Archaeology at the trading post of Charles de la Tour

This summer an archaeological excavation is taking place at the trading post of Charles de la Tour in Port La Tour, Shelburne County. Follow along as Dr. Katie Cottreau-Robins (Curator of Archaeology) and her team explore the site. Also check out the companion exhibit First Peoples, First Meetings: The French in Seventeenth Century Mi’kma’ki on view at the Museum of Natural History. This new exhibit explores a period almost 250 years prior to Confederation shedding new light on early encounters and early relationships between the Mi’kmaq and French traders in seventeenth-century Mi’kma’ki, discover story of kinship and alliance in a time of uncertain change.

Two field technicians are working in this pit to uncover the structural evidence of a possible bastion, artifacts dating to the period of Fort St. Louis are sprinkled throughout.

It's always important to screen your buckets of dirt when excavating a site. Some artifacts are so small that they can be missed by the trowel. A screen with a small mesh catches them.

We had five excavators this week including Margaret featured here. We are excited by what has been uncovered so far. 

Teamwork is key on an archaeology site especially during the first week when its is set up time and units have to be opened. 

Ground-truthing geophysical survey work from November was one of the goals in our first week at the site. Here we have local boulders and stone used in the construction of a building. 

A flow of visitors brought local stories and far away interest to the archaeology team. We are learning new things about Fort St. Louis every day!