Archaeology in Labrador/Northern Quebec

« L'esprit humain a toujours été fasciné par les baleines. Le sujet n'a toutefois guère captivé les historiens canadiens, sans doute parce qu'au Canada la pêche à la baleine a presque toujours été pratiquée par des étrangers », Mario Lalancette en 1988.

Cet essai est un état de la question résumant cinquante années de travaux sur la question de la pêche à la baleine sur les territoires de la Nouvelle-France au 16ème et 17ème siècle. Nous verrons que les études dans ce domaine sont pratiquement inexistantes jusque dans les années 1970, contrairement aux recherches sur les pêcheries en Nouvelle-Angleterre, elles, très foisonnantes. Nous remarquerons également que les sources à exploiter seront tout autant archivistiques (et européennes) qu’archéologiques (et canadiennes), regroupant des efforts de part en part de l’Atlantique. Enfin, nous noterons que cette branche encore si peu étudiée bénéficierait certainement de plus d’attention, car trop de questions demeurent encore à ce jour.

This study examines bead assemblages from Basque sites north of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and from Native burials south of the Gulf in French Acadia, with a view to determining which varieties may be
ascribed to these two cultural groups. It also examines sixteenth-century Saint Lawrence Valley bead assemblages in order to discover which types are found here, and to compare them with Basque,Acadian, and Great Lakes assemblages in order to learn whether European materials followed the valley in the sixteenth century.The explicit aims of this paper are 1) to extend and refine the sixteenth-century bead typology around the Gulf and in the Saint Lawrence lowlands, 2) to understand the respective roles of the Basques and the French in trade with Natives, and 3) to draw conclusions regarding possible trade routes to the lower Great Lakes during this period.

The Eastern Subarctic has long been portrayed as a place without history. Challenging this perspective, History in the Making: The Archaeology of the Eastern Subarctic charts the complex and dynamic history of this little known archaeological region of North America. Along the way, the book explores the social processes through which native peoples “made” history in the past and archaeologists and anthropologists later wrote about it. As such, the book offers both a critical history and historiography of the Eastern Subarctic.

This study proposes a synthesis of the architectural remains and the material culture of Basque whaling and codfishing sites on the northern coast of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century. It deals with the factors of continuity and change in the Basque fisheries over almost three centuries, in order to better understand the identity of these fishermen. The crews mainly of Spanish origin, the evolution of fishing and whaling techniques, the hierarchical and gender relations in exclusively male crews, and their relations with indigenous populations were the guidelines for the survey of some twenty Basque sites. The collections analysis carried out in Québec City, Ottawa, St. John's and Red Bay (Labrador) and participation in terrestrial and underwater excavations of a Basque site on Petit-Mécatina Island (Lower North Shore, Quebec) have been the focus of many ideas. The contextual and comparative analysis of all the archaeological material found on the various sites has revealed several noteworthy features of the identity of the Basque fishermen. First, they have left a lasting and deliberately visible architectural imprint on the coastal landscape. Second, the analysis of material provenances shows that the Basque fishermen forged commercial links all alone the European Atlantic coast, from Andalusia to Normandy, but also brought several previously unidentified Basque productions to the New World. This dissertation demonstrates that these fishermen formed a seafarers' society open to the transfer of knowledge in which the importance of family ties, adaptation to the maritime environment and geopolitical realities, as well as reciprocal relations with indigenous people, allowed them to have a relatively comfortable position in a sometimes hostile environment.

Cette étude propose une synthèse des vestiges architecturaux et de la culture matérielle des sites baleiniers et morutiers basques sur la côte nord du golfe du Saint-Laurent du XVIe au XVIIIe siècle. Elle s’intéresse aux facteurs de continuité et de changement dans les pêches basques sur près de trois siècles, afin de mieux comprendre l’identité de ces pêcheurs. L’origine principalement en Espagne des équipages, l’évolution des techniques de pêche et de chasse à la baleine, les rapports hiérarchiques et de genre au sein des équipages exclusivement masculins, et leurs relations avec les populations autochtones ont été les lignes directrices dans l’étude d’une vingtaine de sites basques. L’analyse des collections conservées à Québec, Ottawa, Saint-Jean et Red Bay (Labrador) et la participation à des fouilles terrestres et subaquatiques d’un site basque à l’île de Petit-Mécatina (Basse-Côte-Nord, Québec) ont été le pivot de nombreuses réflexions. L’analyse contextuelle et comparative de l’ensemble du mobilier retrouvé sur les différents sites a permis de dégager plusieurs traits remarquables de l’identité des pêcheurs basques. Tout d’abord, ils ont laissé une empreinte architecturale durable et délibérément visible dans le paysage côtier. Ensuite, l’analyse des provenances montre que les pêcheurs basques ont tissé des liens commerciaux sur toute la façade atlantique européenne, de l’Andalousie à la Normandie, mais ont également apporté plusieurs productions basques jusque-là non identifiées. Cette thèse démontre que ces pêcheurs formaient une société de gens de mer ouverte à la transmission des savoir-faire dans laquelle l’importance des liens familiaux, l’adaptation au milieu maritime et aux réalités géopolitiques, ainsi que des rapports de réciprocité avec les Autochtones, leur permettaient une relative aisance dans un milieu environnemental parfois hostile.

