The Gateways Project 2019 Excavations at Hart Chalet, Grand Isle, and Bonne Espérance William W. Fitzhugh Excavation of Grand Isle-1, L2 (EiBk-54). Produced by William Fitzhugh, Igor Chechushkov, Micheal Mlyniec, and Abigail Piegols. 2019 2 3 Table of Contents List of Figures ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������5 1 – 2019 Project Goals and Site Survey Map ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������12 2 – Acknowledgments �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������14 3 – Strategies of Intervention ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������16 4 – Summary Results and Interpretation ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������18 5 – 2019 Labrador-Quebec Diary ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������24 6 – 2019 Site/Unit Excavation Narrative ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������78 7 – Excavation Field Notes: Square Maps, Profiles, Artifact Finds, and Illustrations �������������������������������86 8 – References Cited ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������136 9 – Hart Chalet (EiBh-60) Artifact Catalog �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������TBD 10 – Grand Isle-2, L2 (EiBk-54) Artifact Catalog ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������TBD 11 – Bonne Espérance - 3 Artifact Catalog ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������TBD 12 – Bonne Espérance - 4 Artifact Catalog ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������TBD Figure 0.1 View over Brador Bay from the hills west of the Hart Chalet site. (Photo: I. Chechushkov) 4 List of Figures (Unless otherwise credited, photos by W. Fitzhugh) Cover� Excavation of Grand Isle-1, L2 (EiBk-54) 0�1 View over Brador Bay from the hills west of the Hart Chalet site� (Photo: I� Chechushkov) 0�2 Excavating the interior of Hart Chalet, House 2� View N� 0�3 Pitsiulak and iceburg, 6 July� 1�1 The Smithsonians’ ‘dirty hands’ team returning from a day’s work - some dirtier than others! (Photo: WF) 2�1 Perry and Bill discussing the project schedule� (Photo: I� Chechuchkov) 2�2 One of the many feasts prepared for the team by Perry and Louis Colbourne at their home in Lushes Bright (Photo: C� Almer) 2�3 University of Montreal divers, under the direction of Brad Loewen and Erik Phaneuf, made important contribu- tions from underwater archeaology� 3�1 Site map� 4�1 Figure 4�1 Mark Pilgrim and Michael Mlyniec forging a set of tongs at the L’Anse aux Meadows Norse site� 4�2 Ronald Monger and the Pitsiulak team inspect a possible Inuit tent-ring on a tiny island west of Isle de Guet, Ha!Ha! Bay� 4�3 Hart Chalet House 2 midden and interior excavation� 4�4 Hart Chalet House 1 west wall midden excavation, with Brad Loewen� 4�5 Grand Isle-2 L2 Inuit winter house excavation� 4�6 Kettle Head boulder pit site� 4�7 Bonne Espérance-4 Basque try-works and camp site� 4�8 Belles Amours boulder pit house� 4�9 Pitsiulak crew and U� Montreal dive team� 4�10 Pitsiulak in the fog off Grand Isle. 5.1 Parks Canada Director, Eddie Kennedy, with other park officials at the Louisburg Fortress. 5�2 Mark and Micheal forging a set of blacksmith tongs at L’Anse aux Meadows site� 5�3 Sperm whale at the Triton whale museaum (Photo:Ava Hill) 5�4 Pitsuilak at the dock in Lushes Bright� (Photo:Ava Hill) 5�5 and 5�6 Wes Hurley showing the remains of Beothuk birch-bark basket from North China Head Cave� 5�7 Colbourne family outing at Caravan Park lake-shore resort� 5�8 Dinner at Boyce Roberts’ home at Quirpon, with B&B guests from Ontario� (Photo: I� Chechushkov) 5�9 Perry Colbourne and Jaime Connors at L’Anse aux Meadows� (Photo: C� Almer) 5�10 Wade Hillier and Bonnie entertaining visitors in the LAM chieftain’s house� (Photo: C� Almer) 5�11 Leif Erikson statue erected by the North American Leif Erikson Society near the Norseman Restaurant� (Pho- to: A� Hill) 5�12 Ava’s sketch of Noémi and Cali after dinner at Boyce’s� (Photo: A� Hill) 5�13 Dark Tickle book and souvenir shop in St�Lunaire-Griquet, near L’Anse aux Meadows� (Photo: C� Almer) 5 5�14 Inspecting a small sod house foundation on the northern tip of Quirpon Island� (Photo: C� Almer) 5�15 Surveying in Pigeon Cove east of Cape Bauld, near Earl Pilgrim’s summer cottage� (Photo: C� Almer) 5�16 Bill and Igor rounding Cape Bauld in Boyce’s speedboat� (Photo: C� Almer) 5.17 Iceburg off Blanc Sablon, with Cali, Ava, and Igor, and Michael. 5�18 Hart Chalet house 2 interior at start of excavation� View to North� (Photo: C� Almer) 5�19 Chart of the Indian Island Pass area east of Tabatiére� 5�20 Surveying the narrows at Indian Island� (Photo: C� Almer) 5�21 Fisherman’s cottage on Southern Indian Island� (Photo:Ava Hill) 5�22 Blue Flag Iris� (Photo: N� Toroczkai) 5�23 Baby Gull� (Photo: N� Toroczkai) 5�24 Recovering from a dip in the ice-cold ocean� (Photo: C� Almer) 5�25 Boulet Harbor view East along the Northern side of the tickle where Basque sites are found� 5�26 Area showing concrete foundation to rear� 5�27 TP19-2 at the West end of the Boulet Harbor tickle showing extensive tile deposits and rock feature� 5�28 Boulet Harbor TP19-3 located in area between the tickle and Boulet Harbot Cove� 5�29 Overview of Mutton Bay, viewed to the southwest� (Photo: M� Mlyniec) 5�30 Pitsiulak team recreating on the granite hills above Mouton Bay� (Photo: C� Almer) 5�31 Phil Vatcher at Mutton Bay� 5�32 Ronald Monger, our guide around Fecteau Point� (Photo: C� Almer) 5�33 Micheal brandishing a lively set of lobsters� (Photo: C� Almer) 5�34 Evening feast with Ronald’s lobsters� 5�35 Stone tent ring on barren granite islet West of Guet Isle� 5�36 One of the few possible Inuit tent ring sites on the Lower North Shore, a very spartan camp indeed! 5�37 Cottages in the Northern Rigoulette at Cumberland Harbor� 5�38 Mapping the Little Canso Island-1 Inuit winter village� House 2 excavation from 2012 to right� 5�39 Igor, Ava, and Noémi soaking up some computer entertainment� 5�40 Boulder pit features at L-3 on a raised beach on the Southeastern side of Damoiselle Island, viewed to the North� 5.41 Work begins in earnest at Hart Chalet Inuit site, and Ava finds a nailed plank. 5.42 Large, flat bricks found in 14N 10W. 5�43 An Inuit whale bone snow-knife on display in the Middle Bay museum� This knife was found by Leonard Thomas at the Kettle Head (Grand Isle-1) site in an Inuit burial� 5�44 Noémi excavating 12N 10W, discovers a deep pit that served as a useful perch� 5�45 Saddle Island, Red Bay, lighthouse and Innu/Inuit camp site area� View NW� (Photo: A� Hill) 5�46 A display of knitted goods at the Red Bay Parks Canada shop� (Photo: A� Hill) 5�47 The reconstructed 7,500 years old L’Anse Amours Maritime Archaic Indian burial mound� (Photo: M� Mlyniec) 5.48 The Forteau Point lighthouse, a Parks Canada facility with excellent displays and knowledgeble staff. 6 5�49 Noémi displays her bright new eye! 5.50 One of two large, flat bricks from Hart Chalet H2 14 N 10W. 5�51 Igor, Ava, and Noémi excavating the deep midden square 12N 10 W� 5.52 Cali’s excavation in 16N 8W showing Rene Levesque or Clifford Hart test pit from 1970’s, view to West. (Photo: C� Almer) 5�53 Hart Chalet House-1 West wall and midden excavation, view to North� 5�54 Mike and Cali discussing the stratigraphy in 16N 8W� (Photo: N� Toroczkai) 5�55 Ava and Noémi with the skull of a young caribou found in 6N4W� 5�56 The new St� Barbe-Blanc Sablon ferry, Qajaq W, arriving with our University of Montreal dive crew� 5�57 A lively dinner conversation at Florence Hart’s when the Americans and Canadians hooked up! (photo: N� Toroczkai) 5.58 Brad Lowen and I discuss finds dredged up by St. Paul fishermen at the Whiteley Museum. 5.59 Brad, Garland Nadeau, and Winston Nadeau discuss a rechaufleur (warming pot) dredged from the bottom in Bony Harbor� 5�60 A ‘nascopie’ constructed on a hilltop by 19th century schooner-men to aid navigation� (Photo: E� Teasdale) 5�61 Trying out the divers on land! House 1 midden and West wall units under excavation with doubled crew� View N� 5�62 The dive team sets out with Erik, Emilie, Sarai, and Marianne� (Photo: C� Almer) 5�63 Divers exploring murky Salmon Bay for early remains� No luck! (Photo: E� Teasdale) 5�64 The marine wildlife ended up being more interesting than the archeaology around Old Salmon Bay� (Photo: E� Teasdale) 5�65 The Pitsiulak galley/women’s bunkhouse served as a gaming house after hours� (Photo: I� Chechushkov) 5�66 Brad serves up a pizza dinner at the teachers’ residence� (Photo: I� Chechushkov) 5.67 Grand Isle-2 (L2) at the beginning of 2019 excavation, showing back-filled entryway trench of 2018. View West� 5�68 Grand Isle-1, also known as Kettle Head, displays pits and caches in an ancient boulder beach 30m above sea level� 5�69 Our initial East-West trench through the living area of Grand Isle-2 L2� View West� 5.70 Sparks flying as our Champlain Channel wharf campfire explodes. (Photo: A. Hill) 5�71 Y-shaped exit ramps at the East end of the entry passage are uniqie features in an Inuit sod house� The South- east ramp had no cultural deposits while the Northeast ramp comtained midden� 5�72 Eroded soapstone pot fragment from NE entry ramp, Grand Isle 2-L2� 5�73 An Inuksuk contructed recently by local people with rocks taken from the boulder pits� 5.74 Oak plank from a European shipwreck reused as a floorboard in the Inuit house. 5.75 Igor displays the Ramah Chert Groswater Paleoeskimo harpoon point found beneath the Inuit floor. 5�76 Hi-jinks by Cali and Mike at Kettle Head following the excavation of Structure 4� (Photo: C� Almer) 5�77 Grand Isle-1 Structure 4 excavated to bedrock with Mike for scale� (Photo: C� Almer) 5�78 Mike and Cali excavating the sleeping platform area in the rear (uphill) part of the house where water seep- age complicated our work� Grand Isle-2 L2� 5�79 Bonne Espérance 3 try works, view N� (Photo: WF) 7 5�80 Bonne Espérance 4 try works and domestic site� View SW� (Photo: WF)� 5�81 Iron harpoon foreshaft from Mike’s balk� (Photo:WF) 5.82 Shipwreck oak planks used as floor boards, view S. (Photo: WF) 5�83 Charred remains of South wall� (Photo: WF) 5�84 Erik acting “droll” at dinner� (Photo: WF) 5�85 Mike and Cali excercizing between bouts of digging� (Photo:WF) 5�86 Pitsiulak refueling at Blanc Sablon� (Photo WF) 5�87 The other cat that is more friendly than Perry’s� (Photo: WF) 7�1 Ava and Noémi with young caribou skill from 6N4W� 7.2 House 1 6N4W profiles. 7�3 Excavating 6/8N4W House 1, v� North 7�4 Hart Chalet House 1 6N2W artifacts� 7�5 Hart Chalet House 1 6N4W artifacts� 7�6 Hart Chalet House 1 6N4W artifacts� 7�7 Hart Chalet House 1 6N4W artifacts� 7�8 Hart Chalet House 1 6N4W nails� 7�10 House 1 wall and midden excavation with Brad Loewen, v� South� 7.11 Young caribou skull and associated artifacts. 8.12 14N10W with floor slabs at left and redeposited hearth rocks and French tiles in rear� View to SE� 7�12 Hart Chalet H2 2019 excavations completed, view NW� 7�13 12N10W with redeposited hearth rocks and pit in SW quard� View North� 7.14 Hart Chalet 14N10W/12N10W finds map. 7.15 14N10W with floor slabs at left and redeposited hearth rocks and French tiles in rear. View to SE. 7�16 Hart Chalet 14N10W/12N10W rock map� 7�17 Pit in SW quad of 12N10W� View South� 7�18 14N10W seen from the South� Floor boards in NW quad� 7.19 12N10W profiles 7.20 North wall profile. 7.21 East wall profile. 7.22 West wall profile with pit cutting buried old ground surface. 7�23 Nails from H2 12N10W 7�24 Knives, bead, coin, brass and chert point from whalebone from 12N10W 7�25 Nails from 12N10W 7�26 Soapstone stoneware and iron knives from 12N10W 7�27 Nails from 12N10W 7�28 Micheal at 14N10W, view to NW� Trench inside wall in foreground, lined with two French bricks� 7�29 Rocks along East side of 14N10W� East at top� 7�30 Trench in SE wall interior of 14N10W with French brick� 8 7�31 French brick from 14N10W trench� 7.32 Hart Chalet House 2 14N10W profiles 7.33 North wall profile of 14N10W 7�34 East wall of 14N10W� 7�35 Iron, lead, musket ball, pyrites, and glass from 14N10W� 7�36 French brick from 14N10W 7�37 Wolf or dog jaw from 14N10W 7�38 Charred material from 14N10W 7�39 Nail from 14N10W 7�40 French brick form House 3� 7.41 Hart Chalet House 2 rocks and finds map 7.42 16N8W East wall profile. 7�43 16B8W viewed to the North (Photo: V� Teasdale)� 7.44 Hart Chalet House 2 profiles. 7.45 North wall profile of 16N8W. 7�46 16N8W nails 7�47 Stoneware, glass, clay pipe stem, and soapstone pot from 16N8W� 7�48 Stoneware, nails, and whalebone from 16N6W� 7�49 Spike from Hart Chalet 14N6W� 7.50 Hart Chalet House 1, 6N2W finds map. 7�51 Hart Chalet H1 6N2W unit, viewed to West�owing large in situ boulders in the middle of the house floor. 7.52 Hart Chalet H2 squares backfilled, v. NE. 7.53 Hart Chalet H1 squares backfilled, v. NE. 7.54 Hart Chalet House 1 8N4W profiles. 7�55 Artifacts from HC H-1, 8N4W� 7�56 Artifacts form HC H-1, 8N4W� 7�57 Nails from HC H-1, 8N4W� 7�58 Stone Ware from HC H-1, 8N4W� 7�59 Little Canso Isle-1 entry test trench� 7�60 Little Canso Isle-1 site map� 2019 excavation in H1 entry passage� 7�61 Little Canso Isle-1, Houses 1,2, and 3 topographic map� 7�62 G1-2 Kettle Head boulder pit site heavily looted, with recent inuksuk in distance� View East� (Photo:WF) 7�63 G1-1 disturbed boulder feature� 7�64 Map of Kettle Head (EiBk-3) on Grand Isle� 7�65 Grand Isle-1/Kettle Head EiBk-3 pithouse map 7�66 Grand Isle-1, H1, wp 255� 7�67 GI-1, H2, wp 256� 7�68 GI-1, H3, wp 257� 9 7�69 GI-1, H4, wp 258� 7�70 GI-1, H5, wp 259� 7�71 GI-1, H6, wp 260� 7�72 GI-1, H7, wp 261� 7�73 GI-1, H8, wp 259� 7�74 GI-1, H9, wp 272� 7�75 GI-1 tri-pit structure, wp 265� 7�76 Grand Isle-2, L2 typographic map� 7�77 Grand Isle-2, H2 viewed to the north� 7.78 Grand Isle-2 H2 viewed to the west, showing large in situ boulders in the middle of the house floor. 7�79 Grand Isle-2, L House 2 structure map� 7�80 GI-2, H2 internal space viewed towards the southwest� 7�81 Grand Isle-2, L2 Finds map� 7.82 Grand Isle-2, L2 profiles 7�83 Grand Isle-2, L2 Northeast Entrance ramps and drainage ditch test pit� 7�84 GI-2, H2 East entry “ramps,” SE ramp to right, NE ramp to left - View NE� 7.85 GI-2,H2 NE entry ramp showing NW wall profile A, view west. 7�86 Belles Amours pithouse site map� 7�87 BA1 Pithouse village� House 1 view to NW, waypoint 215� 7�88 BA-1 Pithouse village� House 2, wayoiny 216� View East� 7�89 BA-1 House 3, wp217, View NW� 7�90 BA-1 House 3, Adjoining feature 1� Wp 217� 7�91 BA-1 House 4, wp 218, View SW� 7�92 BA-1 House 4, feature 1, wp 218� View SW� 7�93 BA-1, House 5, waypoint 219� View West� 7�94 BA-1 House 6, wp 220� Disturbed feature� View East� 7�95 BA-1 House 7, wp 221� View NW� 7�96 BA-1 House 8, wp 222� View NW� 2 rooms� 7�97 BA-1, House 9, wp223� View NW� 7�98 BA-1 House 10, wp 224� House with two features, view W� 7�99 BA-1 House 10, feature 1, wp 224� View W� 7�100 BA-1 House 10, feature 2� wp 224� 7�101 BA-1 House 11 with adjoining features, wp 225� View N� 7�102 BA-1 House 11, room 1� Wp 225, view W� 7�103 BA-1 House 11, Room 2� Wp 225, View W� 7�104 BA-1 House 12� Wp 226, view to NW� 7�105 BA-1 House 13� Wp 227, view N� 7�106 BA-1 Houe 14, wp 228� View NW� 10 7�107 BA-1 House 15, Wp 229� Disturbed center, view NW� 7�108 BA-1 House 16, wp 235� View W� 7�109 BA-1 House 17, cache mound� Wp 236, view East� 7�110 BA-1 House 18, view 2� Wp 241, view NE� 7�111 BA-1 House 19, wp 249� View East� Figure 0.2 Excavating the interior of Hart Chalet, House 2. View N. Figure 0.3 Pitsiulak and iceburg, 6 July. 11 1 – 2019 Project Goals Having completed five years of surveys in Hamilton Inuit with the Nunatsiavut Archaeology Office, we were able to devote a full six weeks of our 2019 summer season to surveys and excavations along the Quebec Lower North Shore� Work was dedicated to research at four sites: excavations at Hart Chalet Inuit winter site (EiBh-47) Houses 1 and 2; completing the excavation of the Grand Isle-2 (L2) Inuit winter house (EiBk-54); and maping and excavations at the Kettle Head (Grand Isle-1, (EiBk-3); and mapping at the Belles Amours Peninsula boulder pithouse complex ((EiBi024)� In addition we teamed up with Uni- versity of Montreal to conduct underwater surveys in the St� Paul River region, surveying for shipwrecks and underwater Basque sites� Work took place on the Lower North Shore from mid-July to mid-August� We began and ended our project at Lushes Bight, Newfoundland� The LNS studies were conducted under permits (19-SMII-01 for terrestrial, and 19-SMII-02 for underwater) from the Quebec Ministry of Culture and Communication (MCC) and the Quebec Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources MERN)� Summaries of previous projects on the LNS and in Rigolet projects have appeared yearly in the New- foundland Provincial Archaeology Office Annual Reports and in the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center Newsletter, and a report on the 2019 Gateways Project will appeared in the Newfoundland PAO report for 2019� Brador and St. Paul River Since 2001, the Arctic Studies Center at the Smithsonian has conducted a fieldwork program assessing the extension of Paleo-Eskimo and Neo-Eskimo cultures along the Lower North Shore of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (LNS)� Deemed the Gateways Project, this initiative has located Groswater sites on the LNS during the Sub-Atlantic cold epoch (mid-1st millennium BCE) and found definitive evidence that Inuit people expanded onto the LNS in the Little Ice Age between the mid-17th and early-18th century� During this project, we excavated Inuit villages at Hare Harbor on Petite Mécatina Island, Little Canso Island, Bonne-Espérance, and Hart Chalet at Brador, and mapped another on Belles Amours Peninsula� Recent years have focused on clarifying economic relationships between Inuit, Europeans, and Innu, as well as demographics, seasonality, and land use� This season, we focused our excavations on Hart Chalet and Grand Isle� Hart Chalet is a medium-sized Inuit settlement with three sod winter houses located on Jack’s Cove in Brador Quebec� Research in Brador was designed to excavate a portion of the House 1 and 2 middens at the Hart Cha- let Inuit winter site. This site was originally identified by René Levesque in 1968 and is located where Clifford and Florence Hart of Brador built a cottage a few years later. At the time, it was thought to be a Basque site on the basis of roof tiles and large spikes and nails� The Smithsonian investigated the site at the request of the Harts in 2003 and returned to test and excavate portion of the site several times in sub- sequent years� We soon recognized the foundations of three Inuit sod houses and found that the Basque materials were present only as contact goods� In 2013 we excavated a trench through the middle of House 1� In 2014 we tested a midden between H1 and H2 and excavated test pits in the H2 entryway� Both hous- es had been disturbed and the H2 interior was grown over with mature spruce� In 2015-2017 we cleared the forest cover and excavated the interior and one of the external fireplaces of House 3, which had not been disturbed by land clearing and cottage construction� In 2018 we excavatws part of the midden of Hart Chalet House 2, and in 2019 dug two midden units and two interior unit in House 2 and three units in the House 1 midden� The Grand Isle sites are in the municipality of Bonne-Espérance and comprise a small qarmat-style fall house; a winter sod house; and pit structures with caches and human remains on an early Holocene boul- der beach a few hundred meters south of the Grand Isle-2 (L1 and L2) sites� 12 Belles Amours Boulder Pit Complex René Levèsque mapped and described a complex of boulder pits and caches on the northeast side of the Belles Amours Peninsula in 1968� This site is accessible by road and has been damaged by the removal of rocks to make telephone pole founda- tions� The need for mapping and excavation was prompted by the architectural clarify of some of the structures and hopes that they might yield di- agnostic implements and dating samples� Boulder pits are widespread along the coasts of Labrador and the QLNS, found from modern beaches to the highest post-glacial strands� Very few of these structures have been excavated, so determining their cultural affiliation has been difficult. Our 2019 mapping project was the first step in an investigation that will lead to full excavation of Figure 1.1 The Smithsonians’ ‘dirty hands’ team selected features� returning from a day’s work - some dirtier than others! 13 2 – Acknowledgments As in previous years, the 2019 season owed its success to many individuals and organizations, and to a span of excellent summer weather� Our research sponsors for the Rigolet project included the Arctic Studies Center, Notre Dame University (which provided support for intern Noémi To- roczkai, Dartmouth College (which supported Ava Hill and Calista Almer)� Our work was expedited by Eileen Schofield and Garland Nadeau of the Whiteley Museum of St� Paul Municipality� In Brador we enjoyed the hospitality of Florence Hart, who opened her home and allowed us to continue excavations in her chalet backyard� We thank the Quebec Natural Resources Department, and the Quebec Ministry of Culture and Communication for permits� Administrative support came from ASC’s Nancy Shorey. Other members of the 2018 field team included Dr� Igor Chechushkov (formerly of University of Pittsburgh), Michael Mlyniec (former- ly of Sheffield University). The University of Mon- Figure 2.1 Perry and Bill discussing the proj- treal provided and supported a team of student divers supervised by Dr� Brad Loewen: Serai Barriero-Ar- ect schedule. guelles, Emilie Teasdale, and Marianne Dorais� Boyce Roberts was our host in Quirpon, and at the Parcs Canada L’Anse aux Meadows site, Michael Mlyniec assisted in smelting an iron bloom as part of the parks visitor education program, courtesy of park education director, Mathias Brennan� Perry Colbourne skippered the Smithsonian’s research vessel Pitsiulak, making sure our work was safe and entertaining, and Perry and Louise opened their home for food and staging at both ends of the summer� Anja Herzog cleaned and catalogued our collections, and André Bergeron and the Quebec Conservation Center provid- ed artifact storage and conservation services� Fi- nally, I deeply appreciate assistance provided by Nancy Shorey for office logistics support, and to intern Abigail Piegols who assisted in assembling this field report and to Igor Chechushkov who prepared all the excavation maps and profiles and assembled the report for printing� Many individuals and organizations made our work possible� Underwater work was conducted in collaboration with a team directed by Brad Loewen from the University of Montreal� Major assistance came from the Municipality of Bonne Espérance, Whiteley Museum, with special men- tion of Garland Nadeau and Eileen Schofield. In Brador, our work at the Hart Chalet site enjoyed the permission and hospitality of Florence Hart and her late husband, Clifford. Boyce Roberts Figure 2.2 One of the many feasts prepared for the provided hospitality in Quirpon, Newfoundland, team by Perry and Louis Colbourne at their home and Matthias Brennan of Parks Canada supported our collaboration with the L’Anse aux Meadows in Lushes Bright Norse site� Our plan to survey a wreck reported 14 in St� Augustine was shelved for lack of time, but the dive team gathered shipwreck data from local residents in anticipation of a future master iinventory of wreck sites� Brief visits to record GPS data were made to Mutton Bay, Boulet Harbor, and Little Canso Island� Permits were provided by the Quebec Ministries of Environment and Natural Resources (MERN) and Culture and Communication (MCC)� Financial partners included the Smithsonian Institution, Dartmouth College, Notre Dame University, and University of Montreal� The project team (Figure 9) included field directors William Fitzhugh (SI) and Brad Loewen (UM), specialists Erik Phaneuf, Igor Chechus- hkov, and Michael Mlyniec, and students Calista Almer and Ava Hill (Dartmouth), Noémi Toroczkai (Notre Dame), and Sarai Barrieiro Arguelles, Marianne Dorais, and Emilie Teasdale (U� Montreal)� Perry Colbourne skippered the Smithsonian research vessel Pitsiulak (Figure 10), which provided the logistics needed for access- ing remote site locations and lodging and facilities needed for research. The Linfield Dive-Masters of Gander pro- vided an air compressor and tanks� The Bonne Espérance school board allowed us to use their teachers’ residence while lodging on land� We thanks our many friends and acquaintances who provided information, food, and other assistance� Figure 2.3 University of Montreal divers, under the direction of Brad Loewen and Erik Phaneuf, made important contributions from underwater archeaology. 15 3 – Strategies of Intervention Excavation Procedures for Hart Chalet, EiBh-47: Following several visits to the Hart Chalet site in previous years, in 2019 we returned to excavate two 2x2m midden squares in front of the southwest cor- ner of House 2 and two units in House 2 inside the door� The walls and interior of this house lie beneath young spruce trees. Our first task was to clear away the lower limbs of the spruce to allow access to the ground for mapping and to refresh the grid and datum triangle from 2018� Following photography, 2x2m units were excavated in 12N10W, 14N10W, 16N8W, and the southwest quad of 16N6W� Excavations were also conducted in the midden and western wall of House 1, and just inside that wall (6N4W, 8N4W, and western quads of 6N2W)� All excavation was done by trowel, and all features, rocks, soil patterns, and artifacts were plotted in three dimensions. Detailed profiles documented stratigraphic levels and were recorded photographically and on paper map grids� At the conclusion of the work, all excavated areas were back-filled and covered with sod. Mapping Belles Amours Peninsula Pithouses: A team led by Michael Mlyniec and Igor Chechushkov mapped the pithouse complex on the northeast side of Belles Amours using fine-grained GPS readings, recording 19 pit or cache structures, and measuring their walls, floors and associated features. Several of the more prominent structures were also documented by detailed sketch drawings� No excavations were conducted, but are expected to be done in 2020� Archaeological Research in Salmon Bay and St. Paul: As in 2017 and 2018, our work in these regions was invited by the Whiteley Museum and its board of directors, with most of the coordination facilitated by Garland Nadeau and Eileen Schofield. Excavations at Grand Isle -2 (L2) was conducted, extending the 2018 work on the entrance passage into the central house area� The site was gridded, photographed, and excavated fully, mapping finds and features in three dimensions, and drawing maps and profiles. At the end of the excavation, the site was back-filled, sodded, and photographed. We also mapped and excavated one of the pithouses in the Grand Isle-1 (Kettle Head) site originally reported by Charles Martijn in 1974� Procedures were identical to Belles Amours, with GPS recording, measurements, and creation of feature maps� We also conducted underwater archaeological surveys of the Grand Isle and Bonne Espérance Islands and harbors, and the harbor of Salmon Bay, the northeast side of Demoiselle (Caribou) Island, and Stick Point Bay� The survey team used systematic survey methods for visual inspection of the near-shore bottom, and side-scan sonar was used to survey deeper water in these locations� Very little was found except 20th century materials, except along the western shore of Bonne Espérance Island, where tiles and ballast rock indicate Basque sites� Inspection of the adjacent shores at Bonne Espérance 1,2,3, and 4 revealed small Basque shore stations and try-works. Identification of these new sites (BE-3, 4) was confirmed by shovel tests� Lower North Shore Surveys: Brief surveys were conducted along the LNS between St� Paul and Mut- ton Bay in a search for unknown Inuit and Basque sites� Particular attention was devoted to the Ha!Ha! Bay and Indian Island region east of La Tabatière where early reports by Joliet and Brouague noted the existence of an Inuit sod house village that had been destroyed by Innu previously� Despite careful inspec- tion and interviews with local fishermen, we failed to find any trace of this site. We did however, identify a stone tent ring on a small islet west of Guet Isle, but its cultural identity could not be determined� Anoth- er useful result of this survey was a brief visit to Little Canso Island-1 where we took GPS readings to 16 make a more accurate site map than had been done when its House 2 was excavated ten years ago� At the conclusion of our work, we held a community meeting to report results of the work� Reports will be pub- lished in the Newfoundland Provincial Archaeology Annual Report for 2019 and in our 2019 field report volume. Processing, Analysis, and Reporting: All artifacts were traced, plotted, numbered, and described in field notes, and interesting objects were photographed at the time of excavation and in lots by 2-meter units. A field catalog was prepared and everything was photographed by excavation unit, packaged and delivered to the Quebec to be cleaned and catalogued by Anja Herzog, after which it will be placed in the Quebec Conservation Center� Ma- terials needing conservation will be discussed with the QCC� All maps, and relevant photos and illustrations are reproduced in this field report. Cataloguing and technical analysis of faunal and materials has been arranged with Osteotheque via Claire St-Germaine in Quebec City� Site Map Red Bay Grand Isle, L’Anse Aux Meadows Belles Amours Bonne Espérance Brador/ Hart Chlaet Quirpon Little Canso-Is� Ha! Ha! Bay Mutton Bay Lushes Bright Figure 3.1 Site map 17 4 – Summary Results and Interpretation This year’s Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center fieldwork on the Quebec Lower North Shore took place in late July and early August, with no work in Hamilton Inlet, Labrador, as in previous years� We con- ducted excavations at the Hart Chalet Inuit winter site (Houses 1 and 2) in Brador; mapped the Grand Isle 1 boulder pit site and excavated one of its features (Feature 4); excavated the Grand Isle-2 (L2) Inuit winter house; mapped the Belles Amours pithouse site and further documented the two Inuit winter hous- es (EiBi-12) mapped in 2018; surveyed for Basque and Inuit sites in Ha!Ha! Bay east of La Tabatière; conducted underwater surveys for Basque sites and shipwrecks in the St� Paul-Salmon Bay region; and located and tested Basque sites on the western shore of Bonne Espérance Island in St� Paul� Project Narrative and Surveys The Smithsonian team assembled in Lushes Bight, New- foundland, where Perry Colbourne had prepared Pitsiulak for summer work� We departed on 9 July, overnighted at Fleur-de-Lys, and spent several days in Quirpon hosted by Boyce Roberts� Michael Mlyniec had arrived at the L’Anse aux Meadows Norse site a few days earlier to assist Mark Pilgrim in smelting an iron bloom as part of the site’s re-enactment program (Figure 1)� From there, we travelled to Brador, near Blanc Sablon and the Labrador-Quebec border� Because our land use and archaeological permits were delayed, we spent the next weeks traveling along the Lower North shore between Blanc Sablon and Mutton Bay gathering environmental information, visiting friends from Figure 4.1 Mark Pilgrim and Michael previous years, and acquainting our students with the geog- Mlyniec forging a set of tongs at the raphy, geology, animal life, and cultures of the region� We L’Anse aux Meadows Norse site. also visited archaeological sites we had worked at previous- ly, gathering GPS data and checking on site revegetation and other information� We spent several days around La Tabatière, in the vicinity of Ha!Ha! Bay and In- dian Island searching unsuccessfully for the remains of a 17th century Inuit site reported by Louis Jolliet in 1694� According to Innu information reported by Jolliet, this site and its inhabitants were destroyed a few years earlier in a conflict with Innu. Its location has never been found, and it is the last major archaeological site of the Southern Labrador Inuit remaining to be discovered on the Low- er North Shore� Although our search was unsuccessful, we met local fishermen who may provide information on this elusive settlement in the future� One of them, Ronald Monger, showed us a tent-ring (N52�926809, W058�879255), probably of Inuit construction, on a tiny island a few hundred meters west of Ile de Guet (Figure 2)� The substrate was bare rock, and no artifacts were Figure 4.2 Ronald Monger and the Pitsiulak present� Further east, we gathered GPS and meteorolog- team inspect a possible Inuit tent-ring on a ical data at the Little Canso Island Inuit site and after arriving in St� Paul/Salmon Bay we surveyed the eastern tiny island west of Isle de Guet, Ha!Ha! Bay. 18 side of Caribou (Demoiselle) Island where caves and house foundations were reported� The house foun- dation report may have referred to several groups of boulder pit structures found on the raised beaches on the southeast shore of the island� Once our permits were received the real work of the project began� We spent several days opening up new units in Houses 1 and 2 at the Hart Chalet site� After the arrival of the dive team, we shifted to Salm- on Bay and St� Paul, where the divers began underwater surveys for Basque and other early European evidence, and the land team began excavating the Grand Isle-2 (L2) Inuit house whose paved entryway was excavated in 2018� The underwater surveys took place at the Old Salmon Bay settlement, the Amer- ican Beach on Caribou Island, around the western shores of Bonne Espérance Island, the shores of Bony (Clark) Harbor, and the southeastern shore of Grande Isle� Side-scan sonar surveys of these waters and the waters around Stick Point were also conducted, with no notable finds. However, by interviewing residents, a considerable amount of local knowledge was gathered on shipwrecks along the eastern part of the Lower North Shore� Excavations The advantage of having a large and experienced team was realized by the documentation and excavation of several sites and the location of several important new ones� Brief descriptions of these activities follow: Hart Chalet (EiBh-47) Excavations at this 3-house Inuit village site (N51�498689, W057�262459) have continued for several years� This season we excavated three 2x2m units and portions of two others in House-2 and two 2x2m units and a portion of a third in House-1 (Figures 3, 4)� The external midden square in H-2 was 60 cm deep and contained many nails as well as an illegible coin, stoneware, nails and iron knife fragments, and thin copper bands (bracelet?), a bead, a clay pipe stem, a whale bone sled runner, and numerous faunal elements, mostly caribou� The unit west of the entrance Figure 4.3 Hart Chalet House 2 midden inside the house produced stoneware, a pipe stem, an and interior excavation. iron ulu blade, a musket ball, bottle glass, and pieces of two large flat (French?) bricks similar to ones found in House-3. Nails from a planked floor were also recovered as well as large timber spikes� The units in the center of the house produced similar material, and a large mound turned out to be a post-occupation dump of caribou mid- den and hearth rocks� Two midden units outside the west wall of House 1 produced decorative materials including beads and copper and lead strip ornaments, as well as iron points, harpoons, and spear points, stoneware, and nails� Earlier excavations in this area recovered a whale bone sled runner, iron points, and a ground stone bead� Small fish and bird bones were also found, along with an antlered skull of a young caribou� As in the past, few seal bones were present� House-2 appears to have been abandoned and was used as a dump for hearth midden, Figure 4.4 Hart Chalet House 1 west wall suggesting that not all Hart Chalet houses were occupied midden excavation, with Brad Loewen. simultaneously� 19 Grand Isle-2, L2 (EiBk-54, N51.408527, W57.680732) At first, this site seemed to be a nat- ural depression in the middle of a large raised beach series, but in 2017 test pits revealed the paved floor of an entrance passage and butchered caribou bones� The entire passage was excavated in 2018, reveal- ing tiles, nails, an iron hammer, and other materials confirming an Inuit origin of this feature, while tests inside the door produced nails and rotten planks, suggesting the structure was a dwelling� However, the absence of sod walls on the west and north sides indicated the house was abandoned before being completed� This summer’s work sought to resolve the unusual nature of the structure by excavating its entire interior. A week of digging confirmed our Figure 4.5 Grand Isle-2 L2 Inuit winter house original hypothesis (Figure 5)� Artifacts were re- excavation. covered throughout the depression, which had been excavated through the thick layer of peat, and revealed an assemblage similar to other Inuit dwelling sites on the LNS: tiles, stoneware, nails, earthenware, blade tools and points, harpoon foreshafts, and soapstone pot fragments. One tile had been modified for use as an oil lamp. Around the edges of the structure, in undisturbed soil, we recovered Ramah chert flakes from earlier Innu occupations, and beneath the floor we found a Ramah chert Groswater harpoon point and a worked chunk of slate and a water-worn chert nod- ule� The East wall of the structure consisted of a mound of backdirt from the original house pit excavation, and two 43cm wide and 3cm thick planks, probably of oak from a shipwreck, had been used for flooring along with local pine planks� The absence of a north wall made the structure more like a shelter than a proper winter house, which is clearly what was originally intended, as seen by the excavation and careful construction of the subterranean entry� Along the south (uphill) wall of the structure we found a pile of collapsed logs, all heavily burned and reduced to charcoal in a fire that must have destroyed the structure. The relatively small collection of artifacts (mostly nails) suggests a short occupation, as does the small number of caribou bones in the hearth midden. Our work confirmed that Grand Isle-2 L2 is a unique, par- tially-constructed Inuit winter dwelling that was lived in for a short period before being destroyed by fire. It is likely that this winter dwelling is related to the rectangular qarmat—normally a fall season Inuit tent structure—50 m away at the edge of the shore, and the Inuit skeleton and artifacts found by Leonard Thomas in one of the boulder pits at Grand Isle-1 (Kettle Head)� Quite likely, they are the remains of an ill-fated attempt by an Inuit family to establish a settlement in the St� Paul River region� If so they lend support to the 1843 Robertson report of a “battle” between Inuit and Europeans allied with the Innu that is supposed to have occurred on Esquimaux Island, only a short distance from Grand Isle� If not part of that episode, the Grand Isle events may have been a precursor event that led to an Inuit attempt at reprisal� Kettle Head Boulder Pit Mapping and Excavation: Charles Martijn’s 1974 report describes Leonard Thomas’ explorations of the boulder pits (EiBk-3) found on an early post-glacial beach at Kettle Head, 39m above sea level on northeastern Grand Isle� A skull and parts of a skeleton were found under rocks in one of the pits, and several artifacts presumed to be burial offerings were found nearby, including a whale bone snow-knife, an iron rod (probably a harpoon foreshaft like ones we found in the Grand Isle winter house), and a roll of birchbark. Martijn brought the finds to Quebec City, where the skull was identified as Inuit, and later the artifacts were displayed at the St� Paul elementary school� A similar snow-knife is on display today at the Middle Bay Museum� Since Thomas’ and Martijn’s investigations, the Kettle Head site has undergone numerous depredations by local enthusiasts looking for human remains and artifacts� We visited and photographed the site in 20 2016 and found most of the pits had rocks removed, leaving few—if any—structures intact other than small cache features� This year we found evidence of recent damage, including the removal of rocks to build a large inuksuk at the north edge of the site� Our purpose this season was to document and map the site and excavate one of the large undisturbed features (Figure 6)� We accomplished this work in three days, photographing and recording its larg- er pit features (presumed to be dwellings) and the smaller cache pits found around their edges� We also excavated Feature 4, removing rocks until we reached bedrock, but no archaeological materials were recovered� Based on its extremely high eleva- Figure 4.6 Kettle Head boulder pit site. tion (39 m�a�s�l�) and the steep approaches that would have made use by others, including Inuit, unsuitable, we believe this site is probably an early Maritime Archaic occupation� We have found Maritime Archaic stemmed points in high boulder pit sites in Groswater Bay, Labrador� Similar boulder pits at lower elevations along the LNS have contained 2500 year old Groswater Paleoeskimo materials, while others excavated by LNS people produced In- dian artifacts dating to the past 3000 years� The use of one of the Kettle Head pits for burying an Inuit man was probably circumstantial, taking advantage of the existing pits and their prominent location� Burying people in boulder pits is not a normal Inuit practice; they used surface cairn burials placed on bed- Figure 4.7 Bonne Espérance-4 Basque try- rock� The Kettle Head burial suggests an impromptu works and camp site. ritual forced by exigent conditions, perhaps related to the Grand Isle-2 house destruction� Bonne Espérance Sites: In an earlier survey, we recorded two sites on Bonne Espérance Island con- taining Basque tiles. The first of these, Bonne Espérance-1 (EiBk-55) was located at the site of the White- ley cod-fishing station at the southwest corner of the island. This summer a few tiles were found along the shore, while underwater surveys identified the surface covered with 19-20th C. materials and a thick layer of cod-fish bones, now more than one hundred years old. A second site, Bonne Espérance-2 (EiBk-56), located on a small level point a few hundred meters to the north, yielded Basque tiles and later European materials� No detailed map or testing was done, but the site is an obvious candidate for future excavation and probably has a Basque try-works� This year, our dive team surveyed the entire western shore of the island and found Basque tiles and a ballast pile at two locations north of the tickle where shore-side deep water permits sheltered boat access and a place to butcher whales or other sea mammals� Testing onshore at Bonne Espérance-3 revealed a try-works mound with abundance of charred tiles and cinders� A few hundred meters further north, test-pits at Bonne Espérance-4 (Figure 7) revealed a try-works with charred tiles and cinders at Locus 1, and at Locus 2, a domestic component containing tiles, animal remains (a fox mandible), pieces of cut baleen, charcoal, and seed remains in a 2-3 cm thick sealed cultural layer� The abundance of material and excellent preservation bodes well for future excavation� We expect these sites will document a small-scale 16th or early 17th C� occupation that may be typical of 21 Basque utilization of the sea mammal resources of the LNS� These sites may also hold evidence of contacts with Inuit who began appearing south of the Strait of Belle Isle after ca� 1600, and may have been the source of the Basque materials we recovered from Grand Isle-2� Belles Amours Boulder Pits: Our final activity was to record and map the boulder pit site (EiBi-24) on the north- east side of Belles Amours Peninsula (Figure 8)�This proj- ect took several days and included sketching the features, gathering data for a detailed topographic map, and conduct- ing a preliminary analysis of metric and attribute data� The study proved to be an excellent training opportunity for our students, and it will facilitate the excavation planned for Figure 4.8 Belles Amours boulder pit house. 