HomeMy WebLinkAboutX2023-006-161A PREHISTORIC
INDIAN VILLAGE
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Many Scholars Share in Interpretation
of Archaeological "Find" near Pickering
The interpretation of archaeological "finds" is not a task for the
archaeologist alone. At the Royal Ontario Museum, curators com-
bine their skills and knowledge to piece together Ontario's history.
The ichthyologist, ornithologist and mammalogist identify material
from ancient garbage dumps to determine what fish and game were
eaten; the geologist identifies the flint and other stone used for
arrow points and tools; both the Department of Anthropology and
the Department of Anatomy, of the University of Toronto, assist in
the study of the human skeleton. Many scholars combine their
efforts to make history from the evidence of archaeology.
Study of the "finds" is shared by many scholars back
at the Museum laboratories.
University of Toronto students learn archaeological techniques at the Miller Site.
Each student is assigned a 5-foot square; excavates with trowel and brush.
Royal Ontario Museum Archaeologists Uncover
Secrets of a Prehistoric Indian Village
The Royal Ontario Museum welcomes you to the Miller Site, the
archaeological excavation of a prehistoric Indian village inhabited
about a thousand years ago. During your visit, we would like to
show you what has been found, explain the way in which archaeolo-
gists work, and tell you why this work is being done.
The Miller Site was discovered in 1958, when a Miller Paving
Company power shovel, looking for gravel deposits, uncovered an
ancient burial pit. That fall, and during the summer of 1959, a
Royal Ontario Museum field party, under the direction of Walter
Kenyon, uncovered enough of the village to know that this site
would add greatly to our knowledge of Ontario's past.
Ontario's history today is like a book with most of the pages
missing. Man has lived in Ontario since the Ice Age, and this
should mean thousands of years of history. But history is the
continuous and methodical record of man's activities, and here in
Ontario, the greater part of that record lies buried in the ground
and is yet to be revealed through archaeology.
The Royal Ontario Museum shares the responsibility of this task
with other museums and universities, and does its work with the
help of both industry and government. The excavation of the Miller
Site is supported by grants from Imperial Oil Limited.
The Miller Site has been described as one of the most important
archaeological finds in Ontario in the last two decades. New know-
ledge from this excavation may help to explain the origins of the
Iroquois culture which white men found when they arrived in
Ontario in the 17th century.
Feel free to ask your guide questions. We want you to share with
the archaeologists and their crew of students the thrill and wonder
of winning new knowledge from the earth. It is a search that leads
not only to a fuller knowledge of the history of Ontario, but also to
a better understanding of the history of man.
Student archaeologists learn surveying —an
essential preliminary to any excavation.
Work with trowel, brush and knife is slow and
tiring, but fragile clues to the past may be only
an inch away.
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SITE
Here is How to
VALLEY
0A D Find your Way to the Miller Site
ROA
PIGKERiNG
The Miller Site is located on Valley Farm Road, Pickering
Township. From Toronto, drive east on Highway 401 to the
Liverpool Road interchange; go north 300 yards on Liverpool
Road to Highway 2; east on Highway 2 about half -a -mile to
Valley Farm Road. Arrows on blue and white Museum signs
L/NTER6NAN6E point north on Valley Farm Road to the site, one mile away.
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