3 
PREVIOUS COLLECTIONS 
Specimens have been collected on the surfaces of these sites, especially 
by Patterson and by an Indian who sold them to tourists, as well as by casual 
visitors. Patterson’s collection from this harbour, totalling about two 
hundred and fifty specimens, 1 is in the Museum of Dalhousie University, 
Halifax, but there are no specimens from Merigomish harbour in the 
Provincial Museum, Halifax. Previous to 1914 there were only two im- 
portant collections from Nova Scotia. The larger, in the Provincial 
Museum, comprises a little over a thousand specimens, and consists chiefly 
of miscellaneous collections, made from 1831 to 1914, by the late Judge 
M. B. Des Brisay, of Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, by the late C. W. Fairbanks, 
and by the late Dr. W. Webster. The smaller collection is in Dalhousie 
University and is chiefly made up of a collection presented by Patterson, 
with a few specimens presented by the late Dr. Thomas McCulloch. All 
the collections except that made by Des Brisay have been described 2 . 
Patterson’s visit (a, page 232) in 1874 to the prehistoric cemetery on Big 
island was the commencement of his archaeological work, and he described 
his collection in his article on “The Stone Age in Nova Scotia” in 1889 
(a). Most of the specimens in the Patterson collection are from shell- 
heap O on Kerr point 3 . 
In the Peabody Museum of Harvard University there are from Nova 
Scotia, mostly from the vicinity of Annapolis, about fifty points chipped 
from stone for knives or projectiles, about twenty-four fragments of pottery, 
a maul made of stone, nine beads made of shell, and a small pendant made 
of stone. 
The collections mentioned above contain practically all the prehistoric 
Micmac remains found between 1830 and 1914. Modern Micraac material 
may be seen in the Peabody Museum, the American Museum of Natural 
History, New York, the Museum of the American Indian, New York, 
the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, and the National Museum 
of Canada, Ottawa. 
The archaeological work dealt with in this report was begun in 1913, 
when, from August 5 to 8, W. J. Wintemberg visited the three shell-heaps, 
D, I, and O, mentioned by Patterson. He discovered shell-heaps F, G, 
and M, making a total of six shell-heaps then known, besides the prehistoric 
cemetery. In 1914, between June 27 and August 24, the writer located 
twelve additional heaps, making a total of eighteen shell-heaps on the har- 
bour. His assistants continued the work until September 8. The largest 
excavations were made in heaps A and E, and most of the specimens were 
found there. Perhaps the most complete and detailed data yet obtained 
regarding the archaeology of any one place in Nova Scotia were acquired; 
and one of the three largest collections of Nova Scotian archaeological speci- 
mens was secured. The collection is catalogued under Nos. VIII-B-449 to 
VIII-B-1250, and VIII-B-1273 to VIII-B-1275, in the National Museum of 
Canada. These eight hundred and five catalogue entries cover a larger 
number of specimens, since as many as twenty-six fragments of pottery, 
chipped points, and other similar specimens from one place alone are in- 
1 Of. Patterson (a), p. 242. 
2 Cf. Piers (a), p. 110. (b), (c), and Patterson (c). 
Cl. Patterson (a), p. 241. 
