Bark in the Fosse?  The Implications of Birch Bark Remains at an 18th Century Fort Site. 

Summary

Nearly two meters beneath the modern ground surface, the remains of a birch bark construction rest in a state of near perfect preservation for over two hundred years.  In the summer of 2012, a team of archaeologists from Université Laval and the College of William and Mary uncovered this unique artifact.   The site of this artifact’s recovery lies in the contested waterway of the Lake Champlain-Richelieu River Corridor. During the 18th century this ‘Valley of Forts’ saw the swing of borders, north and south between two European Nations,  at least three Native American Nations and the United States of America. This paper addresses the questions surrounding the identity of this large bark construction, its origins, clues about its construction and what the artifacts’ resting place in the bottom of a British defensive trench can tell us about this highly contested border zone. 

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Across the Pond: New Ventures in a New World   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2013

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

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PaperId(s): 667