2020� This site has many features spread across 300 meters of boulder beaches ca� 5 m above sea level� It was originally investigated by René Levèsque in 1968� Some features have been cannibalized for rocks to support electrical utility poles running through the site, but several of its large fea- tures having level floors and multi-tiered rock walls are intact and would present excellent excavation prospects. We expect Groswater Paleoeskimo authorship of these based on excavation of similar features on Grand Mécatina Island, or possibly early Innu ancestors of the 2-3000 BP era� Summary and Results The 2019 Gateways Project produced important new information on Inuit and Basque occupations along the LNS and on interactions between these two groups who ventured here from separate, distant homelands� Excavations at Hart Chalet Houses 1 and 2 have provided a larger sample of artifacts and faunal remains, mostly winter caribou kills, while artifacts include iron implements of Inuit design (spears, barbed and toggling harpoons) for fishing and hunting, and decorative materials like glass beads, coins, and copper and lead pendants, early forms of clay pipes, and stoneware� Coins, stoneware, and bricks suggest French connections, while the roof tiles suggest Ibe- rian supplies� Midden deposits within House 2 suggest that not all Hart Chalet houses were occupied simultane- ously, while H3 demonstrated multiple remodeling activities� It is therefore likely that here and elsewhere on the LNS, Inuit did not always occupy all the dwellings in their winter sites simultaneously, suggesting the possibility of staggered occupations at different times rather than a single wave for all sites or within individual sites� The considerable number of soapstone vessels—mostly from pots rather than lamps—are an important resource for research as they are, other than dwelling architecture, one of the few artifact types of Inuit manufacture that have survived the acid southern soils� Their sources, pro- curement, use, repair, and disposal may offer clues to the movement of people and materials between Labrador and the Quebec LNS sites, as well as providing information about how Inuit on the LNS interacted with Basques and other Europeans who began supplying them with metal cookware� Excavations at the Grand Isle-2 winter house begin to make sense of the stories of European-Inuit hostilities Figure 4.9 Pitsiulak crew and U. Montreal dive reported for the St� Paul region� Our earlier speculations team. based on excavations of the Inuit qarmat at GI-2 (L1) that 22 Europeans may already have established territorial claims to its highly productive resources before the arrival of Labrador Inuit are supported by the L2 winter house excavation with its incomplete construction, short-term use, and destruction and abandonment� The Inuit hunter’s impromptu grave in a Kettle Head pithouse dating to the early or mid-Holocene, further strengthens the hypothesis of European-Inuit hostilities explicitly reported for St� Paul River and other sites along the LNS in the late 17th and early 18th centuries� Investigation of boulder pit sites will continue in 2020 with the goal of identifying their cultural origin, season- ality, and re-use by later peoples� A landscape perspective Figure 4.10 Pitsiulak in the fog off Grand Isle. involving such data as elevation, exposure, pit types, function, topographic relationships, and other factors could help interpret these features, which are the most common and most visible archaeological remains known from the LNS, northern Newfoundland, and southern Labrador� While some of these features are obviously food caches (especially for harp seal kills) or for preserving the results from spring egging, others must have been long or short-term dwellings, bivouac camps, or have had other functions, but probably excluding human burial as we believe was the case at Kettle Head� References FITZHUGH, William W� 2019 The Gateways Project 2018� Surveys in Groswater Bay and Excavations at Hart Chalet, Grand Isle, and Grand Plain� Arctic Studies Center, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D� C� Prepared by Mary Maisel, Gina Reitenauer, and Chelsi Slotten� FITZHUGH, William, Jacob MARCHMAN, and Mary MAISEL 2018 More Evidence from Hart Chalet, Grand Plain, Belles Amours, and Grand Isle� Provincial Archaeology Office 2018 Archaeology Review 17: 155-166. St. John’s, Newfoundland. (Jacob Marchman, William Fitzhugh, and Mary Maisel) MARTIJN, Charles 1974 Archaeological Research on the Lower Saint-Lawrence North-Shore, Quebec� In Archaeological Salvage Projects 1972, edited by W� J� Byrne� Pp� 112-130� Mercury Series Paper 15� Archaeological Survey of Canada, National Museum of Man, Ottawa� ROBERTSON, Samuel 1843 Notes on the Coast of Labrador� Transactions of the Literary and Historical Society of Québec 4(1): 27–53� 23 5 – 2019 Labrador-Quebec Diary 28 June-5 July (Washington DC to Lushes Bight, Newfoundland) This year our fieldwork will take place on the Quebec Lower North Shore, with no survey in Hamilton Inlet, Labrador, as in previous years� We plan to combine excavations at the Hart Chalet House 2 Inuit winter house in Brador, the Grand Isle 1 boulder pits and Grand Isle 2 (L2) in St� Paul, and surveys in St� Augustine, Tabatière, and possibly Boulet Harbor (Mutton Bay) for Inuit and Basque sites� By teaming up with Brad Loewen’s dive students from the University of Montreal, we will also survey potential Basque underwater sites in St� Paul and check wrecks reported by local people in St� Augustine� Besides Perry Colbourne and myself, the crew includes Igor Chechushkov, Ava Hill, Calista Almer, Noémi Toroczkai, and Michael Mlyniec for land work, and Brad Loewen, Erik Phaneuf, Sarai Barriero Argüelles, Marianne Dorais, and Emilie Teasdale for underwater surveys� Project dates span 28 June to ca� 26 August� I left Washington a few days early and drove to Lynne’s and my house in Vermont where I finished work on permit applications and other office chores, including submitting a ‘big idea’ proposal to the Natural History Museum for future support for an Arctic Anthropocene research and exhibition program� On Tuesday 2 July I met Michael Mlyniec, Ava Hill, and Calista Almer at Dartmouth College and picked up Igor Chechushkov at the White River Junction station� We spent the evening with Lynne at our Fairlee, Vt. house, dispatched a fine, small bottle of Beluga vodka provided by Igor, and at 9am left for Canada, passing through the St. Stephen border station where we were cleared very efficiently by Canada immi- gration officials. We lodged up at the Fairway Inn in Sussex, north of St. John NB, enjoying a late dinner (Cali had poutine!) and had fun identifying the kitchy Elvis décor and license plates from around the Americas on the wall� This year we were too late for a swim in the motel pool� An early start with a 6am breakfast brought us to Nova Scotia by 10am and Louisburg Fortress at 3pm, just in time to rendezvous with Eddie Kennedy, the park director, and his staff archaeologist and conservator, who gave us a tour of the collections in the main building’s attic—a huge collection of food bone, iron nails, and other material� The only research that seems to be taking place on the collections are by a researcher at one of the Nova Scotia universities� Most of the site excavation and recon- struction was done in the 1950-60s as a work project to employ miners when the Glace Bay (Sydney) coal mine closed following miner strikes, leaving thou- Figure 5.1 Parks Canada Director, Eddie Kennedy, with sands of families without income� I visit- other park officials at the Louisburg Fortress. ed this mine last September while attend- ing the Basque-Mi’kmak conference organized by Xabi Otero and Stephen Augustine� While awaiting the Newfoundland ferry departure we picnicked on beer and pizza purchased from Eatsa Pizza, the seediest, ramshackle pizza joint (rotting wood clapboards) I have ever seen, but the pizza was great, and the little public park above the red sandstone shore-side cliffs gave us a great view of the Atlantic coast. We board- 24 ed the ferry about 10 and were soon asleep on the lounge floor, lulled by the thrum- ming engine vibration and calm sea� The Blue Puttee landed in Port aux Basques at 6:30am� This time we were one of the last cars getting on the ferry and nearly first to disembark. Three hours later we were shopping at Walmart (ugh!) and after an early lunch, off to Deer Lake. However, last night we heard via email and phone messages that Noémi Toroczkai had a medical problem after boarding her plane to Deer Lake in Toronto and was in the hospital being assessed� I called her and found her apparently fine but await- ing tests� We had lunch at the Deer Lake Figure 5.2 Mark and Micheal forging a set of black- Irving station and then dropped Michael off smith tongs at L’Anse aux Meadows site. (photo: W. at the Insectarium where he could spend some quality ‘bug-time’ before catching his Fitzhugh) NorPen shuttle bus to the St� Anthony airport, where Matthias Brennan, our friend and program director at the L’Anse aux Meadows Viking site, was to meet him� Later we heard the transfer worked and Michael was able to participate in producing an 8-kilo iron bloom using Norse technique at the LAM site on the 7th� We proceeded on to Springdale where I did some bank business and then Triton where I paid our bill at Budgell’s Sports and Marine, and visited the Sperm Whale Museum where the crew was entertained by Terry Whalen, the proprietor-educator, and learned about ambergris and giant squid beaks� We arrived at Perry’s and Louise’s at 6pm, had a grand welcome with Perry’s brother Peter and his wife Mary, both of whom I had never met as they live in Ontario (and have a cottage in Beaumont), and then a fine dinner feast� The star attraction of the gathering was little Cassie, Jane and Lee’s smart 5-year old daughter� Jill and Matthew were home from Corner Brook on vacation—Jill from her med- ical technician job and Matthew from his new position working on the Marine Atlantic ferries out of Port-aux-Basques� The person missing for the first time was Nan—Perry’s mother, who had moved out of her home into a retirement community in Springdale� Brother Ste- phen dropped by later with his beautiful husky dog, Fido, and Uncle Jim Wise, who had just this morning lost his dog (known to us because of his interest in watching television and riding on Jim’s 4-wheeler)� All reported a horrible spring with nothing but foul weather— wind, rain, and snow—following a mild winter and almost no spring pack ice or Figure 5.3 Sperm whale at the Triton Newfoundland harp seals� On the other hand, we were whale museaum (Photo:Ava Hill) surprised to find a large iceberg had drifted into the run by the Pilley’s Island 25 causeway, driven in by easterly winds� The Pits looked in great shape, all freshly painted inside and mostly outside (ex- cept for the blue hull), and this spring Perry had replaced the pilothouse roof, which had been sagging beneath the tension on the mast, giving us three more inches height inside� The engine seems to be holding up well, and this year we are hoping for no last-minute computer failures� Perry had the speedboat in the water, and for our first afternoon outing we took it for a spin around Oil Island, where we collected a bucket of large mussels—many with small pearls inside� On Sunday we hiked up to the gazebos at road’s end in Beaumont, finding a family Figure 5.4 Pitsuilak at the dock in Lushes Bright. (Pho- of visitors already on the trail� On the way, to:Ava Hill) we met our old plant and animal friends— the beavers that had pushed to the limit dams on all possible waterways, an otter trail, red squirrels and ant colonies eating spruce trees, and all variety of plants including the carnivorous purple fly-catcher. This year the spring has been so cold that the blueberries have not flowered yet, if they are going to flower at all� This bodes ill for the glorious bakeapple which provides one of our cherished summer nutrients� All these days, a strong southwest wind blew, bringing almost the first taste of summer to northern New- foundland� We had bad surprise on Sunday when I called Robert and Kelly Linsfield to arrange a pick-up for the air compressor we were renting for our divers� Robert had broken the small 0-rings on the separator stack and received the wrong size when he ordered replacements� It seemed we would have to arrange a delivery to Blanc Sablon by special freight, risking delays or breakage� As it happened, however, Robert found he Figure 5.5 and 5.6 Wes Hurley showing the remains of Beothuk birch-bark basket from North China Head Cave. (Photo: W. Fitzhugh ) 26 had some 0-rings and had the compressor ready for us on Monday when we were in Grand Falls for groceries, but we never got the message� So Igor and I returned there on Tuesday, getting back to Lush- es Bight in time for a 2pm departure for Quirpon� On the Monday trip we found a moose calf browsing along the highway, and we made a brief stop at the Caravan Park where the Colbourne family was having a camping holiday� We found them lounging on the beach, Cassie in the water wearing water-wings, Jill looking like a movie queen on her inflatable purple cushion, and Matthew roaring around in his sea-do, while the elders sat on chairs chatting in the shade� This was almost the first day it has been possible in New- foundland to take in the summer sun� Our Figure 5.7 Colbourne family outing at Caravan Park other ‘family circle’ was a gathering around lake-shore resort. (Photo: W. Fitzhugh) Perry’s metal fire-place in their backyard. In previous years these ‘socials’ took place at Barbara’s and Maurice’s ‘shed’, which was guarded by a huge green dragon carved from a log� This year they sold their house to one of the local Mercers and moved to Nova Scotia. Meanwhile Nan’s house is truly an empty nest—its previously fine-maintained gardens grown over and only the lawn getting cut� At 2pm on the 9th, Igor and I arrived back from Grand Falls with the compressor to find all aboard Pitsi- ulak and everything set to leave� We departed at 2p with a light wind from the west and soon were envel- oped in a steady rain while rolling in large swells from some far-off Greenland storm. We were surprised by two humpbacks feeding near Cape St� John, but other than that, everything was uneventful, and we arrived at Fleur-de-Lys harbor and tied up at 8p� Only one visitor came to the dock to say hello� The town is slowly dying, he reported, “A few retirees are coming home, but more people are leaving�” No cape- lin or cod in sight, although they are reported around the Avalon and are working their way north� Lee is heading south for capelin today or tomorrow. For our first dinner on board Igor cooked rice and beans. During the transit I gave the crew a short lesson on safety and man-overboard procedures, but today was not a day for deck lounging—the passage was wet, cold, and rolly� The Fleur-de-Lys pier had a couple small boats and one large one. Not a lot going on, at least until the fish strike in. We did not have time to visit the museum or the Dorset soapstone pot quarry� Last time we were here, Will Richard got word of his wife having taken a fall at home, and he had to leave the project and return home� Wednesday, 10 July (Fleur-de-Lys to Quirpon) I woke to rain and calm conditions at dawn, 5am, and got coffee going, but the day did not get off to the expected quick start needed to reach Quirpon before a northeast storm was scheduled to arrive� While checking the engine, Perry found the alternator bracket bolt missing, apparently because the nut vibrated off and fell into the bilge beneath the engine. He could not find anything to replace it and so detached the alternator completely, so we would have to run to Quirpon, about 11 hours, without charging the main batteries� Our ship’s generator could provide power for lights and utilities but not the main batteries needed to start the engine� We left Fleur-de-Lys about 6am and found the sea swell from the northeast still running, but with a windless, glassy surface� These conditions held for hours, until we reached St� Anthony, when the NE wind and seas picked up to 30-40kph by the time we reached the Quirpon Harbor 27 entrance� The last couple of hours were fairly miserable, with the boat bounding around and crashing into the on-coming waves. The speedboat, as usual, did fine being towed into the wind� The crew also did fine and weathered the trip like seasoned sailors, without sickness or anxiety� For food and drink, everyone was on their own� Mine was a couple of crackers and a bowl of oatmeal� During the calm part of the trip I wrote the first section of this diary� We discovered that I could get to the internet when we were passing towns like Conche and St� An- thony, so I was able to deal with some Smithsonian business about the diving project� Most importantly, I was able to get a message to Michael about Noémi ’s arrival in Deer Lake from Toronto at Figure 5.8 Dinner at Boyce Roberts’ home at Quirpon, 3pm and made arrangements for him to with B&B guests from Ontario. (Photo: I. Chechushkov) borrow Boyce’s truck to drive down and pick her up—a not insignificant venture since it’s a five hour trip one way, and he had to get back before dark and the moose witching hours� He did this and arrived back at Boyce’s in time for the tail end of our codfish and fries dinner put on by Boyce� Our arrival coincided with four visitors from Ontario who he had booked for a couple nights, so the dinner was on a fairly massive scale, which Boyce handled with aplomb� Per- haps the most chaotic element was the noise of everyone talking at the same time, and one of the men—a retired On- tario wildlife biologist—hard of hear- ing to boot� Halfway through dinner, Figure 5.9 Perry Colbourne and Jaime Connors at Jamie Connors (Boyce’s daughter) and L’Anse aux Meadows. (Photo: C. Almer) her youngest son, arrived to visit with us, and shortly after that, Michael and Noémi arrived� All in all, quite a day and quite an evening� Meanwhile the Pitsiulak and speedboat were bouncing around on the Quirpon pier to a strengthening NE wind� There will be more of this rummy weather tomorrow� It’s great to have the crew all assembled and broken in, in various ways� Noémi will be a strong participant� Hopefully we can find a smooth passage to Blanc Sablon for them to get accustomed to traveling Pitsiulak-style—meaning pretty close to nature! I was proud of how everyone handled their first day at sea. Thursday, 11 July (Quirpon Harbor) The wind got pretty serious around midnight, and the boat was scrunching against the rubber tire bumpers 28 only a few centimeters through the hull from the girls’ starboard bunks� But by morning the wind abated, and as a result we remained asleep longer than planned, until 8:30� This was just as well, for Michael and one of Boyce’s other lodging guests, also named Michael, and some others were up quite late playing games and carousing with spirits� They too were not in a position to arise early, and when I dropped by after our first ‘regular’ Pitsiulak breakfast (oatmeal with prunes!) Michael and Boyce were at another card game� In this way we began an interesting ‘weath- er day’ that took us from the L’Anse aux Meadows site to Dark Tickle for Figure 5.10 Wade Hillier and Bonnie entertaining visitors in lunch, and St� Anthony looking for a the LAM chieftain’s house. (Photo: C. Almer) machine bolt to fix the alternator—no luck there, after Perry spent the morning and with us in the afternoon canvassing all the garages and hard- ware stores between LAM and St� Anthony� So Perry will have to jury-rig a solution� We arrived at the LAM site to find Jaime Connors and Fred manning the desk. Fred and his girl-friend are planning to go into business in the local area and are looking for a bank loan to finance a greenhouse operation, tourism activities, and other stuff, while still maintaining his Parks Canada summer job as a site interpreter. After viewing the film we joined Fred’s group as he led them around the site, giving an excellent, light-hearted view of what it would have been like to be a Norseman living here—a very different kin d of presen- tation that Clayton Colbourne gives because Clayton was present when the Ingstad excavations were taking place and knew them personally� The huts seemed emptier than usual and there were fewer people working as interpreters, only Wade Hillier and Bonnie around the cooking fire, and Mark and our Michael in the smithy� They were busy mak- ing Michael a set of iron tongs for handling crucibles— Michael on the bellows Mark had made, and Mark smith- ing the tongs� They told with some pride the success of the bloom smelt last Saturday, when their furnace charge of rust and flour over 9 hours of heating at ca. 1200 F. produced a 9 kilo iron bloom, which they had on display in the forge. At one point the clay furnace spouted flames and sparks that began to ignite the smithy walls and ceiling� All this time the bellows had to be pumped by hand� Figure 5.11 Leif Erikson statue erect- Our plan for a lunch at Gina and Adrian Nordhof’s Norse- ed by the North American Leif Erikson man Restaurant came apart when the electricity went out Society near the Norseman Restaurant. for several hours� “Back at 3pm” said a sign on the door, so (Photo: A. Hill) after paying respects to the North American Leif Erikson 29 bronze statue nearby, we joined Perry for a lunch at the Dark Tickle store and restaurant� They have the best stock of Viking-related books in Newfoundland and are selling our Viking book� I will give them a copy of Will’s Uummannaq book tomor- row with the hope they will sell it too, and maybe Narwhal� We were using Boyce’s truck, which was the only vehicle large enough for our team, and continued the search for an alternator bolt in St� Anthony� No luck there, or for a visit to the Gren- fell Heritage Museum, which was closing in a half-hour� As we were about to leave town, I discovered my rain-jacket missing� As we were try- Figure 5.12 Ava’s sketch of Noémi and Cali after dinner at ing to reconstruct where I could have Boyce’s. (Photo: A. Hill) left it, we saw a man walking into the Tim Horton’s coffee shop with a grey jacket in his hand. I leapt after him, thinking he would try and say it was his and I would have to prove it was mine, but when I got inside the shop, he was asking if anyone was missing a jacket� “Me!” I exclaimed as I came through the door� I asked him where he found it, and he said it was down by the street corner. How it got there we could never figure out, but I am mighty glad Michael or Igor spied that man carrying a grey jacket! Dinner was a hoot� We had planned to go to a restaurant and keep out of Boyce’s hair since his four guests were still there� But when we returned from St� Anthony, Boyce pressed us to stay, saying he had plenty of weiners to roast, and then turned to his grandson, Nick, saying, “Go fry up some weiners!” Next thing we knew, a full jig’s dinner appeared: eider duck, moose, turnip, mashed potatoes, gravy and cranberry sauce, three kinds of pie, and ice cream—in other words, “the works”, like a full Newfoundland Sunday dinner� After, the full gang played cards and the noise got so loud, Igor and I retreated to the boat for some writing time� While on the internet I found a note from Valerie Proulx of the Natural Resources (MERN) office saying my archeology permit could be reviewed much faster if I gave GPS point locations rather than survey areas� So I gave them a point for Boulet Harbor and Indian Pass� Perhaps that will help� Perry and Noémi returned to the boat about 10:30 saying Cali and Ava had been lured into staying overnight at Boyce’s, along with Michael� This night the Pits was resting peacefully at the Quirpon pier, in the fog, af- ter having her rib rail rubbed to pieces on the pier tire last night� Tomorrow is supposed to be a southwest wind—a no-go for the Strait of Belle Isle, so we’ll stay here� Friday, 12 July (Quirpon) Another slow start today as the wind will be too strong in the southwest for crossing the Strait of Belle Isle, so I made pancackes, thinking all would enjoy a break from oatmeal� Well, turns out I could not entice Perry to break his coffee-only routine, and Ava similarly does not ‘normally’ eat breakfast, and Igor would only eat one� So we had a bunch left for me and lunch snacks� Arriving at Boyce’s we found a late rising in process there too, with the girls at the table with stories of a late-night round of cribbage and card games followed by the “Two Mikes” carrying on with various spirits until something like 3am and then stumbling around trying to find their appointed beds or wives. Our Mike eventually appeared, looking refreshed and up on the latest Washington (Trump) news� Somewhat productive work then began. Mike returned to L’Anse aux Meadows to finish the iron tongs 30 he was making with Mark, and Cali and I ventured to Dark Tickle, where I gave a copy of Will Richard’s Uummannaq book to Kier Knutsen� He is taking over the business his father and mother had developed over the years into the best tourism business in this Viking corner of the world� They have an excellent selection of crafts and books and have been carrying our Viking book, and recently Maine to Greenland. Kier has agreed to take on Will’s From Glacier to Sea, and I arranged for him and Nancy Shorey to work out a deal� We might be able to entice him into carrying Narwhal as well� On the dock this morning we met Owen Pynn, a long-time resident of Quirpon and a relative of Boyce’s, who works as a mechanic and handyman at the Lighthouse Hotel� With him I picked up a conversation I had begun a couple years ago with Angus—then the Lighthouse Hotel boatman—who told me of ‘Dorset houses’ in Cod Cove on the northwest side of Quirpon Island� Boyce agreed to run us out there, and we immediately found two sod house foundations, both small square features, one of which we mapped (6�8m by 5�6m outside wall dimensions; N51-37’ 30”; W55-26’ 40”) with 40cm high sod walls and a door opening to the east� A small test pit revealed lots of axe-cut wood, coal, and burned bone� Someone had previously excavated a 30x30cm testpit in the rear of the house, and this may have been done by Memorial University archae- ologists who Angus said surveyed the island and found evidence of a “Dorset” Figure 5.13 Dark Tickle book and souvenir shop in settlement with a B�C� c14 date� If so, we St.Lunaire-Griquet, near L’Anse aux Meadows. (Photo: found no Dorset sign, but we did not ex- C. Almer) cavate through the historic floor level. A second rectangular structure was located a bit lower down at the head of the cove� There may be other features here as well� Continuing on around Cape Bauld we marveled at the master bedroom suite of the Lighthouse Hotel—a mesh-floored contraption hanging off the edge of the cliff 150 feet above the ocean, suspend- ed on guy wires� For a premium, you can spend a night here sleeping on air over the crashing North Atlantic surf� We found a couple of the hotel guests inspecting the contraption as we passed� Rounding the lighthouse, we passed by Cape Cove, where Owen told me there was a rectangular structure and a circular foundation that he thought were quite old� Figure 5.14 Inspecting a small sod house foundation on However, the surf was pretty strong, we the northern tip of Quirpon Island. (Photo: C. Almer) passed it by and entered Pigeon Cove, where Earl Pilgrim has a cottage that he 31 occupies during the summer� Boyce brings him out and supplies him with firewood and food. I suppose he en- dures the visits of hotel guests curious to meet this famous author of New- foundland-based literature� The sea was quite rough getting into Pigeon, and fog was drifting in; but Boyce’s boat is rigged with GPS, so “no boy, fog doesn’t bother me!” For our team, the trip was a good introduction to archaeological survey and the rugged landscapes we’ll be exploring this sum- mer� Dinner was at Boyce’s again— hamburgs and hotdogs, salad, pie and ice cream� I called Lynne, discovering her in the midst of Fairlee Preservation Figure 5.15 Surveying in Pigeon Cove east of Cape Bauld, Association fund-raising meeting, and near Earl Pilgrim’s summer cottage. (Photo: C. Almer) having fun with our new dog “Bud- dy”� A series of emails with Nancy Shorey at the SI raised concerns about the illustrations for the canoe book, which they want in a weeks’ time, which means without my assistance! No way! We finally got SI approval of our dive plan for Brad Loewen’s team, but still no notice of the archaeology permit� Boyce dredged up a number of bolts from nearby friends that he thought might fit our alternator bracket, but none were the correct size or thread� The girls had fun skipping stones on the beach� Around 10pm, we parted for the boat, where a card game commenced in the galley while the elders hit the sack, anticipating an early rise and departure� The weather tomorrow looks good for crossing to Blanc Sablon� Saturday, 13 July (Quirpon to Brador) The sunset against the northern sky was brilliant last night and dawn was equally magnificent. We arose at 4:30 and were away shortly after 5am, just as the sun cracked the northeast horizon and was reflected for a few minutes in the windows of the L’Anse aux Meadows village houses about five miles away. Most of the sea swell was down, and as we proceeded past Cape Norman it became a glassy sea� No whales, but lots of gannets, and around Blanc Sablon, puffins. About twenty miles northeast of Blanc Sablon, we encountered a huge iceberg that got stuck on the shoal section of the Straits� As we approached, a fast Figure 5.16 Bill and Igor rounding Cape Bauld in Boyce’s boat, probably carrying tourists, speedboat. (Photo: C. Almer) circled it and returned to Forteau� We also circled and took pictures 32 and then headed for Blanc Sablon, where we found families out jigging for cod, and then proceeded to Brador and tied up at the pier� Florence had set out her house key for us, so Perry picked up her jeep and came to the pier� After lunch we took the speedboat to Hart Chalet and set up the grid and triangle level� Everything looked normal there, just as we left it last summer� The rest of the day was spent with showers, clothes washing, and dinner—moose stew, with sides of carrots and broccoli in deference to our vegan and vegetarians� In between everything, I’ve been reading William Martin’s Cape Cod, a saga from European discovery to the 1990s, told Figure 5.17 Iceburg off Blanc Sablon, with Cali, from both ends of the chronology, with lots Ava, Igor, and Michael. of detail about Indian-White relations, massa- cres and atrocities on both sides, the power of religions, sex, money, influence and everything else humans do for good and bad; it was a New York Times best-seller when it appeared in 1991� We all bunked at Florence’s, and the team—minus Perry and me—were up playing card games and others, with a bit of help from Newfi Screech (rum), until past midnight. We now have entered Quebec and Eastern Daylight time, 1�5 hours earlier than Newfoundland, so dawn begins around 3:30 and fishermen have gone to their nets and returned by 7:00� This takes a bit of adjustment in our bio-clocks and is compounded by my having lost my watch which most have slipped from my wrist when I Figure 5.18 Hart Chalet house 2 interior at start of was tying the speedboat to the pier� My skinned excavation. View to North. (Photo: C. Almer) knee is still oozing from my fall in Corner Brook, but seems to be healing� No internet this summer, like last year when we were able to hitch up to neighbor Barry’s network. Even the Chicken Delight restaurant’s wifi has gone off-line. We spoke on the phone to Florence, who was in a cheerful mood, in Petawawa; she is coming back around 6 or 7 August� One of her cousins is in the Blanc Sablon area and wants to use the chalet with his son, so we left the key for them� Sunday, 14 July (Brador) After breakfast, we returned to the chalet site and began work on three units, 12N 10W (extending the series of units begun last year across the House 2 midden), 14N 10W (in the SW corner of the house), and 16N 8W (in the middle of the house north of the doorway)� The last two units have spruce trees in them, so we are trying to avoid cutting their largest roots, but I’m afraid that in the long-term they may not sur- vive� Florence wants the trees kept as a wind-break for the cottage� Noémi teamed up with Igor on 12N 10W, Ava with Michael on 14N 10W, and Cali with me on 16N 8W. It was not long before the turf or duff was removed and finds began appearing. By the end of the day Noémi ’s and Igor’s unit had produced two pieces of whale bone sledge-runners, a copper bracelet, a Dorset-like chert knife biface, an iron knife 33 blade, many nails, and—miraculously—a silver (?) coin drilled for suspension and with a bit of attach- ment fiber. Unfortunately probably too corroded for identification except for the impression of a head on one face. 14N 10W in the house interior did not produce as many finds, but among them were a small iron ulu blade with a riveted handle (a first for the site), a linear flake (probably not Dorset as it is made of quartzite), and nails� 16N 8W produced only nails, a piece of grey Normandy stoneware, and a clay pipe stem (I believe also the site’s first). The stem is very ‘fat’ and its hole quite large, so it is probably very early in the history of clay pipe manufacture and should date to the site’s coinage dating ca� 1630s-40s� By 4:30, the flies insisted that we call it quits, so we headed back to the Pits, where a beer was waiting un- til Perry showed up with Florence’s jeep and got us back for showers and dinner, this time a feast of cap- elin, mussels, corn-on-the-cob, and salad� The day was a good one and broke the team in well� Everyone survived the black-fly onslaught by wearing bug-shirts, but there were a few human casualties, principally Ava, but so far she seems not to be allergic, like Alexandra last year� We cleared out of Florence’s before 10pm and got settled for the night, ready for an early start for La Tabatiére� Monday, 15 July (Brador to Indian Pass) Up at 4:30 to a cloudy sky and light southeast wind. Dawn was at least an hour earlier, and some fisher- men were even returning to the dock with fish. It took us almost eight hours to reach our destination, at Indian Island, east of Ha! Ha! Bay and east of La Tabatiére� The crossing was easy and the wind never rose enough to give us trouble with the towed speedboat in the following sea� We saw several icebergs close to Blanc Sablon but no whales or other sea life besides a few gannets and tinkers� As we entered the St� Augustine Channel (munching on ‘smelted’ biscuits Michael produced) we passed the location of the wreck we will inspect in August (we never got back there), and found many new cottages in the harbor on the north side of the entry run, before reaching Grand Rigolet, and no small boat activity at all� We proceeded directly to the Indian Islands where two granite ribs form a gauntlet several miles long� Looking at google earth images, at the narrows between the two I had noticed a grassy area that seemed like it might be a midden-enriched Inuit winter site� Jolliet’ 1694 and the Brouague early 1700s accounts mention the existence of an Inuit winter site that had been occupied before 1694 and was abandoned following Innu raids� Ten years ago, while returning from Harrington Harbor, we surveyed one of the islands at the southeastern entry of Ha! Ha! Bay, looking