The Archaeology of the Keffer Site and the Indigenous Occupation of the Central North Shore of Lake Ontario in the 15th and Early 16th Centuries A.D. (paperback)

Description

The Archaeology of the Keffer Site and the Indigenous Occupation of the Central North Shore of Lake Ontario in the Late 15th and Early 16th Centuries A.D. is a companion publication to Finlayson and Lerner’s 2024 in-depth academic study of the Keffer archaeological site and the pre-contact occupation of the central north shore of Lake Ontario. The academic publication entitled The Keffer Site, 15th and 16th Century A.D. Ontario Woodland Tradition Frontiers, Communities, and Coalescence on the Don and Upper Rouge River Drainages, Southern Ontario, Canada, provides detailed analyses of archaeological evidence, while the present volume offers a more general overview of Keffer’s initial formation and subsequent occupation. It is meant to not only raise awareness about Keffer and its residents but highlight the contributions of Ontario archaeology towards broadening our shared understanding of Ontario’s pre-contact past and First Nations culture and heritage.

Circa A.D. 1525, about 10 years before French explorer Jacques Cartier visited Hochelaga on Montreal Island, four communities of Iroquoians and Algonquians on the north central shore of Lake Ontario experienced a massive shift in their traditional way of life. On the Don River, this resulted in occupation of the Keffer site, a large village that was surrounded by intricate palisades with houses arranged in such a way to assist in their defence against attackers who managed to infiltrate the interior of the village. The Keffer settlement was the complex result of many ongoing processes that we have only begun to explore and understand. Herein is an introduction to this still unfolding story.