Excavations carried out last year in the Cazaville area by the team of archaeologists from the Haut-Saint-Laurent MRC have brought to light a larger and older than expected discovery that attests to an Iroquoian presence.
The initial digs carried out in the summer of 2015 already indicated the existence of traces of Iroquoian settlement in this region and, with the assistance of interns from the Mohawk community, new evaluations of last summer « left us speechless in the face of the quantity of artefacts, » said archaeologist Michel Gagné.
Christened Isings after the name of the property owner, the site is located on a large sandbank approximately 10 000 square metres in size. However, the artefacts found around the periphery of the site suggest a settlement that could be larger than the Droulers-Tsiionhiakwatha site which is already considered one of the largest Iroquoian sites in Québec.
The artefacts found in the Cazaville area were taken to the Droulers-Tsiionhiakwatha interpretation centre.
According to Michel Gagné, archaeologists found ceramic vases, animal bones, petrified corn kernels and even traces of pits and fire rings; all the elements that indicate a village and horticultural setting typical of the Iroquoian people. Furthermore the Isings settlement site would, in all probability, date back from 1200 to 1250 whereas the Droulers site is estimated to be from around 1375.
« For the time being, we know that the Isings site contains Iroquoian material which is among the oldest found within Quebec, » pointed out Michel Gagné. « Everything leads us to believe that, over time, certain groups gradually gathered on this hospitable sand bank and formed a village community as suggested by the presence of what appear to be traces of homes. »
Fluctuations in the water level of the river
The MRC archaeology team also made another discovery, this time along the banks of the La Guerre River. It is a recess that would have been used as a boat launch to cross the river and gain access to an old route dating from 1815 on the Tea Field Road.
This discovery highlights the fluctuations in the water levels of the river (or lac Saint-François) since the first dams were built in 1849 and the construction of route 132.
This difference, estimated at 1.3 metres, « moves the original bank back in certain areas by some 20 metres and in places up to more than 400 metres from the current shoreline, » noted archaeologist Michel Gagné. The high water level also created a large wetland at the mouth of the La Guerre River whose banks left traces of settlement.
Excavation will continue next spring in the daunting forest located between the Fourche à Brûlé Creek and the former La Guerre village; a most inhospitable region because of the presence of ticks, poison ivy and wild parsnip.
Translated by Cathleen Johnston