for this site without success, so perhaps we will have better luck this summer� We anchored in the middle of the run about a mile south of the narrows, made a vegetable stew for lunch, and set out in the speedboat for a survey� Prospects did not seem good as we approached the Indian Pass narrows� The ‘green patch’ was a low, recently-emerged grassy beach� We found a place to disembark and off-hauled the speedboat at a second sandy beach a few hundred meters to the north and hiked back to the first spot, which was only a meter above high tide and had no sign of cultural activity� Same with the second location� Within a half-hour we were back in the speedboat in the midst of pouring rain, and so Figure 5.19 Chart of the Indian Island Pass area east of returned to the Pitsiulak and spent Tabatiére. (Photo: WF) the rest of the day drying out and reading (I finished Cape Cod and 34 the mystery of Christopher Jones’ May- flower Plimouth Log—an intriguing story but with an pretty lame ending), while the crew played gamed� The rest of the day was misty, rainy, but calm� Mac and cheese was our simple dinner� Tomorrow we hope for better weather for poking around in the speedboat, looking for that elusive Inuit site� Tuesday, 16 July (Indian Passage to La Tabatière) More of the same calm, misty weather today� Perry woke for a head-call at 4:15 but this did not seem like a good way to start the day, so I cried “sleep” and we slumbered on and turned out at 7pm for a Figure 5.20 Surveying the narrows at Indian Island. scrambled egg and toast breakfast� We are (Photo: C. Almer) tucked away between two long granite Islands with no possibility of sea or swell reaching us, so the location guaranteed a good night’s sleep� We ‘hit the road’ in the speedboat about 8:30 and began the sur- vey around Melieu Isle, where we found numerous camps and lobster pot floats along the shore� One elderly lobstering couple named McKinnon (his wife’s first name is Cecily) pulled alongside, and after hearing about our work, led us to some bounder pits on an old beach on Southern Isle Coueer (quarry)� He mentioned that he had poked around in one of the pits, and sure enough, we found his water bottle by the side of a small excavated pit, which Figure 5.21 Fisherman’s cottage on Southern Indian Is- probably had been an egg or meat cache� land. (Photo:Ava Hill) A second, undisturbed, cache lay a few meters to the northeast� From here we crossed Querry Bay to Massacre Island and checked it for Inuit sites—no luck� Quite a few speedboats were active collecting lobsters or making runs to La Tabatière� From the McKinnon’s we heard that the lobster season at this late stage is not very productive and that people are only allowed to catch salmon by rod and with a permit� We checked likely spots heading north on the west side of Quarry Isle and then crossed the bay again to check a promising point (no luck)� Crossing back again, we passed through Passage Germain—a narrow cut leading to the bay north of Indian Passage. The rain held off and the team was itching for a frolic, so they suited up and dived off the stern, thinking it would be easy to climb back aboard—not so—so it was a good lesson� They did not stay in the water more than an instant! After lunch we hauled the anchor and ran in to La Tabatière, where we found the fish plant more or less abandoned and the fish business mainly limited to salmon, and crabs that they sell at Harrington Har- bor� On the pier we met Jacob Nadeau who gave us a ride to the town restaurant for food and internet� He lived much of his early life at Tête à Baleine (Whale Head) before moving here� He had quite a bit 35 Figure 5.22 Blue Flag Iris. (Photo: N. Toroczkai) Figure 5.23 Baby Gull. (Photo: N. Toroczkai) of knowledge about his genealogy and ancient Inuit relations� We were allowed to enter the restaurant earlier than their official opening at 4pm, and spent several hours eating, emailing, and playing darts, a game (among others) at which Michael excels� Everyone but me had a good internet connections� In my absence, I had asked Nancy to change my password, but I could not get it to work; in the end we decid- ed the SI system did not like the restaurant’s non-secured network� Nevertheless, by using Igor’s email I was able to communicate with Nancy and found that (1) I have been given an extension until 15 Sept� to get all the canoe book illustrations in to the press, and (2) I received the SMII-02 permit for underwater surveys—but no word yet on the land archaeology permit, which was to be issued by 15 July—yesterday� Perry and I returned to the boat, noting the many derelict boats piled up on the boat lot, and fending off hordes of back flies. I had hoped to buy a wrist watch at the town store but did not want to invest $75 for a Timex� The store-keepers provided lots of interesting information, including that Wilson Evans and Christine may be back together living in Chevery� A better investment was Dwight Bilodeau’s a book of C�C� Carpenter’s 1860s journal� Aboard, Igor cleaned house in a frenzy before the rest of the team arrived and another card game erupted� Tomorrow we may venture to Boulet Harbor to check on its Basque component� One of the local people who came to the restaurant—Gary Chubbs—brought in a small pot he found by the shore and mentioned finding Basque tiles while diving at Boulet Harbor� That peaked my interest since it is only a couple miles from here� Wednesday, 17 July (La Tabatière to Mutton Bay) 6:30 and there was still no signs of life aboard Pit- siulak� The gamers were sleeping in, and Perry was hard to convince to put his feet on the floor, mostly because of the fog� This is the pattern for western Figure 5.24 Recovering from a dip in the ice- winds in the northern gulf, where warm continental cold ocean. (Photo: C. Almer) air hits the cold Labrador Current waters—at least 36 the last gasp of their wintery influence. But unlike our early years here when we did not have very accurate GPS for navigation (or where the navigation maps were simply wrong), now we can navigate very precisely; so Perry’s con- cern was whether the wind would rise quickly, making the trip uncomfortable� We ended up leaving about 9:00, and by 10 were anchored in Boulet Harbor, and by 11:30 ashore� As we pulled in we saw a small critter swimming along the shore, and when we brought the speedboat in to land, it just sat there looking at us, only a dozen feet away, like he was appointed as the local greeter� We quickly got oriented and Figure 5.25 Boulet Harbor view East along the Northern started working on four test pits along side of the tickle where Basque sites are found. (Photo: WF) the shore of the Boulet Tickle� All had European material near the surface, and all but TP19-3 had LOTS of roof tile fragments� The surface of the Boulet Harbor site is covered with a thick growth of grass and raspberries� Many areas of the site also supported tall stands of cow parsnip where recent middens enriched the soil. Grass fills the meadow east of the pond due to seepage of water� A beaver lodge is present at the edge of the pond� The soil profile is fairly standard throughout the site. The roots and turf give way to back, humus-rich soil which continues down to sterile subsoil beach deposits, usually found about 20-30 cm below ground sur- face� In the settlement areas of the site the upper organic soil contains 19-20th century European artifacts while the lower levels produce Basque roof tiles� The upper few centimeters of TP19-1 yielded a few small pieces of blue transfer print ceramics modern nails, small mammal bone, an crimped iron bottle cap, a piece of worked bone, and a late-period clay pipe stem with a very small hole� Its lower 10 cms contained a large quantity of red clay roof tiles—perhaps more than 100 fragments� The bottom of the TP was about 20 cm from the surface� The southern half of this TP consisted of a gravelly clay fill while its northern half had the typical profile for the site. Besides large amounts of tile, some found beneath large rocks in a pit-like feature, TP19- 2 produced a clay pipe bowl fragment, a large square iron spike nail, and a strap handle from a Basque cooking pot with a decorative line of stab incisions across the middle of the strap handle� I’ve never seen this type of decoration on Basque pots before, so maybe it is distinc- tive enough to provide a date� The upper layers of this unit contained late 19th-early 20th century materials (round nails, transfer print ceramics (an interesting glazed white plate with green lozenge motifs, thin tubular glass, bottle fragments, coal, a teapot handle, an iron Figure 5.26 Area showing concrete foundation to crimped bottle cap, a 5/8th inch iron rod, and a rear. (Photo:WF) square section iron wedge� The rotten remains 37 of a wood structure lay a few meters west of the test pit� The large amount of time suggests a Basque structure existed here as the site’s first component� TP19-3 had a variety of 19th century transfer print ceramics, window glass, a couple of pieces of roof tile, creamware, but surprisingly, no nails or iron, and no bone� TP19-4 was a couple dozen meters east of TP19-2 but produced only a few pieces of roof tile� Its depth was 10-15 cm and its upper levels produced modern nails and a few pieces of bone and window glass, creamware, a facetted green glass bead, a small iron fishhook, window glass, Figure 5.27 TP19-2 at the West end of the Boulet coal, and two French gun spalls of dark chert, Harbor tickle showing extensive tile deposits and a thin piece of worked whalebone that does not rock feature. (Photo: WF) appear to have been an Inuit-style sled runner, and two pieces of small mammal bone� Other than a few square nails and a large spike, all nails were industrial types, mostly of small sizes for nailing planks rather than timbers� The large amount of tile along much of the tickle indicates a substantial Basque occupation� The presence of a cooking pot fragment indicates some domestic activity, but relative few Basque hand-wrought nails or spikes are present compared to Basque-period Inuit sites� The interest- ing stab-decorated strap handle may provide some clue to chronology or regional styles for the Basque occupation� Most of the economic interest in this location can be related to the large harp seal run that passes through the tickle in November and December� In the 19-20th centuries this hunt was conducted with nets set in the tickle, which would not be frozen at this time of year� There is only one boat fishing out of Mutton Bay now; all others have quit or taken jobs elsewhere, and the town is in slow decline, like all the others along the coast, young people leaving and coming home to see parents at Christ- mas and summer holidays. At Tabatière, the fishing econo- my is based on crabs, which they sell to Harrington, while individuals still set nets for capelin and trout� Gannets and grey seals, known locally as “horse heads”, are their main competitors� Capelin have now arrived—late, like every- thing else this season—and people are wondering if the cod will appear, and if so, what kind of stock� While the team was off climbing the hills overlooking Mutton Bay (getting some great pictures and meeting someone who asked if that ‘young guy’ (= me!) was still running the Pitsiulak!—everyone recognizes the boat!)� Perry and I had a visit from Helen Evans and her husband, Jack, whom we knew as friends of Christine’s and Wilson’s in Harrington� We had fun catching up with them and all the goings on in Figure 5.28 Boulet Harbor TP19-3 lo- Harrington, including accurate info about Christine, Wil- cated in area between the tickle and son, and their kids, Alexandra (Allie) and Sarah� Wilson Boulet Harbot Cove. (Photo: WF) is working out of Trois Rivieres and Christine is teaching 38 Figure 5.29 Overview of Mutton Bay, viewed to the southwest. (Photo: M. Mlyniec) in Chevery, and they maintain their home in Harrington� We had hoped to meet Phil Vatcher, Christine’s father, and mother, in Mutton By, but they had been seen heading to their cabin on one of the bays to the west earlier in the day� Helen and Jack were in Mutton Bay helping with a sick young relative� Thursday, 18 July (Mutton Bay to Indian Passage) The plan was to leave the tiny Mutton Bay pier, which one reaches by passing through a narrow slot between a shoal and a high granite outcrop, at dawn, but the wind was whistling in the rigging so we slept until 7am. By that time, the wind had shifted to the north, off the land, making our trip back along the coast feasible� While we were having breakfast, Sid Green dropped by to say hello, having remembered the boat and meeting us more than a decade ago� He just returned from checking his capelin net and found a few fish left after the gannets had their fill. An elderly fisherman, he still depends on country food and is full of information about animals—stories of beavers (the tame one we saw yesterday at Boulet Har- bor was not an un- common phenomenon), caribou (starting to come back after years of absence), the predatory black-back gulls that terrorize duck nests for egges and chicks, and grey seals that pull salmon and trout out nets (leaving their heads for the fisherman), and the plentiful moose that the Innu don’t like to hunt, favoring their traditional economic and spiritual mainstay, caribou, perhaps because moose are recent arrivals here� Then, just as we were about to depart, another voice called from the dock, from a familiar smiling face, so I knew it was someone we had known� Then it came to me! “Phil Vatcher! We heard you and your wife were off camping!” “I was,” he said, “but I came back early this morning because my wife recently had a heart attack and was concerned about the windy forecast� Then I bumped into Sid Green, who told me the Pitsiulak was back after many years�” Perry joined our pier-side conversation, and Phil gave us more details about his daughter, Christine, Figure 5.30 Pitsiulak team recreating on the granite hills her husband, Wilson Evans, and their above Mouton Bay. (Photo: C. Almer) kids� Phil worked for many years as a 39 fisheries officer along the Lower North Shore and had provided us with lots of information about harp seals� This past year, he said, there were very few seals because hardly any Labrador pack ice appeared on the LNS� Apparently this has been the pattern for the past few years. We had to break off our rem- iniscences and get underway� But as we were taking in the last mooring line, Phil came racing down the pier on his 4-wheeler to give us two bags of frozen bakeapples. A finer gift could not be imagined! With the wind offshore, the run to La Ta- batiére was easy, and we tied up and made a quick run to the store and mooched on the Figure 5.31 Phil Vatcher at Mutton Bay. (Photo: WF) restaurant’s wifi from their porch, since they weren’t open� Via Igor’s iphone I was able to reach Nancy Shorey and found there is no news other than a note from Brad Loe- wen, now with his students digging in New Brunswick, about their arrival on the 29th afternoon ferry� He also asked if we could accommodate another U-Montreal student, to which I acquiesced, even though we already have a full house on board� We left La T� about noon, when people were begin- ning to assemble for the arrival of Bella (the new LNS ferry replacing Relais Nordique), which, people tell us, is too large to get into some LNS ports� We headed east and entered Ha!Ha! Bay, continuing our search for the missing Inuit site mentioned by Joliet and Figure 5.32 Ronald Monger, our guide around Fecte- Brouague ca� 1700� The entry of the bay is au Point. (Photo: C. Almer) full of islands and shoals, and so once inside, Perry stood by while Igor and I took the speedboat and surveyed likely locations on the northern side of the entry islands� Nothing was found, but we did locate a cluster of outpost cabins where people were cleaning up the last of their lobster pots� Back aboard, we proceeded east around the southern shore of Fecteau Island and at Fecteau Point we en- countered a lobsterman named Ronald Monger bringing in his pots� Ronald lives in a neat house with out- buildings at a place that has been in his family for generations� (For a few minutes I thought his place was sitting on the Inuit site, but It turned out that the sod foundations between the two houses are the remains of his grandfathers’ old place.) Ronald approached us in a trap-laden skiff, and upon hearing about our survey, asked, “Are you looking for Thule or Dorset sites?” Well, this is the first time ever a fisherman has piped up with this type of archaeological knowledge (It turned out he is on holiday from this Hyrdo-Que- bec job and has a strong interest in local history, including archaeology�) One thing led to another� No, he was not aware of rectangular sod house foundations in the area, but he did know a tent ring of large rocks on an island a mile offshore. “I’ll take you there if you give me a moment to drop off my lobster traps.” “Well, yes, that would be wonderful,” I said, adding, “By the way, if you have any lobsters we would be 40 pleased to buy some�” Five minutes later we were off across the bay in our skiffs, followed by Perry in the Pits� It was still breezy from the northwest, but Ron- ald led us to a ledge on the lee (south) side of a small un-named Island (N50-55�5974’ W58- 52�7393’) a few hundred meters west of Ile de Guet. We trailed the boats offshore and walked to a cleft running through the middle of the island and found a 5m diameter ring of large rocks on a steeply sloping bare granite surface next to a 5m high granite knob� There was no soil or ground cover except a patch of moss on which a duck or gull made a nest� Any artifacts that might have been used were long gone, blown or washed down into the crevice at the base of the cliff face. Figure 5.33 Micheal brandishing a lively set of Even on a fair day like today the wind funneled lobsters. (Photo: C. Almer) through the cleft, so anyone making a camp here needed heavy tent-ring rocks� Ronald and I agreed that no European or Indian (Innu) would have camped on this tiny islet, on a 30-degree bare granite rock slope in a wind-tunnel; almost certain- ly this was the work of Inuit, who I could imag- ine managing such a camp� In addition to marine resources like seals, birds, and duck or gull eggs, there is a tiny fresh water pool� We named the TR site the Ronald Monger site, on R� Monger Island� Returning to the Pitsiulak, Ronald gave me his email and, in addition, fourteen lobsters—enough for two days’ feeds—and a gift at that! I promised to send him reports, and we parted almost like old Figure 5.34 Evening feast with Ronald’s lobsters. friends with a common interest in history and other (Photo: WF) friends in common, like Wilson Evans� An hour later, we were back anchored again in Indian Passage anticipating a fine lobster dinner. While anchoring the winch picked up a stray loop of chain and jumped off the cog gear and onto the spool, re- sulting in a rush of chain chasing the anchor to the bottom� We jumped clear just in time� While the chain was racing out, Perry appeared with a plank and jammed it into the hawse pipe, stopping the chain rush� By this time the anchor was already on the bottom, so it was only the weight of the chain pulling the rest from the chain locker� Finally, we got our act together, the wind dropped, and seven lobsters were boiling in the pot� The dinner of lobster, fried mushrooms, cheese perogi cooked by Michael from his family’s Polish recipe, tomato and peas, and for desert, bakeapples of course� Gradually the wind fell and the gal- ley games began� Friday, 19 July (Indian Passage to Jacques Cartier Bay) The northwest wind dropped over-night and the day dawned calm and sunny� I woke with the unpleasant thought that I had forgotten to replenish the water in the lobster cooler before bed, and Perry had said they would suffocate within a few hours without new water. Strangely, they keep longer out of water, if cool, extracting oxygen directly from the air� The scene did not look good when I opened the lid and found them in a heap, not moving, and limp when I picked them up� But there were signs of life in a couple 41 smaller ones, so I poured the old water out and added new, and within a short time they all revived� Meanwhile, Igor and I took the speedboat and surveyed the east side of Indian Island� Shortly after passing through the southern Indian Island camp settlement a couple of men caught up to us, possibly thinking we were stealing lobsters� They had not seen any old sod house foundations, and they did not know why the island had an “Indian” name� I told them about McKinnon leaving his water bottle at the cache pit and asked them to get it to him� We continued the survey, and at the northern end of Indian Island, who should we meet but the McKin- Figure 5.35 Stone tent ring on barren granite islet nons, out for their lobsters again� They were West of Guet Isle. (Photo: WF) amused by our finding the bottle. Igor and I arrived back at the Pitsiulak empty-handed for archaeology but inspired by the beautiful morning cruise, which included a puff-pig (small dolphin) sighting� We pulled the anchor and headed east into St� Augustine Rigoulette� Another day of brisk northwest wind� No one was stirring in the cabins we passed, probably because we are in a lull between the salmon and bakeapple sea- sons� Cali made a pancakes, eggs, and bacon breakfast, and everyone except Perry lounged in the sun on the deck� At the north end of Figure 5.36 One of the few possible Inuit tent ring the Rigoulette, the channel narrows and turns sites on the Lower North Shore, a very spartan camp east into Cumberland Harbor, one of the finest harbors on the LNS� The channel was only a indeed! (Photo: WF) few meters wide, and the scenery of glacially scoured knobs and skerries was gorgeous� What was missing and would have been present along the cen- tral and northern Labrador coast was the near ubiquitous presence of Inuit tent rings� The small summer settlement of L’Anse au Portage could be seen in the distance� We emerged through a narrow pass into the Gulf, which was near flat calm, and crossed Jacques Cartier Bay and anchored north of Canso Island, where we anchored with the dive team in 2012? The day was perfect for a visit to the Little Canso Island site, found by Nick Shatler of St� Augustine after some coaching from me about Inuit architecture� Nick had shown us boulder caches on Canso Island and the opposite mainland, where we found Inuit-style stone fox traps around the caches, indicating an early Inuit presence before they acquired European iron traps� The next year, Nick located three sod foundations on Little Canso Island, and using a probe rod confirmed that they had paved stone floors and entrance tunnels� The next year we returned with the UMontreal dive students and excavated House 2, which turned out to be a beautiful Inuit winter house with a paved interior, sleeping benches, a lintel door- way, and paved entry tunnel� At the time we did not recognize the presence in LNS Inuit winter houses of external hearths on either side of the door, and at this site we had not excavated there� Today our principal task was to make a topographic map of the three houses—actually four including a circular tent ring at 42 the north end of the winter house row� While Igor and Ava mapped, Cali, Mike, Noémi , and I excavated three 1x1m units in House 1, the northern house, extending from the interior to the entry passage� Like House 2, the floor near the door was paved with flat stones, leaving the inner floor sand only, or perhaps covered with planks that had rotted away� 10-15cm of wind-blown sand had blown in after abandon- Figure 5.37 Cottages in the Northern Rigoulette at Cumberland Har- ment of the site from the bor. (Photo: WF) beaches north and east of the site� Three large rocks were present on the floor in the door area, probably part of a door structure. A layer of small beach rocks had been laid down as a floor in the entry tunnel, and 10cm below that we found the remains of wood planks, apparently an earlier floor. A piece of rotted whalebone lined the north side of the entry, and a few rocks on the north and south sides of the passage were part of the passage retaining wall� Excavation of these three units produced only a couple of rusted nails and pieces of Basque roof tile� A peculiar fea- ture of House 1, beside the absence of artifacts, a clear occupied floor deposit, and faunal remains, is the absence of a wall structure on the northwestern side of the dwelling� Ava’s and Igor’s map, which Igor processed during the evening, clearly shows the shape of the three structures� We have never tested the tent ring north of House 1� They also plotted the position of the circular tent ring north of House 1� As we finished work three small boats appeared south of Little Canso Island fishing (unsuccessfully) for mackerel. One of the boats carrying a Driscoll family from L’Anse au Portage, visited briefly as we were leaving� Back at the boat, we had a second feast of lobsters, and Mike attempted some bakeapple pastries that burned on the bot- tom and never cooked� In the absence of a working oven, his attempt was admirable, but ill-fated� A beautiful red sunset and more card games ended the day� Saturday, 20 July (Canso Island) The weather changed overnight, bringing in a strong southeast wind and making a run for St� Paul impossible� While we were having morning coffee, a boat from L’Anse aux Portage appeared heading for the Little Canso Island site, but it turns out it was heading for the small summer settlement in Mistanoque, where we saw Figure 5.38 Mapping the Little Canso Island-1 Inuit win- the same fellow up putting a roof on a ter village. House 2 excavation from 2012 to right. (Pho- new cabin� Igor went to Little Canso for to: WF) 43 an hour to take wind measurements he needed for a model he has been developing on archaeological site locations, geographic position, exposure, seasonality, and other factors� The tide was rising, and both beaches—the east one facing Canso Island and south one facing the inner bay, were fine landing spots; that and the ease of making house pits in sand dunes—must have been im- portant factors in the Inuit decision to settle here� During the morning the wind dropped, the sun came out, and we prepared to head for St� Figure 5.39 Igor, Ava, and Noémi soaking up some computer Paul� We anticipated a rough voyage, entertainment. (Photo: WF) but it was not bad, only a bit bumpy heading into the wind� In three hours we began to see a familiar land- scape—Esquimaux Island, McAllister Bay, the old wharf on Champlain Channel, our sites on Grand Isle, and then the Salmon Bay fish plant, which was full of fishing boats. On the go here are lobsters, capelin, cod, and mackerel� The parking lot is full and the plant is humming� I tried several times, without luck, to reach Garland Nadeau, Eileen Schofield, and the Whiteley Museum to let them know we are in town. I met the fish plant engineer, Lloyd Thomas, and Scott Thomas (brother of Medrick), and Scott recalls three skulls being found in the ‘burial ground’ at Kettle Head� Also working with Lloyd is Dennis Yarn, former- ly of Tabatiere and a life-time fish plant worker and engineer who knew of the Blaises who owned and ran the Tabatiere plant for years, and where Louise Blais, who was the Cultural Officer of the Canadian Embassy in Washington DC in the ‘80s, spent some summers while growing up� Sadly, that plant is now an abandoned and decrepit heap and probably will never be revived� While buying cod for dinner from the Salmon Bay fish plant I spoke with a young fisherman who mentioned two caves on the eastern end of Damoiselle Island where artifacts had been found, but he was not aware of the foundations Tony Roberts mentioned to me last year� According to Garland, those little caves were explored by Francois Guindon, who found nothing there� By the end of the day, we had not heard from Garland. The crew had gone off hiking down the road toward St� Paul and got a lift into town� The driver who picked them up said there was polar bear in the area and was so concerned about their safety he took his family home and returned to pick them up and drove them into town� This is remarkable for this time of year, and especially this far west of the Labra- dor or Newfoundland coast. However, this year there have been several sightings of different polar bears along the LNS, and according to local people their appearance is not unusual� As in Labrador, people say they leave the coast and head straight north, overland� The kids hung out at the Whiteley Museum, where they found wifi and a new restaurant arrangement. Back at the dock, I bought cod from the fish plant for dinner� Then the boat turned into a movie house with double features, one in the galley and another in the pilot house. I began Barbara Tuchman’s Guns of August about the first month of WWI in August, 1910. However, my taste for this soon waned as fieldwork and dairy entries began to intrude. Sunday, 21 July (Salmon Bay to Brador) Another fair day with a light northeastern breeze. All was quiet on pier after the departure of the fish collecting boat astern of us� She slipped out about 4am with hardly a murmur or ripple� After breakfast, we surveyed the eastern shore of Demoiselle Isle, hoping to find the “foundations” Tony Roberts men- 44 tioned last year� That end of the island is all shoals and boulders, so we anchored at the beach south of “American Beach” (where American fishing schoo- ners lightered gear) and hiked south across a series of raised beaches and around the larger of two ponds at the southeastern end of the island� Other than an abandoned snowmobile and three sets of boulder pit structures (perhaps Tony’s ‘foundations’?), nothing interesting turned up� The geography is nearly entirely raised sandy beaches with 20 cm of moss, lichen, and dwarf birch and willow, and the only expo- sures were three small areas where Figure 5.40 Boulder pit features at L-3 on a raised beach boulder beaches were exposed, and on the Southeastern side of Damoiselle Island, viewed to the in each of these we found boulder North. (Photo: WF) pit caches� L1 (WP436: N51- 24�811’, W057-37�228’) had two 2-3m diameter cache pits; L2 (WP437: N51-24�823’, W057-37�813’) near the rock outcrop at the southern end of the second major beach terrace had two or three 2-3m diame- ter pits and an adjacent smaller pit; and L3 (WP 438: 51-24�820’, W057-37�081’), about 20m south of L2, was a large complex of boulder features that included several large pits ca� 1�5x2m diameter associated with smaller pits� All looked intact and in original form and were on a prominent terrace about 10-15m above sea level; but their placement certainly had more to do with the fact that they are the only areas on the huge expanse of raised beaches where boulders had not been covered with vegetation and could be easily excavated by the builders. On the way back, Mike, Cali, and Noémi spit off to check the report of a couple of caves in the eastern part of the island where artifacts had been found, but never located them� Igor, Ava, and I returned to the speedboat and went back around the northern part of the island, where we picked up our ‘mountain hikers’ and returned to the boat� Our walk was tempered by the report of a prowling polar bear, and we carried a canister of bear spray and trenching shovels� While we were gone, Perry used the left-over cod fish to make Newfoundland ‘fish ‘n brews’: cod fish, hard bread soaked overnight, pork scrunchins, onion, and salt—probably the first time this dish has ever been prepared on the Pits. Thus fortified, and with a weather report calling for strong southwest wind tomorrow, we left for Brador, where we can be more productive than waiting for another good travel day� Besides, Florence’s house, car, showers, and washing machine seemed very attractive after a week of lim- ited personal sanitation� En route, we had 30 minutes of internet from Newfoundland via Perry’s iphone booster� I caught up on email and discovered our ASC proposal for a new Arctic program had been ap- proved in the museum’s first review round, enabling us to prepare a more detailed proposal in September; I also learned that our Alaska MOU was signed by Kirk Johnson and Anchorage’s director, Julie Decker, for a three-year term� This is great news and allows for some transition planning� There was no news on permits from MERN (Natural Resources) or MCC (Ministry of Culture), and my calls to Elaine Schofield and Garland Nadeau in St� Paul remained unanswered� We arrived at the Brador pier to find all suitable berths taken, leaving us on the outside, vulnerable to the southwest winds predicted for the next couple days� So, using Florence’s jeep, Perry checked out Blanc 45 Sablon harbor and found that all those berths were taken, requiring us to remain at Brador taking our chances with the weather� Noémi made spaghetti, and after that, the night’s gaming began� I retreated to my basement room for peace and quiet and Perry to bed; but neither of us anticipated the commotion that ensued when the high-spirited game of Hitler vs� Liberals collided with a bottle of Canadian whiskey� Eventually, the din grew so loud I had to sally forth as Mr� Bad, hurling a verbal bucket of water on the proceedings� Monday, 22 July (Brador) The big southwest wind did not ma- Figure 5.41 Work begins in earnest at Hart Chalet Inuit terialize, so after breakfast—and a short site, and Ava finds a nailed plank. (Photo: WF) speech on courtesy and respect—I dropped the crew off at the Hart site and Perry and checked the Blanc Sablon harbor (still filled) and visited the Arctic Cat store where I rented a jeep capable of negotiating the rough track to the Hart site. I reached Eileen Schofield by phone and filled her in on the permit problem and then, around noon, joined the dig� Lots of nails from Igor’s and Noémi ’s deep midden unit (12N 10W), as well as a tanged iron knife blade and a couple pieces of Normandy stoneware� Three sets of paired nails were also found close together� 14N 10W was down to sterile in the NW quad, and Ava turned up a Figure 5.42 Large, flat bricks found in 14N 10W. (Pho- piece of floor planking with a vertical nail to: WF) through it on sterile subsoil in the NE quad� In the SE quad Michael found a cluster of rocks on the floor next to the first bricks we have seen in this house, similar to fragments we had found in House 3� These bricks had unusual dimensions—large and wide with thin cross-sections� 16N 8W pro- duced a sherd of green bottle glass and three pieces of Normandy stoneware� During construction, this unit had been excavated to the brown iron-stained sand horizon� A rain squall ending our digging for the day, and we returned to Florence’s to discover Perry had bought roast chickens and made scalloped pota- toes for dinner� He also heard from Garland, back from a weekend with a rich Nadeau cousin he wants me to meet tomorrow� I gave him France Peletier’s name and phone for a contact about our MERN permit� The evening sun broke through the clouds and came out golden and bright, luring me into showing René Levesque’s and Clifford Hart’s Early Maritime Archaic burial mound to the crew. Someone has been cop- ping stones from the barrens and even my ‘undiscovered’ mound had a capstone displaced� This evening the gamers are on good behavior, a bit contrite, reading their books and talking archaeology� Whoa! What evil have I done! 46 Tuesday, 23 July (Brador) Another day of calm weather, although foggy until mid-afternoon� We were up by 7, oatmealed and coffeed by 8, and at the site by 8:30� Perry took Florence’s jeep to the auto shop in Blanc Sablon to check on rattles and got a report that the entire machine had every malady conceivable and should be junked� We worked at the site until 11am and then drove to St� Paul for a lunch meeting with Garland and Eileen at the Whiteley Museum� The museum has been divided into two spaces, one for the museum and the other for a restaurant� This way, the museum gets some rent to pay expens- es. They have also initiated a raffle that went viral and netted the museum Figure 5.43 An Inuit whale bone snow-knife on display in $150,000, although only a small portion the Middle Bay museum. This knife was found by Leonard comes back to the museum� As a result, Thomas at the Kettle Head (Grand Isle-1) site in an Inuit the museum is quite cramped for space, burial. (Photo: WF) and I don’t see where they are going to present the display panels Chelsi and I created� They are waiting for some plastic sheeting to mount over the printed panels� Eileen prepared a lunch of veggies and sandwiches, and we talked for an hour about our plans for the next few weeks, Garland’s ideas about the location of Brest, frustrations over MERN’s permit delays, and areas for the diving team to inspect� Everything got dragged into the conversation� Gar- land is not impressed by climate change explanations, noting that this winter the entire Gulf was covered by pack ice, and there were many harp seals (thus, the polar bears)� He attributes the big crash of white coat seals eight years ago or so to a violent nor’easter that drowned many white coats before they could swim� We arranged to have a meeting with the divers on the 30th at the museum to pick out locations in consultation with fishermen and elders who know where artifacts have been dragged up� During the day, Garland was in touch with Randy Jones, a local representative to the Quebec government, asking him to look into our delayed permit� We were back at the site by 2:00 and by the end of the afternoon had nearly finished work on three units. The midden square 12N10W has a concentration of large rocks in its upper level and a heavy concentration of nails, including three sets, two in each set, only a few cm apart and clenched in the same direction� A piece of Figure 5.44 Noémi excavating 12N 10W, discovers a Normandy stoneware and a possible trian- deep pit that served as a useful perch. (Photo: WF) gular arrowhead were also recovered� Very 47 clear stratigraphy in the north wall shows the layered house wall construction overlying a thick old ground surface (OGS)� A pit may have been excavated in the southern part of the unit as there is no OGS and the midden deepens grammatically� We still have to map and removed the surface rocks in the SE quad� 14N10W produced a round lead bullet, green bottle glass, and two sets of over-size thin bricks that were placed in a trough in the eastern part of the house’s south wall� A few flat rocks rest on the house floor, which had been excavated to red-orange c-horizon soil� A cluster of angular rocks lay on the floor in Figure 5.45 Saddle Island, Red Bay, lighthouse and the middle of the unit, of unknown purpose� Innu/Inuit camp site area. View NW. (Photo: A. Hill) 16N8W produced some industrial packaging at the bottom of the Levesque test pit and a few small pieces of Normandy SW� Not much of interest seems to be happening in the center of the house� All units have nice clear stratigraphy although some of it is complex and may indicate house re-modelling� Wednesday, 24 July (Brador) A Red Bay day� Every year I like to get our students to Red Bay to see the Parks Canada Basque museum and walk around Saddle Island� Igor remained in Brador to gather data for a topographic map of the Hart site environment and got eaten by back flies in the process. We set out at 8:30 and arrived about 12 noon, Labrador time, meeting Cindy Gibbons at the door� We spent an hour going through the museum and then motored to Saddle Island to see the tryworks and San Juan ship- wreck site� It was a warm, calm day, and Cindy was photographing the electric lines and poles running to the old coast guard station and lighthouse on top of the island which she is asking Newfoundland Hydro to remove� There may be a plan to renovate one of those buildings for use as a restaurant� Cindy was accom- panied by an elderly gentleman who grew up as the son of the lighthouse-keeper, and he had many stories about pumping water up to the house, the long winter days, near complete isolation, etc� Parks is renovating the upper museum building in town and plans to house the main exhibits there, because the main building has structural issues� However, even with the expansion Figure 5.46 A display of knitted goods at of the upper building, its size would not accommodate the Red Bay Parks Canada shop. (Photo: A. as much material as the existing lower building� Bottom Hill) line: the exhibits are thirty years old and there is much new research to present as well as representing the Innu and Inuit� Cindy says visitation is holding up; people are staying longer on the coast than previously due to more attractions and facilities� On the way 48 Figure 5.47 The reconstructed 7,500 years old L’Anse Amours Maritime Archaic Indian burial mound. (Photo: M. Mlyniec) home we stopped at the L’Anse Amour Maritime Archaic burial mound� That little open air display is still very effective, with images of the bone flute/whistle, ivory toggling harpoon head, bone point, hand tog- gle, and a quartzite spear point� The quartzite spear point is identical to ones we excavated at the Hound Pond in Groswater Bay� Our next visit was the Forteau Lighthouse Museum where we found a tour group from Bonne Bay whose director I had met previously. The staff was pleasant and well-informed, gave us a drink of Labrador tea (tasty!), and a young lady from Forteau gave us a tour of the beautifully-constructed limestone tower. Whales were feeding off the Forteau point and everywhere else where the road ap- proached the shore. Capelin and herring are in now, bringing in whales, and fishermen, who were trawling for capelin in close along the shore� The gravel operation on the highest beaches at L’Anse Amour is a real eyesore� Last summer I got a ride from Mary’s Harbor to Blanc Sablon from James Roberts, the may- or of L’Anse au Clair, who owns the construction company operating the quarry� He was not sympathetic to the archaeological conservation issue when I discovered he was digging up the beaches� Back at the house I had a message to call Valerie Proulx at MERN about my permit, but she had left her office. Calls to Garland con- firmed permit progress, and Nan- cy Shorey reported an optimistic communication from Olivier Roy from Ministry of Culture, whose major issue was the permission letter from Florence Hart, because she had re-dated last year’s letter� Dinner was noodles and mussels à la Michael and fried cabbage and vegetables à la Perry� Foggy but calm weather continues� Figure 5.48 The Forteau Point lighthouse, a Parks Canada facility with excellent displays and knowledgeble staff. 