The Forgotten Beginning of Canadian Palaeo-Indian Studies, 1933-1935
Volume: OA47
Year: 1987
Author: JACKSON, L. J., H. McKILLOP, & S. WURTZBURG
Page Range: 5 - 18
Abstract: Recent archival research has revealed a forgotten early beginning of Canadian Palaeo-lndian studies. Between 1933 and 1935 Canadian material sent to Jesse Figgins of the Colorado Museum of Natural History, provided crucial data about the range of Folsom culture and the typological distinction and chronological priority of Folsom fluted over 'Yuma' projectile points. The Canadian geology student who alerted Figgins to this material, William J. Patterson, was chastised by local academic authorities for investigating 'Folsom' finds in the London, Ontario area, and his discoveries were ignored in Canada for some fifty years. These events, here examined through the eyes of Figgins and Patterson, suggest that Canada was not prepared to accept evidence of Late Pleistocene man within its borders. Ontario fluted points illustrated by Figgins in his 1934 paper, and credited to Patterson, have been re-examined from surviving specimens and photographs. This story shows how powerful are the bonds of social constraint and reactionary attitudes on scientific endeavour.

An Ethnolinguistic Look at the Huron Longhouse
Volume: OA47
Year: 1987
Author: STECKLEY, J.
Page Range: 19 - 32
Abstract: This paper examines 17th and 18th century Huron vocabulary pertaining to the longhouse in order to understand better the structure of such buildings and, to a lesser extent, the social arrangements of their inhabitants. Most of the material comes from the writings of the Jesuit missionaries, published in the Jesuit Relations and in an Ontario Archives report of 1920, as well as unpublished entries in manuscripts of French-Huron dictionaries. Other material comes from the journal of the Recollect Gabriel Sagard, and from his Huron phrasebook. The paper presents Huron terms, most of them noun roots, for various parts of the longhouse and items associated with the longhouse. The terms for house, vestibule, door, end wall, platform, mat, hearth, support poles, extension poles, longitudinal poles, central suspended poles, rafter poles, roofing poles, bark, and smoke holes are discussed.

The Martin-Bird Site
Volume: OA47
Year: 1987
Author: DAWSON, K. C. A.
Page Range: 33 - 57
Abstract: The Martin-Bird site is located southwest of Thunder Bay in northwestern Ontario, adjacent to a Laurel mound. This report describes the investigations of the Terminal Woodland multi-component habitation site, the Blackduck burial, and the copper tool-making cache that were found there. The cultural material recovered is also described. Following a sparse initial Woodland occupation, the site appears to have been occupied from the 7th to the 18th centuries AD by several carriers of the Algonkian culture. This occupation was dominated by the Blackduck tradition but includes other, more southern, traditions, which suggest affinities with north-western Wisconsin.

Place Royale: A Prehistoric Site from the Island of Montreal
Volume: OA47
Year: 1987
Author: JAMIESON, J. B.
Page Range: 59 - 71
Abstract: Excavations at Place Royale, Montreal, have been carried out since 1979 according to an agreement between the city of Montreal and the Quebec Ministry of Cultural Affairs, to assist in the ongoing rehabilitation of Old Montreal, an important part of both municipal and national heritage. Since 1981, la societé d'archéologie et de numismatique de Montréal, Chateau Ramezay, has been responsible for archaeological research under the agreement. The 1983 excavations, by Mr Jean-Guy Brassard and Mr. Arnold Feast, opened an area of approximately 15 sq. m. and discovered an undisturbed prehistoric midden beneath the historic levels (Brossard, In Preparation). It was not possible to distinguish stratigraphy within the midden. In prehistoric times, this site was located near the mouth of Rivière St. Pierre, an ideal location for a fishing campsite of the kind described by Cartier in A.D. 1535. Similar sites, like Steward and Driver, are located in eastern Ontario. Most of the prehistoric artifacts fall into two categories - Middle Woodland and Late Woodland. These two components are comparable with the nearby sites of Pointe-du-Buisson and Dawson.