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The Importance of Minimally Invasive Remote Sensing Methods in Huron-Wendat Archaeology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 May 2021

Gary Warrick ,
Bonnie Glencross  and
Louis Lesage
Gary Warrick*
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3C5, Canada ([email protected])
Bonnie Glencross
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3C5, Canada ([email protected])
Louis Lesage
Affiliation:
Bureau du Nionwentsïo, Nation huronne-wendat, 255, Place Chef Michel-Laveau, Wendake, Quebec, G0A 4V0, Canada ([email protected])
*
([email protected], corresponding author)
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Abstract

The Huron-Wendat have had their ancestors’ villages and burial sites investigated archaeologically for over 170 years. Past and ongoing land disturbance and invasive archaeological excavation have erased dozens of Huron-Wendat village sites in Ontario, hindering Huron-Wendat duty to care for their ancestors. Consequently, over the last 20 years, in addition to large-scale repatriation of ancestral remains, the Huron-Wendat have requested that archaeologists make every effort to avoid any further excavation of ancestral sites. This poses a new challenge for archaeologists about how to learn about the Huron-Wendat past with minimal disturbance to ancestral sites. Honoring the cultural responsibilities of the Huron-Wendat, the authors have employed minimally invasive remote sensing methods of investigation on Ahatsistari, a forested early seventeenth-century Huron-Wendat village site in Simcoe County, Ontario. Remote sensing methods (e.g., magnetic susceptibility survey, high-resolution soil chemistry sampling, and metal detector survey) have revealed village limits and the possible location and orientation of longhouses, providing essential information in support of the Huron-Wendat imperative to find, assess, and preserve as many of their archaeological sites as possible. This is to protect the ancestors, learn from the ancestors, and preserve ancestral sites and related landscapes for future generations.

Les Hurons-Wendat ont vu les villages et les lieux de sépulture de leurs ancêtres fouillés archéologiquement depuis plus de 170 ans. Les perturbations passées et actuelles des sols et les fouilles archéologiques invasives ont effacé des dizaines de sites du village huron-wendat en Ontario, entravant ainsi le devoir des Hurons-Wendat de prendre soin de leurs ancêtres. Par conséquent, au cours des 20 dernières années, en plus du rapatriement à grande échelle et de la réinhumation des vestiges ancestraux, les Hurons-Wendat ont demandé aux archéologues de tout mettre en œuvre pour éviter toute nouvelle fouille de leurs sites ancestraux. Cela pose un nouveau défi pour les archéologues sur la façon d'en apprendre davantage sur le passé des Hurons-Wendat en fonction d'un minimum de perturbations sur les sites ancestraux. Honorant les responsabilités culturelles des Hurons-Wendat, les auteurs ont utilisé des méthodes d'enquête de télédétection minimalement invasives du site Ahatsistari, un village de Huron-Wendat situé au début du XVIIe siècle dans le comté de Simcoe, en Ontario. Les méthodes de télédétection (ex., susceptibilité magnétique, échantillonnage de la chimie des sols à haute résolution et relevé avec détecteurs de métaux) ont révélé les limites du village, l'emplacement et l'orientation possibles des maisons longues, fournissant ainsi des informations essentielles à l'appui de l'impératif huron-wendat de trouver, d’évaluer et de préserver le plus grand nombre possible de leurs sites archéologiques, afin de protéger leurs ancêtres, d'apprendre de ceux-ci, et de préserver les sites ancestraux et les paysages connexes pour les générations futures.

Keywords

Huron-Wendat archaeologyremote sensingIndigenous archaeologysustainable archaeologyarchéologie huronne-wendatdétection à distancearchéologie autochtonearchéologie durable
Type
Article
Information
Advances in Archaeological Practice , Volume 9 , Special Issue 3: NDN Communities and Remote Sensing Techniques , August 2021 , pp. 238 - 249
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for American Archaeology

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