49 Thursday, 25 July (Brador) Another foggy day with no wind. Fog burned off for a couple hours in the afternoon and then closed in again by evening� Noémi came to me in the morning with a medical issue: her right eye pupil was dilated and she was concerned that it might be related to her seizure� Perry took her to the pharmacy in Blanc Sablon and found it probably was a side effect of the dramamine patch she has been wearing for sea-sickness� She worked most of the afternoon, and by evening her eye was better, so that was probably the cause� Lesson: try the pharmacist first. When we took Will Richard to the BS Hospital for a possible broken thumb or finger when we were struggling with the speedboat, and Figure 5.49 Noémi displays her bright new lost it, we just got lots of expense and paperwork, eye! (Photo: WF) and no useful medical assistance� While in town we turned in the jeep and picked up a light truck—the only vehicle available, which we need until Brad arrives� Work at the site progressed with minimal heat or bug stress� Noémi and Igor took down the pedestalled rocks and prepared the walls for profiling. The rocks do not appear to have been a hearth and were not associated with bones or charcoal� The midden drops to 60 cm along the south wall� Rodent holes are seen near the bottom of the cultural layer in both the north and south walls� The pedestals did not contain artifacts of interest. The profiles are complex, showing multiple layered sods from house wall construc- tion within the cultural level� A pit was excavated in the SW quad, cutting through the old ground surface� Work in the eastern portion of 14N10W gave Michael a new lease on his quest for iron: he found many new spikes and nails while excavating the second brick, found in the SE corner, the pedestalled rocks, and the east wall balk, where he turned up charred soapstone as well. Cali finally got through the cultural layer in the center of the house floor (16N 8W), finding bits of bone, green bottle class, and a rim sherd of a stoneware vessel� Bits of calcined bone, charcoal, caribou bone, and burned slabs suggest that the large hump in the middle of 16N 6E may be a large indoor hearth� If so, this would be quite unusual and not seen in the other houses on the LNS� But perhaps this pile is merely Clifford’s or Levesque’s test-pit back-dirt� We should investigate more� We start- ed turfing 8N 4W and 6N 4W long the outside of House 1 west wall� No word from Valerie Proulx at MERN today� For supper Perry Figure 5.50 One of two large, flat bricks from Hart Chalet prepared a beef potroast with mashed H2, 14 N 10W. (Photo: WF) potatoes and vegetables� It got gal- 50 loped up in a snap� I can’t get over this long period of quiet seas and cool, foggy weather� Perry says the weekend will bring strong SW wind, so we may need to move the pits to Blanc Sablon� Friday, 26 July (Brador) Igor, Cali, Perry and I moved the Pitsiulak to Blanc Sablon this morning to avoid banging her up on the Brador pier in the SW wind forecast for the weekend� Michael drove the rental truck around to pick us up� All the slips were taken except the outside one� Fishermen were bringing in their codfish catch, but the fish are small here, so far. Perry bought some and made up a cod-au- gratin dinner� The same weather pattern remained throughout the day—fog burning Figure 5.51 Igor, Ava, and Noémi excavating the deep off in mid-afternoon. On the way home, midden square 12N 10 W. (Photo: WF) Igor and Mick jumped out of the truck at the East Brador River chute and hiked up into the hills, having a swim (surprisingly warm, they report) and climbing down the cliffy hills into the big bakeapple meadow. I picked them up in the truck when they did not appear by dinner-time� They were quite enthused by their escapade� Meanwhile, Cali worked out following her Dartmouth softball exercise routine—short speed bursts and tennis ball back-stopping� She plays short-stop on the Dartmouth varsity (summer seems to be a break in the no-alcohol routine)� Igor has been ‘tricking up’ our field notes, more or less as we produce them. So far, he produced a map for the Little Canso Island and Hart Chalet and is digitizing our square maps� When we returned for dinner, we found that the Quebec Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MERN) finally approved our ‘land use’ permit. Eileen Schofield discovered this when she called Valerie Proulx, the MERN rep on our file. No adverse conditions apparently. I learned the same thing from Nancy Shorey� This clears the way for the Ministry of Culture archaeology permit, which hopefully will come through on Monday, as MCC’s Olivier Roy indicated no major issues. Garland also called to confirm the MERN permit and felt that Randy Jones’s support probably helped� Igor has given me The Day Lasts Longer than a Hundred Years by Chingiz Aitmakov, a Kazakh author who has become a hit in Russian and Central Asian lit circles—kudos from the Moscow literati and officials. The book is a reaction against the former genre called “village prose” which lauded small-time actors and local traditions� Aitmatov’s book is set in Kazakhstan near the Russian space launch center at Baikonur Cosmodrome and its hero is a worker at a train crossroads in the desert� The style is still rigidly (Soviet) authoritarian and male-dom- inated but chips away at old established Soviet literature themes and shows more flexibility in social and political attitudes� Saturday, July 27 (Brador) Strong southwest wind out in the Gulf today but only the swell reached Brador� The rest of the day was like others, foggy and warm, with sun in the afternoon� We went to the Pits at Blanc Sablon in the morn- ing where I could get email thru Perry’s phone from Newfoundland, so I was able to get my email for the first time in 10 days. Nothing earth-shaking there I did not already know—like the permit—but I was able to send Lynne a note and thanked Valerie Proulx and Eileen for their help� Moored next to the Pits, a sloop en route to Greenland was stocking up on food and water� A fancy, 30-foot long zodiac with an inflatable perched over its stern was also tied up. 51 We reached the site after lunch and con- tinued work on our new units� Cali and Michael excavated a 1x�075 SW quad in 16N6W—the large mound just inside the H2 entry� Cali had found hearth materials on the east wall of 16N8W, at the base of the cultural level, so we needed to find if this mound was a hearth inside the house (unknown from other LNS sites) or a post occupation feature� Based on their work today, the uppermost rock seems to be back-dirt from Levesque’s or Clifford Hart’s explorations� Below this is a cultur- al deposit containing a large quantity of pot-boiled caribou bones (not roasted as in Figure 5.52 Cali’s excavation in 16N 8W showing Rene the H2 external hearths) dumped upon a Levesque or Clifford Hart test pit from 1970’s, view to bunch of small cobbles, and the mandible of West. (Photo: C. Almer) a carnivore� This deposit included several stoneware pot fragments� We’ll see what happens below this tomorrow� 8N4W and 6N4W are midden and/or wall units of House 1� Ava and Noémi in 6N 4W found small pock- ets of mussel shell and fish bones along the eastern side of the unit. Other finds included fragments of iron knife blades and nails with flattened heads (arrow or spear points?), a sherd of stoneware with reddish paste, and caribou bones� 8N4W revealed a large slab of bone in the northwest quad (scapula of a large mammal other than caribou?), some green bottle glass and a sherd of stoneware, and many mushy caribou and other bones, including a seal bulla� Perry picked up some lobsters at Belles Amours, and Michael includ- ed their meat in a pasta with cheese� Ava and Noémi drove to town to find suitable materials for their special diets� Igor and I looked over his maps and profiles and made some clarifica- tions� Sunday, 28 July (Brador) For the second day, Brador has been calm with no major wind or swells, while the surf from a strong southwest wind out in the Gulf has roared on the harbor islands� It being Sunday, we did not rush to the site; rather, we made an excursion to the Blanc Sablon ferry terminal to catch Figure 5.53 Hart Chalet House-1 West wall and midden exca- email, which I got through Perry’s vation, view to North. (Photo: WF) iphone on the Pitsiulak� Mostly I needed info on the divers’ arrival on the ferry, which will be 3:30p, if the weather does not disrupt the schedule, as it did today� The ferry, new this year, is called Qayaq W and is a double-ended ship that looks higher than it is long� The St� Barbe-Blanc Sablon run is broadside to the southwest seas, and days like 52 today can cause cancellation� While at the harbor, Perry, Michael, and I had a chat with a couple of Newfoundland fishermen repairing their scallop trawl. They report lots of unexploited scallop resource along the LNS, a resource that has rebounded after the Belles Amours people introduced a disease by import- ing commercial scallops that killed the local scallops all along the LNS� The conversation turned to capsized fishing boats, something Perry has experi- ence with when a heavy load of netted herring and half hold full of water sent his boat up-side down, fortunately with other vessels nearby� One of the other boats at the BS wharf had gone over Figure 5.54 Mike and Cali discussing the stratigraphy in at night without being able to send out 16N 8W. (Photo: N. Toroczkai) an SOS� The crew hung onto the keel until daylight and survived� We got to the site about 1pm. Igor and I checked the profiles he and Mike had prepared and made a few changes to the diagrams. I am impressed with the complexity of the profiles, which show lots of stratification from wall-building with sods and house-pit excavation events. We have evidence of pits filled with hearth materials, rodent burrows, and perhaps the use of empty houses as hearth dumps� It does not appear that House 2, like House 3, had just one single occupation event; rather there seems to have been rebuilding and post-occupation activity� Mike and Igor assessed the stratigraphy in 16N8W, concluding that the upper rocks and thick layer of caribou bones were a post-occupation dump� While clearing pedestalled rocks they found a whale bone wedge and pieces of stoneware. Others continued work on 8N4W and 6N4W, finding—in the former—the rotted remains of baleen, an iron harpoon foreshaft, a barbed side-prong of an iron fish spear, and an iron ‘claw-like’, barbed piece (perhaps also part of a fish spear). Most of the bone recovered was mushy and poorly preserved� Highlights of 6N 4W included the remnant of stemmed iron knife, a small rectangular piece of sheet copper (a blank for a pendant ornament?), an iron needle, a large fish-hook, a nail with its head flattened into a spear point, chert and Ramah chert flakes from a prior Indian occupa- tion, grey stoneware, a small piece of worked soapstone, and a large and a small blue glass bead� These squares have produced no large iron spikes—only medium to small nails� Both units had long, slender iron pieces that may be needles for sewing sailcloth� While I was making a chicken stew, the kids Figure 5.55 Ava and Noémi with the skull of a young roared back and forth in the truck, conducting caribou found in 6N4W. (Photo: WF) internet business wherever they could find wifi. 53 The Anchor Restaurant used to be the hotspot, but this year it’s the grocery store, the tourist informa- tion center, and the ferry office. We are waiting to see what happens with our diver arrivals tomorrow: Brad’s team via ferry and Erik by plane� The wind is still predicted gale-force for the Gulf� Monday, 29 July (Brador) The day started off fine and allowed us to work in the morning, but rain squalls ran us off the site at lunch-time. Michael and Igor finished profiling 16N8E and the SW quad of 16N6E which cut into the big hump in the middle of the House 2 floor. Mike’s and Cali’s excavation of that quad helped interpret this pile, which included a layer of round cobbles upon which lots of caribou bones that had Figure 5.56 The new St. Barbe-Blanc Sablon been boiled in a stew were dumped� This deposit lay ferry, Qajaq W, arriving with our University of above the original floor of the house. The midden Montreal dive crew. units outside the west wall of House 1 continued to produce nails, broken stoneware, a bit of tan earthenware, the occasional glass bead, thin goblet glass, thin iron shafts (arrow or spear points?), rusted iron knife handles, a small twisted strip of lead (an ornament?), and a small soapstone fragment with a repair hole� Most of this material came from 6N 4E� There is little complex stratigraphy other than turf layers in the House 1 west wall and midden accumulation containing lots of spruce charcoal west of the wall� Brad Loewen and his students were to arrive on the Qajaq W ferry from St� Barbe at 3:30, but it was delayed, so Perry and I spent an hour talking with Elden Jones, proprietor of the Blanc Sablon Interpretation Center� He is very knowl- edgeable about archaeology and history, and the center is promoting tourism all along the LNS and southern Labrador� He informed us that François Guindon would be starting his Blanc Sablon Innu Mamu archeology project on 6 August, but only for one week� The project has been recruiting volunteers via internet and radio broadcasts� The Center has some of the archeological collections that had been on display in the airport, originally excavated by Jean-Yves Pin- tal, but there is little description of the cultural groups they represent, and there seems to be confusion about creating the archaeology hiking trail that has been designated for the Blanc Sablon River—problems with getting approval for the trail because of fear it might impact existing sites� The ferry arrived around 5:30, nosing in out of a thick fog and heavy rain� They took the midnight ferry from North Sydney and while cooling their heels in a bar there, bumped into Stephen Augustine (organizer of the Mi’qmaw Tepaw conference Figure 5.57 A lively dinner conversation with Xabi Otero last September)� They drove up the west at Florence Hart’s when the Americans coast of Newfoundland, missed visiting Port aux Choix, and and Canadians hooked up! (photo: N. made the ferry� Luck was not with Erik Phaneuf, our chief Toroczkai) diver who was flying in from Baie Comeau; his flight was 54 Figure 5.58 Brad Lowen and I discuss finds Figure 5.59 Brad, Garland Nadeau, and Win- dredged up by St. Paul fishermen at the Whiteley ston Nadeau discuss a rechaufleur (warming Museum. (Photo: WF) pot) dredged from the bottom in Bony Harbor. (Photo: WF) cancelled due to fog� The combination of the two crews made for a boisterous gathering for a beer and a sphagetti dinner prepared by Michael and Igor� Bedding down created an interesting scene� Igor gave up his double bed to Brad and took the fold-down couch in the mud-room; everyone kept waking him up when they went there for their packs and shoes. The girls all crammed into the game room and filled all spaces on the couches and floor, which they shared with Florence’s a giant stuffed panda. No games or late night movies tonight—too tired� Tuesday, 30 July 2019 (Brador) Today was packed with information and activities� While the students went to complete the excavations at the Hart site, Brad and I drove to St. Paul to meet Garland, Eileen, and some fishermen with knowledge of archaeological materials found when they were dredging for scallops. Our first stop was a discussion with Hollis (‘Junior’) Fequet, one of the St� Paul elders who had dredged up tiles in “Back Harbor” (also known as Clark’s Tickle), between Grand Isle and Bonne Espérance Isle� He also spoke about anther harbor area on the west side of Old Fort Island, between Dunn Island and Point Comet- ique, used during the 19th century, and about a wreck on the Ile Nother shoal west of Old Fort� He was full of information about hunting and fishing places and gave Brad an overview of the local ecology� This meeting was followed by a group discussion at the Whiteley Museum with Garland, Eileen and her husband Pierece Scho- field. Wade Thomas (whose uncle is Leonard Thomas) brought in an old stoneware jar that Brad identified as a 1890s century pickle jar and a ceramic bottle found with a Delft bottle of the same era� One of the tiles on exhibit at the Whiteley Museum had a pink rather than Figure 5.60 A ‘nascopie’ constructed on a hilltop by brick red color, and stony inclusions—a type 19th century schooner-men to aid navigation. (Pho- of tile I’ve not seen in our sites that Brad iden- to: E. Teasdale) 55 tified as from San Juan de Luz. We also heard of a wreck on the southeast side of Bonne Espérance Island from which two canons had been collected, their present location unknown� The group also got into a discussion about “nascopies”—the stone piles on prominent hilltops (in Labrador these are called “American Men” and are said to have been constructed by American ship captains as navigation aids� It’s probable that they have the same origins on the Lower North Shore� The men could identify only three “nascopies”—one on the hilltop above American beach on Caribou (Demoiselle) Island, another above “Stormless Bay” (where tiles reportedly have been found), and on the hilltop on the south end of Bonne Espérance Island� They reported arrow points found on the south end of Stone Island� Garland waxed elo- quent when discussion the richness of the St� Paul River region, not only because of its caribou and marine resources, but— from the European point of view—the timber and bark (“rind”) that was used for roofing and other purposes. This dis- cussion made me more certain than I had been of the rapid European settlement and exploitation of St� Paul River� At the same time, from C� C� Carpenter’s diary one hears much about Innu visits, so trade and Indian contacts must also have been important� Brad pointed out that the ship crews were free to trade with the na- tives for their own profit, apart from the main purpose of the voyage� On the way back to Brador, we stopped to show Brad the Middle Bay Basque site and the Mid- Figure 5.61 Trying out the divers on land! House 1 mid- dle Bay Museum� While there, we met den and West wall units under excavation with doubled Phil Labidie, the owner of the Salmon crew. View N. (Photo: WF) Bay Scallop farm who had found some early iron artifacts underwater at Isle au Bois� We spoke of connecting with him and others who know about these and other finds. We arrived back at the Hart site to find lots of progress on the House 1 midden squares� Both 8N4W and 6N4W were full of charcoal and had lots of bones� 8N4W had a large rodent burrow in the southwest quadrant� Beads were found in both units and pieces of broken stone- ware� Brad pointed out several matters that we should look into, one being the unusual nature of our large spikes that were made from rolled sheets with an even thickness while the other sides taper Figure 5.62 The dive team sets out with Erik, Emilie, Sa- toward the point� He also pointed out a rai, and Marianne. (Photo: C. Almer) beige tubular bead that at first I thought was a bird quill, but is a pre-1640 bead type� And while Brad and I did not rec- 56 ognize the thin, broad and long bricks, Erik immediately knew it as a French brick (“French regime”, or pre-1763)� Sarai and I made a dinner of salad and the codfish Garland gave us. Following a burst of movie-watching, showers, and clothes-washing, most were asleep by 11:00� This was our last ‘regular’ hygene opportunity for a week or so since we are leaving for St� Paul in the morning� Wednesday 31 July (Brador to Salm- on Bay) Perry was up early and off to the boat to make preps for leaving for St� Paul River; the rest of the gang was up and Figure 5.63 Divers exploring murky Salmon Bay for early about by 7:00� All seemed quiet in the remains. No luck! (Photo: E. Teasdale) neighborhood� The wind was from the northeast, and it was starting to rain� Getting everyone packed and into the vehicles proved quite a chore� Michael, Igor, and Cali were staying behind to finish backfilling, profiling our new squares, and cleaning the house and cottage� Brad decided at the last minute to take his car to St� Paul’s rather than ride Pit- siulak when the outcome of the voyage—St� Paul or Brador—became unclear due to storm winds and pouring rain� However the diving girls—Sarai, Emilee and Marianna—were aboard, excited about their first trip on the boat, except for Sarai, who had been with us at Petit Mecatina. As it turned out, the storm was centered around Blanc Sablon, and as soon as we passed Ile aux Bois, conditions improved and we were able to proceed to St. Paul. We arrived at the Salmon Bay fish plant about 1pm and found a place at the dock� Brad arrived soon after, and we were able to organize a ‘practice dive’ along the sheltered shore of Old Salmon Bay village� Getting everyone organized and suited up took more than an hour, but by 4p we were loaded up and across the bay� Divers were in the water by 4:30, swimming in two teams at different depths between 4m and 8m, and were out by 5:30� I operated the speedboat, keeping 20-30m behind their bubbles while Brad marked the course with GPS� Erik had a bottle on a string that he could release when he found something so we could see the location and mark it� All went well except for two things: we did not find anything, and Sarai lost her go-pro camera from her arm band when we were helping her back aboard the speedboat� That entailed a big search by the divers until Marianne (mirac- ulously, it seemed to me) came up with it� Meanwhiile, Erik snorkeled Figure 5.64 The marine wildlife ended up being more inter- along the shore checking the shallow esting than the archeaology around Old Salmon Bay. (Pho- water bottom� Still, nothing was found to: E. Teasdale) except modern materials, which were 57 prolific around the old timber dock. Prize find: a 1950s coke bottle! Serai saw a couple early 20th century ceramic sherds� Back aboard, we de-briefed and the dive team left for their quarters at the St� Paul teachers’ residence, by way of the local market, which Perry had visited earlier for supplies for the Pits� Noémi and Ava prepared a chili dinner� We retired about 10, but were soon awakened by the arrival of Mike, Igor, and Cali around 11pm, coming from a dinner at the Anchor Restaurant and a long day of site work and house-cleaning� Thursday, 1 August (Salmon Bay) The dive team got settled at the teachers’ residence last night, bought food, and were breakfasting when Cali and I arrived to talk over the day’s plan—something that could be done in another day of northeast wind, fog, mist, and occasional downpour� The residence will be a great asset—a warm hotspot—for all of us for the next couple of weeks� We also paid a visit to Garland, who when we arrived was on the phone with the Blanc Sablon radio station manager, arranging an interview for Brad and me� As in previous years, Garland showed us his freezer full of frozen game—salmon, trout, ducks, rabbits� The weather was not good for a Bonne Espérance underwater project, so we decided to finish the underwater shore survey at Old Salmon Bay. Meanwhile, the archaeology team drove off into the mist to map the Belles Amours boulder site and make a more complete topographic map of the Inuit settlement whose houses we mapped last summer. They returned about 5pm tired, wet, scratched, and fly-bitten because they had forgotten to take their bug nets and fly dope, and found the task much more involved than they at first imagined. As a result, they need to return another day� Mike and Igor would also like it to be an opportunity to teach Cali, Ava, and Noémi some mapping techniques and how to interpret a set of data presented by the boulder house complex: demography, economy, settlement patterns, environ- mental analysis, chronology, culture history, etc� The divers got organized after lunch� Erik, Brad, and I had assembled the air compressor and its two filter units and secured them on the cabin roof, and today filled the tanks. While dressing in their dry suits, Emilee discovered her rubber sleeve gasket was shredded, making the Figure 5.65 The Pitsiulak galley/women’s bunkhouse suit useless� Fortunately she had a wetsuit served as a gaming house after hours. (Photo: I. Chechus- which worked in the 8 degree C water hkov) here� This afternoon’s dive covered the southern haft of the Old Salmon Bay cove and proceeded without a hitch—but like yesterday, without any trace of tiles or pre-1900s materials� I doubt there is any Basque settlement in this inner-bay region; it would be in sheltered places closer to the outer coast where seals, cod, and whales are available� Perry cooked a fine Newfoundland pea soup with ham, carrots, and dumplings. Later in the evening Brad returned from the residence with a large box of fresh-baked bread and a jar of partridge berry preserve� Erik disappeared with the divers to catch a shower, leaving our ladies to retreat to the galley behind a blanket hung to keep in heat and provide a privacy as well as a much-appreciated noise damper when I retire to the pilothouse floor a couple hours earlier than the youthful gamers. Friday, 2 August (Salmon Bay) 58 Fog socked us in until mid-morning, when it began to burn off and we could see the shapes of the hills� The crew breakfasted while I checked in with the divers at the residence and found Garland there. He offered to take Brad to some of the sites around Bonne Espérance Island while the Pitsiulak got in gear and relocated to Clark Tickle, the (Bony) Back Harbor� Meanwhile, our dig team returned in Florence’s jeep to Belles Amour to finish mapping the Inuit and boulder pit sites� They had a very productive day there, finishing a topo map for the Inuit winter houses, and a map of the boulder pits� Ava and Noémi made some excellent sketches Figure 5.66 Brad serves up a pizza dinner at the teachers’ of the houses and cache pits while Cali, residence. (Photo: I. Chechushkov) Michael, and Igor gathered GPS data on feature locations and pit dimensions� We anchored in the middle of the back harbor and got the divers into the water at Kettle Head, swimming south along the shore following the 7- and 9-fathom depth contours� Weather improved to near ‘summer’ conditions for Brad and me as we followed their progress in the speedboat� They surfaced in about 45 minutes without much information except seeing a square-topped (18th C?) ceramic bottle fragment, no roof tiles, and some 20th C� materials� The bottom is very level and clean, covered with soft sediment� They also saw a partially-covered iron bar that might be an anchor stock� Despite local reports of roof times, they saw none� During the afternoon, Erik set up his side-scan radar on the speedboat, and he, Brad, and I cruised around without seeing interesting anomalies (shipwrecks)� The students joined them on a scanning survey during the afternoon with similar results� During the middle of their excursion a boat pulled up with theirs with Tony Roberts and a friend who provided information on several shipwrecks they knew of in the St� Paul-Old Fort area� Erik and Brad are keen on developing an inventory of wrecks for the LNS, and it seems that local people have lots of relevant information� When we returned from dinner to the boat, Rowland Thomas came by and gave us a piece of shipwreck wood with two bronze nails (e�g� post-1760 says Erik) that came up in his scallop dredge on the shoal west of Nother Island� We have heard of this wreck from other people� By 5pm the fog settled in thick again and we returned to the fish plant. Several boats were gearing up to fish during the night, and one boat gave us a bunch of mackerel� Figure 5.67 Grand Isle-2 (L2) at the beginning of 2019 Dinner was at the residence—pizza and excavation, showing back-filled entryway trench of beer with the whole crew jammed around a small kitchen table—with the crew running 2018. View West. Photo: WF) 59 tag teams for showers� The wind is in the southwest now, light, and warm, and the air is filled with fish-smell. Saturday, 3 August (Salmon Bay to Champlain Channel) The fish plant wharf cleared out overnight, and by morning only four or five boats re- mained� Most went for herring or crab, de- pending on their quota status� The morning began foggy again but burned off, and by late afternoon it became sunny and warm� Our plan took us to Grand Isle, with the divers surveying the southern half of Back Harbor and the archaeologists at the Grand Figure 5.68 Grand Isle-1, also known as Kettle Head, Isle 2 (L2) Inuit dwelling� Erik dropped us displays pits and caches in an ancient boulder beach off at our usual landing place and had the 30m above sea level. advantage of a rising tide. The back-filled L1 qarmat site was well-vegetated and had not been much damaged by new erosion, but the bank is still strewn with large blocks of sod sliding down the bank. The L2 Inuit winter site was also as we left it. I began to clear the backfill from the entry passage excavated last year, but soon realized it would fill with water, making it impossible to expose the entire structure for a photo anyway. So I stripped off the turf and brush only and will have to rely on an illustration rather than a photo to visualize the whole site when we are done� The L2 structure is an anomalous feature� Some background will help explain� This partially-constructed dwelling is located in a depression 50 meters from the northern shore of Grand Isle, a couple hundred meters east of two cabins, one of which was built by Leonard Thomas� Thomas was interested in archae- ology and investigated the boulder pits at Kettle Head, near the crest of the hill behind his cabin� In one of the pits he found a partial skeleton, including a skull, and with it, a whalebone snow knife and an iron rod (probably a harpoon foreshaft)� Charles Martijn (1974), who was exploring the region’s archaeology, visited the Kettle Head site with Thomas and took the collection to Quebec, where the skull was found to be Inuit� Thomas thought it likely that the skeleton was connected to the purported battle between Inuit and Europeans on Eskimo Island (Robertson 1843)� Martijn investigated the boulder pit site but did not conduct further research. We first visited the pits with Garland Nadeau and noted the extensive damage done by Leonard, and perhaps others� On a return visit to Grand Isle in 2016 I noted a low rectangular for- mation at the front of the lowest terrace� The front part of the structure had been washed away� We tested the site and found chips of flint, a piece of rusted iron, and a radiocarbon sample that dated to the 1500s. We assumed the site was a contact era Innu site. The Thomas family told us they used to find arrowheads along the beach at that spot� Over the next two years we excavated the Grand Isle-2 (L1), discovering it to be an Inuit qarmat, a type of fall dwelling used before they moved into a semi-subterranean house for the winter� The Grand Isle-2 (L1) structure we begun to excavate in 2018 seemed to have been planned as a typical winter dwelling with a paved subterranean entryway� However, there were many anomalous features� So far, the only ‘normal’ aspects are the paved entry, an interior floor paved with nailed boards, and a hearth filled with butchered caribou bones. The unusual features are the three exits to the entrance passage lead- ing to the surface and absence of a sod foundation wall (instead, the builders utilized a natural depression in the beach surface as their house pit)� For some reason, the dwelling was never completed� Our task now is to figure out—if we can—what happened. 