The Government of Canada Commemorates the National Historic Significance of the Hopital-General de Quebec Cemetery

QUEBEC CITY, QUEBEC--( Sept. 16, 2005) - The Honourable Stephane Dion, Minister of the Environment and Minister responsible for Parks Canada, today unveiled a Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada plaque commemorating the national historic significance of the Hopital-General de Quebec Cemetery.

"This cemetery, which has existed for nearly 300 years, is steeped in the history of Quebec and Canada," said Minister Dion. "Today, through the records kept by the Augustines, it continues to enhance our knowledge of the Seven Years War and other significant events that have shaped our nation. On behalf of the Government of Canada, I wish to thank the congregation for its precious contribution to preserve our collective heritage."

The Hopital-General de Quebec Cemetery, one of the oldest still remaining in Quebec City, holds more than 1,000 graves of Canadian, French, British and Amerindian officers and soldiers who died during the Seven Years War (1755-1763), of which 277 died during the battles of the Plains of Abraham (1759) and of Sainte-Foy (1760). Their names, places of birth and even sometimes their ages have been recorded in the parish register by the Augustines, creating an invaluable document for future generations.

Recognizing the historic importance of this exceptional site, which was identified as a cultural icon by Quebec in 1977, the Quebec Ministere de la Culture et des Communications has provided the Augustines with the necessary financial resources to conserve and present the cemetery. It was designated as a national historic site of Canada in 1998. In 2001, the Augustines mandated the Commission de la capitale nationale du Quebec to lay out, maintain and preserve the cemetery for future generations. Improvement work on the cemetery, the construction of a mausoleum to Montcalm, the creation of a memorial to the victims of the Seven Years War and the installation of interpretative panels, have created a large and impressive commemorative area for the public.

Created in 1919, the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada advises the Minister of the Environment regarding the national historic significance of places, people, and events that have marked Canada's history. It is one means of informing the public about the richness of our cultural heritage, which must be preserved for present and future generations.

(Also available on the Internet at www.pc.gc.ca under What's new.) 

"Russian scientists find new rock drawings beyond polar circ"

Russian scientists have found new rock drawings on the only historical monument of ancient culture in Chukotka, the Russian Far East, an expedition member said Friday.

Mikhal Slobodzyan said the expedition, organized by the Archaeology Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, explored the monument 40 years after Russian geologist Nikolai Samorukov had found the first 103 paintings, or petroglyphs, on the Kaikuulsky steep of the Pegtymel river.

News from Russia

New rock drawings beyond polar circle

"Planning begins for Champlain's 400th anniversary"

Every 50 years, Samuel de Champlain becomes big business in Vermont.

President William Howard Taft joined a crowd of thousands in Burlington in 1909 to watch a floating re-enactment of Champlain's 1609 "discovery" of the lake that bears his name.

In 1959, on the 350th anniversary of the first visit by a European to the region, a parade of canoes carrying 70 war-painted teenagers traveled the lake in birchbark canoes, wowing crowds at every stop. New York and Vermont promoted the event to draw visitors from across the country.

Now Vermont has begun to plan for Champlain's 400th anniversary in 2009, hoping to draw the world's attention -- and tourist dollars -- to the region.


For more news on that:
Champlain 400th Anniversary in Vermont:

Heating System Confirms Ancient Kingdom Was ???

"The largest 'ondol' heating system dating from the Barhae kingdom has been unearthed in a nearly intact state in Russia's Maritime Province, confirming the kingdom to have been a Korean settlement.

Ondol, literally 'warm stone', is an under-floor heating system where flues carry hot gases below the living space. They were a distinct feature of Korean dwellings and are not found in the remains of Chinese, Khitan or Jurchen homes.

Answer to continue here:
Heating System Was Korean
"

Stone axes highlight 10,000 years of commuting in stockbroker belt

"ARCHAEOLOGISTS have uncovered an important Stone Age site in the heart of Surrey".

An excavation has turned up flint tools and cooking pots from about 10,000 years ago at the site on the North Downs. The area, which bears the remains of cooked meals, campfires and flints shaped into tools by people who visited the North Downs around 8,000BC, is believed to contain one of the most important Mesolithic excavations in Britain."

Britain, :

Bones reveal first shoe-wearers

"Sturdy shoes first came into widespread use between 40,000 and 26,000 years ago, according to a US scientist".

