Archaeology Collection - Retouched Flake/Blade

Nova Scotia’s First Arrivals

What was life like at the end of the last Ice Age? Thanks to a group of archaeology sites in Colchester County, we are beginning to find out. This retouched flake or blade, which is about 10,500 years old, was found at Debert and is among the earliest evidence we have of people living in what is now Nova Scotia. Probably heat-treated, the blade is made from a waxy, pinkish chert likely quarried from a Nova Scotia source. The Debert archaeology sites – ancient, rare and loaded with scientific potential – are protected under the Special Places Protection Act of Nova Scotia.