60 So yesterday, Erik dropped us off near the Thomas cabins to excavate the ‘house’ area while the divers continued on and anchored in Back Harbor where they were to complete the underwa- ter survey of its inner part� Nothing was found except modern technology, including part of a washing machine! They also snorkeled around the south side of B. Espérance Island, offshore from the Whiteley ‘mansion’, looking for signs of the wreck of a British ship from which two cannons were recov- ered by local people� The cannons even- tually made their way to the Régionale Musée de la Côte Nord in Sept Isles, with the assistance of “Mike”, a medical Figure 5.69 Our initial East-West trench through the liv- service pilot� Erik found no trace of the ing area of Grand Isle-2 L2. View West. (Photo: WF) wreck� Meanwhile, the land team split into two groups—Michael and Cali hiked up to the Kettle Head boulder pits to map them while Igor, Ava, Noémi , and I set up a grid and began work on our peculiar pit-house site� There, Igor and Ava took elevations for a site topographic map, and later, Igor gathered GPS data for a regional map� Ava, Noémi , and I set up the excavation grid and began digging� By mid-afternoon, the misty rain stopped and by evening the sun was out and finds were beginning to appear. My excavation of the southeast entry ramp revealed a 10-15 cm black earth deposit beneath a thick vegetation and peat lev- el� The black earth contained chunks of charcoal and toward the bottom, traces of rotted wood, including conifer branch roots. The few finds—a couple nails and roof tiles—came from this level. At the bottom of this deposit there was a faint trace of packed floor deposit, but this could not be traced from the east end of the pavement on up to the surface� No bone remains or traces were found� A group of rocks seemed to terminate the ramp at its upper end, and beneath one was a hollowed out rodent burrow� We cleared a large alder bush and smaller birch shrubs and Labrador tea bushes from the interior of the house depression and extended the 2018 entry passage trench across the interior of the depression� Noémi began working at 0N3W in what should be the interior of the dwelling� The deposit here was very thin, only 2-3 cm of sod with a charcoal-rich, 3-4 cm thick, black earth cultural layer below, and under this, sterile beach sand� A beach rock (which we removed) resting on the cultural layer was probably a post-oc- cupation event� Within a short while, Noémi found a nail embedded in a rotted plank at the base of the black earth layer, and later, a nearly intact 3cm thick plank lying orthogonally N-S across the eastern edge of the unit� Traces of rotted wood were found elsewhere, mostly curved and probably the remains of rotted bush roots, but there is also a SW-NE trending piece of wood that might be a plank. Other finds were a tile fragment and two medium-size nails. Ava, assisted by Igor, excavated 0N 4W, found different stratigraphy—clean sandy soil immediately under the turf roots and in the sand several nails, a roof tile, and a piece of chert� Igor gathered some mussels from the low tide boulder necklace, and Erik picked us up and drove to the old plant on Champlain Channel, where Garland’s father was manager in the old days� Dinner was mussels, mackerel, and mashed potato-carrot-turnip. There followed a campfire on the old decomposing concrete pier which was piled high with abandoned nets� While we sat and stood around it looking at shooting stars, the concrete under the fire exploded with a huge bang, sending sparks and concrete shrap- nel all over us� After a split-second, the moment of shock passed and we determined everyone was okay� 61 We moved the benches back a few feet, and settled down again, only to experience a second—though smaller—ex- plosion� Again, no injuries� At this point, I left, leaving a warning with the group. The fire exploded a third time as the heat penetrated into the concrete� Later, Perry said he had heard of concrete ‘popping’ from campfires. Finally, sleeping arrangements made during the day were oper- ationalized and everyone—divers and SI-teams—found their beds� Only Brad was missing, having asked Perry to return him to Salmon Bay so he could spend a peaceful evening at the residence� Brad has been interested in differences in Basque tiles and nails. These are the most common finds at Basque sites, yet there has been little research on differences in their place of origin, manufacture, and use� The unusual bricks found this year at Hart Chalet House 2 should be identifiable, and he suggested Catherine Coutreau-Rob- bins, archaeologist at the Nova Scotia Museum, might have information on their source and age� He has looked at the tiles we have collected this season from Little Canso Island, Hart, Grand Isle and Bonne Espérance and Figure 5.70 Sparks flying as our Cham- believes they could be ‘typed’ based on visual character- plain Channel wharf campfire explodes. istics like temper, paste, color, and morphology� Some of (Photo: A. Hill) the tiles have small shell inclusions; others have different kinds of grit or sand, etc� Of course, chemistry would be an important component of a tile study, and large samples would be needed� Our collections at the Quebec Ministry and those from Red Bay and other sites would provide sufficient samples. Sunday, 4 August (Champlain Channel to Salmon Bay) A pancake breakfast day—suitable for a Sunday morning! Lots of discussion about the exploding camp- fire last night. I discovered I failed to write a journal entry for this day and lost track of the day until the 8th and so am fuzzy on specific events. We returned to our Boney anchorage and Erik dropped us off at the Grand Isle-2 site� The divers explored the eastern side of the harbor where scallop draggers dump their trawls, and any artifacts they scooped up� They had not much luck with that� Cali, Mike, and Igor began mapping the Kettle Head (Grand Isle-1) boulder pits, the location of the only confirmed Inuit grave known on the LNS� This site, which is about 35m above sea level, was explored by Leonard Thomas in the late 1960s or early 70s� He showed it to Charles Martijn in 1972? And gave him the skull, snow-knife, and an iron rod (harpoon foreshaft?) he found when removing boulders from the pits� Leonard’s work was followed by further depredations made by his kids and others, lured by the hope of similar finds. Accord- ing to Medrick Thomas, one of Leonard’s sons, nothing else of interest was found� Ava, Noémi , and I worked at the Inuit site. I finished work on the southeast entry ramp and found a rodent burrow under some large rocks halfway up the ramp� Other than charcoal and a single nail, there was nothing in this feature except a thin midden, and it could not have been used as a house entry because there were several large rocks halfway up the incline� I do not have an explanation for why there was a depression leading to the passageway, unless it had been excavated as part of the construction of the main entry passage� Monday, 5 August (Salmon Bay) At 4am the collector boat captain whose boat was moored inside ours on the wharf rapped on our door saying he was putting out and we needed to move� After some hasty dressing we slipped inside as he de- 62 parted and then hit the sack for another couple hours, rising at 7am and—at least Erik and I—feasting on Perry’s left-over fish-and-brewis. Brad and the divers arrived at 8:45 and we motored out and anchored in Bonne Espérance “Back Harbor”� The divers planned an under- water reconnaissance of the Whiteley station pier where we had found some Basque tiles a couple years ago� We were headed for the Grand Isle sites and got off to a good start, just as black clouds began moving in from the south� Erik ferried us to the landing just as it started to rain and thunder� Fortunately we found Medrick Thomas’ cabin un- locked and were able to hibernate in his cozy cottage (the kids took advantage of a handy deck of cards) for two hours Figure 5.71 Y-shaped exit ramps at the East end of the en- while the storm passed over� try passage are uniqie features in an Inuit sod house. The Southeast ramp had no cultural deposits while the North- The divers found the Whiteley cod-fishing station waterfront covered with cod fish east ramp comtained midden. (Photo: WF) bones and19th and early 20th century ma- terial culture: large amounts of ceramics and glass (all broken), some lead net weights, and other gear, but no Basque tiles� Erik thinks the bottom has been picked over by local divers for whole vessels and bottles� These materials were all on the surface, at the top of a 10 cm layer of loose sediment� Probing revealed a hard surface below the upper layer� Brad canvassed the shoreline area in the afternoon and found a few small Basque tile fragments, but nothing indicating a major occupation� Cali and Mike finished mapping the Grande Isle-1 boulder pits and tossed out rocks from one of the more intact structures, looking for an intact floor where artifacts might have accumulated� I climbed the hill with them, re-visiting the site I saw with Garland several years ago, and was shocked to see how much damage has been done in the intervening years� Leonard Thom- as had opened some of the large pits, but now all the larger structures were cratered� Only the smaller cache pits surround- ing the larger structures remain intact� In addition, rocks have been taken to build an impressive four-foot high inugsuk, with a weird-looking limestone head� Igor spent the afternoon taking GPS readings on the regional surroundings while Ava, Noémi , Figure 5.72 Eroded soapstone pot fragment from NE and I continued excavations at Grand Isle-2 entry ramp, Grand Isle 2-L2. (Photo: WF) (L2)� Noémi ’s 1x1m (0N2W) in the center 63 of the structure turned up some iron nails, brick, and a 43cm wide plank—probably an oak ship’s plank associated with a nail—running N-S across the eastern edge of her unit (and 0N2W)� Ava, in 0N3W, found a few nails, a Ramah chert flake, and a tile fragment� I began excavating the south- east exit ramp which had a thick overburden of vegetation and peat� By quitting time I had only just reached the cultural layer but had found tile, nails, and charcoal in what seems to be a midden deposit into which large boulders thrown out from the entry passage construction had been dumped� Tuesday, 6 August (Salmon Bay) Figure 5.73 An Inuksuk contructed recently by lo- Underway about 8:30 with a full boat, back to cal people with rocks taken from the boulder pits. the Bonne Espérance back harbor and from there to the Grand Isle sites� The weather was the best we’ve had here, giving us a full day of excava- tion. Mike and Cali returned to the boulder pit site (Kettle Head/Grand Isle-1) to finish excavating Struc- ture 4 which they had cleared down to water level� Today they emptied the water, came down on bedrock, and found nothing. They and Igor spent most of the afternoon ‘backfilling’ (throwing boulders) back into the pit, and having fun recording the process on video� They were careful to make sure all the boulders on top were ‘lichen-side’ up� They then returned to help us open more squares at L2� It was Igor’s last day on the project and he took the rest of the afternoon off to wander around the island. Excavations at GI-2 (L2) proceeded slowly with only half the crew digging there. I finished the NE en- tryway, excavating a thick layer of black earth midden containing pieces of roof tile, a few nails, a piece of stoneware, a few traces of wood in the lowest level, and beneath a large boulder, a root-infested wall fragment of a soapstone cooking vessel, next to a large fragment of roof tile� The soapstone piece was too deteriorated to save� I watched for beads but saw none. Ava and Noémi finished 0N4/5W, finding a couple spikes, traces of wood, and in 5W a profile showing lay- ered peat from wall construction� Igor, ex- cavating 0N1W, uncovered the rest of the wood plank seen in 2W and found it to be 43cm wide and about 3cms thick—almost certainly an oaken plank from a wrecked European ship� His unit also included a decomposed mass of wood and a long conical spike that turned out to be a ‘junk’ of wood and a large branch root—the larg- est I have seen� Igor sectioned it and we could see growth rings; it even smelled of conifer� Igor’s pièce de résistance for his last day on the project was a side-notched Ramah chert Groswater harpoon point Figure 5.74 Oak plank from a European shipwreck re- in mint condition, with a needle-sharp tip used as a floorboard in the Inuit house. (Photo: WF) and razor edges; it came from the junction 64 between the culture layer and the beach sand� The divers spent much of their underwater time around the Whiteley station on Bonne Espérance and, by reviewing video, were able to identify most of the finds exposed on the bottom as 19th and early 20th century materials: lots of varieties of ceramics, not much glass, and objects like cod jiggers and boat parts� A few pieces may be Basque roof tiles, although they looked to thin and flat to me� So far there does not seem to be a large Basque presence here in the St� Paul area� Garland had given us a salmon and arranged for ten pounds of crab legs from the fish plant� Because we arrived at the dock af- ter the sales people had gone home, I had to have help from the night crew� When I Figure 5.75 Igor displays the Ramah Chert Groswater returned to the Pits with the frozen crabs, the Paleoeskimo harpoon point found beneath the Inuit boat was empty and dark, and the cars were floor. (Photo: WF) gone. I figured each team thought I had the crabs in the other car. Eventually, Perry and Cali appeared and confirmed the mishap. I imagined the newspaper headline: “Abandoned by his crew like Henry Hudson, Smithsonian archaeologist subsists on bakeapples until rescued by Garland Nadeau!” At the teacher’s residence, Perry warmed up the salmon stew he had made and thawed the crab legs. A fine dinner followed culminating in a series of toasts to Igor and presentation of going-away presents. The most successful was a ‘jelly’ porpoise filled with globules that pulsed and flashed when the body was struck or squeezed. Perry and I returned to the boat early, and the rest of the gang stumbled in around midnight� Wednesday, 7 August (Salmon Bay) Igor was up at 4am getting his gear togeth- er and waiting for Brad to pick him up and get him to the Blanc Sablon ferry terminal� Heading for Deer Lake and Washington, D�C� today, he had to be at the terminal 1�5 hours before departure time since Qayaq W sails on Newfoundland time� From there, Brad and his students were driving north to Red Bay, which none of the girls had seen� Along the way, he wanted to visit other Basque sites, like Capstan Island, West St� Modest, and Chateau� We left about 8:30 for Grand Island, where Perry left us with the speed boat, which we anchored on our off-haul near Medrick’s cabin. The tide was low and rising so we had to set the boat out beyond the boulder barricade� It Figure 5.76 Hi-jinks by Cali and Mike at Kettle was a beautiful day—the best ever for digging as there were no showers, and flies were on Head following the excavation of Structure 4. (Pho- holiday� About mid-morning Medrick showed to: C. Almer) 65 up with his large, shaggy, friendly dog, Maggie� I went to meet him and let him know we had taken shelter in his cabin (built initially by his father, Leonard) when it rained on us a couple days ago� He invited us to use it when we met his family here last year, said we should make ourselves at home, use the stove and the bathroom facilities� He came out ‘s’morn- ing’ to scout out a few bakeapple patches and prepare the cabin for his relatives who were arriving in Blanc Sablon tomorrow and would be at the cabin after that� Sone of his family dug a bit with us last year and wants to pitch in again� Digging proceeded faster with Mike and Cali helping� We had already completed Figure 5.77 Grand Isle-1 Structure 4 excavated to bed- the 1m trench through the house, and so rock with Mike for scale. (Photo: C. Almer) now opened a couple 2x2m units south of the trench� Using their northeast corners for the unit designation, they are 1S 2W (Cali and Mike) and 1S 4W (Ava and Noémi )� 1S 2W had a large boulder in its southwest quad, and water seeping into its SE corner� Its most exciting feature is the continuation of the wide (oak?) plank inside the doorway across most of this unit� There were traces of more ephemeral wood planks, but they were too fugitive to interpret as systematic flooring. We had to dig a small sump hole in the SE corner to keep the unit dry� 1S 4W is just inside the likely west wall of the structure, but unlike 0N 4W, there was no indication of sod layering in the profile, which showed turf, peat, and a cultural layer over sterile sand. Several Ramah chert flakes appeared, and a small pebble of flint or chalcedony that had been cracked open and had its edges modified for scraping. The nodule has a thick patinated crust and must have been gath- ered from local beach deposits� We found a similar nodule in the Belle Amours blowouts� I began excavating the SE quad of 2N 0W adjacent to the house doorway and immedi- ately encountered a mass of well-preserved, cracked and cooked caribou bones� Almost everything is caribou, but there are some canids and others species present� Butchering methods seem different from Hart Chalet. I wonder if these bones might be more recent than other Inuit sites, but just before leaving I found an iron nail and a piece of unusual ceramic in the midst of the bones� The return to the Pits was complicated by still-high tide that left the off-haul rope in thigh-high water� I had to wade out to retrieve it and stood on a boulder to pull the boat in, Figure 5.78 Mike and Cali excavating the sleeping fortunately not getting it caught on a boulder, platform area in the rear (uphill) part of the house which would have required a swim recovery! where water seepage complicated our work. Grand Isle-2 L2. (Photo: WF) 66 Actually, the water was not that cold and the air temp still warm� Back at the boat, we found Perry and Erik had had a successful bakeapple excursion, finding enough berries for Perry to make his famous bake- apple butter and discovering huge fields of berries looking to be ripe during the coming week. Perry had also created a tasty macaroni, vegetables, and moose meat dish. Although we had no spectacular finds, the day was one of our best of the summer—cool and sunny and good digging� By this time, Igor should have reached my house in DC and with luck, no outrageous scorching temperature� Thursday, 8 August (Champlain Channel to Salmon Bay) A loon was making a lonesome call across the channel while I was brushing my teeth on the foredeck and Erik was making French crêpes� Perry’s bakeapple butter made a great topping! We assumed Brad and his students were having a leisurely breakfast, recovering from their excursion to Red Bay yesterday� (While there, one of the Red Bay guides on Saddle Island showed him an ‘Inuit’ sod house between the boat- house and the grassy field full on Innu sites—I never heard of this and need to check it out.) En route to meet Brad and students at the fish plant, Erik dropped us off at Grand Isle. The tide was medium high but not enough to jump to dry land, so I offered to carry Cali across the gap. Problem was, I did not have the load balanced, and we fell half in the water and half on land� I had robber boots and came up dry, but Cali was soaked from the waist down and returned to the boat for dry clothes� Once there, she was captured and spent the day onboard working with the divers, along with visitors Ethan and Paul from St� Paul who joined the Pits as observers� Despite my blunder, Ava—also in shoes—accepted a piggyback, which we accomplished safely� The weather was a ‘smokey sou’wester’ with fog and poor visibility, but it actually got warm, never rained, and we accomplished lots. Mike finished his and Cali’s 2x2m, 1S 2W, unit, which contained an in situ boulder, a large piece of roof tile, a couple nails, part of the large ship plank, a couple of small planks at right angles to each other; it also had a drainage problem that required a sump well and bailing� He then tackled the two 1x1m units in the house wall to the east� Containing part of the big board, it also revealed the boulder wall of the house. During the afternoon, he excavated the two western quads of 2N 2W, find- ing two nails and a tile fragment in the southern unit and in the northern unit, a lunar landscape with peat pits alternating with high patches of sterile sand. Contrasting with the levelled, sandy floor elsewhere, this surface could never have been a house floor. His suggestion: maybe we have a ‘half-house’—per- haps a kind of a lean-to structure. Ava and Noémi finished their 2x2m (2S 5W), finding a suggestion of sod-layering in the west profile, a plank running N-S inside the wall, Ramah chert flakes in the western edge under the old peat surface, and a green slate chunk looking somewhat Maritime Archaic-like (Ramah chert would make sense here also)� They began another west wall 2x2 in the afternoon (2N 4W) that pro- duced nails (including one of the largest spikes I have seen). I finished two southern quads of 2x2 (0N2W) finding a huge amount of caribou bone—butchered and cooked—in the SE quad, two fitting fragments of grey stoneware, a fragment of a whalebone sled-runner, nails, tile, and many cobbles� This area next to the house doorway seems to have been both a hearth midden and a house wall� The SW quad had a hearth in which I obtained a lead mini-ball and several nails� The hearth I will excavate tomorrow� Erik picked us up about 6:00 and we rushed to the fish plant dock and on to the Catholic church in St. Paul, where a recently-produced film by Sébastien Rist and his wife named “A Place of Tide and Time” was being premiered. Garland Nadeau was a key figure in this delightful film capturing a year in the life of St. Paul Village. The audience was laughing riotously throughout the film at the antics and acting of their village friends� The central theme was the questionable survival of the town and its traditions in the face of a shrinking economy and youth emigration. After the film, the divers came to the Pits for dinner and another night sleeping onboard� Friday, 9 August (Salmon Bay to Champlain Channel) While motoring in to the dock last evening, Perry noticed the engine cooling system was over-heating, and this morning the saltwater stream was barely a trickle� He suspected a failed pump impeller such as 67 occurred a couple years ago� This time we had a spare, and so we grounded the Pits for the day� The land team motored off to Grand Isle in the speedboat, and the divers launched the zodiac and went off to search off “American Beach” opposite Old Salmon Bay settlement. They had a fine day and found lots of whole bottles, batteries, a stove, and other gear, but did not make any special discoveries� The land team tied up on Medrick Thomas’ off-haul and began to see the end of our L2 excavation. The squares along the north side of the ‘house’ became a jumble of peat pits in their northern quadrants, with no evidence of a floor or wall beyond the 1N line, and only a few nails (although two large spikes came from the west end of the 2N trench. I finished the southern quads of 2N 0W with nothing special to report except a sled run- ner fragment. Mike completed another unit along the SE wall, helping to define the junction between the floor and high boulder wall. Cali started 3S 2W and immediately found planks that may have been part of a sleeping platform. Ava and Noémi found Ramah chert flakes near the 6W line, perhaps indicating a prehistoric site in that direction� The most important find of the day was a large piece from a soapstone pot that Mike had excavated a cou- ple days ago. At the time, he thought it was an unusual flat rock, and I did too. But something bugged me about it and today I tapped it and heard that dull impact characteristic of soapstone� So I turned it over and saw two repair holes, one filled with an iron nail. Wow! I’d been hoping we’d find a good pot fragment, since the piece I found in the entry trench was rotten and fell apart� Now we have found soapstone pot fragments from every Inuit site investigated on the LNS. In addition to indicating a significant occupancy period at a site (these vessels were carefully curated by women), their frequent breakage and the scarcity of soapstone lamps may be connected with a switch from oil lamp to wood fire heating. The latter would increase thermal stress and breakage� Instead of replacing with soapstone, requiring imported pots from Labrador, the LNS Inuit were probably obtaining copper or iron pots from the Europeans, like the piece of one we found in Hart Chalet, House 3� Pitsiulak came steaming by at 5pm, having found seaweed clogging the saltwater intake and not a broken impeller. We motored in and met them, finding a bowl of fresh bakeapples and a dinner of fish stew, hali- but and salmon from the fish plant. The dive students are staying another two nights, giving Brad a chance to wander around and pursue some various projects� We have arranged to give a museum talk on Sunday evening, the day before Brad’s team leaves for home� I called Nancy this evening and found everything in order at the museum� Igor Chechushkov has arrived and is busy on publication projects with Igor Krupnik and will be living in my house for a couple weeks� Saturday, 10 August (Champlain Channel to Salmon Bay) Misty morning with light breeze� It being Saturday, I did not bang pots around in the galley until 7:30� Breakfast was a bit chaotic with the two teams aboard, but we managed to get off “Pitsiulak Pier” at 9am� Erik dropped us at the site, and then the Pits proceeded to Salmon Bay to pick up Brad and returned to Bonne Espérance Island to survey its northwestern shore� They made two dives and came up with Basque tiles in two different areas, and found a pile of ship ballast. Brad and Perry walked the shore and found two places adjacent to the underwater finds that may have Basque land sites. At the northern tip of the island, small coves with grassy vegetation also need to be checked� Lots happened at the site� Cali and Mike found a stack of logs in the south end of the house with a large spike embedded in one. At first we thought this was a sleeping platform, but more likely it is a collapsed wall� All were heavily burned� Ava completed a 50cm test pit in what was probably a ditch to drain water from the entry area. Then she and Noémi worked on a 1x1m pit west of the excavation to see if the flakes we’ve been finding were part of a site worthy of excavation; but all they found was more Ramah flakes. I completed my square on the north side of the site, finding only peat pits and not even a nail. Then I began work on the entryway unit we had left until last, leaving it in place to keep groundwater from seeping into the main excavation� During the afternoon we had a visit from Medrick Thomas’ family� Medrick, Lisa, her daughter, and 68 mother were amazed at the transformation of the area Medrick and her sister played in as kids into a gridded scientific excavation, and at the soapstone and Groswater point we found� Garland also dropped by and was impressed by the finds, and the scale and precision of the excavation� I got a bunch of steamer clams from the flats in front of their cabin—small ones; the large clams are found on the bar between Grand and the next island to the west� Pitsiulak appeared about 5p as fog rolled in and we returned to Salmon Bay� Garland had given us codfish, so we retired to the residence, and Erik and Sarai cooked up the fish, mussels Erik collected, and rice. Garland showed up, and in the midst of Figure 5.79 Bonne Espérance 3 try works, view N. showers and clothes washing, a big discussion (Photo: WF) took place about what should be done about research and funding for next year� Overnight, a thunderstorm came through, so I imagine the site is now awash and needs to be bailed. The remaining excavation and profiling will not be easy. Sunday, 11 August (Salmon Bay) A strong southwest wind and thick fog brought in the morning, following a thunderstorm and downpour before dawn� This and the short day necessitated by the museum invitation for dinner before our pre- sentation kept us from returning to Grand Isle� Better to let the site to dry out a bit before we return for a final day of excavation. There was no need for the divers to get wet again, so they spent the morning clearing their gear off the boat and washing out the salt in the residence shower. But we could do a bit of surveying, and so when the fog lifted and wind dropped, Brad, Erik, Sarai, and I motored out to Bonne Espérance Island to check its northwest coast where the divers had found tiles and Brad and Perry no- ticed suspicious features on the adjacent shore� Bonne Espérance 3, the southernmost of the two, turned out to be a small Basque site with a possible try-works on a sloping ledge 3-4 meters above a deep-water approach suitable for bringing boats or whales directly to shore. The site displays grass and more prolific vegetation growth than other locations on this shore� A shovel-test revealed roof tiles in a low mound that is almost certainly a try-works, although no charred blubber was present� While testing and documenting the site, Erik’s GPS dis- appeared and initiated what seemed like a hopeless search in knee-high Labrador tea and sedge brush until he found it alongside our test pit� Bonne Espérance-4, also signaled by un- derwater tiles, was more interesting� Its geography is similar to BE-3: perched on a narrow ledge above a deep-water shore, with enriched vegetation� But in this case, there are two feature areas: a mound a few meters long in which we found tiles, charcoal, and Figure 5.80 Bonne Espérance 4 try works and carbonized lumps of sea mammal fat, a cer- domestic site. View SW. (Photo: WF). tain sign of try-works—known elsewhere on 69 the LNS only at Five Leagues. Twenty meters to the north, in a small flat area bounded by rock outcrops east and south, a shovel test produced tiles, charcoal, baleen, the mandible of a small carnivore (fox?), and a seed casing (pumpkin? sunflower?) from a 2cm thick black earth cultural layer beneath 15cm of turf and peat� These features are clearly related, indicating a try-works associated with a habitation area, and suggest dual aspects of a small Basque sea mammal process- ing site� These two sites, BE-3 and 4, and possibly a buried compo- nent at BE-2 on a similar, but larger, level ledge with a deep water approach, suggest a new type of small-scale Basque operation not known elsewhere on the LNS� It also suggests that Basque ships must have utilized the Bonny Harbor and that dumps of ballast or ship refuse might be present, al- though they might be difficult to find because of extensive sedimentation� Since the weather remained decent, we took the opportunity to visit Goddard Island, southwest of Caribou/Demoiselles� This is the island where Buckle lived (described in C�C� Car- penter’s journal) and is a place where tiles have been report- ed, as well as stone artifacts� With a sea swell and a falling tide, we could not land the boat, so Erik landed us and stood off. We made a quick tour of the island, finding it infested with gull nests and swooping birds� The Buckle place and later habitations were on the northern tip of the island where there is a narrow beach� Numerous pits and earthworks are present with most surfaces too heavily vegetated with Figure 5.81 Iron harpoon foreshaft parsnip and midden weeds to allow inspection of the ground� from Mike’s balk. (Photo:WF) I saw nothing like Inuit sod houses or indication of prehistor- ic occupation� We surfed home to Salmon Bay on following seas, crossing trails with some porpoises (jumpers), and spent the rest of the afternoon resting, writing, and snoozing� At 4:30 we drove to the Whiteley Museum Restaurant for a banquet dinner followed by our presentation to the community� About thirty people showed up� They were an attentive crowd� The stu- dents introduced themselves, and Brad, and I spoke about Basques, Inuit, and our research and findings. People were quite amazed at the small Groswater point and the large piece of Inuit soapstone pot� We had a nice reunion with Florence Hart, who came to the dinner and presentation� The students were nice to thank her for use of her house� After the presentation we took a picture of our combined crews, looking ‘suburban’ in the residence living room� We returned to the boat where a game evening commenced, with participation of Ethan Nadeau (Garland’s nephew) and Patrick� The divers are ready to drive to the Blanc Sablon ferry at 4:30 and, from there, on to Montreal, 17 hours from North Sydney� We said goodbyes at the residence and Ethan took pictures of the combined teams� I thought that was the last we’d see of them, but later that evening the divers, Ethan, and Patrick marched onto the Pits with their arms full of beer and bottles of wine, calling for a party, which happened, noisily, until I perched on the side bench under a quilt and tuned them out� Monday, 12 August (Salmon Bay to Champlain Channel) The day brought bright sun and near calm in Salmon Bay� Pitsiulak motored out to Grand Isle, leaving us with the speedboat, and then tied up at ‘Pitsiulak Pier’ in Champlain Channel, where Perry and Erik went off to pick bakeapples. We had a fine morning for digging, but as the day progressed, the SW wind increased and dark storm clouds appeared� By early afternoon heavy rain halted work, and we took shelter in Medrick’s cabin, lighting a fire in the barrel stone and playing cards. Nathan Nadeau appeared before 70 the rain, roaring up in a jet-ski, and Mike gave him a tour of the site� Our plan for the day was to finish the squares along the southern wall that Mike and Cali had started, start profiling, and finish the entry excavation. These southern units had a pile of logs along their southern edge, probably the result of a wall collapse� Cali’s unit produced a fragment of a thick stoneware vessel; also it had a drainage problem we relieved by driving a hole through its northern wall� The good result of saturation was excellent preservation of wood planks that probably under-laid the sleeping platform� Mike’s unit produced a piece of think stoneware (similar to his earlier sherd with green glaze), a long iron rod with a crooked end that is probably a harpoon fore-shaft, and several planks running orthogonally, perhaps another platform� Later in the day he opened a 1x1m unit at 5S 4W on the bank that should reveal the southern edge of the house. My entry unit (0N 0W) finally reached paydirt—the inward extension of the paved entry passage, so we can now hook up last year’s excavation with the house interior� Other than the pavement, it was not a very productive unit—no special finds, only a few nails (whose rust I was able to scrape off, revealing their square shanks. Water began seeping in a few cms above the pavement, making careful excavation impossible. Once cleared, I found a nicely paved floor that meets large cobbles whose surfaces rise to the level of the house interior floor. There is no cold trap (vertical slab) as part of the door as in Labrador Inuit winter houses� I got real dirty today� The warm morning had coaxed me out of my rain pants, and while digging the mud and slop-water from the pavement I spilled a bucket of mud on my jeans (the kids say I can’t call them ‘dungarees’ as that pegs me as an old guy)� Then came rain and muddy hand-wipes� Now the pants are a total wreck, holes in both knees, tattered duck-tape, making me look like a freak� So perhaps “dunga- rees” is appropriate after all! Erik cooked up a great dinner, turning Garland’s leftover cod fish into fish cakes, served with a vegetable and lentil soup, and a lettuce salad with orange chunks� Everyone took an early evening, tired from last night’s antics� It looks like we need two more days at the site—one for profiles and one to back-fill. However, the weather may not cooperate� Erik has to be at the airport on Wednesday afternoon, so he will be driven there by Perry� Tuesday, 13 August (Champlain Channel) Mike challenged us to get an early start, since the Figure 5.82 Shipwreck oak planks used as mornings generally have better weather than the floor boards, view S. (Photo: WF) afternoons, like yesterday� So we had breakfast and were at the site by 6:30—lucky we did, because we managed to get all digging, profiling, and back-filling done and were back at the Pits for a dinner stew of beef, vegetables, and ‘dough-boys’ in twelve hours! It is easy to say, but hard to do, and by then, we were pretty fagged out� Fortunately, the dig gods were kind and gave us a day of southwest wind, and the threatening rumbles of thunder and the storm clouds never unleashed rain on us� Medrick brought his family out for a few days of berry-picking and camp life and as we left, gave us a pail of clams� Too bad we did not have more time to be with them, as they have lots of knowledge about country foods and ani- mals. When we left, Medrick was cooking dinner over a campfire and simmering fireweed flowers, which they strain, add pectin, and make into jelly. I had never heard of using fireweed for food. At the site, Mike and Cali finished excavating the three 1x1 units bordering the south wall. The results in the 5 south tier of units yesterday produced surprising results� Most importantly, it showed that the depression the house is in is totally man-made—the product of an Inuit group (perhaps preceded by a 71 Groswater occupation, although that is unlikely, as we found only one Groswater artifact, the harpoon endblade) that excavated into the raised beach to create a winter dwelling� Our dig revealed the Inuit excavated nearly a meter into the beach and had to accommodate large in situ boulders they could not remove. We found remains of a plank floor running east-west along the rear of the house, and north-south on the west side� These are probably the remains of two sleeping platforms� Behind these planks on the south side was the remains of a log wall that had burned and collapsed� Many of these logs had been reduced to charcoal� A large nail was found between two of the logs� Ground-water seepage into the rear of the dwelling through 4S 2W Figure 5.83 Charred remains of South wall. helped preserve the planks, and one was a 5cm-thick (Photo: WF) plank similar to the 38cm plank near the doorway� The wood in these planks was still solid, and we took samples for identification. We suspect it is oak probably from a shipwreck� (Wrecks have not been considered a source of Inuit attraction to the Lower North Shore, but this may have been an incentive in addition to opportunities for trade�) Other interesting finds from the 5S units included several pieces of stoneware, including a green-glazed piece and anoth- er similar sherd whose glaze had spalled, a piece of faience, and several pieces of a thick, flat-bottomed stoneware jar found near the collapsed wall� The three 1x1meter units at 6S showed the border between the house deposits and the in situ beach deposits, and the western-most one showed the corner of the house excavation. When all mapping and profiling was completed, I excavated the collapsed logs, hoping to find more stoneware or other materials beneath, but nothing emerged. While this was taking place, Ava and Noémi teamed up as a profiling team, having had some training at the Hart Chalet from Mike and Igor. They produced five profiles: long ones along the east side of 1W and the west side of 4W, the north side of 1S, and short ones for the north side of 5S and 6S� They also pro- filed the west wall of the 1x1m test pit they excavated, whose northeast corner is at 10.25mW and 20cmN. I spent most of my time photographing the units, west to east and from south to north, making a sketch map of the site overall, adding depth readings to the plank and floors, sketching the location of boulders (many which seem not to have been part of the dwelling and fell in from the walls or roof), sampling the two thick ship planks, and collecting odds and ends, like finding a roof tile that had been used as an oil lamp with charred encrustation. This find may suggest a reason for the scarcity of soapstone lamps in the LNS Inuit sites� Susan Kaplan found a similar use for tiles at the Eskimo Island site in Labrador� Our final effort was back-filling—always a grueling task, which was made more difficult in this case because we only had three buckets, and because dirt had been dumped on birch and Labra- dor tea bushes, and the large volume of dirt that had been excavated� This work took three hours and was assisted by Ava and Noémi after they finished the profiles. Throughout, we were threatened by thunderstorms, but all passed to one side or the other. In the end, we installed the peat and final- ly the turf, and the site was returned to the way it looked before excavation, except for the removal of the large birch shrub that had been growing for decades inside the entry� We should have thought to count its rings! Considering the site from the vantage point of last year’s work that revealed only the paved entry passage, and our largely negative test pits inside the house, this year’s work pro- duced a surprising result, making this site one of the most interesting—if still enigmatic—in our series of Inuit excavations on the LNS� Wednesday, 14 August (Champlain Channel to Blanc Sablon) 72 Perry Figure 5.85 Mike and Cali excercizing between bouts of digging. (Photo:WF) Figure 5.84 Erik acting “droll” at din- ner. (Photo: WF) woke up at 5 raring to go. “Let’s go home! Put on the coffee”. The wind had shifted into the north, knock- ing the southwest swell back, making a passage to Blanc Sablon feasible� We untied and said goodbyes to Esquimaux Island and the St� Paul homes visible at the end of the channel, and in a few minutes were tied up at the Salmon Bay fish plant, having breakfast and getting Cali, Mike, and Erik off into the ‘CRV’, Florence’s jeep. They were to drop a note of thanks off to Garland and Eileen at the residence, straighten that up a bit, and deliver Erik to the airport for his flight home. We had lots of fun with Erik during the past two weeks, reviving memories of his several summers with us working at Hare Harbor� Not only a talented underwater diver, he is also a wit, a fine cook, a thoughtful creature, and a good expedition com- panion. He did a terrific job with Brad and his students, and in the end, after lots of ‘dry holes’ searching for Basque tiles, wrecks, or other evidence of early European evidence on the bottom, he and the team found a ballast pile and tiles that led Brad and Perry to find those new Basque sites on Bonne Espérance Island� The rest of the SI team brought the boat to Blanc Sablon and found our usual berth empty at the seaward end of the marina� As we entered Blanc Sablon Bay we witnessed the most amazing display of pescine carnivory I ever seen� Thousands of gannets were swarming the sky, shifting like a dark cloud and gathering over schools of capelin, hovering and diving like a rain of Genghis Khan’s arrows into the sea� The air was full of these feathered spears� Within a few seconds the birds would gather over a new location and within the space of ten seconds, a hundred gannets would fold back their wings, stretch out their necks and hit the water, emerging a few seconds later, shaking the water from their feathers into a misty cloud� Who knows what the success rate for individual birds is? Do they spot individual fish? Probably not—that task may come when they are in the midst of the school of fish. This was the most spectacular sight I have ever seen at sea, akin to the time when a group of orcas played with our towed speedboat and the male cruised along- side the Pitsiulak and cast an eye on us� Perry and I watered and fueled the boat for the trip home, and when Cali and Mike arrived with the car, we went to Florence’s to clean up, do clothes, and eat, along with the dreaded spaghetti, smoked mackerel given by Garland and steamer clams given by Medrick� I caught the end of the meal after fetching the 73 midden bones we had left drying on the porch of the chalet� Having left on board by bug net and repel- lant, I was not prepared for the swarm of blackflies. The rest of the afternoon was given over to snoozing in Florence’s living room� She wanted to cook us dinner, but instead we took her to the L’Anse au Loup restaurant for a ‘thank you’ and departure dinner� I paid her for the use of her house and CRV and asked that she not spend the money fixing its many maladies, which she has continued to maintain, mostly for our use, since she has a nice new sedan� Florence loves bakeapples and her face would light up when the topic arises, which it does frequently this time of year� Her return to Brador from her extended care-giving visit to her daughter’s (who is incapacitated by neurological problems) is timed to the ripening of this berry (and partly to see us)� Yesterday she indulged and went berry-picking, with her cane to steady her in the spongy footing, and was rewarded by a few berries, and many fly- bites. “Ooooh, some bad, those flies this year!” Fortunately, Perry and Erik picked a couple of quarts for her on Esquimaux Is- land so she will at least