The Portage Dam and Second Bridge Sites were
documented as part of a collaborative project by Public
Works and Government Services Canada and the Dokis First
Nation to restore the historic Voyageur Trail, a portage on the
French River. Before the railways, the canoe was the fastest way to transport goods and
people, and the French River was part of an extensive trade and travel
network. Native people used the route for at least a
millennium, Samuel de Champlain and Etienne Brule
traveled it in 1615, and later, countless explorers and
fur traders made use of the river to access Lake Huron and
points west. Survey and test excavations of the portage
revealed evidence of precontact, historic Aboriginal, and
EuroCanadian occupations spanning at least 2900 years,
from ca. 900 B.C. to the 20th century. The survey also re-discovered and
documented two chaudieres, circular depressions in
the bedrock of spiritual significance to the Dokis people.
The project catalogued the cultural resources around the Voyageur
Trail and contributed to planning for its restoration. It has also added
to our knowledge about past uses of the French River, by giving us
glimpses into these temporary trade-route camps.
Technology at TMHC
Most archaeological investigations generate large quantities of data. Since its inception, TMHC has made considerable investment in the technological and organizational infrastructure required to manage these data in as efficient and timely a manner as possible. This in turn translates into shorter fieldwork projects, more accurate and accessible data, and faster turn-around times for data processing and report preparation.
The foundation of the TMHC data management strategy is a digital data collection system standard within land survey and construction contexts. TMHC makes use of a Trimble electronic total station supported by a microprocessor-based data collector in order to establish spatial control over data. This system is supported by a global positioning system receiver and digital still images. TMHC is furthermore continually developing our in-house data management system to coordinate these data with the paper records that derive from archaeological analysis and archival research. The result is the capacity to output the results of cultural heritage investigations in a wide and growing variety of formats to suit client needs