Iroquois artefacts uncovered in downtown Montreal date back to 14th century

Archaeologists in Montreal have uncovered Iroquois artefacts that date mostly to around 1375.

Iroquois pottery uncovered in Montreal [Credit: CTV News]

Thousands of artefacts – mostly pottery – have been found during an excavation at Peel and Sherbrooke Streets, where digging has been underway since 2016.

Archaeologist Roland Tremblay called it a “major discovery.”

“We find their cooking vessels, essentially. But we also find their pipes because they were made out of ceramics,” he told CTV Montreal.

The researchers also found a tooth from a beluga whale. It’s not known what the tooth was used for, although it’s believed it came from relatives down the St. Lawrence River toward Quebec City.

This is not the first time Indigenous treasures have been found at the site. The site was excavated once before after pottery was found in 1859.

Archaeology dig at Peel and Sherbrooke Streets in Montreal [Credit: CTV News]

Tremblay said that six out of 10 of the radio carbon dates show the artefacts are from the late fourteenth century, around 1375.

“That’s a little mind-boggling so we have to understand why,” Tremblay said. “We’re working on that right now.”

Christine Zachary Deom, a former elected Chief of the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake, said she thinks the discoveries are “wonderful.”

“It just actually means to me that the things that I heard as a child, the oral tradition is there and it's alive and well,” she said.

“It just really highlight(s) that the Mohawks have been present all the way through,” she added.