Port au Choix National Historic Site of Canada
The Port au Choix National Historic Site is a group of archaeological sites in the north of the island of Newfoundland, off the Atlantic coast of Canada . This is a Paleo-Indian burial site that originated 4400 years ago and was abandoned 3300 years ago, a Paleo-Eskimo settlement at Phillip's Garden, which could be dated to an age of around 1300 to 2000 years and which is more than 50 house wells, making it one of the largest settlements of this culture. Basques from France landed here to fish. Archaeologists excavated their settlement at Barbace Cove, a place that was regularly visited by fishing fleets from 1713 to 1783.
The park and national historic site were established in 1984 and cover an area of 8.3 km². In 1990 the site had fewer than 9,000 visitors a year; in 2003 it was already 14,000.
Remnants of four pre-European cultures
Artifacts from four pre-European cultures were found. The oldest traces could be assigned to the Maritime Archaic (5500 to 3200 BP ), an Indian culture on the east coast. This was superseded by two Paleoeskimo cultures called Groswater Paleoeskimo and Dorset Palaeoeskimo (2800 to 1900 and 2000 to 1300 BP, respectively), and which had their roots further north. These northern cultures were followed by Indian cultures, with the three complexes Cow Head , Beaches and Little Passage Complex being distinguished. Together they comprised the time from around 2000 to 800 BP with the time cuts around 1400 and 1100 BP.
Excavations from the 1960s onwards brought to light, in addition to the oldest settlement in the back arm area of the place, another settlement, a paleo-Eskimo settlement near Point Riche, but also Eskimo cave burial sites in Gargamelle Cove and Crow Head.
Over 200,000 artifacts were found in Phillip's Garden alone. All artifacts including human remains from the first dig are in the Memorial University of Newfoundland's Archeology Unit . They are now on display in The Rooms , the new facility at the Newfoundland and Labrador Museum. The human remains in the caves were left there and not excavated.
lighthouse
In 1991 a lighthouse , the Point Riche Lighthouse, was added as the Federal Heritage Building . It was built in 1871 and maintained by the Canadian Coast Guard , i.e. the Canadian Coast Guard . Since Newfoundland was not yet part of Canada at that time, which it only joined in 1949, the structure is a symbol of the early collaboration between Newfoundlanders and Canadian boaters.
literature
See also
Web links
- Port au Choix National Historic Site of Canada , Parks Canada
Remarks
- ↑ Port au Choix National Historic Site of Canada Management Plan, p. 2.