The Old System collections at the Canadian Museum of Civilization were gathered under a variety of circumstances.  Some of these collections were purchased from collectors in the earlier part of the century (a practice no longer taking place!), others were donated by individuals or organisations which had acquired substantial numbers of artifacts and could no longer care for these properly or simply came to the realization that more use could be made of them if they were in a museum.

These collections quite often contain spectacular examples of intact pieces.  They were collected at a time when the land was still worked with horses and when farmers walked behind their plows.  Opportunity was thus afforded to notice unusual items being turned up by the plowing.

As I prepared to photograph artifacts which had been found in the general Ottawa-Hull area for a public lecture in early October of 1999, I came across two artifacts which could fit comfortably in the category of item known as Meadowood cache blades (b & c). A third is similar but less well made and incomplete (a).  They were found on two separate sites near the mouth of the Gatineau River.  They were eloquent witnesses to an Early Woodland presence in the region, dating to perhaps 2500-2000 years ago.  I therefore prepared to photograph them together.

As I did so, I noticed they appeared to be made of the same raw material.  I held one, then the next two up to the light and it became clear to me that this material was Ramah quartzite; a variable yet distinctive type of stone which occurs in geological deposits found only on the north Labrador coast.  This stone was used extensively along the Labrador coast throughout prehistory, beginning with the Early Maritime Archaic some 7000 years ago.  Ramah quartzite was also traded widely south into the Maritimes provinces and New England, into the St. Lawrence and the interior of Québec and up along the north coast of Québec along Hudson's Strait.  I recognized it quite easily since Ramah was a common raw material on sites on many of the archaeological sites I had worked on while a student: in the Indian House Lake area northeast of Schefferville, Québec, on sites of Diana Island on the south shore of Hudson Strait and in the Caniapiscau region of central Québec.

Interestingly, the arrisses or ridges between flake scars on these items are all well-worn as if the long voyage from Ramah Bay had left its mark.  And what route was in fact followed from that distant point which is further from the mouth of the Gatineau River than the western end of Lake Superior?  Perhaps the route followed ancient trails through the interior of Québec, first over the Torngat Mountains, then across an endless spruce forest dotted with myriad lakes and bogs.  Or perhaps the implements followed the Labrador coast southward then into the estuary of the St-Lawrence and up the Ottawa.  Was this stone purposefully sought or was it simply a gift passed on so many times to cement bonds of friendship or kinship?

The discovery of Ramah quartzite in the Ottawa Valley was not totally unexpected.  While none had ever been reported in the few excavated sites of the region, a single biface fragment manufactured from Ramah quartzite had been shown to the author about 1995.  This piece had been found along the beach at Constance Bay.  It is ironic that the recognition of Ramah quartzite in Ottawa Valley collections had to wait until 1999, while these two particular pieces had been found in 1936!!!

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