Newfoundland Archaeology

Encounters between Europeans and the Beothuk in southeastern Newfoundland took a variety of forms in the sixteenth and early seventeenth century. There is evidence to suggest some trade, but also scavenging, theft, mutual hostility, and avoidance. By the middle of the seventeenth century, relations had deteriorated to the point that the Beothuk retreated from this area to points north and west. This paper examines the nature of Beothuk-European relations during the early contact period as it is evident in the archaeological and historic record of southeastern Newfoundland, including new evidence from the site of Stock Cove, and suggests that the failure of the Beothuk and Europeans to solidify and sustain relations was due to the unpredictable nature of the encounter experience. Ultimately, this failure would play a signifi cant role in the demise of the Beothuk.

UPDATE: April 6: Adding new TED weblink and editing links page; April 5: Only adding a table of contents (mainly to aid media requests for images and/or caption details); April 4: Three sessions with a most recent addition of some good links, plus previous final edits to photo caption credits, some minor text edits, and a few additional recommended key sources on L'Anse aux Meadows; April 3 two sessions with some minor edits and revisions only; April 2: Adding some broader contextual information on the potential time period and setting (e.g., L'Anse aux Meadows; Little Passage Indians), a selected bibliography, plus a "potential significance" statement on Point Rosee issued to the press (added after the project team's summary statement (posted earlier).
ABSTRACT: March 31: The recent processing of satellite imagery data,  magnetometer surveys (October 2014; June 2015), preliminary excavations (June 2015), and the initial, albeit ongoing, analysis of an archaeological site and its associated, potential “Norse” materials at Point Rosee/Rosie in southern Newfoundland have revealed traces of: (a) a few suggestive rectilinear features in processed satellite imagery (albeit only partly excavated), (b) some probable and highly suggestive roasting of bog iron ore (analyzed by T. Birch and J. Still), (c) limited exposure of turf-type remains (i.e., evidence of turf cutting [assessed by D. Bolender]), (d) some promising magnetometer readings (e.g., a few “hot spots” suggest potential hearths and/or additional metal/metal-working), (e) a series of thirteen associated AMS radiocarbon dates, some of which fall between the early 9th century AD and late 13th century AD (excluding two later berries from contaminated contexts),  and (f) a total absence (so far) of either any indigenous materials (i.e., Palaeoeskimo and Amerindians) or any historical remains that are otherwise typically present at such sites.  Although the preliminary indications are thus somewhat promising for both a “Norse” date (i.e., ca. 1000–1450 AD in Greenland) and a potential “Norse” affiliation (see 2016 documentaries by the BBC and Pbs/Nova, and other media), further excavation, analysis, and multi-specialist input are absolutely crucial before determining and expanding upon the site’s time period(s) and cultural affiliation(s).  Likewise, the specific occupation span (i.e., longevity) and nature of the overall site at Point Rosee, which has been postulated publicly to be a “settlement” (versus a “camp,” or some other site-type), also remain unclear as of yet, requiring yet again broader exposure, context, material culture, and analysis.  Much on-site recording and post-excavation research, processing, analyses, and other work have been and are still being conducted (e.g., TL/OLS dating pending), all of which have generated many reports, notes, and other findings dispatched regularly to the Newfoundland Provincial Archaeology Office (PAO).  These preliminary records and reports are listed further below (and listed via Academia), and will form the main basis for the pending publications on the initial season at Point Rosee, and a much needed/desired follow-up season –ideally later this summer.  In brief, a “Norse” date and “affiliation” do look rather promising, at this still early stage in the project, but we simply need more work at this site and more specialist input and peer-reviewed data before being confidant in stating this as “fact.”  SPECIAL THANKS to the Newfoundland Provincial Archaeology Office (PAO), the people of Newfoundland, our funders (BBC; Pbs/Nova; National Geographic), and many consultants and others (listed within the online paper).

(SELECTED) WEB LINKS TO VARIOUS MEDIA REPORTS:
BBC News Magazine (March 31, 2016):
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35935725

BBC One Vikings’ documentary, airing Monday, April 4, 8:30 pm (U.K.):
On TV in United Kingdom

National Geographic Vikings’ story (online; by Mark Strauss, March 31, 2016):
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/03/160331-viking-discovery-north-america-canada-archaeology/ Please note: The materials analyzed do not represent “slag” (mentioned in one photo caption), but are roasted bog iron ore (T. Birch & J. Still).

New York Times (online; by Ralph Blumenthal, March 31, 2016):
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/01/science/vikings-archaeology-north-america-newfoundland.html?_r=0

Pbs/Nova Vikings’ documentary, streaming online, 3:30 p.m., Eastern time, Monday, April 4 (U.S.A.):
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/

Pbs/Nova Vikings’ documentary airing Wednesday, April 6, 9 pm on Pbs:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/

UAB announcement/post (March 31, 2016):
https://www.uab.edu/news/faculty/item/6707-birmingham-space-archaeologist-uncovers-ancient-civilizations-teaches-the-world

Archaeological research on the Island of Newfoundland has long focused on the coast. As a consequence, the interior of the island remains poorly understood. This is unfortunate, as we believe that archaeological research in the interior has the potential to address important questions relating to hunter-gatherer adaptations on the island and perhaps rewrite Newfoundland "prehistory" too. In this paper we outline these issues and discuss the results of archaeological reconnaissance and excavation on Birchy Lake, a small lake located in the interior of northeastern Newfoundland.

