会：损失和失败的敏锐例子。对河流组合与陆地毛皮贸易收集品进行的探索性比较揭示了有关此类损失的严重程度的新信息。我们认为，这些独特的毛皮贸易组合表明，在历史考古学中需要较少的以人类为中心的方法，而这种方法更多地侧重于物质影响和非人类能量流（例如河流）。我们通过密切考虑河流集合体中两种最常见的人工产物类型（轴和文件）来进一步探讨这一命题。对这些物品的材料特性和承受能力的更密切关注，为人们对过去和现在的材料注入并构筑人类社会关系和能力的方式提供了新的见解。