An Aboriginal Presence

Our Origins

Archaeology - As the World Took Its Present Form

The landscape of Canada slowly emerged as the great glaciers melted. At first the land was barren, and inundated with huge, very cold melt-water lakes. But plant and animal communities soon colonized the barren ground, followed by the human communities that depended on them.

Evidence of early human occupation on recently deglaciated land has been found in many areas of Canada. The Debert, Grant Lake and Kettle Lake archaeological sites are among the very earliest in their respective areas of the country. Each site represents the remains of a small hunting camp, occupied by the first people entering a recently deglaciated world. After thousands of years, all that remains is a handful of lost or discarded tools, the occasional animal bone, and - sometimes - the rocks which once held down the edge of a skin tent.

Debert (Atlantic Canada, 11,000 years ago)

Grant Lake (west of Hudson Bay, about 8,000 years ago)

Kettle Lake (High Arctic Canada, 4,500 years ago)