have some for fall and winter� Florence is a dear friend, and Figure 5.86 Pitsiulak refueling at Blanc Sablon. (Photo while driving us back to the boat, before WF) we parted, said, “I wonder if Clifford can see us now.” For her, Clifford is still by her side. Thursday, 15 August (Blanc Sablon to Quirpon) Our day to cross the Strait of Belle Isle! Thinking we were on Newfoundland time, Perry’s alarm went off an hour and a half before it started to get light, so we hung around in the pilothouse drinking coffee and wondering what would happen if the sun did not rise� Would you call home? Pray? Cook a last supper? But it finally did get light, and we set out and had a pretty smooth crossing, reaching Quirpon about 1:30 Newfi time. Very little sea life of any kind was seen en route—not even a ship, and no whales or birds until gannets appeared around Cape Norman� We intended only to have a break for lunch at Quirpon, but when we arrived the swells were three meters on the outside of Quirpon Island and fog was drifting in� So we opted to spend the rest of the day here� Mike needed to visit L’Anse aux Meadows site to pick up a sample of bog ore that Mark Pilgrim had waiting for him, and we heard that there were investigations un- derway looking into the site’s environmental history� We found Boyce at home with his partner, Michelle, also here on holiday from her job in St� John’s� Boyce lent us his truck, and we drove to the site, met Matthias, and got the sample from Bonnie, Mark’s wife, a long-time interpreter in the longhouse� Jamie Conners and Wade Hillier were also on-site, and we had an interesting conversation with a craggy visitor from Glouster, Massachusetts, who was an old salt and a musician who had just performed in a music festival in southern Newfoundland. I had missed seeing Gina Nordhoff in July, so we dropped in for a snack at The Norseman and caught up with her and Adrian, and their two kids; their oldest is now helping out with the restaurant. Time flies! Boyce invited us for dinner, so we all piled in around his dining room table for another of his ‘impromptu’ banquets, this time featuring stuffed squid and fried cod. The food never stops appearing—almost mi- raculously, no matter whether he has advanced notice or not� He also had a 91-year old educator and her daughter, a retired breast cancer specialist, as B&B guests arriving for the night� After dinner, Mike and I spent an hour with Matthias Brennan and his LAM interpreter side-kick on the porch of their rented place 74 in Griquet, and another hour kibitzing with the environmental team in their rental place, also in Griquet� They are a group from Memorial University: Paul Ledger, Dawn Mooney, Allan Wolfrum (GPS spe- cialist), Bryn Tapper, and Veronica Forbes� Their project is just getting started and includes geophysical surveys, palaeobotany, and other studies in the boggy soils south of the Norse dwellings� It looked to us like sloggy, wet work, but at least they are spared the devilish blackflies and there are not many mosqui- toes now. Their findings include identifying a cultural layer associated with the Norse occupation. They are also hoping to identify plant species introduced by the Norse� By the time we returned to Boyce’s, our crew had left for the boat� We said goodbye to Boyce and Michelle and returned for a few hours of sleep before another early morning departure� Prospects looked fair for getting to Lushes Bight tomorrow� Friday, 16 August (Quirpon to Lushes Bight) Up at 5am to find a fair morning and light wind. We had heard that conditions outside Quirpon Island were quite rough, with 3-meter seas but that seas would diminish to one meter today� So we were sur- prised to reach the southeast Quirpon channel and find huge rollers still coming in. Fortunately, this was a local effect at the channel entrance, and as we turned south toward St. Anthony the rollers diminished so that our speedboat was not racing down the swells and careening into us� Fog patches persisted until we were south of the Grey Islands, past the puffin hang-out on Red Island, and from there to the Horse Islands we had only a light southeast breeze and the rollers coming in from some distant North Atlantic storm� Some of the crew who had resisted sea-sickness until now, succumbed� Perry took a nap in the afternoon, leaving me to drive, and I took a course straight to Cape St� John, east of the Dog Islands� The only excitement was a passing speedboat crossing from the southern Grey Island to Fleur-de-Lys, proba- bly returning from bakeapple-picking� Passing the St� Johns ‘beaks’ and entering Green Bay is always a huge relief at the end of the project, because from here to Lushes Bight is a ‘piece of cake’—fwe could even tow the Pitsiulak home from here if need be. This year was no different, and even the sun gave us a couple hours of afternoon warmth� As we approached Lushes Bight, the Long Island ferry appeared on its run from Little Bay Island to Long Island Tickle� We tied up at our old berth at the end of the Lushes Bight pier and soon were greeted by Louise, Jill, and Jim, the latter preparing to leave in the morning on a berry-picking trip to Punchbowl (southern Labrador), where he expected to find a great crop of bake- apples, as we did two years ago� We had a ‘last supper’ on board—spaghetti and moose meat—and this time, Perry could not complain, as he did last year, because this year spaghetti was a rare occurrence� Af- ter dinner, in a frenzy of activity, we emptied the boat and moved ashore, the crew taking shelter in Den- nis’ basement (he was on duty skippering the McIsaac ferry) while Perry put me in his and Louise’s room� I called Lynne to alert her to our arrival, and plans were laid out for processing the collections, cleaning the boat, and making home-bound travel arrangements� We were shooting for a Tuesday departure after putting up the boat at the Triton Marine Center� Saturday and Sunday, 17-18 August (Lushes Bight) Friday evening I set up an impromptu lab in Perry’s workshop, and in the morning the girls and I began cleaning and inventorying the collections, using a field catalog template from 2017. Michael and Per- ry worked on clearing out the boat, de-rigging the compressor, off-loading the zodiac and emergency generator, and getting almost everything off not needed for the trip to the marine center. Things went so smoothly that by late Saturday we could see hauling the Pitsiulak on Monday morning and getting to the Port au Basque ferry for the midnight departure that night� I started by cleaning and packing up the bones� Most of those from the Hart Chalet were pretty clean and dry from sitting on Florence’s chalet porch during our work in St� Paul, but the Grand Isle bones had to be washed and packed up damp� I called Anja Herzog about processing the collections and found her at home and eager to take on the task once more� Her catalogs have been excellent and will be a great help when I write the final report for the Gateways Project� I got all the bones into two boxes and the artifacts into one, each just a bit under the 40-pound 75 Canadian mailing limit—otherwise they’d have to go freight� There were no big discoveries while processing the artifacts, but I was pleased to see the large amount of decorative material that came from 6N 4W at the chalet—quite a few pieces of cut brass, beads, small bits of lead, and other items� Processing the chalet material was easy because the notes for the square collections were kept separate by unit number whereas the Grand Isle-2 (L2) finds were recorded on a single running list and bagged by unit number� This makes matching those artifacts to drawings on the master list tedious. Hopefully, Anja will find a way to do this without too much trouble� This system developed when we started the GI-2 dig and thought we would only have a few artifacts Figure 5.87 The other cat that is more friendly than to record, but instead the collection (mostly nails) Perry’s. (Photo: WF) came to 143 objects; Hart Chalet was 420� In mid-afternoon, Saturday the team (minus me) took a break and went for a swim in the pond between Lushes Bight and Beaumont� Everyone had fun playing with Cassie, who has finally overcome her shyness about me and comes to the shed to visit. In another year she’ll be helping with the artifact work! Next week she’ll be moving to Pilley’s Island where Jane and Lee are buying a house so she can go to school without the daily time and expense of the Long Island ferry� Their move will be hard on Perry and Louise, who are back and forth with her and Jane every day� Perry told her “That’s ok, because you can make a place for ‘pappy’ in your new basement,” to which she responded, “Pappies don’t live in base- ments!” She’s a sharp one for sure, observant, and thinks like an adult rather than a kid—not surprising since she’s been interacting mostly with adults because there are so few children for her to play with on Long Island� That’s one of the reasons for moving to Pilley’s Island, to attend school with kids her age� All this is not a good sign for the future of Long Island. More families are moving off, and the only new arrivals are retirees. Barbara and Maurice have sold their place and moved, and Dennis (now divorced) has his kids scattered from Corner Brook to Alberta and has bought land for a cottage in the hills south of Springdale, leaving his house semi-vacant and probably for sale soon� Nan’s place is empty now that she is in the Springdale retirement home� The demography of Long Island seems headed for the dumps now that fishing is not the primary economic focus, and even retirees are reluctant to invest when they can’t be sure of a quick trip to the hospital� Last winter the island was isolated for two weeks because ice blocked the ferry route, and school kids had to be transported to Pilley’s Island by helicopter� Perry’s dinner for us on Saturday evening was a seafood feast (crabs, cod, squid) and on Sunday, a ‘turf’ meal of barbecued chicken, steak, ribs, and more� For entertainment, we had the usual baloney from Trump spouting off about buying Greenland from the Danes. Fortunately, the weather remained good all weekend for boat and collection work, and by Sunday evening the artifacts were ready for shipping, the boat was empty, our clothes and bodies washed, and our ferry reservations set for Monday night� Monday, 20 August (Lushes Bight to Port aux Basques) Another—and the last—of our early boat departures, and everyone was on the go� Louise was heading to Grand Falls for a doctor visit; Cali was driving my car to meet us at the Triton marine center, and the rest of us, plus Matthew, were off at 7:30 to take the Pitsiulak on her final 2019 ride. We had a smooth passage, noted people fish- ing for codfish in small boats, and those big roller seas from out in the North Atlantic were still crashing on shore. (Wouldn’t it be fun to see snap-shots of these exposed capes every 10,000 years to see how erosion shaped the 76 headlands and bays?) Arriving at the marine center, we met Dennis, the lift operator, and Pete Winsor, the center owner, and quickly had the Pit hoisted, ‘pissing’ its bilge water as the boat tipped forward in the slings� This year, Perry had left the boat cribs stacked near our ‘parking space’ rather than trucking them back to his place� With- in an hour, we had the keel and sides blocked, supports under the rub rails, and a ladder up for access� Then we headed for Fudge’s restaurant for a goodbye breakfast that included an interesting discussion with a feisty elderly woman server who had definite ideas about what and how we should eat. We said adios to Perry and Matthew (which happened several times and included many warm hugs) and were off across the countryside, homeward bound� Our one departure regret was not stopping to say hello to Nan in Springdale� Perry’s brother Stephen had mentioned that Nan would like to see us, but after leaving Perry we had no easy way to find her. Yesterday we heard from Noémi via email that she was stranded in Deer Lake and needed a ride home with us� After finally getting medical clearance for the fights home, all seemed in order, until arriving at the airport and found her Toronto to Chicago flight cancelled, and no other options available. We met her at the Driftwood Inn, had lunch and drove to Pasadena where we spend an hour getting a tour of the Myers Mineral shop from a long- time stone- and gem-cutter named Sandra Skeard� They used to sell lots of Labrador artists’ work—soapstone and labradorite—but now have on a couple of pieces, including a whale by our Nain friend, Gilbert Hay, and a couple of Inuit face carvings originally pioneered by John Terriak� Now that the Herbert Brown gallery in Goose Bay has closed, few pieces are coming to Myers’ from Labrador� Sandra gave us a great tour of the stone-cutting equip- ment and showed us lots of beautiful slabs from rocks all over the province� I asked her about Ramah chert, and she said, “I get that question a lot� I have a piece here somewhere that some geologist from Washington DC says was used for tool-making for thousands of years by Indians and Inuit�” The ride to Port-au-Basque went quickly, and by 5pm we were exploring the town’s south end, which I had never seen before—a charming place with a beautiful church on a hill overlooking Cabot Strait and the tiny harbor inlets where Basque ships found shelter� Dinner was at a restaurant overlooking the ferry dock, and when loading time came around, we circled through those deep-cut granite roadways, past the inspectors asking about golden nematodes (worms) they are trying to keep out of the mainland, and in line with a thousand other cars and trucks� By 10:30 we had claimed our seats in the lounge and were snoozing away� Tuesday, 21 August (North Sydney to Fairlee Vt.) We docked at 6:30 am, and as I approached my car, I discovered my key not where it should be� I checked all pockets….no key. Where could it be? I had carefully put it in my stuff bag along with my wallet and change last night, then in my pants this morning� An embarrassing moment—the kids were all assembled around the car, everyone else was already in their cars waiting to be released. I rushed back up topsides to check the coffee bar, the lounge, and at the registration desk asked if a key had been turned in—“no�” Then double-checked my pockets again� Hey! What’s that bump behind my wallet? Ah, yes, the key, hiding there� Relief� Run back down eight decks of stairs. Reach my car, surrounded by the kids, all alone with most lanes emptied and off. Okay. Open doors and trunk, stow gear, pile in, and go� “Stop” yells a lane attendant monitoring the last cars� Wait…�then wait more. Attendant: “Okay, now go!” and we were off, this time into a hazy autumn morning across a temperate woodland and grassy farmlands. The day passed quickly with stops for gas, coffee (for us) and a bottle of Newfi Screech (rum; a souvenir for Ava’s father) at shops in Sackville, New Brunswick, chocolates from Ganong’s in St� Stephen, and then US customs, where we denied having any fruits (bakeapples?) or other contraband (narwhal tusks?)� Only chocolates� Gas at the Calais, Me� US Irving station and then on to Bangor and across northern Maine on Route 2, where we stopped for a dinner snack� Cali drove the last stretch across the rest of Maine and New Hampshire and down Route 91 to Fairlee� We pulled up at my house at 11pm just as Lynne was heading to bed� We all followed suit, glad to be back in the States, sorry the project was over and the team was splitting up, but ready for a new year of studies, research, and assembling the data we gathered during a productive summer ‘up north’� 77 6 – 2019 Site/Unit Excavation Narratives Following are excerpts from my field diary providing information on the conduct of our excavations and notes about our observations and finds. Information is presented by site, unit, and date. They are not intended as full descriptions, which can be found in the detailed field notes section of this report. Hart Chalet (EiBh-47) Sunday, 14 July: After breakfast, we returned to the chalet site and began work on three units, 12N 10W (extend- ing the series of units begun last year across the House 2 midden), 14N 10W (in the SW corner of the house), and 16N 8W (in the middle of the house north of the doorway)� Yhe last two units have spruce trees in them, so we are trying to avoid cutting their largest roots, but I’m afraid that in the long-term they may not survive� Florence wants the trees kept as a wind-break for the cottage� Noémi teamed up with Igor on 12N 10W, Ava with Michael on 14N 10W, and Cali with me on 16N 8W. It was not long before the turf or duff was removed and finds began appearing� By the end of the day Noémi ’s and Igor’s unit had produced two pieces of whale bone sledge-run- ners, a copper bracelet, a Dorset-like chert knife biface, an iron knife blade, many nails, and—miraculously—a silver (?) coin drilled for suspension and with a bit of attachment fiber. Unfortunately probably too corroded for identification except for the impression of a head on one face. 14N 10W in the house interior did not produce as many finds, but among them were a small iron ulu blade with a riveted handle (a first for the site), a linear flake (probably not Dorset as it is made of quartzite), and nails� 16N 8W produced only nails, a piece of grey Normandy stoneware, and a clay pipe stem (I believe also the site’s first). The stem is very ‘fat’ and its hole quite large, so it is probably very early in the history of clay pipe manufacture and should date to the site’s coinage dating ca� 1630s-40s� Salmon Bay Sunday, 21 July (Salmon Bay): After breakfast, we surveyed the eastern shore of Demoiselle Isle, hoping to find the “sod house foundations” Tony Roberts mentioned last year� That end of the island is all shoals and boulders, so we anchored at the beach south of “American Beach” (where American fishing schooners lightered gear) and hiked south across a series of raised beaches and around the larger of two ponds at the southeastern end of the island� Other than an abandoned snowmobile and three sets of boulder pit structures (perhaps Tony’s ‘founda- tions’?), nothing interesting turned up� The geography is nearly entirely raised sandy beaches with 20 cm of moss, lichen, and dwarf birch and willow, and the only exposures were three small areas where boulder beaches were exposed, and in each of these we found boulder pit caches� L1 (WP436: N51-24�811’, W057-37�228’) had two 2-3m diameter cache pits; L2 (WP437: N51-24�823’, W057-37�813’) near the rock outcrop at the southern end of the second major beach terrace had two or three 2-3m diameter pits and an adjacent smaller pit; and L3 (WP 438: 51-24�820’, W057-37�081’), about 20m south of L2, was a large complex of boulder features that included several large pits ca� 1�5x2m diameter associated with smaller pits� All looked intact and in original form and were on a prominent terrace about 10-15m above sea level; but their placement certainly had more to do with the fact that they are the only areas on the huge expanse of raised beaches where boulders had not been covered with vegeta- tion and could be easily excavated. On the way back, Mike, Cali, and Noémi spit off to check a fisherman’s report of a couple of caves in the eastern part of the island where artifacts had been found, but never located them� Hart Chalet (EiBh-47) Monday, 22 July: At the Hart Chalet site, lots of nails were coming up in Igor’s and Noémi ’s deep midden unit (12N 10W), as well as a tanged iron knife blade and a couple pieces of Normandy stoneware� Three sets of paired nails were also found close together� 14N 10W was down to sterile in the NW quad, and Ava turned up a piece of floor planking with a vertical nail through it on sterile subsoil in the NE quad. In the SE quad Michael found a cluster of rocks on the floor next to the first bricks we have seen in this house, similar to fragments we had found in House 3� These bricks had unusual dimensions—large and wide with thin cross-sections� 16N 8W produced a sherd of green bottle glass and three pieces of Normandy stoneware� During construction, this unit had been exca- vated to the brown iron-stained sand horizon� Tuesday, 23 July: We were back at the Hart site by 2:00 and by the end of the afternoon had nearly finished work on three units� The midden square (12N10W) has a concentration of large rocks in its upper level and a heavy 78 concentration of nails, including three sets, two in each set, only a few cm apart and clenched in the same direc- tion� A piece of Normandy stoneware and a possible triangular arrowhead were also recovered� Very clear stra- tigraphy in the north wall shows the layered house wall construction overlying a thick old ground surface (OGS)� A pit may have been excavated in the southern part of the unit as there is no OGS and the midden deepens gram- matically� We still have to map and removed the surface rocks in the SE quad� 14N10W produced a round lead bullet, green bottle glass, and two sets of over-size thin bricks that were placed in a trough in the eastern part of the house’s south wall. A few flat rocks rest on the house floor, which had been excavated to red-orange c-horizon soil. A cluster of angular rocks lay on the floor in the middle of the unit, of unknown purpose. 16N8W produced some industrial packaging at the bottom of the Levesque test pit and a few small pieces of Normandy SW� Not much of interest seems to be happening in the center of the house� All units have nice clear stratigraphy although some of it is complex and may indicate house re-modelling� Thursday, 25 July: Work at the site progressed with minimal heat or bug stress� Noémi and Igor took down the pedestalled rocks and prepared the walls for profiling. The rocks do not appear to have been a hearth and were not associated with bones or charcoal� The midden drops to 60 cm along the south wall� Rodent holes are seen near the bottom of the cultural layer in both the north and south walls� The pedestals did not contain artifacts of interest. The profiles are complex, showing multiple layered sods from house wall construction within the cultural level� A pit was excavated in the SW quad, cutting through the old ground surface� Work in the eastern portion of 14N10W gave Michael a new lease on his quest for iron: he found many new spikes and nails while excavating the second brick, found in the SE corner, the pedestalled rocks, and the east wall balk, where he turned up charred soapstone as well. Cali finally got through the cultural layer in the center of the house floor (16N 8W), finding bits of bone, green bottle class, and a rim sherd of a stoneware vessel� Bits of calcined bone, charcoal, caribou bone, and burned slabs suggest that the large hump in the middle of 16N 6E may be a large indoor hearth� If so, this would be quite unusual and not seen in the other houses on the LNS. But perhaps this pile is merely Clifford’s or Levesque’s test-pit back-dirt. We should investigate more. We started turfing 8N 4W and 6N 4W long the outside of House 1 west wall� Saturday, 27 July: We reached the site after lunch and continued work on our new units� Cali and Michael exca- vated a 1x�075 SW quad in 16N6W—the large mound just inside the H2 entry� Cali had found hearth materials on the east wall of 16N8W, at the base of the cultural level, so we needed to find if this mound was a hearth inside the house (unknown from other LNS sites) or a post occupation feature� Based on their work today, the upper- most rock seems to be back-dirt from Levesque’s or Clifford Hart’s explorations. Below this is a cultural deposit containing a large quantity of pot-boiled caribou bones (not roasted as in the H2 external hearths) dumped upon a bunch of small cobbles, and the mandible of a carnivore� This deposit included several stoneware pot fragments� We’ll see what happens below this tomorrow� 8N4W and 6N4W are midden and/or wall units of House 1� Ava and Noémi in 6N 4W found small pockets of mussel shell and fish bones along the eastern side of the unit. Other finds included fragments of iron knife blades and nails with flattened heads (arrow or spear points?), a sherd of stoneware with reddish paste, and caribou bones� 8N4W revealed a large slab of bone in the northwest quad (scapula of a large mammal other than cari- bou?), some green bottle glass and a sherd of stoneware, and many mushy caribou and other bones, including a seal bulla� Sunday, 28 July: Igor and I checked the House 2 profiles he and Mike had prepared and made a few changes. I am impressed with the complexity of the profiles, which show lots of stratification from wall-building with sods and house-pit excavation events. We have evidence of pits filled with hearth materials, rodent burrows, and per- haps the use of empty houses as hearth dumps� It does not appear that House 2, like House 3, had just one single occupation event; rather there seems to have been rebuilding and post-occupation activity� Mike and Igor assessed the stratigraphy in 16N8W, concluding that the upper rocks and thick layer of caribou bones were a post-occupation dump� While clearing pedestalled rocks they found a whale bone wedge and pieces of stoneware. Others continued work on 8N4W and 6N4W, finding—in the former—the rotted remains of baleen, an iron harpoon foreshaft, a barbed side-prong of an iron fish spear, and an iron ‘claw-like’, barbed piece (per- haps also part of a fish spear). Most of the bone recovered was mushy and poorly preserved. Highlights of 6N 4W included the remnant of stemmed iron knife, a small rectangular piece of sheet copper (a blank for a pendant ornament?), an iron needle, a large fish-hook, a nail with its head flattened into a spear point, chert and Ramah 79 chert flakes from a prior Indian occupation, grey stoneware, a small piece of worked soapstone, and a large and a small blue glass bead� These squares have produced no large iron spikes—only medium to small nails� Both units had long, slender iron pieces that may be needles for sewing sailcloth� Monday, 29 July: The day started off fine and allowed us to work in the morning, but rain squalls ran us off the site at lunch-time. Michael and Igor finished profiling 16N8E and the SW quad of 16N6E which cut into the big hump in the middle of the House 2 floor. Mike’s and Cali’s excavation of that quad helped interpret this pile, which included a layer of round cobbles upon which lots of caribou bones that had been boiled in a stew were dumped. This deposit lay above the original floor of the house. The midden units outside the west wall of House 1 continued to produce nails, broken stoneware, a bit of tan earthenware, the occasional glass bead, thin goblet glass, thin iron shafts (arrow or spear points?), rusted iron knife handles, a small twisted strip of lead (an orna- ment?), and a small soapstone fragment with a repair hole� Most of this material came from 6N 4E� There is little complex stratigraphy other than turf layers in the House 1 west wall and midden accumulation containing lots of spruce charcoal west of the wall� Tuesday, 30 July: We arrived back at the Hart site to find lots of progress on the House 1 midden squares. Both 8N4W and 6N4W were full of charcoal and had lots of bones� 8N4W had a large rodent burrow in the southwest quadrant� Beads were found in both units and pieces of broken stoneware� Brad pointed out several matters that we should look into, one being the unusual nature of our large spikes that were made from rolled sheets with an even thickness while the other sides taper toward the point. He also pointed out a beige tubular bead that at first I thought was a bird quill, but is a pre-1640 bead type� And while Brad and I did not recognize the thin, broad and long bricks, Erik immediately knew it as a French brick (“French regime”, or pre-1763)� Salmon Bay Wednesday, 31 July: We arrived at the Salmon Bay fish plant about 1pm and found a place at the dock. Brad arrived soon after, and we were able to organize a ‘practice dive’ along the sheltered shore of Old Salmon Bay vil- lage� Getting everyone organized and suited up took more than an hour, but by 4p we were loaded up and across the bay. Divers were in the water by 4:30, swimming in two teams at different depths between 4m and 8m, and were out by 5:30� I operated the speedboat, keeping 20-30m behind their bubbles while Brad marked the course with GPS� Erik had a bottle on a string that he could release when he found something so we could see the loca- tion and mark it. All went well except for two things: we did not find anything, and Sarai lost her go-pro camera from her arm band when we were helping her back aboard the speedboat� That entailed a big search by the divers until Marianne (miraculously, it seemed to me) came up with it� Meanwhiile, Erik snorkeled along the shore checking the shallow water bottom. Still, nothing was found except modern materials, which were prolific around the old timber dock. Prize find: a 1950s coke bottle! Serai saw a couple early 20th century ceramic sherds. Thursday, 1 August: The divers got organized after lunch� Erik, Brad, and I had assembled the air compressor and its two filter units and secured them on the cabin roof, and today filled the tanks. While dressing in their dry suits, Emilee discovered her rubber sleeve gasket was shredded, making the suit useless� Fortunately she had a wetsuit which worked in the 8 degree C water here� This afternoon’s dive covered the southern haft of the Old Salmon Bay cove and proceeded without a hitch—but like yesterday, without any trace of tiles or pre-1900s materials� I doubt there is any Basque settlement in this inner-bay region; it would be in sheltered places closer to the outer coast where seals, cod, and whales are available� Bonne Espérance Harbor Friday, 2 August: Our dig team returned in Florence’s jeep to Belles Amours to finish mapping the Inuit and boulder pit sites. They had a very productive day there, finishing a topo map for the Inuit winter houses, and a map of the boulder pits� Ava and Noémi made some excellent sketches of the houses and cache pits while Cali, Michael, and Igor gathered GPS data on feature locations and pit dimensions� Pitsiulak anchored in the middle of the back harbor and got the divers into the water at Kettle Head, swimming south along the shore following the 7- and 9-fathom depth contours� Weather improved to near ‘summer’ condi- tions for Brad and me as we followed their progress in the speedboat� They surfaced in about 45 minutes without much information except seeing a square-topped (18th C?) ceramic bottle fragment, no roof tiles, and some 20th C� materials� The bottom is very level and clean, covered with soft sediment� They also saw a partially-covered 80 iron bar that might be an anchor stock� Despite local reports of roof times, they saw none� During the afternoon, Erik set up his side-scan radar on the speedboat, and he, Brad, and I cruised around without seeing interesting anomalies (shipwrecks)� The students joined them on a scanning survey during the afternoon with similar results� During the middle of their excursion a boat pulled up with theirs with Tony Roberts and a friend who provided information on several shipwrecks they knew of in the St� Paul-Old Fort area� Erik and Brad are keen on devel- oping an inventory of wrecks for the LNS, and it seems that local people have lots of relevant information� When we returned from dinner to the boat, Rowland Thomas came by and gave us a piece of shipwreck wood with two bronze nails (e�g� post-1760 says Erik) that came up in his scallop dredge on the shoal west of Nother Island� We have heard of this wreck from other people� Grand Isle Saturday, 3 August: The Grand Isle-2 (L1) structure we begun to excavate in 2018 seemed to have been planned as a typical winter dwelling with a paved subterranean entryway� However, there were many anomalous features� So far, the only ‘normal’ aspects are the paved entry, an interior floor paved with nailed boards, and a hearth filled with butchered caribou bones. The unusual features are the three exits to the entrance passage leading to the surface and absence of a sod foundation wall (instead, the builders utilized a natural depression in the beach surface as their house pit). For some reason, the dwelling was never completed. Our task now is to figure out—if we can—what happened� So yesterday, Erik dropped us off near the Thomas cabins to excavate the ‘house’ area while the divers continued on and anchored in Back Harbor where they were to complete the underwater survey of its inner part� Nothing was found except modern technology, including part of a washing machine! They also snorkeled around the south side of B. Espérance Island, offshore from the Whiteley ‘mansion’, looking for signs of the wreck of a British ship from which two cannons were recovered by local people� The cannons eventually made their way to the Régio- nale Musée de la Côte Nord in Sept Isles, with the assistance of “Mike”, a medical service pilot� Erik found no trace of the wreck� Meanwhile, the land team split into two groups—Michael and Cali hiked up to the Kettle Head boulder pits to map them while Igor, Ava, Noémi , and I set up a grid and began work on our peculiar pit-house site� There, Igor and Ava took elevations for a site topographic map, and later, Igor gathered GPS data for a regional map� Ava, Noémi , and I set up the excavation grid and began digging� By mid-afternoon, the misty rain stopped and by evening the sun was out and finds were beginning to appear. My excavation of the southeast entry ramp revealed a 10-15 cm black earth deposit beneath a thick vegetation and peat level� The black earth contained chunks of char- coal and toward the bottom, traces of rotted wood, including conifer branch roots. The few finds—a couple nails and roof tiles—came from this level. At the bottom of this deposit there was a faint trace of packed floor deposit, but this could not be traced from the east end of the pavement on up to the surface� No bone remains or traces were found� A group of rocks seemed to terminate the ramp at its upper end, and beneath one was a hollowed out rodent burrow� We cleared a large alder bush and smaller birch shrubs and Labrador tea bushes from the interior of the house de- pression and extended the 2018 entry passage trench across the interior of the depression� Noémi began working at 0N3W in what should be the interior of the dwelling� The deposit here was very thin, only 2-3 cm of sod with a charcoal-rich, 3-4 cm thick, black earth cultural layer below, and under this, sterile beach sand� A beach rock (which we removed) resting on the cultural layer was probably a post-occupation event� Within a short while, Noémi found a nail embedded in a rotted plank at the base of the black earth layer, and later, a nearly intact 3cm thick plank lying orthogonally N-S across the eastern edge of the unit� Traces of rotted wood were found else- where, mostly curved and probably the remains of rotted bush roots, but there is also a SW-NE trending piece of wood that might be a plank. Other finds were a tile fragment and two medium-size nails. Ava, assisted by Igor, excavated 0N 4W, found different stratigraphy—clean sandy soil immediately under the turf roots and in the sand several nails, a roof tile, and a piece of chert� Sunday, 4 August: We returned to our Boney anchorage and Erik dropped us off at the Grand Isle-2 site. The divers explored the eastern side of the harbor where scallop draggers dump their trawls, and any artifacts they scooped up� They had not much luck with that� Cali, Mike, and Igor began mapping the Kettle Head (Grand Isle- 1) boulder pits, the location of the only confirmed Inuit grave known on the LNS. This site, which is about 35m 81 above sea level, was explored by Leonard Thomas in the late 1960s or early 70s� He showed it to Charles Martijn in 1972? And gave him the skull, snow-knife, and an iron rod (harpoon foreshaft?) he found when removing boul- ders from the pits� Leonard’s work was followed by further depredations made by his kids and others, lured by the hope of similar finds. According to Medrick Thomas, one of Leonard’s sons, nothing else of interest was found. Ava, Noémi , and I worked at the Inuit site. I finished work on the southeast entry ramp and found a rodent burrow under some large rocks halfway up the ramp� Other than charcoal and a single nail, there was nothing in this fea- ture except a thin midden, and it could not have been used as a house entry because there were several large rocks halfway up the incline� I do not have an explanation for why there was a depression leading to the passageway, unless it had been excavated as part of the construction of the main entry passage� Monday, 5 August: The divers found the Whiteley cod-fishing station waterfront covered with cod fish bones and19th and early 20th century material culture: large amounts of ceramics and glass (all broken), some lead net weights, and other gear, but no Basque tiles� Erik thinks the bottom has been picked over by local divers for whole vessels and bottles� These materials were all on the surface, at the top of a 10 cm layer of loose sediment� Probing revealed a hard surface below the upper layer� Brad canvassed the shoreline area in the afternoon and found a few small Basque tile fragments, but nothing indicating a major occupation� Cali and Mike finished mapping the Grande Isle-1 boulder pits and tossed out rocks from one of the more intact structures, looking for an intact floor where artifacts might have accumulated. I climbed the hill with them, re-vis- iting the site I saw with Garland several years ago, and was shocked to see how much damage has been done in the intervening years� Leonard Thomas had opened some of the large pits, but now all the larger structures were cratered� Only the smaller cache pits surrounding the larger structures remain intact� In addition, rocks have been taken to build an impressive four-foot high inugsuk, with a weird-looking limestone head� Igor spent the after- noon taking GPS readings on the regional surroundings while Ava, Noémi , and I continued excavations at Grand Isle-2 (L2)� Noémi ’s 1x1m (0N2W) in the center of the structure turned up some iron nails, brick, and a 43cm wide plank—probably an oak ship’s plank associated with a nail—running N-S across the eastern edge of her unit (and 0N2W). Ava, in 0N3W, found a few nails, a Ramah chert flake, and a tile fragment. I began excavating the southeast exit ramp which had a thick overburden of vegetation and peat� By quitting time I had only just reached the cultural layer but had found tile, nails, and charcoal in what seems to be a midden deposit into which large boulders thrown out from the entry passage construction had been dumped� Tuesday, 6 August: Mike and Cali returned to the boulder pit site (Kettle Head/Grand Isle-1) to finish excavating Structure 4 which they had cleared down to water level� Today they emptied the water, came down on bedrock, and found nothing. They and Igor spent most of the afternoon ‘backfilling’ (throwing boulders) back into the pit, and having fun recording the process on video� They were careful to make sure all the boulders on top were ‘li- chen-side’ up� They then returned to help us open more squares at L2� It was Igor’s last day on the project and he took the rest of the afternoon off to wander around the island. Excavations at GI-2 (L2) proceeded slowly with only half the crew digging there. I finished the NE entryway, excavating a thick layer of black earth midden containing pieces of roof tile, a few nails, a piece of stoneware, a few traces of wood in the lowest level, and beneath a large boulder, a root-infested wall fragment of a soapstone cooking vessel, next to a large fragment of roof tile� The soapstone piece was too deteriorated to save� I watched for beads but saw none. Ava and Noémi finished 0N4/5W, finding a couple spikes, traces