Co-authored with William W. Fitzhugh (PI). A summary of the fieldwork carried out by the Arctic Studies Centre along Quebec's Lower North Shore in 2016. Our work continued an excavation of a 17th-18th century Inuit sod house and began a survey programme in the region.

The Hopedale region in Labrador, Canada has a rich history of human activity. Some of the earliest archaeological research on Inuit of this region was conducted by American archaeologist Junius Bird in 1935; however, few researchers have returned to the region to expand on his work. This paper provides a summary of recent excavations conducted at an eighteenth century Inuit sod house settlement Bird identified on Anniowaktook Island (GgCi-02) just east of Hopedale. The region was considered a central trading area among Inuit. Excavations were expected to identify items indicative of this trade with the increasing prevalence of European traders along the coast. Instead, artifact assemblages at Anniowaktook reveal a smaller than expected collection of trade items, and a surprisingly high density of metal materials. The types and quantity of materials amassed suggest Anniowaktook Inuit were making different consumption choices to acquire materials for tool manufacture which were not traditionally part of the trade system.

Archaeological evidence from three sites in southern Labrador excavated or tested between 2009 and 2013 is shown to be valuable for interpreting the diverse nature of the early Inuit-European contact zone. Beginning in the late 17th century, French and then English archival records for the region describe relations with Inuit that were motivated by trade but that repeatedly devolved into violence. Indeed, if only the historical records were available we would learn little of the range of Inuit responses to colonialism other than its context of aggression. The archaeological data, in contrast, decolonize this history and point to a more nuanced contact landscape than suggested by the written records, with clues to varied cultural intersections, and Inuit resilience and persistence.
IN:  Etudes/Inuit/Studies 2015, Vol. 39, no. 1.  The Inuit in Southern Labrador. Editors, L. Rankin, M. Stopp, A. Crompton

Recent revisions to the radiocarbon dating of the Thule/Inuit occupation of the Canadian Arctic, and a review of available carbon dates for Thule/Inuit sites in Labrador, lead to the conclusion that the Inuit settlement of Labrador was prompted partly by the collapse of the Greenland Norse colonies in the late 15th century, and partly by Inuit desire to find new sources of European technologies, primarily metal goods.

The colonial process often occurs within a pluralistic context in which all of the actors continuously re-negotiate their identities. Traditionally, this context has been framed within a colonizer/colonized dichotomy, but recent scholarship has embraced a more complex interpretation, such that colonizers and colonized are not homogenizing categories and variations in experience are accepted. The deconstruction of colonial categories further complicates pluralistic contexts and allows for a more nuanced reading of the past; however, the colonial discourse continues to have difficulty exploring and discussing identities that do not fit neatly into either a colonizer or colonized identity. This paper explores how the Labrador Métis, a self-defined hybrid identity, do not cleanly fit within the current discourse and highlights the need to begin re-conceptualizing the actors within the colonial process.

This paper considers the century-old question of Inuit presence south of Hamilton Inlet and the contention that it was a short-term presence for the purpose of trading with Europeans. A summary of archival sources largely unavailable in English in conjunction with known and previously unreported archaeological evidence are the basis for a reexamination of the NATURE and EXTENT of Inuit presence in the southern region. A discussion of the Inuit hunting and gathering way of life alongside the archival and archaeological evidence suggests that there is reasonable evidence of winter and summer presence, of family groups rather than trade parties, of extended habitation rather than short-term trade forays, and of a way of life that incorporated European goods but remained based on traditional seasonal foraging patterns.

