Free Republic

Along the shores in Newfoundland there is an abundance of flint to be found although this material does not occur naturally in the area. The reason for the presence of flint is that it was used as ballast by sailing vessels in the transatlantic migratory fishery that started in the beginning of the sixteenth century and lasted for about four centuries. During this period several millions of tons of material were relocated as ballast from the coasts of England and France to Newfoundland. Among this huge amount of relocated material there are some supposedly Palaeolithic artefacts that have been brought...

Aboriginal groups want bones of the extinct Beothuk people to be removed from museum vaults and brought back to Newfoundland. A woman named Shanawdithit was the last known member of her people, with her 1829 death in St. John's marking the end of the Beothuk. Disease, persecution and the Beothuk's decision to withdraw from coastal communities have been cited as causes of wiping out the Beothuk. The location of Shanawdithit's grave is not known, but the skulls of her aunt and uncle -- a chief -- languish in a museum in Edinburgh, Scotland. The remains of at least 22 Beothuk...