of wood, and in 5W a profile showing layered peat from wall construction. Igor, excavating 0N1W, uncovered the rest of the wood plank seen in 2W and found it to be 43cm wide and about 3cms thick—almost certainly an oaken plank from a wrecked European ship� His unit also included a decomposed mass of wood and a long conical spike that turned out to be a ‘junk’ of wood and a large branch root—the largest I have seen� Igor sectioned it and we could see growth rings; it even smelled of conifer� Igor’s pièce de résistance for his last day on the project was a side-notched Ramah chert Groswater harpoon point in mint condition, with a needle-sharp tip and razor edges; it came from the junction between the culture layer and the beach sand� The divers spent much of their underwater time around the Whiteley station on Bonne Espérance and, by review- ing video, were able to identify most of the finds exposed on the bottom as 19th and early 20th century materials: lots of varieties of ceramics, not much glass, and objects like cod jiggers and boat parts� A few pieces may be Basque roof tiles, although they looked to thin and flat to me. So far there does not seem to be a large Basque presence here in the St� Paul area� 82 Wednesday, 7 August: Digging proceeded faster with Mike and Cali helping� We had already completed the 1m trench through the house, and so now opened a couple 2x2m units south of the trench� Using their northeast corners for the unit designation, they are 1S 2W (Cali and Mike) and 1S 4W (Ava and Noémi )� 1S 2W had a large boulder in its southwest quad, and water seeping into its SE corner� Its most exciting feature is the continuation of the wide (oak?) plank inside the doorway across most of this unit� There were traces of more ephemeral wood planks, but they were too fugitive to interpret as systematic flooring. We had to dig a small sump hole in the SE corner to keep the unit dry� 1S 4W is just inside the likely west wall of the structure, but unlike 0N 4W, there was no indication of sod layering in the profile, which showed turf, peat, and a cultural layer over sterile sand. Sev- eral Ramah chert flakes appeared, and a small pebble of flint or chalcedony that had been cracked open and had its edges modified for scraping. The nodule has a thick patinated crust and must have been gathered from local beach deposits� We found a similar nodule in the Belle Amours blowouts� I began excavating the SE quad of 2N 0W adjacent to the house doorway and immediately encountered a mass of well-preserved, cracked and cooked caribou bones� Almost everything is caribou, but there are some canids and others species present� Butchering methods seem different from Hart Chalet. I wonder if these bones might be more recent than other Inuit sites, but just before leaving I found an iron nail and a piece of unusual ceramic in the midst of the bones� Thursday, 8 August: Mike finished his and Cali’s 2x2m, 1S 2W, unit, which contained an in situ boulder, a large piece of roof tile, a couple nails, part of the large ship plank, a couple of small planks at right angles to each other; it also had a drainage problem that required a sump well and bailing� He then tackled the two 1x1m units in the house wall to the east� Containing part of the big board, it also revealed the boulder wall of the house� During the afternoon, he excavated the two western quads of 2N 2W, finding two nails and a tile fragment in the southern unit and in the northern unit, a lunar landscape with peat pits alternating with high patches of sterile sand� Contrasting with the levelled, sandy floor elsewhere, this surface could never have been a house floor. His suggestion: may- be we have a ‘half-house’—perhaps a kind of a lean-to structure. Ava and Noémi finished their 2x2m (2S 5W), finding a suggestion of sod-layering in the west profile, a plank running N-S inside the wall, Ramah chert flakes in the western edge under the old peat surface, and a green slate chunk looking somewhat Maritime Archaic-like (Ramah chert would make sense here also)� They began another west wall 2x2 in the afternoon (2N 4W) that pro- duced nails (including one of the largest spikes I have seen). I finished two southern quads of 2x2 (0N2W) finding a huge amount of caribou bone—butchered and cooked—in the SE quad, two fitting fragments of grey stoneware, a fragment of a whalebone sled-runner, nails, tile, and many cobbles� This area next to the house doorway seems to have been both a hearth midden and a house wall� The SW quad had a hearth in which I obtained a lead mini- ball and several nails� The hearth I will excavate tomorrow� Friday, 9 August: The land team motored off to Grand Isle in the speedboat, and the divers launched the zodiac and went off to search off “American Beach” opposite Old Salmon Bay settlement. They had a fine day and found lots of whole bottles, batteries, a stove, and other gear, but did not make any special discoveries� The land team tied up on Medrick Thomas’ off-haul and began to see the end of our L2 excavation. The squares along the north side of the ‘house’ became a jumble of peat pits in their northern quadrants, with no evidence of a floor or wall beyond the 1N line, and only a few nails (although two large spikes came from the west end of the 2N trench� I finished the southern quads of 2N 0W with nothing special to report except a sled runner fragment. Mike com- pleted another unit along the SE wall, helping to define the junction between the floor and high boulder wall. Cali started 3S 2W and immediately found planks that may have been part of a sleeping platform� Ava and Noémi found Ramah chert flakes near the 6W line, perhaps indicating a prehistoric site in that direction. The most important find of the day was a large piece from a soapstone pot that Mike had excavated a couple days ago. At the time, he thought it was an unusual flat rock, and I did too. But something bugged me about it and to- day I tapped it and heard that dull impact characteristic of soapstone� So I turned it over and saw two repair holes, one filled with an iron nail. Wow! I’d been hoping we’d find a good pot fragment, since the piece I found in the entry trench was rotten and fell apart� Now we have found soapstone pot fragments from every Inuit site investi- gated on the LNS. In addition to indicating a significant occupancy period at a site (these vessels were carefully curated by women), their frequent breakage and the scarcity of soapstone lamps may be connected with a switch from oil lamp to wood fire heating. The latter would increase thermal stress and breakage. Instead of replacing with soapstone, requiring imported pots from Labrador, the LNS Inuit were probably obtaining copper or iron pots from the Europeans, like the piece of one we found in Hart Chalet, House 3� 83 Saturday, 10 August: Erik dropped us at the site, and then the Pits proceeded to Salmon Bay to pick up Brad and returned to Bonne Espérance Island to survey its northwestern shore� They made two dives and came up with Basque tiles in two different areas, and found a pile of ship ballast. Brad and Perry walked the shore and found two places adjacent to the underwater finds that may have Basque land sites. At the northern tip of the island, small coves with grassy vegetation also need to be checked� Lots happened at the site� Cali and Mike found a stack of logs in the south end of the house with a large spike embedded in one. At first we thought this was a sleeping platform, but more likely it is a collapsed wall. Ava completed a 50cm test pit in what was probably a ditch to drain water from the entry area� Then she and Noémi worked on a 1x1m pit west of the excavation to see if the flakes we’ve been finding were part of a site worthy of excavation; but all they found was more Ramah flakes. I completed my square on the north side of the site, finding only peat pits and not even a nail� Then I began work on the entryway unit we had left until last, leaving it in place to keep groundwater from seeping into the main excavation� Bonne Espérance Sunday, 11 August: When the fog lifted and wind dropped, Brad, Erik, Sarai, and I motored out to Bonne Es- pérance Island to check its northwest coast where the divers had found tiles and Brad and Perry noticed suspicious features on the adjacent shore� Bonne Espérance 3, the southernmost of the two, turned out to be a small Basque site with a possible try-works on a sloping ledge 3-4 meters above a deep-water approach suitable for bringing boats or whales directly to shore. The site displays grass and more prolific vegetation growth than other locations on this shore� A shovel-test revealed roof tiles in a low mound that is almost certainly a try-works, although no charred blubber was present� While testing and documenting the site, Erik’s GPS disappeared and initiated what seemed like a hopeless search in knee-high Labrador tea and sedge brush until he found it alongside our test pit� Bonne Espérance-4, also signaled by underwater tiles, was more interesting� Its geography is similar to BE-3: perched on a narrow ledge above a deep-water shore, with enriched vegetation� But in this case, there are two feature areas: a mound a few meters long in which we found tiles, charcoal, and carbonized lumps of sea mammal fat, a certain sign of try-works—known elsewhere on the LNS only at Five Leagues� Twenty meters to the north, in a small flat area bounded by rock outcrops east and south, a shovel test produced tiles, charcoal, baleen, the mandible of a small carnivore (fox?), and a seed casing (pumpkin? sunflower?) from a 2cm thick black earth cul- tural layer beneath 15cm of turf and peat� These features are clearly related, indicating a try-works associated with a habitation area, and suggest dual aspects of a small Basque sea mammal processing site� These two sites, BE-3 and 4, and possibly a buried component at BE-2 on a similar, but larger, level ledge with a deep water approach, suggest a new type of small-scale Basque operation not known elsewhere on the LNS� It also suggests that Basque ships must have utilized the Bonny Harbor and that dumps of ballast or ship refuse might be present, although they might be difficult to find because of extensive sedimentation. Grand Isle Monday, 12 August: Our plan for the day was to finish the squares along the southern wall that Mike and Cali had started, start profiling, and finish the entry excavation. These southern units had a pile of logs along their southern edge, probably the result of a wall collapse� Cali’s unit produced a fragment of a thick stoneware ves- sel; also it had a drainage problem we relieved by driving a hole through its northern wall� The good result of saturation was excellent preservation of wood planks that probably under-laid the sleeping platform� Mike’s unit produced a piece of think stoneware (similar to his earlier sherd with green glaze), a long iron rod with a crooked end that is probably a harpoon fore-shaft, and several planks running orthogonally, perhaps another platform� Lat- er in the day he opened a 1x1m unit at 5S 4W on the bank that should reveal the southern edge of the house� My entry unit (0N 0W) finally reached paydirt—the inward extension of the paved entry passage, so we can now hook up last year’s excavation with the house interior� Other than the pavement, it was not a very productive unit—no special finds, only a few nails (whose rust I was able to scrape off, revealing their square shanks. Water began seeping in a few cms above the pavement, making careful excavation impossible� Once cleared, I found a nicely paved floor that meets large cobbles whose surfaces rise to the level of the house interior floor. There is no cold trap (vertical slab) as part of the door as in Labrador Inuit winter houses� 84 Tuesday, 13 August: At the site, Mike and Cali finished excavating the three 1x1 units bordering the south wall. The results in the 5 south tier of units yesterday produced surprising results� Most importantly, it showed that the depression the house is in is totally man-made—the product of an Inuit group (perhaps preceded by a Gros- water occupation, although that is unlikely, as we found only one Groswater artifact, the harpoon endblade) that excavated into the raised beach to create a winter dwelling� Our dig revealed the Inuit excavated nearly a meter into the beach and had to accommodate large in situ boulders they could not remove� We found remains of a plank floor running east-west along the rear of the house, and north-south on the west side. These are probably the remains of two sleeping platforms� Behind these planks on the south side was the remains of a log wall that had burned and collapsed� Many of these logs had been reduced to charcoal� A large nail was found between two of the logs� Ground-water seepage into the rear of the dwelling through 4S 2W helped preserve the planks, and one was a 5cm-thick plank similar to the 38cm plank near the doorway� The wood in these planks was still solid, and we took samples for identification. We suspect it is oak probably from a shipwreck. (Wrecks have not been considered a source of Inuit attraction to the Lower North Shore, but this may have been an incentive in addition to opportunities for trade.) Other interesting finds from the 5S units included several pieces of stoneware, includ- ing a green-glazed piece and another similar sherd whose glaze had spalled, a piece of faience, and several pieces of a thick, flat-bottomed stoneware jar found near the collapsed wall. The three 1x1meter units at 6S showed the border between the house deposits and the in situ beach deposits, and the western-most one showed the corner of the house excavation. When all mapping and profiling was completed, I excavated the collapsed logs, hoping to find more stoneware or other materials beneath, but nothing emerged. While this was taking place, Ava and Noémi teamed up as a profiling team, having had some training at the Hart Chalet from Mike and Igor. They produced five profiles: long ones along the east side of 1W and the west side of 4W, the north side of 1S, and short ones for the north side of 5S and 6S. They also profiled the west wall of the 1x1m test pit they excavated, whose northeast corner is at 10�25mW and 20cmN� I spent most of my time photographing the units, west to east and from south to north, making a sketch map of the site overall, adding depth readings to the plank and floors, sketching the location of boulders (many which seem not to have been part of the dwelling and fell in from the walls or roof), sampling the two thick ship planks, and collecting odds and ends, like finding a roof tile that had been used as an oil lamp with charred encrustation. This find may suggest a reason for the scarcity of soapstone lamps in the LNS Inuit sites. Susan Kaplan found a similar use for tiles at the Eskimo Island site in Labrador� 85 7 – Excavation Field Notes: Square Maps, Profiles, Artifact Finds, and Illustrations Unit Descriptions House 1Hart Chalet (EiBh-47) 6N4W Square Report Noémi Toroczai, Ava Hill August 4th, 2019 6N4W was located on the west side of house 1� The eastern side of the square was located on the wall, while the west- ern side was outside of the house� Because it was part of the wall, the square was elevated on the east side, and the west side was lower� The top surface layer was all grass and moss� The composition of the layers (stratigraphy) of 6N4W Figure 7.1 Ava and Noémi with young was as follows: The surface layer of grass, then a layer of sod caribou skill from 6N4W. (3-5cm)� The next layer was the black earth, and it contained most of our cultural material (around 8-12 cm deep)� After the black earth we had a layer of black peat which also contained some of our artifacts� This layer was part of a wall construction and was around 5-8 cm thick� Under the peat we had white sand with pockets of char- coal infused peat that has seeped down from the upper layer� The white sand layer was approximately 6-9 cm deep� Under this layer was a layer of peat, the old ground surface, approximately 5-8 cm thick� The final layer under this was white, sterile sand. The artifacts we found consist of the following: around 40 iron nails, 5 soapstone fragments, 4 stoneware fragments, several (~4) iron knife blade fragments, includ- ing a handle, 1 ceramic fragment, iron tools including a spearpoint and fish hook, 1 harpoon, 2 blue glass beads and 1 cylindrical bead,1 iron needle, 2 clusters of glass shards, one on the northeast corner and one in the south end, 2 (whale) bone artifacts, 2-3 copper strips, one copper medallion� 1 pewter ball, sever- al large chert (ramah) and flint fragments, and a large cluster of bones in the center, including a caribou (juvenile) skull, seal bones, fish bones, mussel shells, small mammal bones, several mandibles of varying size� We found pieces of lead� The high concentration of different animal bones indicates that the area was a midden. There were clus- ters of artifacts in different areas of the square such as glass shards in the NW corner and S end, possibly where glass goblets had been tossed� The high amount of soapstone fragments and stoneware fragments indicate that they had tossed some of their kitchen tools out� An additional explanation for the soapstone involves possible ritual practice� The soapstone fragments were found around the caribou skull, with one right next to it. We think that there may have been a spiritual significance to the bones because a high amount of them were placed around the skull (bones of various animals) along with other artifacts such as the soapstone and a nail which was inside of the skull� The beads we found are important for dating pur- poses� The white bead we found places the date of our square between 1600 and 1630, according to Brad Lowen� We found more roof tile in the southern half of the square, indicating where the roof was closer to. We know that they ate and hunted fish because we found harpoon and fish hook pieces, along with the fish bones we found. They used copper and possibly lead for decorative purposes, like medallions and strips for bracelets or clothing. To makes fires, they used lumps of pyrites that they would strike. 86 EiBh-47 (Hart Chalet) House 1 6N 4W Profiles August 2019 Depths below datum Stones and features Heights of top of 6N 4W stones 6N 6W NORTH -90 cm -100 cm -110 cm -120 cm -130 cm 6N 4W EAST 4N 4W -100 cm -110 cm -120 cm -130 cm -140 cm 4N 4W SOUTH 4N 6W -120 cm -130 cm Figure 7.3 Excavating 6/8N4W House 1, -140 cm v. North -150 cm 6N 6W WEST -100 cm 4N 6W -110 cm -120 cm -130 cm 0 50 100 cm turf white sand peat disturbed (redeposited) mixed sand and humus peat white excavation (cultural) (wall sand fill construction) (podsol) Figure 7.2 House 1 6N4W profiles. 87 Hart Chalet EiBh-47 House 1 6N4W Figure 7.4 Hart Chalet House 1 6N2W artifacts. Figure 7.5 Hart Chalet House 1 6N4W artifacts. Figure 7.6 Hart Chalet House 1 6N4W artifacts. Figure 7.7 Hart Chalet House 1 6N4W artifacts. Figure 7.8 Hart Chalet House 1 6N4W nails. 88 EiBh-47 (Hart Chalet) EiBh-47 (Hart Chalet) House 1 8N 4W and 6N 4W House 1 Excavation Square August 2019 Depths below datum 8N4W and 6N4W 8N 6W 8N 4W Stones and features Heights of top of 10 Excavation Squarestones 71 8081 40 97 90 4142 August 2019 44 98 79 43 131112 Depths below datum 82 53 938795 84 99 94 92 Stones and features 91 76 16 shoulder blade of Heights of tops of stones 63 100 a large animal (-102) 59 7251 70 101 96 103 3915 102 5675 89 28 4 150 55 33 221 24 271614 30 62 105 35 7 8 58 77 4947 25 32 36 38 54 64 88 61 9 23 29 52 48 3418 1731226 104 45 2073 19 578 83 37 39574 caribou antler 6N 6W baleen 6N 4W 95 42 56 76 1851 87 75 7762 37 5 19 74 53 86 17 72 85 7 caribou skull 36 81 60 21 with antlers 7838 55 25 2067 8 4365 79 59 37 64 963 4 1 10 11 2 9737 10139 66 45 6899 3688 31 6 106 40 837135 90 91 60 69 588292 34 27 983 33 1657 54 41 61 1529 30 24 2326 94 49 48 84 221270 14 89 73 28 100 44 47 13 93 52 80 96 104 fox skull (-106) 102 57 50 Figure 7.10 House 1 wall and midden ex-103 4N 6W 4N 4W cavation with Brad Loewen, v. South. 0 50 100 cm Figure 7.9 Hart Chalet House 1 8N4W/6N4W finds map. Figure 7.11 Young caribou skull and associated artifacts. 89 Site Name: Hart Chalet H2 12N10W Igor, Noemi Unit 12N10W field description The unit is located on the southwest periphery of house 2, south of the wall and west of the doorway� The surface of the unit was uneven prior the excavation with the slope southwest� A linear depression ran from the NW to the SW corner. The peat/turf layer was dug out first, to the depth of approx. 5 cm below the surface. Next we start- ed to scrape a layer of peat mixed with grey sand. The layer was filled with animal bones, but artifacts started to appear in this layer too (mainly nails, but also some artifacts like a coin, a whale bone, sled runner, an arrowhead)� In the southeast sub-unit, rocks appeared under the surface, partially covered with the layer of grey peat-sand� Perhaps, the layer of grey-sand-peat (2 on the profile drawing) is a post-deposition accumulation that covered the ancient surface/ layer 3, the original ground surface, which formed over the years� In the southeast, closer to the east wall of the excavation, we had several flint flakes accumulated in the layer (2). Later on, we also found a large chert flake, which was under one of the rocks, closer to the southern wall. The lenses of solid peat appeared at the depth of approximately 10 cm below the surface, mixed with the lens of grey/white sand (3 on the profile drawing)� This layer had numerous nails, sometimes arranged systematically, like they were nailed to a plank� Layer 3 could be interpreted as a cultural deposition accumulated through time� Perhaps, at some point, this layer became the ancient surface, on which the materials accumulated, and then the post-deposition soil accumulated� In the southwest subunit, the deposition followed the depression, and indeed, the accumulation of the soil 3 was deeper and thicker. Also, most of the animal bones and flint came from that corner. The profile of the western wall suggests that some kind of hole existed in that area, either artificial or natural, perhaps a fallen tree or animal burrowing� The sterile layer was either white or dark brown soil, covered with a well-visible thick layer of peat (3-6 cm)� Between the sterile and peat the thin accumulation of charcoal is visible in the north profile. The rocks laid within layer 3 covered the accumulation of peat/charcoal. The large pre-his- toric chert point came from under one of the rocks� The rocks could be a part of the hearth excavated in the unit 12N8W in 2018� However, no charcoal or burned materials were found within the rocks in 12N10W� Perhaps the rocks were thrown from the hearth after it was abandoned� The sterile layer was violently disturbed by the animal burrowing in the northeast sub-unit, and perhaps in the southwest corner� (The disturbances are visible in the north and east profiles). The artifact assemblage includes, nails, iron artifacts such as knife blades (two pieces), and an arrowhead� Figure 7.12 Hart Chalet H2 2019 exca- Figure 7.13 12N10W with rede- vations completed, view NW. posited hearth rocks and pit in SW quard. View North. 90 EiBh-47 (Hart Chalet) House 2 Artifact Map EiBh-47 (Hart Chalet) 14N10W and 12N10W House 2 14N 10W and 12N 10W Excavation Square Excavation Square August 2019 August 2019 Depths below datum 14N 12W 14N 10W Stones and featuresHeights of top of stones 45 43 65 40 1031 38 4427 5 49 626 26 392 42256163 12 4659 6429 18 4 14 58 8 41 9 3 34 57 13 1 7 37 24 4923 3248 66 15 19 3350 60 17 30 36 2321 355155 28 56 Unexcavated 22 16 20 67 12N 12W 12N 10W 21 34 19 20 138 7 14 4238 12 35 18 45 15 1669 4033 27039 1 68 67 424 3 25 64 59 cluster 11 9 60 5158 of chert27 56 66 106154 29 49 23 flakes 53 24 55 62 3657 63 50 28 65 37 73 548 52 30 22 72 Figure 7.15 14N10W with floor slabs at 41 17 46 31 32 26 47 6 44 left and redeposited hearth rocks and 10N 12W 10N 10W French tiles in rear. View to SE. 0 50 100 cm Figure 7.14 Hart Chalet 14N10W/12N10W finds map. 91 EiBh-47 (Hart Chalet) House 2 Rock Map EiBh-47 (Hart Chalet) 14N10W and 12N10W House 2 14N10W and 12N 10W Excavation Square Excavation Square August 2019 Depths below datum August 2019 14N 12W 14N 10W Stones and featuresHeights of top of Depths below datum stones Stones and features -115 -116 -119 Heights of top of stonessterile brown sand (-129) -118 -105 -119 -125 -128 wood -112 floor (-128) -122 -139 -130 -142 -122 Unexcavated sterile brown sand (-140) 12N 12W tree stump 12N 10W Figure 7.17 Pit in SW quad of 12N10W. View South. -113 sterile white High rocks in sand sterile SE quad appear (-135) brown sand dumped, not(-149) part of a hearth. -149 -106 -135 -112 -111 -149 floor Depression or -164 -150 pavement pit in SW quad stone cuts through the rock buried old sterile -118 -113 ground surface. brown sand brick (-164) -126 -112 10N 12W 10N 10W 0 50 100 cm Figure 7.16 Hart Chalet 14N10W/12N10W rock map. Figure 7.18 14N10W seen from the South. Floor boards in NW quad. 92 EiBh-47 (Hart Chalet) House 2 EiBh-17 (Hart Chalet) 12N10W Profiles House 2 August 2019 Depths below datum 12N10W Profiles 12N 12W Stones and features NORTH Heights of top of August 2019 12N 10W stones Depths below datum -100 cm -110 cm -120 cm -130 cm -140 cm 12N 10W EAST 10N 10W -100 cm -110 cm -120 cm -130 cm -140 cm 10N 10W SOUTH 10N 12W -110 cm -120 cm Figure 7.20 North wall profile. -130 cm -140 cm -150 cm -160 cm 12N 12W -80 cm WEST -90 cm 10N 12W -100 cm -110 cm -120 cm -130 cm Figure 7.21 East wall profile. turf white sand peat brown sand (sterile) (redeposited) mixed sand and humus mixed sand, yellow disturbed (cultural) peat (cultural) sand (podsol) charcoal 0 50 100 cm Figure 7.19 12N10W profiles Figure 7.22 West wall profile with pit cutting buried old ground surface. 93 Hart Chalet H-2 Figure 7.23 Nails from H2 12N10W Figure 7.24 Knives, bead, coin, brass and chert point from whalebone from 12N10W Figure 7.25 Nails from 12N10W Figure 7.26 Soapstone stoneware and iron knives from 12N10W Figure 7.27 Nails from 12N10W 94 Hart Chalet House 2 14N10W excavators MCM + AH July 26th, 2019 Unit was located along the inside of the house wall with finds consisting of iron nails and spikes, minimal bone, roof tile, brick, lead balls and glass� Multiple layers of stratigraphy were noted consisting of peat, white beach sand and sand mixed with charcoal� The SW quad was not excavated due to a tree which resulted in large roots and considerable bioturbation throughout the unit� The unit contained many boulders running NW/SE likely associated with the wall construction� In the SE quad a trench was dug in abutting the boulders� This contained bricks and numerous spikes resting on top of a layer of thick peat over sterile white beach sand� In the NE corner multiple flat paving stones articulated into a surface continuing on into the profile. The majority of the finds were concentrated in the eastern part of the unit. In the NW, the outside of the line of rocks, wood floor boards were excavated with the grain running NW SE, same as the rocks. These were part of the house floor, nailed. Finally, the trench and stone features incorporating the bricks are related to wall construction resulting in minimal faunal remains and a high concentration of iron nails� No bones other than a dog jaw and rotted bit of whale bone� Two French type bricks seem to have been placed on the sides of a trench along the south wall of the SW quad� Un- usual size bricks, 14x28x3.5 cm and the first brick found at Hart Chalet. Figure 7.28 Micheal at 14N10W, view Figure 7.29 Rocks along East side of to NW. Trench inside wall in foreground, 14N10W. East at top. lined with two French bricks. Figure 7.30 Trench in SE wall interior of Figure 7.31 French brick from 14N10W 14N10W with French brick. trench. 95 EiBh-47 (Hart Chalet) House 2 14N 10W Profiles August 2019 Depths below datum Stones and features Heights of top of stones 14N 12W NORTH 14N 10W -100 cm -110 cm -120 cm -130 cm EAST SOUTH1 14N 10W 12N 10W -100 cm -110 cm -120 cm -130 cm -140 cm WEST1 SOUTH2 WEST2 tree 13N 12W 14N 12W13N 12W stump 13N 9W 14N NORTH 14N -100 cm 12W 10W -110 cm -120 cm -130 cm wood SOUTH2 plank SOUTH1 12N 12N 12W 10W turf white sand peat brown sand (sterile) (redeposited) mixed sand and humus mixed sand, yellow disturbed (cultural) peat (cultural) sand (podsol) charcoal bricks 0 50 100 cm Figure 7.32 Hart Chalet House 2 14N10W profiles Figure 7.34 East wall of 14N10W. Figure 7.33 North wall profile of 14N10W. 96 WEST2 WEST1 EAST Hart Chalet House 2/3 Figure 7.35 Iron, lead, musket ball, pyrites, and Figure 7.36 French brick from 14N10W glass from 14N10W. Figure 7.37 Wolf or dog jaw from 14N10W Figure 7.38 Charred material from 14N10W Figure 7.39 Nail from 14N10W Figure 7.40 French brick form House 3. 97 Hart Chalet House 2 16N8W Calista Almer July 26th, 2019 *bone, soapstone, glass, stones, floor Levels: 1- top turf 2- black sand/ mixed sand 3 – peat, dark turf + charcoal + humus 4 – thin white sand line 5 – mixed light brown – cultural layer 6 – sterile Square (heavy roots from tree in SW quad) had a clear floor between levels 4 and 5. Level 4 was a thin white sand layer� Level 5 was mixed light brown sand which holds moisture better than 4� Level 5 is probably the layer that the floor sat on because it’s dense, packed and contains wood and bone. The bone was primarily caribou with some potential dog bones� Moreover, between levels 4 and 5 we found charcoal pockets which varied in size and depth� These charcoal pockets lie within the NE and Se quads� Also located in these quads were large rocks resting on level 5where the floor is. These rocks dive into the east wall. The quad to the east of mine has a large mound in the center� I believe this square is the beginning of a hearth which continues into the square east of this one, but therein lies a problem since the NE quad was previously excavated by Clifford Hart or Rene Levesque. The square next to this one and the Eastern wall could be a hearth or the rock discard pile from previous excavations� In the NE quad, in the North wall was a large piece of broken soapstone vessel that was partially burnt (fossil at base of cult. Level). The SE quad also had small pieces of soapstone in between levels four and five, so bone and broken pottery, glass, soapstone, etc. were discarded and fell below the floor. The hearth theory is supported by the diving pockets of charcoal, burnt bone, soapstone, and stacked large stones that line the East wall that sit on the floor. There were also tiles (broken) in SE near tree. The Southwest quad was not excavated due to the tree growing through most of it� NW was empty� 98 EiBh-47 (Hart Chalet) House 2 16N 8W and 15N 7.25W(extension) Excavation Square August 2019 Depths below datum Stones and finds 16N 10W 16N 8W Heights of top of stones 17 15 30 14 16 6 Leveque's 13 7 4 20 test pit 19 (1970s) 8 14.95N 1112 9 10 8 -119 -107 15N 7.25W 10W 295 12 21 13 25 22 11 23 214 26 24 8 4-109 Unexcavated 3 1 15 1 2 -111 6 7 9 28 3 27 -116 5 -111 10 -115 14N 10W 14N 8W 14N 7.25W Figure 7.41 Hart Chalet House 2 rocks and finds map. Figure 7.42 16N8W East wall profile. Figure 7.43 16B8W viewed to the North (Pho- to: V. Teasdale). 99 EiBh-47 (Hart Chalet) House 2 16N 8W and 15N 7.25W (extension)Profiles August 2019 NORTH1 16N 10W 16N 8W -100 cm -110 cm -120 cm -130 cm soapstone pot fragment (30) 16N 8W EAST1 15N 8W -100 cm 14N 8W -110 cm -120 cm Excavated Figure 7.45 North wall profile -130 cm of 16N8W. 0 50 100 NORTH2 EAST2 cm 15N 7.25W 16N NORTH1 16N 10W 8W 15N 8W 14N 7.25W NORTH2 15N7.25W -120 cm SOUTH2 -130 cm SOUTH1 14N 14N 10W 7.25W SOUTH1 14N 14N 7.25W 9.15W -120 cm -130 cm 14N 14.95N 14.95N 16N 10W 9.15W WEST1 9.15W SOUTH2 10W WEST2 -100 cm Excavated -110 cm -120 cm -130 cm turf white sand peat brown sand (sterile) (redeposited) mixed sand and humus mixed sand, excavation disturbed (cultural) peat (cultural) spoil Figure 7.44 Hart Chalet House 2 profiles. 100 WEST2 WEST1 EAST1 EAST2 Hart Chalet H2 16N8W, 14N6W Figure 7.46 16N8W nails Figure 7.47 Stoneware, glass, clay pipe stem, and soapstone pot from 16N8W. Figure 7.48 Stoneware, nails, and whalebone Figure 7.49 Spike from Hart Chalet 14N6W. from 16N6W. 101 EiBh-17 (Hart Chalet) House 1 6N 2W Excavation Square EiBh-47 (AHuagrtu sCth 2a0le1t9)House 1 Depths below datum 6N 2W ExcavatioTnh eS qeuaasrte side of the unit is the fill of August 2019 Depths bperleovwio duast uemxcavation Figure 7.51 Hart Chalet H1 6N2W The east side of the unit, viewed to West. unit 6N 4W NORTH is the fill of previous-100 cm excavation -110 cm backfill -120 cm -130 cm 6N 4W 6N 2W caribou antler 11 6 7 15 Unexcavated 9 2 3 10 8 4 13 12 14 plank -127 5 Excavation16 backfill 1 Figure 7.52 Hart Chalet H2 squares 4N 4W 4N 2W 0 50 100 backfilled, v. NE. cm Figure 7.50 Hart Chalet House 1, 6N2W finds map. Figure 7.53 Hart Chalet H1 squares backfilled, v. NE. 102 EiBh-47 (Hart Chalet) House 1 8N 4W Profiles August 2019 Depths below datum Stones and features 8N 6W NORTH Heights of top of 8N 4W stones -90 cm -100 cm -110 cm EAST 8N4W 6N 4W -90 cm -100 cm -110 cm -120 cm -130 cm 6N 4W SOUTH 6N 6W -90 cm -100 cm -110 cm -120 cm -130 cm 8N 6W WEST -80 cm 6N 6W -90 cm -100 cm -110 cm -120 cm 0 50 100 cm turf white sand peat disturbed (redeposited) mixed sand and humus peat white excavation (cultural) (wall sand fill construction) (podsol) Figure 7.54 Hart Chalet House 1 8N4W profiles. 103 Hart Chalet EiBk-47 House 1 8N4W Figure 7.55 Artifacts from HC H-1, 8N4W. Figure 7.56 Artifacts form HC H-1, 8N4W. Figure 7.57 Nails from HC H-1, 8N4W. Figure 7.58 Stone Ware from HC H-1, 8N4W. 104 Little Canso Isle-1 (EiBh-9) House 1 Entry 20 July 2019 Little Canso Isle-1 (EiBh-9), House 1 Entry turf and sand -146 -155 interior sandy floor cultural layer (floor) beach grass turf entry border rocks mixed charcoal and sand small beachpebble floor entry border rocks flat floor pavement stones roof fall upper rocks wind-blown sand rocks -158 -168 charcoal stain (second floor) 0 50 100 cm The elevations are below datum Figure 7.59 Little Canso Isle-1 entry test trench 105 H32 12 1 TP-847 floor high h Benc TP-5 met er nd mou floor Little Canso Isle-1 Map by I. Chechushkev 20 July, 2019 Figure 7.60 Little Canso Isle-1 site map. 2019 excavation in H1 entry passage. 106 entm Pave h benc H32 12 1 TP-487 floor high Benc h TP-5 mete r nd mou floor Little Canso Isle-1 Topograhic Map Igor Chechushkev 20 July, 2019 Figure 7.61 Little Canso Isle-1, Houses 1,2, and 3 topographic map. 107 nt Pave me benc h Grand Isle-1 (EiBk-3) 11 August 2019 Calista Almer and Micheal Mlyniec BACKGROUND The Grand Isle-1 site was originally described as Kettle Head by Martijn (1974) is located on the flat top of a low ridge approximately 35 meters above sea-level on the northeast corner of Grand Isle. The boulder field, orig- inating as an active boulder beach lifted out of the ocean by post-glacial uplift, is approximately 20 meters (E-W) by 30 meters (N-S). Of the ten structures identified, several could be considered pit-houses because of their large size and associated smaller cache pit features. Among the structures/features, some less identifiable ones were also recorded. The site has undergone significant damage from looting, weather, boulder removal, and the construction of a modern inukshuk at the northern edge of the boulder field. Nevertheless, ten archaeological features were iden- tifiable and could be recorded with a degree of confidence. Martjn reported the finds made by Leonard Thomas included an Inuit skull (identified as such by experts in Que- bec), a whale-bone snow knife, an iron rod, and rolls of birch bark� Medrick Thomas, one of Leonard’s sons, report- ed to WF in 2018 that the bones Leonard had found were laid out on a flat slab and were covered with rocks. WF learned in 2019, from another St� Paul resident, that bones from three individuals had been found at this site� I could not verify this statement further in 2019, and this is not mentioned in Martijn’s report� Figure 7.62 G1-2 Kettle Head boulder pit site heav- Figure 7.63 G1-1 disturbed boulder feature. ily looted, with recent inuksuk in distance. View East. 108 LIST OF STRUCTURES • Structure 1 waypoint 255: total area 5�31m2, wall thickness 50cm, internal area 2�01m2, and depth 95cm below ground level� There were no associated features present� State of preservation is poor� • Structure 2 wp256: total area 3�8m2, wall thickness 50cm, internal area 1�13m2, and a depth of 101cm below ground level� There were no associated features� State of preservation: poor� • Structure 3 wp257: total area 2�54m2, wall thickness 30cm, internal area 0�79m2, and a depth of 89cm be- low ground level� An associated pit feature attached to the northwest wall had a total area of 0�79m2, wall thickness 20cm, internal area 2�8m2, and a depth of 44cm below ground level� State of preservation: intact� • Structure 4 wp258: total area 3�57m2, wall thickness 50cm, internal area 4�15m2, and an internal depth 89cm below ground level� An associated feature is unattached to the southwest wall and had an area of 0�64m2, wall thickness 20cm, internal area 1�96m2, and an internal depth of 61cm below ground surface� State of preservation: excavated to bedrock at 180cm below the surface and back-filled in 2019. • Structure 5 wp259: total area 7�55m2, wall thickness 50cm, internal area 4�91m2, and an internal depth 106cm below ground level� There is an associated feature attached to the southwest wall with an area of 2�01m2, wall thickness 30cm, internal area 0�39m2, and an internal depth 70cm below ground surface� Structure 5 shares the north wall with the south wall of Structure Eight� State of preservation: heavily disturbed� • Structure 6 wp260: total area 13�2m2, wall thickness 55cm, internal area 7�59m2, and an internal depth 123cm below ground level� The associated feature is attached to the southeast wall and has an area of 2�01m2, wall thickness 30cm, internal area 6�36m2, and a depth 69cm below ground surface� State of preservation: disturbed� • Structure 7 wp261: total area 8�04m2, wall thickness 55cm, internal area 2�01m2, and an internal depth 108cm below ground level� The associated feature is attached to the southeast wall and has an area of 1�54m2, wall thickness 35cm, internal area 0�50m2, and an internal depth 64cm� State of preservation: heavily disturbed� • Structure 8 wp264: total area 8�04m2, wall thickness 60cm, internal area 3�80m2, and an internal depth 108cm below ground level� The associate feature is attached to the southwest wall and has an area of 1�13m2, wall thickness 20cm, internal area of 1�28m2, and an internal depth 77cm below ground level� This structure shares a south wall with the north wall of Structure 5� State of preservation: heavily disturbed� • Structure 9 wp272: total area 8�04m2, wall thickness 60cm, internal area 3�8m2, and an internal depth 86cm below ground level� The associated feature is attached to the southeast wall and has a total area of 2�55m2, wall thickness 30cm, internal area 0�79m2, and an internal depth 55cm below ground level� State of preservation: poor� • Tri-Pit Feature wp265: This feature consists of three connected pits—one to the northeast, one to the north, and one to the south� The combined total area is 7�36m2 with an average wall thickness of 40cm for each pit� The northeast pit has an internal area of 0�50m2 and a depth of 45cm� The north pit has an internal area of 1�13m2 and an internal depth of 46cm� The south pit has an internal area of 1�54m2 and an internal depth of 52cm� State of preservation: intact� INTERPRETATION Of the ten identified archaeological features, six structures with similar features can be considered pit-houses. These include Structures 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9� Each has a total area of at least 7�50m2 and an associated cache pit feature attached to the southeast or southwest wall� All of the structures were built with walls 0�50-0�60m thick likely due to the strong winds funneling through this specific location on Grand Isle. Structures 5 and 8 demonstrate unique con- struction of two potential pit-houses connected by a shared wall� Though similar to the other pit-house structures, Structures 1 and 2 lack associated features and possess smaller internal areas� These structures could represent larg- er storage cashes than the features associated with the pit-houses or they may be for smaller groups� These structures are in close proximity to one another and located at the southernmost part of the site, away from the primary cluster 109 of houses� Structure 3 and the Tri-Pit Feature represent collections of pits that are too small for habitation� Structure 4 was excavated down to bedrock, yet no artifacts were recovered� The high site elevation and similarity to other documented boulder pit sites make it likely this site can be attributed to the Maritime Archaic culture� The discovery of Inuit skeletal remains and several historical period Inuit artifacts in one of these structures is an intrusive event that utilized the existing pits for an improvised grave� Martijn, Charles A� 1974 Archaeological Research on the Lower St� Lawrence North Shore, Quebec� In Archaeological Salvage Proj- ects 1972� William Byrne, ed� Mercury Series Archaeological Survey of Canada Paper 15: 112-130� Ottawa: Na- tional Museum of Man� Grand Isle-1 (Kettle Head) EiBk-3 Figure 7.65 Grand Isle-1/Kettle Head EiBk-3 pithouse map. Figure 7.64 Map of Kettle Head (EiBk-3) on Grand Isle. 110 Grand Isle-1 EiBk-3 Figure 7.66 Grand Isle-1, H1, wp 255 Figure 7.67 GI-1, H2, wp 256 Figure 7.68 GI-1, H3, wp 257 Figure 7.69 GI-1, H4, wp 258 Figure 7.70 GI-1, H5, wp 259 Figure 7.71 GI-1, H6, wp 260 111 Grand Isle-1 EiBk-3 Figure 7.72 GI-1, H7, wp 261 Figure 7.73 GI-1, H8, wp 259 Figure 7.74 GI-1, H9, wp 272 Figure 7.75 GI-1 tri-pit structure, wp 265 112 Grand Isle-1 Pithouses EiBk-3 113 H312 bench Pavement mound meter bench Bench lower high floor tent TP-21586347 ring Pit 1 126 m 84 m Grand Isle-2, L2 (EiBk-54) Grand Isle -2,L2 EiBk-54 Topographic Map Ava Hill and Igor Chechushkov Figure 7.76 Grand Isle-2, L2 typographic map. Figure 7.77 Grand Isle-2, H2 viewed to the north. 