Schedule

The Society does not hold regular meetings during the months of June, July and August.

Monthly meetings are usually held at 7:30 PM on the fourth Tuesday of the month (note: not the last Tuesday of the month; on rare occasions there are five). Our usual meeting place is the Auditorium of the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History (located at 1747 Summer St., Halifax), near the south entrance on the lower level, just off the parking lot.

The Society holds special events throughout the year in addition to its popular monthly lecture series, check back here often for details!

2010 - 2011 Monthly Lecture Series

Regular date and time: the fourth Tuesday of the month at 7:30 pm.

Regular location: Auditorium, NS Museum of Natural History
1747 Summer Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia.

 

 

Next Lecture: September 2010, TBA

 

Previous Lectures

 

October 28, 2008

Toward an Embracive Archaeology: Surface survey and sub-surface testing with the Pictou Landing First Nation on Maligomish (Indian Island), Pictou County.
Presented by Michelle Lelièvre

This lecture will describe a doctoral research project that has been undertaken with the Pictou Landing First Nation. The project uses archaeological, ethnographic and ethnohistorical methodologies to understand changes in Mi'kmaw society in the post-contact period. The lecture's focus will be the archaeological fieldwork that was conducted in 2007 and 2008 on Maligomish, a small island in Merigomish Harbour that is part of the Pictou Landiing First Nation reserve.

Michelle Lelièvre is currently a PhD candidate in anthropology at the University of Chicago. She has a bachelors degree in anthropology and classical archaeology from McGill University and a masters in archaeology from the University of Cambridge. In addition to her doctoral research, Michelle has also worked with the Confederacy of Mainland Mi’kmaq’s Debert-Belmont Site Delineation Project for the past three field seasons.

 

November 25, 2008

Looking at Imperial Properties in Southern Italy
Presented by Myles McCallum, Assistant Professor of Classics
Saint Mary's University

Archaeological investigation of Roman period sites in Italy has the potential to greatly increase our knowledge of various aspects of Roman life previously unknown or poorly understood. In particular, the lifestyles of Rome’s rural poor, including peasant farmers, rural slaves, and ‘employees’ of the imperial household are almost entirely lacking in documentary sources. Since 2004, fieldwork on the hill of San Felice in Puglia (southeastern Italy) has sought to understand the nature of imperial landholdings in Roman Puglia, the status of those employed on such holdings, and the economic and social activities in which these individuals were engaged. This has involved geophysical prospection, field survey, excavation, environmental archaeology, and artifacts analysis.

Myles McCallum has worked as a Roman archaeologist in Italy for the past 13 years at Rome, Pompeii, and sites in Puglia, Tuscany, Lazio, and Basilicata. In general, he has worked on sites of the Roman imperial period examining issues related to social class, economic and commercial activities, and social networks. Myles has published on pottery production at Pompeii, commercial activity in the Tiber Valley north of Rome, excavations at Pompeii and in Puglia, and on artifacts from Roman Cortona (Tuscany) and Rome. He is currently working on the publication of the finds from the Porta Stabia Research Project at Pompeii, a preliminary report for San Felice, and a book on Roman commerce within Italy during the imperial period.

 

Thursday Jan. 29, 2009 (Special Night)

Topic: The E'se'get Archaeology Project: Shell Midden Archaeology in Queens County, Nova Scotia
Presented by: Dr. Matthew Betts, Curator Atlantic Provinces Archaeology, Canadian Museum of Civilization

The Southern Shore of Nova Scotia is rich in archaeological deposits known as shell middens (refuse heaps containing mollusc shells, animal bones, and artefacts). Created by ancient Mi’kmaq between ca. 3000 and 500 years ago, the faunal remains and artefacts in these accumulations provide a crucial record of ancient human behaviours and former ecosystems. In the spring of 2008, archaeologists from the Canadian Museum of Civilization and the University of New Brunswick conducted survey and test excavations at shell midden sites in Queens County, as part of the E’se’get Archaeology Project (e’se’get is a Mi’kmaq word meaning “dig for clams”). At Port Joli Harbour, the team documented and mapped 8 shell midden sites, three of which had never been recorded. Test excavations at three of these sites indicate rich deposits filled with cod, deer, caribou, rabbit, and goose bone, along with abundant decorated pottery fragments. This record will be utilized to understand how Mi’kmaq social and economic systems evolved in this area as part of a larger Atlantic ecosystem. The ultimate aim of this research is to define the complex and dynamic interplay between ancient Mi’kmaq culture and the environments they inhabited.

