Abstract

Four years of excavation and research have discovered and confirmed the presence of a multi-component site on the property including and surrounding the 17th century French Jesuit mission community. The data indicate that this site complex has been used by a variety of cultural groups since the 13th century A.D. Sainte Marie has undergone a series of excavations, most notably those directed by Kenneth E. Kidd (1941-43) and Wilfrid Jury (1947-51). However, in 1987 Archaeological Research Associates Ltd. was contracted to carry out excavations on the property under the direction of Dr. Dean Knight and W. Barry Gray. Archaeological investigations have focused on the southern portion of the reconstructed mission settlement, the section of the site presently identified as the Non-Christian Native area. Further testing has also been conducted in the northern part of the reconstruction inside the Non-Christian and Christian Native Areas. In 1990, the west bank of the Wye River was tested, resulting in the identification of another, multi-component site which has been named the Heron Site. This site was first used during the 14th century through to the 20th century. The data from the Heron site has been of use in our study of Sainte-Marie since it has provided us with comparative data from a less disturbed context. This present study of land-use represents a new direction for research related to the 17th century mission site.