Humans' small toes became weaker during this time, says physical anthropologist Erik Trinkaus, who has studied scores of early human foot bones.
He attributes this anatomical change to the invention of rugged shoes, that reduced our need for strong, flexible toes to grip and balance.
The research is presented in the Journal of Archaeological Science.

The development of footwear appears to have affected the four so-called 'lesser' toes - excepting the big toe."

Bones reveal first shoe-wearers

India and Canada Governor

"Like the Indian President, the Canadian Governor General gives assent to bills okayed by the two houses of Parliament, appoints the Prime Minister and his team and judges, serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the nation's armed forces (of just above 60,000 personnel compared to Indian Army of 1.1 million alone) and receives foreign dignitaries and envoys.But there is one big difference. India is a republic where the President is elected -- indirectly -- by its lawmakers at the state and federal levels. On the other hand, Canada is a constitutional monarchy. The Canadian Governor General is appointed by the British Queen at the recommendation of the Canadian Prime Minister. Thus the Governor General serves as the representative of Queen Elizabeth who is also the Canadian monarch (During her visits to Canada, the Queen takes over the role of the Governor General. Queen Elizabeth has been to Canada for about two dozen times since taking over five decades ago). Curiously, Canada shares its monarch (the Queen) with more than a dozen Commonwealth states."


Another woman occupies top post : HindustanTimes.com:

"Peru's ancient bureaucrats used knotted-string devices as ledgers

Harvard anthropologists find evidence that 'khipu' were used to track accounting data

CAMBRIDGE, Mass - Anthropologists at Harvard University have found evidence that ancient Inka accountants shared numbers across their sprawling bureaucratic hierarchy using khipu, aggregations of knotted strings that served to record information in the Andean empire. The finding sheds new light on the uses of khipu, used by Inkans in lieu of the two-dimensional writing favored by other ancient civilizations."


Peru's ancient bureaucrats used knotted-string devices as ledgers:

Nunavut Web Site News

" A plan to open a Danish consulate in Iqaluit shows Denmark and Canada are more neighbours than enemies, despite their dispute over who owns Hans Island, the tiny rock located between Ellesmere Island and Greenland."


Link others news: Nunatsiaq News

The 'Gouge' thing

German scientists are tickled pink after unearthing one of the world's oldest sculpted phalluses - 20cm of polished siltstone lovingly created around 28,000 years ago.

The stone schlong was discovered in Hohle Fels Cave near Ulm, Swabia, by a T?bingen University team. Professor Nicholas Conard, from the university's snappily-named department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, explained the excitment to the BBC thus: "Female representations with highly accentuated sexual attributes are very well documented at many sites, but male representations are very, very rare."

Indeed, although other examples of male genitalia - from France and Morocco - predate the Ulm member, to have "any representation of male genitalia from this time period is highly unusual". 


The prehistoric "tool" was reassembled from 14 fragments of siltstone.

Link: The Thing

Fur Trade Canada

For Your Information:
Alberta: How the West was Young - Fur Trade and Mission History


Fur Trade Canada

Important Links

The Fur Trade and Historical Archaeology:
A Bibliography

Compiled By Michael A. Pfeiffer
This Version: 13 January 1999

1st Link :
Fur Trade Bibliography

Planarch

Based firstly on developing an understanding of the legal and organisational frameworks for dealing with archaeology and then working together on specific issues relating to the integration of archaeology within the planning process, including:

? Improving field techniques for detecting and establishing the nature, extent, date and quality of archaeological remains potentially affected by development and other activity - this has to underpin effective decision-making relating to management of the archaeological resource at successive stages of knowledge.
? Developing best practices in managing heritage records
? Sharing experience about the story of the Planarch region as told by archaeology
? Improving best practice in reducing the impact of development on archaeology
? Strengthening the links between archaeology and spatial planning
? Promoting awareness of the rich heritage of the Planarch region

Follow this: Planarch - Planning and Archaeology in North West Europe

Appalachians is a picture of history

"Say Appalachia and pictures of coal mines and poverty probably pop into most Americans' minds. But the area has a rich history that says a lot about who we are as a country."

