Archeologists digging up Acadian history

POINTE-AUX-VIEUX -

Provincial archeologist Dr. Helen Kristmanson is gladly taking possession of the charcoal, beads, broken pottery and pieces of shell and bone being uncovered at a dig site underway at Pointe-aux-Vieux, near Port Hill.

Between 1728 and 1758, prior to the Acadian deportation, Pointe-aux-Vieux had been an Acadian community. Last year Kristmanson led a team that conducted a test dig at the site, uncovering evidence of a field stone foundation and a stone fireplace over which meals, including chicken and shellfish would have been cooked.

The site is along the banks of the Malpeque Bay overlooking Lennox Island to the north.

"It's an instant connection to the past and it's an instant connection to the past person," Kristmanson said of the significance of each artifact uncovered. "We don't have very many early Acadian period sites."

There was also an Acadian chapel and cemetery in the area, Kristmanson revealed. She said a fierce 19th-century storm disturbed human bones which were subsequently reburied by the Acadian and Mi'kmaq people.

Although the dig site has been identified as early Acadian, Kristmanson said she is also interested in finding evidence of cross-cultural interaction, particularly with the Mi'kmaq.

"We're seeing a little bit of that in our artifacts," she said.

On Tuesday Health Minister Carolyn Bertram, who is also the minister responsible for aboriginal affairs and archeology, visited the site accompanied by area MLAs Paula Biggar and Sonny Gallant. They were each assigned a unit of ground to troll for artifacts. Gallant uncovered a piece of pottery believed to have originated from the French town of St. Onge.

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Labelled bags document the unit, and the level within the unit, where artifacts are found.

Each bucket of earth is sifted in case something might have been overlooked the first time around.

"Today lends a deeper appreciation for archeology work on P.E.I., because we're seeing it first-hand and actually doing it first-hand," Bertram said.

While the politicians' time at the site was short, Kristmanson and her team plan to be there until June 25, hoping to uncover more sections of foundation and more artifacts. A high area a little further from the shore bank was also being searched Tuesday in hopes of uncovering further evidence of Acadian history.

Depressions and high areas in uncultivated ground, Kristmanson said, raise curiosity.

Artifacts will be deposited with the Museum and Heritage Foundation. Kristmanson suggested some of the artifacts might one day be exhibited at the Acadian Museum in Miscouche.

The dig site is on provincially-owned land and is a designated site in the national classification system.