The ethnohistoric literature suggests that musical instruments figured in diverse ways in early Inuit-European contacts, but to date there has been little archaeological attention to Inuit music. The present paper reviews indigenous musical practices in the North American Arctic, and the changes that contact precipitated, with particular attention to Labrador, where the promotion of European performance genres was a key component of Moravian missionaries' conversion efforts. The unusual case of the jaw harp or trump, which is rarely mentioned in the documentary record but appears widely on historic Inuit sites in Labrador, is then explored. Jaw harp performance parallels traditional throat singing (katajjaq) in interesting ways, and hints at the alternative musical practices that were enjoyed in the intimate recesses of Inuit house life.

The Far Northeast: 3000 BP to Contact is the first volume to synthesize archaeological research from across Atlantic Canada, Quebec, and northern New England for the period spanning from 3000 years ago to European contact. 

Recently, notions of the “Woodland period” in the broader Northeast have drawn scrutiny from experts due to increasing awareness that its hallmarks—such as horticulture, village formation, mortuary ceremonialism, and the advent of various technologies—appear to be less synchronous than once thought.

By paying particular attention to the Far Northeast and its unique (yet sometimes marginal) position in Woodland discourse, this work offers a much-needed in-depth look at one of the best-documented cases of hunter-gatherer persistence and adaptation at the eve of European contact.

Penned by academic, government, and cultural-resource-management archaeologists, the seventeen chapters in The Far Northeast: 3000 BP to Contact draw on decades of research in considering this period, both in terms of variability within the region, and integration with broader cultural patterns in the Northeast and beyond.

________________________________________________________________ The Inuit sod winter house or iglu has undergone a host of alterations over the past millennium, as housing styles were accommodated to changing local milieus during the colonization of the Eastern Arctic. Many of these changes relate to subtle shifts in gendered work and household social relations, and in Labrador from the eighteenth century some appear to reflect engagements with a more or less hostile European discourse on architectural modernity. Far from a static form subjected to convulsive contact-era transformations, however, dwellings were gradually remade in the context of a long-running Inuit effort to house work and sociality within a meaningful space. ________________________________________________________________ Résumé: La maison inuite hivernale en tourbe, aussi connue sous le nom d'iglou, a connu toute une série de modifications durant le dernier millénaire, alors que le style du logement s'adaptait aux changements du milieu local durant la colonisation de l'Arctique de l'Est. Plusieurs de ces changements sont liés a ` de subtiles modifications dans la division du travail et l'organisation des relations sociales de la maisonnée et au Labrador, a ` partir du 18 iè me siècle, certaines semblent refléter des engagements avec un discourt européen, plus ou moins hostile, sur la modernité architecturale. Les habitations, loin d'e ˆtre de forme statique, sont sujettes aux transformations convulsives de l'e `re du contact, cependant dans le contexte d'un long effort des Inuit, elles ont graduellement e ´té refaites comme espace significatif de travail et d'interactions sociales. ________________________________________________________________

This project conducted extensive archival research and a preliminary pre-disturbance survey of the archaeological site of the 19th century shore-based whaling station at Gaultois and the 20th century Norwegian whaling station at Balaena in Hermitage Bay in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The Gaultois site is located on Whale (Lamy) Island at the entrance to Gaultois Harbour, approximately 150 m north-east of the public wharf at Gaultois township. Preliminary archival research indicated that this was a successful and long-lasting operation that is potentially directly comparable with whaling operations in the Australian colonies that operated over a similar time period and fits neatly into the comparative phase of the AWSANZ (Archaeology of Whaling in Southern Australia and New Zealand) project.

The Labrador landscape is littered with the remnants of sod structures that cannot be readily associated with a specific
ethnic group because of the rapid adoption of this type of dwelling by Labrador Inuit, Europeans, and culturally-mixed families. Sod structures occupied by culturally-mixed families
of Labrador Inuit and Europeans, which are today known as Labrador Métis, have not been studied in detail. This paper outlines the excavation and analysis of one such structure:
site FkBg–24, a nineteenth-century Labrador Métis sod structure. The results were compared with contemporaneous Labrador Inuit and European sites in order to assess distinguishing features of Labrador Métis families and to formulate an initial archaeological definition that can be used to identify Labrador Métis sod structures.

The simultaneously durable and fragmentary nature of ceramics contributes to their entry to the archaeological record. It is often assumed that, once broken, the ceramic vessel lost its functionality and would have been discarded; however, the uselife of these vessels was often extended beyond the initial breakage. Ceramic repair is
understudied within archaeological research, and when it is discussed, it is framed as a one-off event attributed to cultural traditions, restrictions to access, or a lack of means. This paper examines examples of mended ceramics recovered from Newfoundland and Labrador to critically evaluate these explanations within this context, and provides some thoughts for considering these artifacts in the future.