Episode 1 :
When the first European settlers arrive in the Allegheny, Cumberland, and Blue Ridge mountains in the 17th century, they trade and intermarry with the Shawnee, Choctaw, Creek, and Cherokee who have lived there for centuries. But by the mid-18th century, the swelling pioneer population leads to decades of combat on the Appalachian frontier that eventually forces the natives out. As the Scotch-Irish and other immigrants settle in, the isolation of the mountains helps preserve the cultural traditions they have brought with them. The men of Appalachia fight bravely in the American Revolution, but then rail at taxes and regulations imposed by the new American government. Evangelical revivals sweep the region in the 18th and early 19th centuries, and traditional music mingles with the rhythms used by African slaves to form a glorious new gospel music.

And it's also accountable for this side of the frontier.....

Documentary by KET1 :
Appalachians is a picture of history

Also by : The Appalachians is a three-hour film series with companion book from Random House and soundtrack CD from Dualtone Records

Archaeological wonders are under the sea

In September 2004, an ancient bronze statue was discovered.

"Athens - The recent discovery of the remains of a shipwrecked 4th century BC vessel, nicknamed Kythnos I after the Greek island near which it was found, is the latest testimony of the archaeological riches still submerged in Greek waters.

It also demonstrates the technological advances that underwater archaeology has made in this country in recent years.

Greece has no shortage of skilled archaeologists. But when it comes to underwater research, it is only recently that the Greek ministry of culture has begun mixing academic knowledge with hi-tech wizardry."

Try this one : Archaeological wonders are under the sea

Academics search for wreckage of ancient warships

"HISTORY MAKING: Researchers are hoping to find artifacts of ships from a battle in 480 BC, where the Greeks defeated an invading fleet in a battle said to have changed histor"

THE GUARDIAN , ATHENS
Tuesday, Jun 21, 2005,
Link: Academics search for wreckage of ancient warships

Church of Notre-Dame-de-la-Presentation

"The Church of Notre-Dame-de-la-Presentation, located in Shawinigan-Sud, was designated as a national historic site of Canada in 2004 in recognition of its interior decoration, executed between 1942 and 1955 by Quebecois artist Ozias Leduc. It also contributes to the development of the Mauricie region heritage network, which includes two other national historic sites of Canada that are open to the public: the Forges du Saint-Maurice and the Former Shawinigan Aluminum Smelting Complex. Together, these places help to protect the historic heritage of the Mauricie region and to enhance our understanding of its important contribution to Canada's history, by making it accessible to everyone."
Link to this :

Parks Canada: National Historic Significance of the Church of Notre-Dame-de-la-Presentation

"Sage Advice in Archaeology: Think Like a Neandertha"

By CLAUDIA DREIFUS
Published: June 7, 2005
About three years ago, Dr. Ana Pinto, an archaeologist at Arizona State University, was driving past a natural outcropping in northwest Spain and - screech! - she put the brake to her car.

She had just spotted a limestone cave that she sensed might have once been settled by prehistoric humans.

"This cave at Sopeña is almost unique because it has signs of continuous hominid habitation for at least 60,000 years," she said. "This is an incredibly rare find. she said

Link : Sage Advice in Archaeology: Think Like a Neanderthal:

Fort Augusta

"Mr. Delle said the French and Indian War was significant because the British defeated the French and Pennsylvanians were the British at the time. 'This set the stage for America to independence,' he said. Fort Augusta was the largest fort in Pennsylvania at that time and a strong fort that discouraged attacks. 'The French and Indians tried to control the river route. 'There was no battle at Fort Augusta because it was such as strong point. Fort Augusta and Fort Hunter, north of Harrisburg, protected the areas along the Susquehanna River"
Eighteenth Century drawings he has show the fort as diamond-shaped. They are searching for the northeast corner bastion. In 1930, an excavation revealed evidence of a southwest bastion. In 1981, evidence of the moat was found during a dig. A dig in 1993 was done near the powder magazine on the other side of the property.
Link : Fort Augusta

Just a Lonesome Traveler, the Great Historical Bum

by Douglas K. Charles
"After the Ice: A Global Human History, 20,000 to 5000 B.C. Steven Mithen. xvi 622 pp. Harvard University Press,
2004. $29.95
After the Ice offers a fascinating whirlwind tour of an underappreciated segment of human history. Author Steven Mithen, professor of early prehistory and head of the School of Human and Environmental Sciences at the University of Reading, has created a complex, multilayered account of life from 20,000 to 5000 B.C., during the late Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic period"

American Scientist Online - "Just a Lonesome Traveler, the Great Historical Bum" :