 

February 20, 2009 (Special Night)

Two Hundred and Fifty Years Later: Finding the Oudy Family
Presented by: Rob Ferguson, Archaeologist, Parks Canada

In 1758, British forces removed much of the Acadian population from their homes on Isle Saint-Jean, now Prince Edward Island. Among them were members of the Oudy family who had settled on the north shore in the community of Havre Saint-Pierre. Somewhere off the coast of France, their ship, the Violet, foundered and all passengers were drowned. Over the years, traces of the Oudy farms on St. Peters Bay have disappeared under the pastures and fields of later settlers. Today, those farms and the lives of this family are being brought to light again.

For the past eight years, Parks Canada has been surveying the new Greenwich area of Prince Edward Island National Park, on the shore of St. Peters Bay. Most of the work has focussed on mapping geophysical readings in the soil to predict site locations. This summer, Parks Canada teamed up with the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at University of PEI to run an archaeological field school at Greenwich. Ten students worked for four weeks in June, testing some of the potential sites. Most of the work, however, was focussed on one farm site with spectacular geophysical readings. The presentation will summarize the work of past surveys and present the results of the field school.

 

Mar. 24, 2009

The Hawthorne Farm Site: Archaeological Mitigation of an Early-Nineteenth Century Rural Site
Presented by Darryl Kelman, CRM Group

A discussion of archaeological excavations carried out at the Hawthorne Farm Site, a registered archaeological site in Gays River, Nova Scotia. Excavation, conducted in the spring of 2008, was required due to a proposed mine expansion that was to impact the site. The lecture will present the results of the archaeological work which will include placing the Hawthorne Farm Site in its historical context, an interpretation of the various features excavated and an analysis of the recovered artifacts.

Darryl Kelman is an archaeologist with Cultural Resource Management (CRM) Group Ltd, an archaeological consulting firm based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Educated at the University of Waterloo and the University of St. Andrews, Darryl has been a professional archaeologist since 2001.

 

April 28, 2009

The vegetation penetration capabilities at Fort Beauséjour — Fort Cumberland National Historic Site, Canada
Presented by: Koreen Millard & Douglas Stiff

Airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), is a remote sensing data collection technique that has many applications in the field of archaeology including aiding in the planning of field campaigns, mapping features beneath forest canopy, and providing an overview of broad, continuous features that may be indistinguishable on the ground. This talk will cover an overview of LiDAR data acquisition and processing with examples from current research taking place at Fort Beauséjour­Fort Cumberland National Historic Site, Canada.

The presenters, Koreen Millard (M.Sc. Applied Geomatics) and Doug Stiff (M.Sc Geology), have completed numerous LiDAR related projects throughout Canada

 

May 26, 2009

Exploring Nova Scotia's Oldest House: Recent Historical and Archaeological Research in Annapolis Royal
Presented by: Brenda Dunn (ret.), Parks Canada & Jonathan Fowler, Saint Mary's University

Recent research at the de Gannes-Cosby House in Annapolis Royal demonstrates the potential of combining historical and material cultural research methods. Offering a synthesis of evidence uncovered from their respective disciplines, Historian Brenda Dunn and Archaeologist Jonathan Fowler explore one of the province's most storied buildings.

 

September 22, 2009

 

Tracing Lithic Sources in the Mi’kmaq Legends of Kluskap

Presented by: Gerald Gloade, Confederacy of Mainland Mi’kmaq

 

The legends of Kluskap mention numerous sites in Nova Scotia. These sacred sites were the homes of the characters spoken of in these legends. They often have unique geological features that can be directly correlated with the legends. For example: Partridge Island is the home of Kluskap’s grandmother and is referred to as ‘Kluskap’s grandmother’s cooking pot’ - one can still watch the cooking pot boil today when the air trapped in holes in the amygdaloidal basalts gets pushed out twice a day when the tide raises, making the water appear to boil. Hear more on this and other stories from Gerald Gloade.

