Résumé (en anglais):

The archaeological site of Portland Point is located in the city of Saint John, at the mouth of the Saint John River. It was partially excavated in 1955 by Russell Harper of the New Brunswick Museum. Although Harper set out to find and excavate an important 17th century French fort (Fort La Tour), he also uncovered evidence of significant precontact activity. These precontact components include a small Maritime Archaic cemetery, and subsequent Transitional Archaic and Maritime Woodland activity. Most of the precontact habitation material can be attributed to the Susquehanna tradition (ca. 3800-3200 bp), and to the Early Maritime Woodland (ca. 2800-2500 bp) period. Although Harper published a short monograph in 1956, much of his analysis focused on the post-contact components, which included the French fort, a 18th century American trading post, and an 18th century aboriginal cemetery. However, Harper and his crew kept meticulous records of all of their work, and as a result, this largely unpublished and unanalyzed material presents an under exploited research opportunity. This paper will bring together the available information on the artifacts and the physical context of the precontact components of Portland Point with an eye to refining our view of both an important New Brunswick site, and the Archaic and Maritime Woodland period in the Maritime Peninsula.