One of the archaeological highlights of 2023 in the Quebec region is certainly the discovery of five burials in Old Lévis, which would be among the oldest to testify to a European presence on North American soil.
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This accidental discovery occurred during archaeological monitoring during Hydro-Québec's wire burial operations.
At that time, two archaeologists, Zocha Houle-Wierzbicki and Clotilde Roger, discovered human bones that, according to the analyzes carried out, were not of indigenous origin.
In fact, DNA testing of the first burial shows he is a descendant of southwestern Europe, perhaps a fisherman, but it is too early to tell. More complete results are expected in winter or next spring at the latest.
“On a Quebec scale, it is really an extraordinary discovery for us, since it is an unlisted cemetery whose data would be relatively old,” says Ms. Houle-Wierzbicki, a bioarchaeologist at Artefacteur, the company hired by the city of Lévis to do this excavate site.
“Right now the context suggests that we are at the beginning of the first colonies, if not earlier,” she adds.
Surprise at the end of the ladle
This surprising discovery was made in the intersection area. Since further excavations need to be carried out in 2024 – there are three more burials on site – the city would prefer to keep the exact location secret.
It must be said that the attention given to this site dates back to 2015. The discovery of foot bones during the work already piqued the interest of archaeologists, who returned to the site last summer to carry out further investigations.
“We were looking for the remains of the grave. We wanted to see if there were any others. […] “Originally we had no idea there were several of them,” Ms Houle-Wierzbicki added.
DNA and radiocarbon analysis of these first bones revealed that it was a “fairly old” European burial.
“This suggests a European presence on North American soil and is therefore very special based on the dating. We have never experienced a discovery like this in Quebec. It is one of the oldest,” Ms. Houle-Wierzbicki continued.
Last June, archaeologists actually discovered a burial, albeit with two feet. To find out for sure, the specialists returned last October and inventoried a larger square. A total of five burials have been identified so far, including the foot bones from 2015.
Ms. Houle-Wierzbicki and her colleague prefer to wait for the full results of the analyzes before deciding on a date. However, according to preliminary data from the first burial, these bones could be from the 16th or 17th centuries.
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