Museum of Ontario Archaeology

The Museum of Ontario Archaeology is a museum in the Canadian province of Ontario, more precisely in 1600 Attawandaron Road, London. It deals with the 11,000 -year history of the southwest of the province and has participated in numerous archaeological excavations.

It is adjacent to the excavation site of an existing of at least 19 longhouses village from the 16th century, which inhabited the neutrals, an Iroquois group whose self-designation is not known. The site was added to the Canadian Register of Historic Places in 2004. In July 2007, a replica of a longhouse and palisades, as they were characteristic of the period began. There is also an interpretive center, ausliegen in the teaching materials, as well as themed exhibitions and presentations of current excavation findings are presented.

The museum, which holds more than two million artifacts, published quarterly since 2009, the so-called Educator Update, since December 2008 Newsletter The Palisade e- mail. Museum of Ontario Archaeology.

History

The museum dates back to the initiative of Wilfrid Jury (1890-1981), who collected together with his father Amos Jury (1861-1964) artifacts and cataloged in a small booklet. The collection consisted in 1923 of 45 objects. They bought the artifacts mostly farmers from which they had brought with their plows out of the ground.

The University of Western Ontario in 1927, the juries came into contact when they were invited to exhibit her collection in the University Library. Here were Sherwood Fox, President of the University, Fred Landon, the competent librarian, Arthur Ford, editor of the London Free Press and chairman of the University Board of Governors and Ray Lawson, an entrepreneur, the Lawson Indian village site was, and who later Deputy Governor (Lieutenant Governor ) of Ontario was.

1933 called Lawson in planning the Lawson Memorial Library to build a museum. Then came The Museum of Indian Archaeology and Pioneer Life, whose honorary curator Amos jury and its curator Wilfrid Jury. The museum was located from 1934 to 1960 in the Lawson library. Wilfrid Jury was only in 1945 equipped with a fee, initially $ 2,000 per year. He was one of the few paid archaeologists in Canada.

Wilfrid Jury undertook 1933-1944 several, albeit small excavations. End of the 30s the Bulletin, in the jury published his results appeared. After the Second World War, he focused on Huronia, where he examined Sainte -Marie -au- pays- des- Hurons, existing from 1639 to 1649 Jesuit mission, but also the protohistoric Huron Forget village site. In 1954, he was the first time in the province a village reconstruct the Indian village in Midland. At the same time he conducted the first archaeological field schools, so excavations, where instruction was a priority where so especially students, and volunteers were trained.

In 1960, the Museum was relocated from the library into the Middlesex College. In 1969, he was Tom Lawson, Ray Lawson's son, persuaded to leave the house its Indian village site Lawson. In addition, Elizabeth Klinger and Martha Hamilton gave from the Fuller family land adjacent to the site.

In 1973 a committee whose task was to respond to a request from the University of Western Ontario Alumni Association, to use the Lawson site and find a place for the jury Collection. This task was David Chambers, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and William D. Finlayson, transferred lecturer of the Department of Anthropology recently founded. Finlayson was for his doctorate on 1 July 1976 Director. He envisioned a university, archaeological excavation institution with programs, plus a reconstruction as well as a museum. Since 1978, the museum is officially called The Museum of Indian Archaeology ( London). The financing was facilitated by a grant from the Richard and Jean Ivey Fund. On March 31, 1978 was opened on the university campus, an exhibition gallery in Somerville House. In the basement of the Middlesex College more areas were added.

The museum staff informed the Department of Anthropology at, but also resulted in a journalism program for Native People at the School of Journalism through as well as programs at the Faculty of part-time and permanent Studies ( Faculty of Part - Time and Continuing Education ) at the University of Western Ontario through. Courses in Anthropology also took place at Erindale College, at the University of Toronto.

The end of 1978 were passed plans for a 15,000 -square-foot museum, to their achievement, a campaign was launched to bring $ 1.5 million. In the fall of 1980, the Lawson Building jury could begin. Dr. Wilfrid Jury took the first sod at the age of 90 years. The local architect Wilfrid B. Lamb designed a deeply excavated into the soil building, which was the character of an Iroquois village.

As a permanent exhibition The 11,000 Year History of Occupation of Southwestern Ontario was created ( The 11,000 -year history of the settlement of Südwestontario ). In 1987, Back to Our Future (Back to our future ) is added, an exhibition on the excavations conducted by the Museum at the Keffer Site in Toronto. Later the area around Crawford Lake and the city of London were added, on a large scale at the airport of Toronto ( Toronto International Airport ), where the Draper ( 1974-1979 ) and the White site has been excavated, as well as an archaeological site in the Christian Iceland Indian Reserve in the Georgian Bay. The Draper excavation site is a 3.5 -hectare Huronendorf, which was excavated in 1975 and 1978. The work showed that the village had 450 inhabitants taken with his early and later had grown to around 2,000 inhabitants. At the airport there was an area of 5.28 ha, were in the seven unknown sites. During the excavation turned up 125 new.

In the archaeological investigation of the Lawson site was found a camp that proved that the area was inhabited sporadically since 4000 years ( Spook Hallow ). The Lawson village was on a hill at the confluence of the Medway Creek and Snake Creek and is approximately 500 years old. It was 2 ha in size and suitable for around 2000 residents. The earthworks that once carried the palisades are partially obtained, which is a rarity in this region. The northern quarter of the excavation area was used for agriculture until 1975. The Lawsonfamilie bought already before 1920 the remaining three quarters. In the summers of 1921, 1922 and 1923 first scientific excavations were carried out under the direction of William J. Wintemberg from Victoria Museum in Ottawa, now the Canadian Museum of Civilization. In 1976, William D. Finlayson by first modern campaign. From 1978, the Museum archaeologist Robert J. Pearce led the study, said he focused 1978-1981 on the northern, tilled area. The village includes numerous summer houses, spread in the environment, and which are also target of excavations. These individual homes were inhabited by women, children and a few men. Here you harvested beans, pumpkins, corn and tobacco, dried fish and customized tools that migrated into the main village in the fall with the residents. This type of settlement seems to have been common only among the neutrals.

Since 1977 the museum has processed 400 projects, it investigated 8,552 ha and excavated, which discovered 830 sites, of which 103 were excavated. Several sites were members of the Archaic period, were thus 3,000 to 10,000 years old. Three undisturbed sites belonged to the Middle Woodland period to (300 BC to 500 AD).

In addition, the house also deals with the early European settlement.