August 21, 2008

Carla Parslow, Regional Archaeologist with the Central Region Planning and Environmental Office of MTO, is one of two such professionals employed by the province.

Archeological assessments provide clues to the past, but builders still find surprises

PETER KENTER

correspondent

An Ontario road construction project ratchets to a standstill. Contractors wait for word on when they can resume work. Who are they waiting for? An archeologist assigned by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) to assess the significance of an unusual item — pottery, Aboriginal implement or unidentified bone — that’s just been excavated.

Carla Parslow is a Regional Archeologist with the Central Region Planning and Environmental Office of MTO, one of two such archeologists in the province. While such a dramatic scenario is possible, it’s usually not what happens.

“Most of the archaeological assessment is performed during the initial environmental assessment,” she says.

“It starts with a Stage 1 assessment that’s quite exploratory. We look for sites already known to us, and then explore on the basis of environmental factors that indicate archaeological potential. For example, the distance of the site from water, because we tend to find evidence of early Aboriginal settlements near water.”

Investigations might move through Stage 2 to 4 assessments, involving increasingly more detailed excavations, with Stage 4 Assessment calling for hand excavation of some sites.

Archaeological evidence in Ontario is more common than uncommon, with most of the province well travelled by Aboriginal people, pioneers, and those who followed. A single roadway can intersect with 10,000 years of human history. “We rarely find a site with absolutely no archaeological potential,” says Parslow.

The archeologists work, however, under the assumption that not every archaeological site can — or should—be saved.

“The fact is that present day needs, such as a highway, take precedence over the remains of a farmstead built by John Smith who came here from Scotland in 1850,” she says. “Unless the farm belonged to someone of historical significance, we’ll record the information and add it to our records before construction starts.”

Burial sites, on the other hand, receive greater consideration. “If we find an Aboriginal burial site or pioneer cemetery, then the usual consensus is that we’ll avoid disturbing it rather than relocating the remains,” says Parslow.

“Inside one of the clover leafs on the 427, there are a couple of very old grave stones that the road was built around.”

The route of the Highway 6 extension to Hamilton International Airport was also altered to avoid disrupting the remnants of villages built by the Iroquois.

While archaeological assessment provides a good indicator of what lies below the surface, contractors may still find surprises as they excavate.

“Part of the contract with MTO stipulates that work should stop immediately, and that they need to contact us,” says Parslow. “If they find a human skeleton they also need to call the police. If the skeleton is more than 50 years old it’s usually our responsibility, but if it’s less than 50, it’s a police matter.”

And while dinosaur bones aren’t a likely find, fossil remains are something that road builders might come across in Southern Ontario.

The ultimate arbiter in cases of archaeological significance is the Ontario Ministry of Culture. The Ministry also takes possession of artifacts or decides who is best suited to store or display them.

While much of Parslow’s time is spent in the office, assessing data collected by archaeological contractors, she says that she most enjoys exploring the human factor behind the artifacts.

“Recently, I was surveying a property and the farmer who sold the land gave me a good insight into its history,” she says.

“He was probably in his early seventies and told me that his father had bought that land 70 years before. He told me where the original buildings were and explained that his father built the house to avoid problems with an underground stream. The human element really completes the picture for me. Not everything of historical significance is located underground.”

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