 

Gerald Gloade is an artist, carver and educator from the Mi’kmaq Millbrook First Nation. He started his career as a Graphic Designer for the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources’ Communications and Education Branch. The focus of his work moved from Forestry Education to Wildlife, then to Nature, and finally to Native. After 25 years with the Department, Gerald is currently assigned to the Confederacy of Mainland Mi’kmaq to work on the Mi’kmawey Debert Project through the Office of Aboriginal Affairs.

 

 

October 27, 2009

 

Boy archaeologist: life and work in the field during the 1960s

Presented by: Stephen Archibald

 

Almost 50 years ago, Stephen Archibald began 10 consecutive seasons of work at some of the “signature“ archaeological sites in the region: Debert, Signal Hill, Fort Beausejour and Louisbourg. Stephen will describe the character of the excavations (and the times), the archaeologists and crews, and the living conditions in the field. Stephen witnessed the transition to modern archaeological practice in Nova Scotia at a time when he was perhaps the only “local” with sustained field experience. 

 

 

 

 

Stephen Archibald: After his archaeological adventures Stephen Archibald spent his working career at the Nova Scotia Museum which included stints at Sherbrooke Village, the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic and the Museum of Natural History. His various positions included Chief Curator of Exhibits and Manager of Interpretation for the Museum of Natural History. Since retiring he has authored, with his wife Sheila Stevenson, the award winning book Heritage Houses of Nova Scotia and was on the interpretation team for the Joggins Fossil Cliffs.

 

 

November 24, 2009

 

Recent Archaeological Research at Pompeii

Presented by: Myles McCallum, SMU

 

Thanks to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, as well as the skeletons and body casts recovered during excavations, Pompeii is one of the most widely recognized archaeological sites in the world.  Until relatively recently, most archaeological investigation at the site has been concerned with recovering various ‘treasures’ from the ruins, such as mosaics, statues, frescoes, jewelry, and other objets d’art.  Over the last 2 decades, however, attention has turned to proper stratigraphic excavation, geophysical prospection, materials analysis of artifacts, and reexamination of earlier excavation reports directed towards understanding the development of the urban form and the city’s history prior to AD 79 and investigating the urban fabric of the city at the time of its destruction.  This presentation presents an overview of recent archaeological research directed towards answering these questions, paying particular attention to work I have been involved with at the Porta di Stabia (one of the city’s main gates), studying artifacts from excavations throughout the city, and examining some of the city’s small ‘industrial’ workshops.

Myles McCallum has worked as a Roman archaeologist in Italy for the past 14 years at Rome, Pompeii, and sites in Puglia, Tuscany, Lazio, and Basilicata. In general, he has worked on sites of the Roman imperial period examining issues related to social class, economic and commercial activities, and social networks. Myles has published on pottery production at Pompeii, commercial activity in the Tiber Valley north of Rome, excavations at Pompeii and in Puglia, and on artefacts from Roman Cortona (Tuscany) and Rome. He is currently working on the publication of the finds from the Porta Stabia Research Project at Pompeii, a preliminary report for San Felice, and a book on Roman commerce within Italy during the imperial period.

 

No lecture in December. Instead, we held a Christmas Party!

The Christmas party was held on December 11, 2009, at the Quarterdeck above Rogues Roost
from 5:30 to 8:30 PM. This is at the corner of Spring Garden Road and Queen Street in Halifax.

 

 

January 28, 2010 (special date of Thursday, not Tuesday)

The location for this event was Saint Mary’s University, Sobey Building, Room 160

Aviation Archaeology
Presented by: Dr. Michael Deal, Memorial University, Newfoundland

Pre-Confederation Newfoundland played a prominent role in the history of aviation as a nexus in the advancement of transatlantic flight and the ferrying of military aircraft to Europe during World War II. Recent research highlights the potential for aviation archaeology in Newfoundland and Labrador, in terms of the surviving pre-Confederation aviation infrastructure, significant aircraft crash sites, and artifacts associated with pioneer flights. This research is also helping the Newfoundland and Labrador government to revise it's existing policies concerning aviation heritage resources.

 

Michael Deal completed his doctoral research in Archaeology at Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, in 1983. He has been involved in numerous archaeological projects, both historic and prehistoric, in Cyprus, Mexico, British Columbia and Atlantic Canada. He is currently working with the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to develop policies relating to World War II aviation resources, and is working on an inventory of downed World War II aircraft crash sites in the province.