Beaudoin, Matthew A., International Journal of Historical Archaeology, 2017, DOI 10.1007/s10761-017-0428-z.

Between 1,500 and 1,100 years ago, artifacts of Ramah chert, which originated from sources along the north coast of Labrador appear at a few archaeological sites in the Middle Atlantic region; specifically the Delmarva Peninsula.  The Ramah chert artifacts found at two sites on Delmarva include an impressively large bifacial lanceolate knife, a Jack’s Reef pentagonal point, a point distal fragment, a flake preform, a flake scraper, and a utilized bifacial thinning flake.  These artifacts were found at the Riverton site in Maryland and the Upper Ridge site in Virginia.  Both sites are associated with the Kipp Island phase, which is locally referred to as the Webb phase.  The Upper Ridge site assemblage has produced two radiometric-dates of 430 calAD to 560 calAD and 410 calAD to 600 calAD.  The short-term pulse of Ramah chert south along the eastern seaboard may indicate a direct human migration, socio-economically motivated trade and exchange, climatically driven quarry accessibility, or a combination of all of the above.  Regardless, ancient cultural ties can be established between the Delmarva Peninsula north into the Gulf of Maine at this time.

The site of the Moravian Mission community at Hebron (established in 1830-1831) on the north Labrador coast is arguably one of the premier historic properties in Atlantic Canada. Its standing architecture testifies to an impressive social experiment that inextricably linked the history of the Moravian Church with the indigenous Inuit of Labrador. Hebron's stunning landscape and prolific natural resources have provided spiritual and economic sustenance for Inuit, Paleoeskimo, and Indian peoples for millennia preceding the arrival of European mercantile and proselytizing interests. In this paper, we use the archaeological data from Inuit houses and middens collected during a 1990 reconnaissance at Hebron in conjunction with Moravian written sources to offer a more nuanced interpretation of Inuit-Moravian interaction. Historical archaeology has a powerful potential to affirm "traditional" and core community values and instill an awareness and pride in community identity. Conducted as part of a growing suite of archaeological projects in Labrador that seek to provide opportunities for community participation and involvement, the research at Hebron dramatically affirms an Inuit voice and perspective in deconstructing the narrative of the historical period which, too date, has primarily been shaped by the voluminous records and accounts of the Moravian missionaries.

The Eva Luther site (FbAx-01) dates to approximately 1200 years ago. It belongs to the late Daniel Rattle complex and has a lithic assemblage of Ramah chert. Excavation of one hearth showed that Ramah chert flakes and faunal remains were deposited directly into the fire. This corresponds with what is known of ritual discard of bone and the symbolic value of Ramah chert during this period. The ancestral Innu way of life is commonly associated with caribou hunting but the remains of seal and bird species, beaver, porcupine, and otter show that all species were exploited. Activities related to bone grease and marrow fat extraction are evident in the highly comminuted bone fragments, which also show that bone breakage for fat extraction was not restricted to caribou longbones but to all the named species. The site is discussed in the broader context of coastal Labrador where sites rich in Ramah chert can be tracked from Voisey’s Bay to the Strait of Belle Isle. Chateau Bay is proposed as a gateway or threshold zone where long-distance transport systems of Ramah chert merge with exchange networks in the Strait of Belle Isle. Also considered are the dichotomy between late precontact coastal sites and their contemporaries in the interior, and the role of Dorset in the Ramah chert trade.

Roads, trails and tracks constitute an ancient, substantial and accessible part of the archaeological record that bears on the concepts and practices associated with travel and wayfinding.  In this respect, a zoocentric emphasis on the continuity between human and non-human animal pathmaking provides a productive alternative to the default geomatic one, and is particularly apt in the Arctic where developed roads and trails are scarce.  Rather than adopt the position of a god-like voyeur, the symmetrical approach to pathmaking illustrated here with Inuit examples demands that we descend to ground level and engage with the objects around us.

Report on the discovery of a cache of stone tools from the central coast of Labrador  (near Natuashish) that suggest that early Innu groups participated in and were influenced by pervasive ceremonial practices found throughout Eastern North America during the Early-Middle Woodland Period.  (Note: This pdf includes an English translation and high resolution scans of the artifact plates follow the published account.)

