Cedar Creek Earthworks Site facts for kids

The Cedar Creek Earthworks Site is an ancient place in Essex County, Ontario, Canada. It was first recorded in the 1930s. This site is special because it's an "earthworks" site. This means it has old dirt mounds and changes in the land made by people long ago.

Archaeologists have studied the Cedar Creek site using different methods. They have used remote sensing, dug small test pits, and done bigger excavations. Even with these changes, they still find clues about the people who lived there. For example, they found signs of old fences called palisades. These clues help scientists learn about the site's history. They are trying to figure out if it was a permanent home or used for something else. The Cedar Creek site is a late Prehistoric earthworks site. It helps us understand the past in southern Canada and the northern United States.

Discovering the Site

The Cedar Creek Earthworks site was first written about by George F. MacDonald in 1936. He drew a map of the site. His map showed details like the nearby marsh, two large mounds (called nodes), two pits, and trees.

Later, in 1949, another person named Thomas Lee also recorded the site. At that time, digging was not allowed, but taking photos was. In Lee's photo, one of the mounds MacDonald mentioned was not visible. MacDonald focused on the mounds in the northern part of the site. Lee, however, focused on two mounds at the southern end.

The first actual digging at the site did not happen until around 1970. During this time, archaeologists started using new ways to study sites. They wanted to learn not just what people did, but also about their culture and why the site was used.

Digging and Discoveries

Dean Knight and Peter Ramsden were the first researchers to dig at the site. This happened around 1972. They started by digging several test trenches. In these early digs, they found only small pieces of stone (flakes) and a few pottery shards.

More digging took place in 2013. These later excavations used different techniques. They used a magnetometer, which is a tool that helps create a map of what's underground. After that, they dug small test pits in different areas. They hoped to find more artifacts.

They dug 121 test pits. Only 11 of these pits contained cultural materials. These materials were mostly fire-cracked rock and pieces of pottery. The artifacts found were mainly broken ceramics and fire-cracked rock. They also found one spearhead and some stone tools. The site had poor conditions for preserving things. Because of this, the ceramics they found were worn down and not complete. However, some of the pottery pieces still showed signs of old designs.

What Was the Site Used For?

It has been hard for archaeologists to figure out the full history of the Cedar Creek site. This is because there are not many well-preserved artifacts. Since there were not many artifacts to help date the site, archaeologists looked at other earthworks sites nearby.

Based on these other sites, they guess that people lived at Cedar Creek sometime between 900 and 1350 A.D. Because not many artifacts were found, archaeologists think the site was not a place where people lived all the time. Instead, it might have been used only during certain seasons or for special ceremonies.