President's Message
March/April 2007
(as published in Arch Notes New Series 12(2))
I was recently at a meeting of the Kingston OAS Symposium planning committee and as a result I can assure you that this fall's event will be very worthwhile attending, not only because of the themes that have been proposed (see the call for papers in this issue of AN), but also because of the historically steeped setting in which it will take place and the activities that are being planned. The heritage community in Kingston has a long history (did you know that next year the Cataraqui Archaeological Research Foundation will be 25 years old? Congratulations!!!) and is proudly independent. They have much to be admired for and emulated, so make plans now to come and dip your toes into Ontario's long and complex past at the mouth of the Cataraqui River at the beginning of November, 2007.
What do Archaeology magazine and The Beaver magazine have in common? Initially, not much, but bear with me. At the end of February, I picked up a copy of Archaeology in an airport newsstand. In it I read an interesting article by Roger Atwood titled ìPublish or Be Punished, Israel cracks down on delinquent diggers.î (March/April 2007) I was astonished to read how the Israel Antiquities Authority has taken a tough stand with projects and researchers, no matter how well funded they are, who fail to share their discoveries with a wider audience. While there are many intricacies to the tale (pick up a copy and see for yourself), the bottom line is that licensing authorities can no longer accept the destruction of sites by archaeologists without efforts to actually use the information beyond the minimal requirements of license reports. I couldn't help but think of the situation here in Canada and in Ontario in particular. Literally hundreds of sites every year are discovered, registered, sampled and excavated, yet beyond compliance reports, their destruction serve no obvious purpose. At the same time, consultants can legitimately point out that they do not have the time or the resources to undertake analysis and publication on their own. And the developers, it goes without saying, are concerned with getting on with their work, not necessarily expanding our understanding of the past. Pivotal in this discussion is the Ontario Ministry of Culture and the requirements that it places on the archaeological consulting process. There may be legal questions which come into play about how much the developers can be asked to pay, but as a profession, archaeology in some respects has become a blind executioner where we should be more like the Médecins sans frontières of the past.
The second part of the initial question was about The Beaver magazine. Actually, Holly Martelle brought my attention to the June-July 2006 issue which featured ìCanada's Top 10 Archaeological Sitesî. Wow, what a choice Ann Chandler had to make. Look through the list. There are sites from Newfoundland, Labrador, P.E.I., Nova Scotia, Québec, Alberta, the Plains, Yukon, British Columbia. What do you feel like at this moment? Neglected and rejected? Here is insult to injury, Chandler added two more stories at the end of the ìTop 10î; one on possible Dorset-Norse contacts in the Eastern Arctic and a short section on ìWalking with Dinosaursî!! Ontario did not place in the ìTop 10î, and did not even merit an honorable mention. Does this means that Ontario's archaeological past pales in comparison to these and other sites? Not by a long shot in my opinion! We could sit down and discuss how the list was arrived at, who was asked to suggest sites, how the questions were asked, what were the criteria for being considered a ìtopî sites, etc., but this would be circular and futile. At the same time, we might also come to the realization that the story of Ontario's archaeological past is just not getting out there to a wider public; in fact, it is even difficult for archaeologists to know what is going on just down the road.
In Ontario, just about all of the archaeology being done takes place because of the needs of development and impact studies. The context of this work is such that the point of the exercise has become to clear the archaeological concern on a property and then get on with the development. Government does not impose any necessity to publish and so contracts cannot include funds for analysis and publication. A consultant earning a living then goes on to the next project and the backlog simply continues to grow. There are, of course, exceptions to this broad statement, but as a general trend, it is unfortunately too true. What is the solution? Something drastic like the Israel Antiquities Authority imposed? That couldn't last long because then developments across the province would grind to a halt. The first step, however, might be for the Ministry to at least recognize that it is an issue and bring concerned players to a table to take stock of the situation, and discuss options and strategies.
On a more positive note, in my first President's Message to you, I foretold of canoe races on the Rideau Canal for the National Capital's Winterlude instead of the usual skating. Two weeks after writing those words, temperatures plummeted and we no longer spoke of global warming, but of record colds for February. So go figure.
What I find interesting in these discussions of global warming and the green house effect is the lack of time depth. Serious commentators will speak of trends developed over the past century. Some even go back to the Middle Ages. This is all in the recent past and there really has not been enough time to develop significant trends. Much data exist on global temperature fluctuations spanning centuries and millennia since the end of the last ice age, yet we hardly ever hear scientists share with us insights from these studies. How did people cope in the past with climate change? Do archaeologists have something to add to the debate? Is there really something to learn from the past that can help us prepare for the future? Plus ça change, plus c'est pareil!
Enfin, je me dois de terminer cette note avec quelques mots en français pour les lecteurs francophones. Il y a une tradition parmi les gens de chez nous de s'accommoder, de ne pas brasser la soupe inutilement. En toute douceur, il y a peut-être une occasion pour prendre un peu de place sur la scène de l'archéologie en Ontario. Si vous en avez l'envie, faites-nous des suggestions pour augmenter l'utilisation du français là où un besoin réel existe au sein de la société ontarienne d'archéologie. Soyez rassurés que toutes vos idées sont les plus bienvenues!
Jean-Luc Pilon