The conference summary is as follows:

“The Basques established relations with Native Americans in the St. Lawrence River area over many centuries, and evidence of this appears in historical records. A wealth of historical, archaeological and even language records have been preserved as a result of these relations. One can therefore assume that the DNA lineages may also bear witness to these relations, owing to the contribution resulting from the constant trade established with the Native Americans by our whale hunters, cod fishermen and fur traders from the Lower Middle Ages and up until the 20th century.”

The list of participants includes: Dr. Marian M. de Pancorbo (UPV/EHU), Xabi Otero (JAUZARREA), Juan Antonio Urbeltz (IKERFOLK Institute), Dr. Stephen Augustine (Museum of Civilisation, Hull-Ottawa, Traditional Mi’kmaq Chief, Restigouche), Dr. Paul Charest (Laval University, Québec), Ghislain Picard (Head of the Assembly of the First Nations of Québec and Labrador), Dr. Charles A. Martin (University of Montreal), Dr. Stephen Oppenheimer (University of Oxford), Dr. Daniel G. Bradley (Trinity College, Dublin), Dr. Sergio Cardoso (UPV/EHU), Jon Maia and Amets Arzallus, Dr. Roldán Jimeno Aranguren (Public University of Navarre), Dr. Jacques Lacoursière (Laval University, Québec), Dr. Miren Egaña Goya (Aranzadi Scientific Society, Donostia), Dr. Brad Loewen (University of Montreal), Dr. Peter Bakker (University of Aarhus, Denmark), Dr. Robert Grenier (Parks Canada, UNESCO), Xabier Agote (ALBAOLA Association, Pasaia), Dr. Aurélie Arcocha-Scarcia (Université Michel de Montaigen-Bordeaux3, Centre de Recherche sur la Langue et les Textes).

De 2002 à 2010, une série de campagnes de fouille et d’inventaire a été effectuée dans les régions drainées par les rivières East main et Rupert sur Eeyou Ist chee (Baie-James). La plupart des sites découverts lors de ces campagnes étaient situés près de berges ; peu d’entre eux ayant été localisés à l’intérieur des terres. Cela est  curieux puisque les recherches ethnographiques indiquent que les campements hivernaux sont en général éloignés des rives. L’object if de cet article consist e à présenter les résultats de la fouille du site EkFt-20 qui, just ement, se trouve à l’intérieur des terres, en marge du lac Cabot. Ce site se compose de plusieurs habitations d’hiver qui ont été occupées de 1930 à 1950. Les fouilles ont permis de recueillir suffi  samment d’informations pour s’attaquer à la quest ion de la continuité des occupations en ce lieu. Cette quest ion est  d’autant plus pertinente que les fouilles ont révélé la présence d’une couche d’occupation préhist orique.
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Between 2002 and 2010, a series of archaeological surveys and excavations were conduct ed in the drainage basins of the East main and Rupert rivers and some of their tributaries in Eeyou Ist chee (James Bay). Most  of the archaeological sites discovered during the surveys were situated near shorelines; only a few were located inland. Th is is odd because ethnographic research indicates that winter camps were not usually located near riverbanks. Th e goal of this article is to present the results of the excavation of site EkFt-20, one of the few inland sites identifi ed during the fi eldwork. Th is site, which is situated in the Lake Cabot area, comprises several winter dwellings that were occupied between 1930 and 1950. Th e excavations have yielded enough data for us to address the quest ion of the continuity of the site’s use over time. Th is quest ion is particularly relevant given that the excavations revealed the presence of a precontact  period occupation.

The site of the Moravian Mission community at Hebron (established in 1830-1831) on the north Labrador coast is arguably one of the premier historic properties in Atlantic Canada. Its standing architecture testifies to an impressive social experiment that inextricably linked the history of the Moravian Church with the indigenous Inuit of Labrador. Hebron's stunning landscape and prolific natural resources have provided spiritual and economic sustenance for Inuit, Paleoeskimo, and Indian peoples for millennia preceding the arrival of European mercantile and proselytizing interests. In this paper, we use the archaeological data from Inuit houses and middens collected during a 1990 reconnaissance at Hebron in conjunction with Moravian written sources to offer a more nuanced interpretation of Inuit-Moravian interaction. Historical archaeology has a powerful potential to affirm "traditional" and core community values and instill an awareness and pride in community identity. Conducted as part of a growing suite of archaeological projects in Labrador that seek to provide opportunities for community participation and involvement, the research at Hebron dramatically affirms an Inuit voice and perspective in deconstructing the narrative of the historical period which, too date, has primarily been shaped by the voluminous records and accounts of the Moravian missionaries.