Fischer-Hallman dig yields over 50,000 artifacts
Archeological finds paint picture of Indigenous habitation history in Waterloo Region
KITCHENER — An archeological site uncovered during the reconstruction of Fischer-Hallman Road in south Kitchener has yielded more than 50,000 Indigenous artifacts since archeologists began excavating last summer.
Those artifacts paint a picture of the long, rich history of Indigenous habitation in this part of the world, and provide evidence of a substantial Late Woodland Iroquoian village, likely dating from 1350 to 1600, archeologists say.
In a village that covered an area of one to two hectares — a common size for that period — people farmed corn and beans, and supplemented their diet with fish caught from nearby streams and meat from deer, beaver and turtles.
They cooked their food in decorated ceramic pots over hearths, smoked tobacco in clay pipes, used arrows, knives, drills and scrapers, and adorned themselves with stone beads and bone jewelry.
Evidence of an Indigenous settlement was first uncovered in the fall of 2018, when the area was surveyed as part of preliminary work to reconstruct a stretch of Fischer-Hallman south of Bleams Road.
Up to two dozen archeologists have been carefully sifting through the soil at the site this year and the past. The work is expected to go on until at least the fall as archeologists excavate, remove artifacts and document the site through measurements, maps, drawings and photographs.
The site “provides crucial archeological data for better understanding the lives of the Indigenous population who lived in the area at the time,” said Barbara Slim, the archeological project lead, who is with the engineering and consulting firm Wood PLC.
“The site highlights the substantive, long-term occupation of large Indigenous populations in the Kitchener-Waterloo region and throughout Ontario,” said Slim, who last year called the site “a very, very special find.”
That occupation is a rich history going back thousands of years, she said: although most of the artifacts unearthed date from the Late Woodland period, her team has also uncovered arrowheads made 4,000 years ago — evidence that the area has been an important destination and dwelling spot for millennia.
The site has yielded many rich finds, but has been challenging, Slim said. One of the biggest challenges has been the existence of the modern roadway, which slices right through the remains of an Indigenous longhouse, and which had to be carefully removed, Slim said.
Although the modern roadway did disturb the historic site, surprisingly, archeologists have found it didn’t obliterate the artifacts beneath it, but actually capped the site under several layers of asphalt and almost two metres of fill.
All artifacts from the site are being retained by Wood PLC, until they can be transferred to the province or another public institution, to the satisfaction of the Region of Waterloo, which owns the site, the provincial Ministry of Heritage and any other legitimate interest groups, Slim said.
The road project is progressing as planned, and the new roundabout at Fischer-Hallman and Bleams should be finished in September, said Phil Bauer, director of design and construction at the Region of Waterloo.
Once the archeological work is finished, construction crews will widen Fischer-Hallman to four lanes south of Bleams. “If this work cannot be completed before winter this year, it would be completed in 2022,” Bauer said.
The project will eventually widen Fischer-Hallman from Bleams Road to Plains Road, with three new roundabouts, the installation of sewers and water mains, and twin box culverts where the road crosses Strasburg Creek. It’s expected to wrap up in 2025.