Donaldson Site facts for kids

The Donaldson Site is an important archaeological site located in Ontario, Canada. It was recognized as a National Historic Site of Canada in 1982. This site, which covers about 3 acres (1.2 hectares), is the largest part of the Saugeen complex.

The Donaldson Site helps us understand how people lived during the Woodland period in North America. This was a time before Europeans arrived, roughly from 200 BCE (Before Common Era) to 700 CE (Common Era). It shows us how people lived, hunted, and buried their dead. The site suggests that Bruce County and Huron County have been home to Algonquian-speaking people for thousands of years. The Donaldson site was mainly used as a "seasonal harvesting station," especially for fishing.

Exploring the Past: Archaeology at Donaldson

The Donaldson Site was first found on Elmer Donaldson's farm in 1947 by a collector. Since then, archaeologists have done a lot of work there. Important digs were led by Thomas Lee in the 1940s and 1950s, James V. Wright in 1960, and William Finlayson in 1971. In 1960, Wright and Anderson found a midden (an ancient trash heap) on a hillside. Finlayson later excavated this midden in 1971.

During their digs, Wright's team found many interesting things. They uncovered 13 human skeletons, items buried with them, pieces of pottery, and the outlines of two ancient houses. These houses were rectangular, measuring about 17 by 23 feet (5.2 by 7.0 meters). In 1961, a collection of these discoveries was given to the Bruce County Museum. Radiocarbon dating tells us that people used this site from about 200 BCE to 700 CE. Most of the activity happened earlier in this period.

Archaeologists also found clues about the Middle Woodland culture at this site. For example, they found bear bones. At one of the burial spots, a child's necklace was discovered. It was made with two polished and pierced bear teeth.

Ancient Pottery Clues

The pottery found at the Donaldson Site, and another nearby site called Thede, shows a special style. It's known for having many different designs. This variety was even greater than pottery from the Point Peninsula tradition. Experts Wright and Anderson think this might be because the potters were not always super careful with their tools. It wasn't necessarily because they used a wider range of patterns.

Fishing in Ancient Times

Fish remains found at the site tell us a lot about what people ate. During the Middle Woodland period, they caught fish like bass, channel catfish, freshwater drum, lake sturgeon, pickerel, walleye, white sucker, and yellow perch. The most important fish for them was the lake sturgeon.

It seems that spearfishing was the main way people caught fish. Archaeologists found eight harpoon heads at the site. Two were made of bone, and six were "toggle-head" harpoons. There were almost no sinkers found. Sinkers are weights used with fishing nets. This suggests that fishing nets were not used very often here. Only two end-notched sinkers, one side-notched sinker, and one copper gorge (a type of early fishing hook) were found.

In contrast, sinkers and copper hooks were found at the Inverhuron-Lucas site, about 48 kilometers (30 miles) south. This suggests different fishing methods were used in different places. According to Finlayson, people at Donaldson likely did spring spearfishing in the Saugeen rapids when fish were spawning. In the summer, smaller groups might have used nets and hooks at other shore sites. They caught northern pike, pickerel, and white sucker in early spring. In late spring, they caught smallmouth bass and stone cat. In July, they harvested freshwater drum. They might have even caught lake whitefish and lake trout as late as November. Angling (fishing with a rod and line) was probably not a major fishing method at the Donaldson Site.

Where is the Donaldson Site?

The Donaldson Site is located on the north side of the Saugeen River. It is in a valley northeast of Southampton in Bruce County. The site sits on three fluvial terraces (flat areas formed by a river). It is about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from Lake Huron, right at the "first major rapids upstream" from the lake.

This site was a settlement where different groups of indigenous peoples lived. They would come here in the spring to catch fish that came to the river to spawn. If someone from their group had died during the past year, their body would be brought to this site for burial. Besides the burial mounds, the site has other ancient remains. These include middens, post holes (where wooden posts once stood), hearth pits (old fireplaces), and clear outlines of rectangular buildings. The hearth pits were found on the upper and middle terraces. The middens contained many artifacts made of ceramic, stone, metal, and bone.

A National Historic Site

Because of its importance, the Donaldson archaeological site was named a federal National Historic Site on June 12, 1982. It was also added to the Canadian Register of Historic Places on March 27, 2013.