Laurentian University's Alicia Hawkins uncovers ancient artifacts
Alicia Hawkins started an archaeological dig at the site of a former Huron-Wendat settlement near Midland, Ont., with the hope of uncovering more information about unusual pottery — but what she found sent her research in an entirely different direction.
"What we discovered is that it wasn't one village. It was actually two villages," she said, noting such a site is an uncommon find.
Hawkins, along with groups of students, has been working at the dig site to learn more about how the Huron-Wendat people lived in the 1500s and then later when they settled again in the area in the 1600s.
The first settlement dates back to before European contact, while the second settlement was after contact.
Things such as the amount of preserved fish bones help show that the Huron-Wendat society changed quite dramatically between the two time periods, Hawkins said.
The change could be attributed to disease that struck the Huron-Wendat people hard during the time period, perhaps reducing the skills and expertise available to undertake the challenging fishing on Georgian Bay's big water, she said.
Listen in when CBC's Megan Thomas stopped by Hawkins's lab at Laurentian University to find out more about her work.
Some of Hawkins research will be presented at an upcoming Ontario Archaeological Society symposium in October that is being organized in cooperation with the Huron-Wendat Nation.
"We are hopeful that through a collaborative organization of a conference like this what we will be doing is building a relationship that will help us to have research that is more relevant to descendent First Nations," Hawkins said.