FEATURED PROJECTS
MCLEAN CACHE
The McLean Cache is a ceremonial cache of artifacts which was interred in several kilograms of red ochre. This site is located west of New Liskeard. Among the stacked cache of artifacts were over 100 bifaces and other formal tools coated in red ochre pigment. One of the most interesting finds at this site was a hypertrophic turkey-tail point made of non-local quartzite.
This site has not been fully excavated and is currently being protected until further archaeological work can be completed in the spring of 2018.
MATTAGAMI LAKE DAM
The Mattagami Lake dam project was initiated as part of the environmental assessment (EA) work in advance of the Upper Mattagami River redevelopment project. An expansive archaeological site was located through this initial EA work, as well as several other smaller pre-contact sites. Stage 4 archaeological excavation was carried out in 2010 on a comparatively small portion of the site, in an area where staging activities were planned. This excavation produced tens of thousands of artifacts, many from the post-contact period, but several notable pre-contact artifacts including an obsidian core and a well-crafted Meadowood box-base projectile point.
WINISK
Site 500 was a control centre along the former Mid-Canada line of early warning radar stations. It was constructed in the 1950s and saw only a short service life. The archaeological work was completed in advance of its dismantling and clean-up in order to document this unique Cold War era military operation.
SMOKY FALLS
The Smoky Falls hydroelectric complex was the first of four generating stations built on the Lower Mattagami River. Built in the 1920s, this hydroelectric dam supplied power to the pulp and paper mill in Kapuskasing. When Ontario Power Generation was planning on refurbishing the other three stations, Smoky Falls was to undergo a complete redevelopment, triggering archaeological and built heritage assessment studies as part of the environmental assessment process. As a result of these two studies, several new pre- and post-contact sites were located, and it was decided that the original powerhouse was to be kept due to its unique architectural features.