114 H312 bench Pavement mound meter bench Bench lower high floor tent TP-21365487 ring Pit 1 126 m 48 m Grand Isle- 2,L2 House 2 EiBk-54 Datum Threshhold Entry Figure 7.79 Grand Isle-2, L House 2 structure map. Figure 7.78 Grand Isle-2 H2 viewed to the west, showing large in situ boulders in the middle of the house floor. 115 Grand Isle-2, L2 Finds map Figure 7.80 GI-2, H2 internal space viewed to- Figure 7.81 Grand Isle-2, L2 Finds map. wards the southwest. 116 Grand Isle-2, L2 House 2 August 2019 Depths below datum 6W Figure 7.80 GI-2 #1 units, view of south wall area with 5S and 6S profiles shown below. 2.5 W 6W 3.5 W 4W Figure 7.82 Grand Isle-2, L2 profiles 117 Grand Isle-2 House 2 August 2019 Depths below datum Figure 7.85 GI-2,H2 NE entry ramp showing NW wall profile A, view west. Figure 7.83 Grand Isle-2, L2 Northeast Entrance ramps and drain- age ditch test pit. Figure 7.84 GI-2, H2 East entry “ramps,” SE ramp to right, NE ramp to left - View NE. 118 Grand Isle -2, L2 EiBk-54 Western Wall Squares 1S4W + 2S4W Noémi Toroczai, Ava Hill August 18th, 2019 I excavated the western 1mx2m half of this square� In the center of the Grand Isle house is a large boulder sitting in sterile sand� The boulder is a natural part of the landscape, unadjusted by the Labrador Inuit� This assumption stems from the location and size of the boulder� It was extremely large, extremely heavy, and lodged deep into sterile beach sand� The Inuit may have used the center part of the house as a gath- ering room where the boulder may have been used to sit on or rest objects on� Besides the boulder, there was one nail found in the BE cultural layer� The lack of artifacts, bones, wood, etc� also suggests a center gathering area or work space which would be somewhat clear to make navigating and foot traffic easier. The stratigraphy of the profile included four layers: turf, mixed sand and turf, sterile sand, and a lens of solid peat. The profile also included two small rocks. Once down to sterile, it was easy to see the obvious upward slope from East to West� This slope began under the boulder from the wood planks on the eastern half of the square up towards the west wall and continued into the square west of this one up to the west- ern wall� 3S3W (2x2 m) Noémi Toroczai, Ava Hill August 18th, 2019 This square, just south of 2S4W, was opened with the intention of following the sterile sand towards what was thought of as the south wall� As I “worked from known to unknown” I followed the sterile sand as the elevation got higher� With more and more nails being found in the peat and on top of the sterile, I continued south into 4S4W. I left 3S2W unopen at first to avoid the flooding occurring in 2S2W. I found large pieces of stoneware in and near the southern wall� Along with stoneware in the wall, I found planks stacked along the profile. They clearly continued through the west profile so we opened the 3S5W next. They continued, but instead of sleeping boards like we originally thought, the full plank construction seemed like thin oak which could have been used in the wall construction� This theory comes from the random placement of wood which was more obvious after finding the thin planks scattered in 3S1W, 3S2W, and 3S4W as well as nails lying on top of the thin wood� After opening the entire square and creating canals to redirect water, we found random wood and the tile lying in no clear/ intentional pattern among fallen rocks which seem to have originated in the wall� This square is the south edge of the house and full of charred timber from the collapsed south wall of the house� 119 Grand Isle -2, L2 EiBk-54 5S4W (1x1 m) Noémi Toroczai, Ava Hill August 18, 2019 This square was opened with the hunch that it may include more “wall fall” and the wall construction itself� With an extremely large boulder taking up most of the southeast corner, I excavated along the balk on the north wall and along the east wall balk and moved with the stratigraphy back to the boulder� The square was on a sharp downward slope moving from south to north� It was only excavated as a 1mx1m� I found that the planks from 4S4W did not continue into this square� After the square was dug down to sterile sand it was clear that it was once a wall which has fallen north into 4S4W� They used the natural large boulders and slope of the hillside to build up the wall, but perhaps it wasn’t lived in for long periods of time because of the natural flooding on the hillside that we were battling throughout excavation� Stratigraphy showed only turf, peat, and sand� Not heavy in wood or artifacts� 1S4W (2x2 m) Noémi Toroczai August 18, 2019 Ava and I excavated the square 1S4W� The top layer was the sod, approximately 8-10 cm thick� Under the sod lay- er was a 3-5 cm thick sand layer� Below that we had a mixed peat and sand layer of 8-12 cm thickness, with sand lens’ occasionally within this layer (approx� 3-4 cm thick)� We also had a thick layer of peat (solid) below this, 5-10 cm thick. The final layer of sterile sand ranged 3-5 cm in thickness, and would rise up in wavelike shapes towards the southern end of the square. Within the mixed peat/cultural layer, we found five iron pieces, some of which were most likely nails� Closer to the sand layer (the sterile layer) we found a piece of slate that had burn marks on it and chipped edges� Ava also found a piece of chalcedony rock near the sand (sterile) layer as well� Between the sterile layer and the solid peat, we found fifty-six fragments ramah chert, close to the west side of the square� This square didn’t yield a large amount of artifacts, but the type of artifacts indicate the presence of multi- ple groups of people from different time periods. The iron nails and fragments indicate Inuit presence. The ramah chert was used among early groups of people like the Groswater� The chalcedony rock could have also been from Groswater. These chert finds were not present iin the house, only in, under, and outside the wall area. 120 Eastern wall squares (1S 1W, 2S 1W, 3S 1W -- 1x3m units 1S 1W -- In this square after de-turfing and digging through the black cultural layer the ship plank from the unit to the north was exposed to the western side running through the whole unit into the South pro- file. This sat directly on the white beach sand therefore likely part of the original floor construction of the house. The eastern side of the unit sloped up to the edge of the boulder-filled wall. The wall consisted of a number of rocks including a medium-size boulder, likely left in place as part of the wall� Some of these rocks, including the boulder, lay on a darker sand layer seen below the sterile beach sand indicating that these were present in the beach deposits prior to construction, other rocks rested on the cultural layer, like- ly having fallen in when the wall partially collapsed� In the space on the north side of the boulder caribou bones were found including a large worked piece of antler� (MM notes) 2S 1W -- In the western side of the square the ship plank continued out of the north profile for 5cm before ending followed by a small area of cultural layer before the wall and collapsed wall rocks began to rise on the east side of the unit� The same pattern of wall construction and stratigraphy was seen as in the square to the south, but no caribou bones were present� To the southeast was a large boulder disappearing into the east and south profiles. (MM notes) 3S 1W -- This square consisted almost exclusively of wall construction and some fallen wall rocks� The east side of the unit was made up of two large boulders embedded in the wall which could not have been moved and likely a major factor determining the placement of the house floor and wall. Other boulders were wedged in as part of the wall construction� Rocks which had fallen from the wall were sitting on the black cultural layer and in the turf and peat layer above� The stratigraphy followed the same pattern as the rest of the wall, with the boulders sitting in the in situ dark iron-rich c-zone as part of the original beach formation� Above the more southerly boulder a tile covered with burned seal oil was recovered mixed with the turf, representing a stray find. Additionally, a large spike was recovered in a gap between the two large boulders� (MM notes) 1S 2W This 2x2 unit lies in the middle of the house floor and is surrounded by sandy prepared floor layer. The sub-unit quads are described separately below: SE Quadrant This unit consisted of a dark cultural layer overlying boards and stones resting on white sterile beach sand� The units large central boulder that was part of the beach deposit occupied the NW cor- ner of this unit and had decayed wood planks running N/S to the east of it, terminating in an E/W running plank abutted by rocks in the southern edge of the square� Unlike the large embedded boulder, some of the smaller stones were resting on sterile sand or on planks in the cultural layer probably resulted from roof or wall collapse� Roof tile fragments and nails were found with the planks� (MM notes) SW Quadrant This unit consisted of the same stratigraphy as the one to the east, however the beach sand appeared higher with a sharp cut in the east signifying that that area was likely dug in deeper during construction of the house pit� The large central boulder in the NE corner was left in place when the house pit was excavated. No wood was found overlaying the sand perhaps due to differential preservation. Finds were scarce in this area� (MM notes) NW Quadrant This unit mimicked the SW quad but had a deeper sand layer on the floor, no definite floor boards, and few finds. (MM notes) NE Quadrant This unit was similar to the SE quad but was lower than the ones to the west� It contained rocks and roof tiles and a few scraps of disarticulated wood but nothing coherent like the unit to the south� Finds were minimal, but nails associated with the wood planks were recovered� (MM notes) 2N 2W (2x2m) -- “to the moon and beyond” - (a reference to the cratered topography of the in situ peat (soil oustide the house floor) SE quadrant After deturfing, the south end of this unit was filled with rocks which had nails associated with them. Additionally, there were broken bits of charcoal and in the east profile sitting on the white sand was a 10cmX3cm burned charcoal patch that seem like a plank� In the northern end there was practically no depositional layer, only pockets of peat lobes extending down into the sterile sand, creating deep chan- nels and pockets, completely different from the level sandy floor seen within the house. (MM notes) SW quadrant This unit followed the same pattern of rocks, nails, and charcoal in the southern part of the unit and peat lobes extending into the sand in the north. In the west profile was another 10cmX3cm burned charcoal patch at the same level as the other SE one� This suggests that a plank ran across between them, parallel to the south wall, and was related to the rocks and nails, suggesting the construction of a north house wall or foundation beam. With the stones lying flat on the sand was a single, large curved paving stone, but its function in relation to its context could not be determined� Again, to the north there was no leveling layer of white sand or artifacts� (MM notes) NW quadrant This unit consisted of only peat lobes pock-marking the sterile beach sand, and no arti- facts� This area represents an area completely outside of the house adding credence to the idea that the south quadrants constituted the northern edge of the house floor and presumed wall. (MM notes) NE quadrant This unit followed the same pattern as the NW unit, with peat lobes and sterile sand pits, suggesting it is outside the house� However, a large piece of a soapstone pot fragment with signs of repair (including a fastening with an iron nail) was collected in the SW corner of the quad, likely thrown away outside the house� (MM notes) In subsequent consideration we decided that the absence of a physical north wall of the house could only be explained by the construction of a snow-block wall, essentially creating a dwelling that was part sod house and part snow igloo� Of interest is the fact that a whale-bone snow knife was found in an Inuit grave at the Grand Isle-1 (Kettle Head) boulder pit site at the top of the hill a few hundred meters south of the GI-2 H2 dwelling� (MM notes) 3S 4W (2x2m) SE quadrant After de-turfing, this unit contained a dark cultural layer and white sterile beach sand. In the south end of the unit, running the whole east-west length and continuing into the east profile was a pile of burned conifer planks running East/West lying on top of each other� Although inside the house, they likely represent planks or small logs that had been used as part of wall construction rather than as flooring as they abut the wall and are piled on top of each other� Their burning must be associated with the collapse the collapse of the south wall and the destruction event for the house� Found nearby was an iron harpoon fore-shaft and a pottery fragment with green glazed interior� (MM notes) SW quadrant The fallen timbers continued a short way to the west, ending in a heavily charred wood piece near where the west wall construction begins� The east house wall consisted of multiple layers sod consisting of peat layers interspersed with sandy lenses� These sods had been excavated nearby and con- tained many Rama chert flakes. Two fragments were similar to Dorset culture microblades. Additional evidence of the sod wall construction was seen by a wooden plank embedded in the west profile between sod layers� Because the whole western part of the quad was part of the house’s sod wall, few artifacts were present other than the redeposited chert flakes. (MM notes) NW quadrant This unit contained a line of boulders running roughly north/south abutted by north/ south-running planks� West of the rocks was the wall, which demonstrated the same construction as the quad to the south� These boulders were likely part of wall collapse as they lay on top of the planks which could have represented part of a sleeping bench as they were raised slightly above the floor. Again, the unit contained few artifacts other than Ramah chert flakes in the sandy lenses of the sod wall. (MM notes) NE quadrant This unit also contained planks, however they were running east-west and terminated at the planks in the unit to the west forming a right angle, perhaps representing the junction between a rear (south) sleeping bench and a west wall bench� These were located in the north of the unit while rest of the square represented typical house interior stratigraphy� A second iron harpoon shaft was found in the south part of this unit� (MM notes) 5S 4W (1x1m unit) This unit contained a few scattered boards extending into the north balk through which they were connected to the pile of boards in the SE unit of the previous block� These boards, how- ever, were lying at seemingly random orientations, adding credence to the idea that these planks were associated with the collapse of the house’s south wall� South of the planks the soil consisted of in situ rocks and boulders sitting on dark c-layer beach sand just as in the east wall of the house, with layering of peat and sand above them, representing naturally occurring wall foundation� Finds were few but a piece of pottery was recovered� (MM notes) 5S 5W (1x1m unit) This unit caught the turn at the southwest corner of the house wall� The same con- struction levels were present as in the next unit to the east; however, in the center and NE corner, rocks were present sitting on the cultural layer which were likely came from wall-fall� Finds were scare but Ramah chert was found in the upper sod lens of wall construction. In the west profile coming off the south wall of the unit, the cut into the sterile sand made during house construction was visible, extending through the bulk and into the unit to the north� (MM notes) Grand Isle -2, L2 EiBk-54 0N0W Entry Square W� Fitzhugh This 1x1m is the entry passage area and is bounded by a high mound on the south side� This side of the entry has large boulders in the wall, probably determining the position of the entry passage� Several large beach rocks had fallen into the passage from the wall area� They were embedded in black earth cultural deposit from the turf down to sterile sand or pavement� There were a few patches of clean sand but most of the BE was a mixture of sand, charcoal, and very rotted bone – all caribou. There was no real difference between the upper black earth and lower BE – i.e. no really observable “floor” deposition. The pavement, only two or three small nails. Water started seep- ing in when the pavement appeared� This may be why there is a north-running trench� A test pit in this trench had a roof tile about 30-40 cm below the surface, so this seems to have been made by the Inuit to clear water from the entry passage� No artifacts of special interest came from this unit� The pavement rocks extend beyond the southern limit of the unit, beneath the mound, so the wall here must be slumping over the entry way� 2N0W W� Fitzhugh August 8th, 2019 This unit is north of the house door� Its eastern quads are mounded up – a combination of wall rocks and caribou bones fractured from cooking, but there is no sign of an actual hearth with charcoal and fire-cracked rocks. Most likely these bones accumulated as dumps on the walls or roof� There was also a gravelly layer just under the sod in the NE unit� Almost all the bones were on the SE quad, directly beneath the sod� Nails were found throughout from top to bottom and a few tile fragments were present� Charcoal was present sporadically but not in hearth concentrations. The SW quad had a small hearth area with a flat slab that was burned and crumbled next to an inclined slab� Nails and a lead bullet were nearby� Peat lobes appeared in the northern end of the square and it does not seem like this area could have been part of the house, especially as there is no wall on this side of the dwelling. The flat sand floor seems to underlie the cultural level occupied areas south of 1 North. There is no “floor” level in the 2N trench squares; rather artifacts, bones, and wood accumulated over time, with wood found preserved only in the bottom levels� Almost always we found tile fragments, wood, and nails at the lowest levels� There were some pieces of oriented paving stones, but no sod was laid down as flooring as in other parts of the house� 124 Belles Amours 1 (EiBi-24) The Gateways Project 2019 20 August 2019 Calisa Almer and Micheal Mlyniec BACKGROUND The Belles Amours boulder field site is located on a raised beach on the Belles Amours peninsula, 20 km east of Rivière-Saint-Paul, Quebec (WGS84 UTM zone 21N 471520E, 5702490N) and 12 km west of Brador and Blanc Sablon. The site was first documented by René Levèsque and has not been dated or attributed to a specific culture because no diagnostic artifacts or culturally specific structures have been found or recognized. Boulder field sites on high beaches appear as early as the Maritime Archaic; however, low-lying sites are more likely related to either Groswater Paleoeskimo or Intermediate or Recent Indian� Despite disturbances, many structures and features are intact or recognizeable� Belles Amours-1 Figure 7.86 Belles Amours pithouse site map. 125 The structures occur in two boulder fields. The lower field is located on a 5m high raised beach beside a large pond, and the upper field to the NW is 15m asl, 10 meters above lower field. The lower field is tiered with the strips of boulders and is approximately 80 meters (E-W) by 550 meters (N-S) with all the features clustered in the northern 300 meters. The upper field is approximately 80 meters (E-W) by 130 meters (N-S). Nineteen structures were identified, some possessing associated features, and another nine stand- alone features were also identified. The lower field comprising the main component of the site had 16 of the structures, while the upper field accounted for three. Features were found in rows to the east, closer to the sea on the lower tiers of the beaches. The site has undergone significant damage due to multiple factors such as looting, weather, and boulder removal for telephone pole installation and other construction activity� Despite this destruction, archaeological features were still identifiable and able to be recorded with a degree of confidence. LIST OF STRUCTURES ● Structure 1: total area of 16�62m, wall thickness 80cm, internal area 7�07, average wall height from ground level of 53cm, and with an internal depth of 90cm from highest wall point� There are no asso- ciated features� State of preservation: intact� ● Structure 2: total area of 9�08, wall thickness 40cm, internal area 4�52, average wall height from ground level of 41cm, and with an internal depth of 50cm from the highest wall point� There are no associ- ated features� State of preservation: intact� ● Structure 3: total area of 25�52m, wall thickness 95cm, internal area 10�75, average wall height from ground level of 28cm, and with an internal depth of 35cm from highest wall point� There is one as- sociated wall feature to the southeast that is not attached� The associated feature has a total area of 3�46m, wall thickness of 35cm, and with an internal area of 0�64m� State of preservation: moderate� ● Structure 4: total area of 14�12m, wall thickness 87cm, internal area 5�31m, average wall height from ground level of 11cm, with an internal depth not recorded due to slope� There is one associated wall feature to the southeast that is not attached� The associated feature has a total area 1�13m, wall thickness of 20cm, and with an internal area of 0�64m� State of preservation- moderate� ● Structure 5: total area of 13�85m, wall thickness 75cm, internal area 7�7m, average wall height from ground level of 45cm, and with an internal depth of 24cm from the highest wall point� There are two associated internal pit features� The associated features (from N to S) have total areas of 1�13m and 0�5m and depths of 39cm and 14cm from floor surface. State of preservation: intact. ● Structure 6: total area of 14�52m, wall thickness 110cm, internal area 9�86m, average wall height from ground level of 50cm� The internal depth was not recorded from the highest wall point� There is one associated pit feature� The associated feature has an area of 1�26m and the depth was not recorded� State of condition: poor� ● Structure 7: total area of 4�52m, wall thickness 65cm, internal area 1�33m, average wall height from ground level of 42cm, and with an internal depth of 81cm from highest wall point� State of condition: poor� ● Structure 8: total area of 11�95m, wall thickness 105cm, internal area 2�69m, average wall height from ground level of 49cm, and with an internal depth of 68cm from highest wall point� There is one associ- ated pit feature to the south� The associated pit has an area of 1�13m the depth is missing� State of condition: intact with disturbed north wall due to telephone pole construction� ● Structure 9: total area of 19�64m, wall thickness 88cm, internal area 8�42m, average wall height from ground level of 35cm, and with an internal depth of 57cm from the highest wall point� There are two 126 associated internal pit features� The associated features (from N to S) have total areas of 0�85 and 0�35m and depths of 22cm and 15cm from floor surface. State of preservation: poor. ● Structure 10: total area of 17m, wall thickness 60cm, internal area 13�2m� This structure consists of two subdivisions� From north to south, the internal areas of the subdivisions are 6�6m, and 4�6m and the average internal wall thickness is 40cm� There is one associated walled feature to the east that is not attached� The associated feature has a total area of 2�54m, wall thickness of 30cm, and with an internal area of 0�95m� There are two associated internal pit features in the north and south subdivisions� The northern internal pit feature has an area of .79m and a depth from floor surface of 25cm. The southern pit feature has an area of 0.38 and a depth from floor surface of 20cm. The state of preservation- moderate with diffuse Northern and Eastern walls� The areas were calculated on approximation of the continuation of standing walls� Elevations were not recorded� ● Structure 11: total area of 51�5m, wall thickness 100cm, internal area 35�72m, average wall height from ground level of 39cm� This structure consists of two subdivisions� From north to south, the internal areas of the subdivisions are 9�24m, and 25�58m and the average internal wall thickness is 40cm� There is one associated wall feature to the southeast that is not attached� The associated feature has a total area of 2�01m, wall thickness of 30cm, and with an internal area of 0�64m� There are two associated internal pit features in the south subdivision� The northern internal pit feature has an area of 2�26m and a depth from floor surface of 60cm. The southern pit feature has an area of 1.13 and a depth from floor surface of 35cm. An additional feature consisting of a circular collection of red rocks was located to the NW with an area of �79m located at ground level� State of preservation: intact� ● Structure 12: total area of 6�16m, wall thickness 63cm, internal area 2�01m, average wall height from ground level of 53cm, and with an internal depth of 89cm from the highest wall point� There is one associated wall feature to the north that is attached� The associated feature has a total area of 3�14m, wall thickness of 50cm, and with an internal area of 0�79m� The total area of structure with attached feature is 9�3m� State of preservation: intact� ● Structure 13: total area of 10�18, wall thickness 65cm, internal area 6�58m, average wall height from ground level of 48cm, and with an internal depth of 63cm from the highest wall point� There is one associated wall feature to the east that is unattached� The associated feature has a total area of 2�55m, wall thickness of 45cm, and with an internal area of 0�79m� State of preservation: poor with a modern pit and probable wall reconstruction� ● Structure 14: total area of 10�18m, wall thickness 68cm, internal area 4�52m, average wall height from ground level of 24cm, and with an internal depth of 82cm from the highest wall point� There is one associated wall feature to the southwest that is attached� The associated feature has a total area of 1�13m, wall thickness of 30cm, and with an internal area of 2�8m� The total area of structure with associated feature is 11�31m� State of preservation: moderate� ● Structure 15: total area of 6�16m, wall thickness 95cm, internal area 1�13m, average wall height from ground level of 55cm, and with an internal depth of 85cm from the highest wall point� There are no associated features� State of preservation: poor� ● Structure 16: total area of 9�62m, wall thickness 90cm, internal area 1�33m, average wall height from ground level of 62cm, and with an internal depth of 105cm from the highest wall point� There are no associated features� State of preservation: moderate� ● Structure 17: total area of 11�05, wall thickness 85cm, internal area 2�84m, average wall height from ground level of 54cm, and with an internal depth of 101cm from the highest wall point� There are no associated features� State of preservation: moderate� ● Structure 18: total area of 28�24, wall thickness 50cm, internal area 21�62m, average wall height from ground level of 45cm, and with an average internal depth of 72cm from the highest wall point� This 127 structure consists of three subdivisions� From north to south, the internal areas of the subdivisions are 7�8m, 9�66m, and 4.16m, the internal wall heights are 38cm and 51cm from floor level, and the average wall thickness is 40cm. There are two associated internal pit features in the north and south subdivisions� The northern internal pit feature has an area of 1.13m and a depth from floor surface of 11cm. The southern pit feature has an area of 0.79 and a depth from floor surface of 14cm. State of preservation: intact. ● Structure 19: total area of 6�38, wall thickness 48cm, internal area 2�55m, average wall height from ground level of 40cm, and with an average internal depth of 69cm from the highest wall point� State of preservation- de- stroyed with missing east wall� Area calculations made with assumed continuation of existing wall� INTERPRETATION The identified structures exhibited a diverse set of characteristics, including variations in internal and ex- ternal area, wall thickness, associated features, internal pits, and subdivided construction; yet despite these factors, rough patterns did seem to appear. Of the 19 structures, structures 10, 11, and 18 must be considered differently. These structures are larger, possess subdivided interiors, and in the case of structures 10 and 11 are rectangular whereas all other structures are round or oval� Of the remaining 16 structures the total areas cluster in size and can divided into three categories: structures smaller than 7 square meters, structures between 9-15 square meters, and structures larger than 16� These comprise groups of 4, 9, and 3 structures respectively� Additionally, the internal areas can be divided into two categories: structures with an internal area less than 3 square meters and structures with an internal area larger than 4�5 square meters� When these factors are taken together, structures 7 and 15 fall into the lower categories and therefore are likely not houses due to their small size� Structures 16 and 17 also fall into the category of structures with small internal areas but have larger total areas� These however are located in the upper boulder field which could represent an area used for other than habitation and could be associated with different functions, or different cultures. Structure 19 falls into the same size categories as these two; however due to the destroyed nature and the recorded approximations, its true nature is unclear� Structures 1, 2,3,4,5,6,9,13,14 all fall into the category of larger internal area and medium or large total area� All of these with the exceptions of 1 and 2 have either internal pits or walled features not seen among the smaller structures� These could be indicators that these structures were pit-houses as they possess larger areas to live in and possible storage areas associated with the structure� The remaining structures 8 and 12 both with small internal areas exhibit irregular constructions or patterns� Structure 8 has an external pit associated with it, not seen in any other feature and therefore perhaps a post-occupation event� Structure 12 has a large attached feature to the north, near the same size as the main compo- nent, creating a figure 8, the differences suggesting some other function. Of the three larger structures, structure 18 is in the upper field whereas structures 10, 11 are in the lower field. Structure 18 is much different, being both round with thin walls and having a deep dug-in construction. The other two structures are located side-by-side in the center of the lower field with the other structures clustered around them� Structure 11 is by far the largest structure at the site� These structures are likely associated with each other and possess a number of features that could in some cases be associated with both structures� The complex nature of this collection of features and structures, their large size, and central location could represent either a com- munal gathering site or evidence of social or functional stratification within the culture. This preliminary study was meant to map the site and see if any trends would be apparent through rough macroscopic examination� Future work should include excavation and in-depth statistical analysis to determine more meaningful result for a better understanding of the nature and make-up of the site� 128 Belles Amours Pithouses EiBi-24 Figure 7.87 BA1 Pithouse village. House 1 view to Figure 7.88 BA-1 Pithouse village. House 2, wayo- NW, waypoint 215. iny 216. View East. Figure 7.89 BA-1 House 3, wp217, View NW. Figure 7.90 BA-1 House 3, Adjoining feature 1. Wp 217. Figure 7.91 BA-1 House 4, wp 218, View SW. Figure 7.92 BA-1 House 4, feature 1, wp 218. View SW. 129 Belles Amours 1 EiBi-24 Figure 7.93 BA-1, House 5, waypoint 219. View Figure 7.94 BA-1 House 6, wp 220. Dis- West. turbed feature. View East. Figure 7.95 BA-1 House 7, wp 221. View NW. Figure 7.96 BA-1 House 8, wp 222. View NW. 2 rooms. Figure 7.97 BA-1, House 9, wp223. View NW. Figure 7.98 BA-1 House 10, wp 224. House with two features, view W. 130 Belles Amours 1 EiBi-24 Figure 7.99 BA-1 House 10, feature 1, wp 224. Figure 7.100 BA-1 House 10, feature 2. wp 224. View W. Figure 7.101 BA-1 House 11 with adjoining fea- Figure 7.102 BA-1 House 11, room 1. Wp 225, tures, wp 225. View N. view W. Figure 7.103 BA-1 House 11, Room 2. Wp 225, Figure 7.104 BA-1 House 12. Wp 226, view to View W. NW. 131 Belles Amours 1 EiBi-24 Figure 7.105 BA-1 House 13. Wp 227, view N. Figure 7.106 BA-1 Houe 14, wp 228. View NW. Figure 7.107 BA-1 House 15, Wp 229. Disturbed Figure 7.108 BA-1 House 16, wp 235. View W. center, view NW. Figure 7.109 BA-1 House 17, cache mound. Wp Figure 7.110 BA-1 House 18, view 2. Wp 241, 236, view East. view NE. 132 Belles Amounrs 1 EiBi-24 Figure 7.111 BA-1 House 19, wp 249. View East. 133 Belles Amours Boulder Pithouse Site Features EiBi-24 Site Date Recorded By Structure # Waypoint # Photo # Boulder Total Internal Average Average Internal Associated Field Area Area Wall Wall Depth (cm Walled Location (square (square Thickness Height from highest Feature meters) meters) (cm) from wall point) (Y/N) surface (cm) Belles Amour Aug 3 2019 CMA, MCM, ABH 1 215 B68.H1 lower 16.619 7.069 80 52 90 N Belles Amour Aug 3 2019 CMA, ABH 2 216 B68.H2 lower 9.079 4.524 40 41 50 N Belles Amour Aug 3 2019 CMA, ABH 3 217 B68.H3 lower 25.518 10.752 95 28 35 Y Belles Amour Aug 3 2019 CMA, MCM, ABH 4 218 B68.H4 lower 14.12 5.309 87 11 N/A Y Belles Amour Aug 3 2019 CMA, ABH 5 219 B68.H5 lower 13.854 7.069 75 45 24 N Belles Amour Aug 3 2019 MCM, ABH 6 220 B68.H6 lower 14.522 9.86 100 50 MISSING N Belles Amour Aug 3 2019 MCM, ABH 7 221 B68.H7 lower 4.524 1.327 65 42 81 N Belles Amour Aug 3 2019 MCM, ABH 8 222 B68.H8 lower 11.946 2.688 95 49 68 N Belles Amour Aug 3 2019 MCM, ABH 9 223 B68.H9 lower 19.635 8.042 88 35 57 N Belles Amour Aug 3 2019 IVC, NT 10 224 B68.H10 lower NOT TO BE INCLUDED IN THIS DATA SET Belles Amour Aug 3 2019 IVC, NT 11 225 B68.H11 lower NOT TO BE INCLUDED IN THIS DATA SET Belles Amour Aug 3 2019 CMA, MCM, ABH 12 226 B68.H12 lower 6.158 2.011 65 53 89 Y Belles Amour Aug 3 2019 CMA, MCM, ABH 13 227 B68.H13 lower 10.179 6.58 65 48 63 Y Belles Amour Aug 3 2019 CMA, MCM, ABH 14 228 B68.H14 lower 10.179 4.524 68 24 82 Y Belles Amour Aug 3 2019 MCM, ABH 15 229 B68.H15 lower 6.158 1.131 95 55 85 N Belles Amour Aug 3 2019 MCM, ABH 16 235 B68.H16 upper 9.621 1.327 90 62 105 N Belles Amour Aug 3 2019 MCM, ABH 17 236 B68.H17 upper 11.045 2.835 85 54 101 N Belles Amour Aug 3 2019 MCM, ABH 18 241 B68.H18 upper NOT TO BE INCLUDED IN THIS DATA SET Belles Amour Aug 3 2019 CMA, MCM, ABH 19 249 B68.H19 lower 6.379 2.545 48 40 69 N Associated Walled Walled Feature Walled Walled Total Associate Associate Pit Pit Excavated Cultural Present Walled Feature Internal Area Feature Feature Area with d Pit d Pit Feature Internal Y/N Material Y/N Condition of Feature Total Area (square meters) Average Attached Feature Feature Feature Area Depth (cm Preservation Cardinal (square Wall (Y/N) (square (Y/N) Location (square from Cut Direction meters) Thickness meters) meters) surface) (cm) NA NA NA NA N NA N NA NA NA N N Intact NA NA NA NA N NA N NA NA NA N N Intact SE 3.464 0.636 35 N NA N NA NA NA N N Moderate Diffuse Wall SE 1.131 0.636 20 N NA N NA NA NA N N Moderate NA NA NA NA N NA Y internal 1.131, 0.5039, 14 N N Intact NA NA NA NA N NA Y internal 0.126 MISSING N N Poor NA NA NA NA N NA N NA NA NA N N Poor NA NA NA NA N NA Y S 1.131 MISSING N N Intact, Disturbed N Wall NA NA NA NA N NA Y internal .85, .35 22, 15 N N Poor NOT TO BE INCLUDED IN THIS DATA SET NOT TO BE INCLUDED IN THIS DATA SET N N Moderate NOT TO BE INCLUDED IN THIS DATA SET NOT TO BE INCLUDED IN THIS DATA SET N N Intact N 3.14 0.785 50 Y 9.298 N NA NA NA N N Intact E 2.545 0.785 45 N NA Y internal 0.785 NA N N Poor SW 1.131 0.283 30 Y 11.31 N NA NA NA N N Moderate NA NA NA NA N NA N NA NA NA N N Poor NA NA NA NA N NA N NA NA NA N N Moderate NA NA NA NA N NA N NA NA NA N N Moderate NOT TO BE INCLUDED IN THIS DATA SET NOT TO BE INCLUDED IN THIS DATA SET N N Intact NA NA NA NA N NA N NA NA NA N N Destroyed Notes Due to internal pit filled with moss, internal depth is higher than walls. Due to slope, accurate depth could not be calculated Pit depths and areas listed N to S Floor depth not recorded Telephone pole in N wall, pit depth in accurate, not recorded from cut Pit depths and areas listed N to S Due to different construction pattern representing completely different function, not included within this study Due to different construction pattern representing completely different function, not included within this study Modern wall construction, Modern pit dug Tree growth in Pit Tree growth in Pit Due to different construction pattern representing completely different function, not included within this study E wall missing 134 8 – References Cited Fitzhugh, William� (2014)� After Red Bay: A Basque and Inuit Joint Venture on the Quebec Lower North Shore� Rev� Internacional de los Vascos 59(2): 321-348� ------� 2015� The Inuit Archaeology of the Quebec Lower North Shore� Etudes/Inuit/Studies 39(1):37-62� -----. 2015 excavations at the Hart Chalet Inuit Village. 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