The Dorchester Site is a 15th century
Iroquoian site, just east of Dorchester, Ont., overlooking the Thames River. Long known to local people
and archaeologists alike, the site was fully excavated by TMHC in 2004.
Professional archaeologists and university students together discovered not one but two exquisitely preserved palisaded villages. Hearths and ash pits in houses and
some enormous garbage features suggested that Aboriginal peoples hunted and fished along the Thames River. Probably they also grew crops in the sandy
soils around their villages. Residential development at the Dorchester Site illustrates that we are all still attracted to the same features of the landscape that drew peoples of the past.
The Thames and its surroundings remain a focus for
habitation after all these years.
Cemeteries Research
TMHC conducts investigations of known and unmarked cemeteries for the purpose of documentation, registration, relocation and cemetery closure. This type of work may involve the identification, mapping and reporting of unmarked pioneer and First Nations grave sites, osteological analysis, and the exhumation and relocation of remains to a registered cemetery. We assist in the negotiation of site disposition agreements between landowners and representatives of the deceased and the processing of new cemetery applications.
All cemetery projects are conducted under the Ontario Cemeteries Act and associated regulations, administered by the Ontario Ministry of Consumer and Business Services.