Archeological site on Ingonish Island dates back thousands of years

Cape Breton Post ^ | December 16th, 2010 | Rannie Gillis

[SunkenCiv]

Ronald Nash found two separate quarries on the island. The larger one was located on the relatively flat northwest side, facing the village of Ingonish, and provided 40 boxes of artifacts. The smaller site was under cliffs on the very steep northeast side, facing the ocean, and provided a smaller amount of material...

All of the evidence found indicates that both sites were quarries, and not the location of early villages. We know this because Nash found no animal bones, empty shells, or pottery fragments at either site, meaning that food was not cooked or eaten on location. Although these early Indians worked the quarry in the summer months, their main village was probably located on the mainland, more than likely close by in the Ingonish area.

...some of the items found during excavation... include: arrowheads, knives, spear points, primitive axes, sharp-edged circular and rectangular stones that were probably used for scraping animal hides, and an approximately six-inch long stone item that may have been a large knife, or possibly a harpoon blade.

According to Nash most of the items were made from a type of volcanic rock called rhyolite, which is as hard as steel... The rhyolite from Ingonish Island is also slightly magnetic... prehistoric quarry sites have also been found in New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and mainland Nova Scotia... the Ingonish artifacts are slightly magnetic, and will be attracted to a simple magnet, while the other locally produced tools are not magnetic. What this also means is that 7,000 years ago there was physical contact between various Indian groups in the three Maritime Provinces. They were obviously visiting and trading with one another, only 3,000 years after the end of the last ice age.

[Natural Born 54]

You’re welcome. Great place to be a shutter bug!