In Plutarch's book On the Apparent Face in the Orb of the Moon, the interlocutors develop a dialogue about a trip to the ''great continent'' beyond the North Atlantic Ocean. By applying modern scientific data, the present reappraisal of the astronomical and geographical elements within this dialogue has produced a novel interpretation of the date and place of the meeting and a journey to the northern Atlantic Ocean. A described solar eclipse is dated to AD 75, making use of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/Espenak/Meeus list, as well as historical information. The described peculiar, recurrent trips take place every 30 years (when the planet Saturn reaches the Taurus constellation) from the Mediterranean Sea to the Cronian Open Sea, which is identified with northern Atlantic Ocean coasts. It has been suggested that the last mission had returned homeland in April AD 56. The information provided concerns, distances between coastal sites and islands, duration of sea paths in days, and the reported setting and size between the destination place and its gulf with regards to Azov (in Crimea) and the Caspian Sea. Implications of sea currents and the coastal geomorphology of those lands are given. Following strictly the Gulf Stream current, as well as other known sea currents in the northern Atlantic Ocean, and introducing estimated speed for the ship, the geographical location of destination of the Greek settlers is proposedly identified with St. Lawrence Gulf and Newfoundland island. Other unnamed islands mentioned in this dialogue are identified with Norway's islands, Azores, Iceland, Greenland, and Baffin islands. It has been shown that the journey is made with good knowledge of sea currents but by using bright stars and stellar configurations as astronomical nightscape markers that determine the exact orientation of the sailing toward the Iberian Peninsula and back to the eastern Mediterranean, making the current working hypothesis a plausible event.

The adoption of bow-and-arrow technology by Recent Indian peoples on the island of Newfoundland has been accepted on the basis of untested observations of the archaeological record. This study investigates the period circa 1000 BP, when the replacement of the Beaches complex by the Little Passage complex is purported to be marked by the introduction of bow-and-arrow technology. Metric analysis of 840 projectile points confirms this technological transformation, but disputes the notion that projectile point function can be linked to current complex signatures—notably, the presence of side-notching or corner-notching on projectile points. This analysis suggests that bows-and-arrows did not immediately replace spear throwers-and-darts, but rather, were complementary to the Recent Indian tool kit. Finally, we suggest that the adoption of bow-and-arrow technology may be linked to the departure or demise of (Middle) Dorset Palaeoeskimo populations on the island.

This paper lays out a spatial, archaeological, and cultural framework for studying the Basque cod fishery in southern Newfoundland and Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon. From the first half of the sixteenth century onward, this region was a major destination for Basque transatlantic fishermen (Barkham, 2009). Loewen and Delmas (2012) have suggested that the region held the greatest concentration of Basque cod fishermen in all of eastern Canada throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, attracting crews from both Spain and France. They hypothesized that Placentia Bay was the core area of the Basque cod fishery from which it expanded to several areas around the Gulf of St. Lawrence, reaching its apex between 1630 and 1713. However, little historical and archaeological research has been conducted on the Basque presence in this region, and many questions remain. Not least, we lack confirmation of the number of ships that fished in southern Newfoundland and Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, and the proportion that they represented of the total Basque fleet in the Gulf. Knowledge has also remained somewhat anecdotal on the ports where Basques fished, and we lack an overall portrait of their distribution in the region. We will address these historical questions, based on the analysis of a 1677 Basque pilot book by Piarres Detcheverry and a 1676 annotated map by the French naval officer Courcelles.

Marchand Grégor, Auger Réginald, Rousseau Lolita, Le Doaré Maureen, Stéphan Pierre, 2020 - Préhistoire de l’archipel de Saint-Pierre et Miquelon : les occupations humaines de l’Anse-à-Henry à l’épreuve de l’érosion littorale, Bulletin de la Société Préhistorique Française, Tome 117, numéro 2, avril-juin 2020, p. 148-151.

The adoption of bow-and-arrow technology by Recent Indian peoples on the island of Newfoundland has been accepted on the basis of untested observations of the archaeological record. This study investigates the period circa 1000 BP, when the replacement of the Beaches complex by the Little Passage complex is purported to be marked by the introduction of bow-and-arrow technology. Metric analysis of 840 projectile points confirms this technological transformation, but disputes the notion that projectile point function can be linked to current complex signatures-notably, the presence of side-notching or corner-notching on projectile points. This analysis suggests that bows-and-arrows did not immediately replace spear throwers-and-darts, but rather, were complementary to the Recent Indian tool kit. Finally, we suggest that the adoption of bow-and-arrow technology may be linked to the departure or demise of (Middle) Dorset Palaeoeskimo populations on the island.

his chapter seeks to transcend the negative socio-economic undertones cast upon mobile populations and to frame historic mobility in Eastern North America as a normative practice with underlying adaptive advantage. Case studies from the early modern fishery are used to revisit archaeological notions of marginality, landlessness and poverty and to highlight people’s creative responses to challenging social, economic and environmental conditions. A mobile lifestyle can be precarious but also practical and strategic. The archaeological manifestations of frequent movement can reveal the dynamism of past populations, redefine spatiotemporal perceptions of peripheral spaces and acknowledge the importance of interconnectedness between places.