Session Abstracts

Rouge River Archaeology

Chair Barbara Leskovec

From AOA to AIA: A Guide to Archaeology at Parks Canada

Barbara Leskovec, Parks Canada

Parks Canada Agency (PCA) is in the processing of renewing their Supply Arrangement for Archaeological Services. To help guide interested applicants, this paper will look at archaeology on federal lands under PCA’s jurisdiction. As a “how to”, this presentation will demystify the archaeological process within PCA, leading the audience through the various stages from project review and contracting to fieldwork and final deliverable requirements. Common acronyms such as AOA and AIA will also be explained.

From Lake Ontario to the Oak Ridges Moraine – the Archaeology and Archaeological History of Rouge National Urban Park

Jeffrey Dillane and Miriam Fry, Parks Canada

Rouge National Urban Park (RNUP) was established in 2015 and is home to the largest urban protected area in North America, spanning from the shores of Lake Ontario in the south to the Oak Ridges Moraine in the north. The park encompasses the river valley of the Rouge River and its tributaries, and has been home to diverse groups in over 10,000 years of occupation. Professional archaeological work began in the 1950s as sundry research and impact assessments—from the ASC’s involvement in the Pickering Airport surveys and TRCA’s Culture Heritage Inventory to Parks Canada’s work beginning in 2015—have revealed a diverse and complex cultural history centered on the rivers and glacial features spanning RNUP lands. In this paper we will provide a broad overview of the history of archaeological work in the park and its culture history. We highlight discoveries pointing to Indigenous occupations dating to the late Palaeo and Early Archaic periods, our understanding of the Late Woodland village horticulturalists who lived in the Rouge valley, and post-Contact Indigenous and European settler groups who lived and farmed in the diverse landscapes of what is now RNUP.

A Thousand and More Years of Camping – Preliminary Results from Archaeological Impact Assessments at the Southern Portion of Rouge NUP 2019-2021

Ken Holyoke and Darci Clayton, Parks Canada

Rouge National Urban Park (RNUP) was established in 2015 as the first national park in Canada located within a major metropolitan area. As part of the park establishment process, upgrade and revitalization projects were proposed for existing infrastructure within RNUP acquired during the formation of the park. In 2019, an archaeological program began in the southern portion of the park to respond to proposed infrastructure upgrades. To date, testing and excavations in this area have revealed multiple loci of activity —including pre-Contact and post-Contact Indigenous, and Historical components—located on two elevated landforms overlooking Rouge River. A potential small campsite on the upper terrace may date to as early as the Middle Woodland, and work on the middle terrace has revealed two intact buried layers with an Historical component associated with cottaging in the early 20th century overlying an Indigenous component possibly dating from the 14th century, or even earlier. This paper will discuss the ongoing assessment work, findings, and preliminary interpretations from this work, and contextualize those findings in the various and deep histories of the surrounding area.