 

 

February 23, 2010

Life on the Shores of Clode Sound:  A Palaeoeskimo Site in Terra Nova National Park
Presented by: Jenneth Curtis, Parks Canada

In response to ongoing erosion of the coastline in Terra Nova National Park, archaeological excavations were undertaken at the Bank Site, on the shore of Clode Sound.  The Bank Site is a complex, multi-component site spanning several thousand years of occupation.  This presentation will explore aspects of Palaeoeskimo life about 1500 years ago, as illustrated by the archaeology of the Bank Site.  Here we have uncovered traces of houses associated with midden deposits and a rich assemblage of stone artifacts.  The Palaeoeskimo were expert toolmakers and the assemblage form the Bank Site includes finely finished tools along with evidence of the steps involved in their manufacture.

 

Jenneth Curtis is an archaeologist with Parks Canada based at the Atlantic Service Centre in Halifax.  She provides archaeological support and advice to our National Parks and National Historic Sites in Newfoundland and Labrador.  Jenneth completed her doctorate on the archaeology of southern Ontario at the University of Toronto and was a Sessional Lecturer there prior to joining Parks Canada in 2006.

 

 

March 23, 2010

Archaeological Research at Fort Lawrence and Beaubassin National Historic Sites  
Presented by: Charles Burke, Parks Canada

 

April 27, 2010

Marine Archaeology in Nova Scotia – The Future
Presented by: Rob Rondeau, Senior Marine Archaeologist with PROCOM Marine of Coronation, Alberta.

Rob Rondeau has spent the last 20 years exploring shipwrecks around the globe.  His company, PROCOM Marine Survey & Archaeology, operates some of the most sophisticated remote sensing technology and is busy worldwide – conducting hydrographic surveys for both the private and public sectors. In Canada, Rondeau has worked on such wrecks as the Empress of Ireland and the Auguste.  More paying passengers died aboard the Empress of Ireland than Titanic!  The Auguste has been described as one of Canada's most important historical shipwrecks. He has also been a PADI diving instructor for more than 20 years.  And, he writes a monthly column in the online X-Ray Dive magazine. Rob now makes his home on Nova Scotia's South Shore.

 

 

May 25, 2010  (also our Annual General Meeting — AGM)

The Cultural Landscape of Grand Pre: Archaeology, Earth Sciences and UNESCO
Presented by: Katie Cottreau-Robins, NSM, and Rob Ferguson, Parks Canada.

The illustrated lecture edfocus on the collaboration between the Nova Scotia Museum, Parks Canada and Dalhousie University's Earth Sciences Department on understanding the unique environmental conditions of the marsh, which have contributed to the continuity of rich agricultural practice and settlement at Grand Pre.

Katie Cottreau-Robins is the Curator of Archaeology for the Nova Scotia Museum (NSM) and a PhD Candidate at Dalhousie University (Interdisciplinary PhD Program). Her current research projects are mainly in the fields of historical and landscape archaeology and focus on the urban archaeology of Halifax, public archaeology, the archaeology of the Black Loyalists, the archaeology of slavery, and as part of the UNESCO proposal archaeology research team, Acadian and Planter settlement on the Grand Pre marsh lands. As an Interdisciplinary PhD candidate her dissertation work explores the life of Bridgadier General Timothy Ruggles, a prominent Loyalist from Hardwick, Massachusetts who arrived in Nova Scotia with family and slaves in 1784 to establish a farmstead in the Annapolis Valley. Originally a study of slavery in post-Revolutionary Nova Scotia, her project has grown to include the many forms of labor used by Ruggles to help re-create a Loyalist formula that positioned him so prominently on the Massachusetts political, military, and agricultural landscape. She has been conducting field work at Grand Pre since late 2007.

Rob Ferguson has been an archaeologist with Parks Canada since 1976.  He graduated with a BA (Hon) in Anthropology from Trent University in 1974.  Rob's first excavation was on the shipwreck Le Machault in Chaleur Bay, in 1969.  Since then he has worked across the country, from Prince Rupert, B.C. to L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland, and from Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, to Canso, Nova Scotia.  This year he is working on Acadian sites at Grand Pré and Port La Joye, and he looks forward to retirement in the coming year.

 

For more information contact the Nova Scotia Archaeology Society at (902) 453-4972
or email Darryl Kelman.