ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES, MERIGOMISH HARBOUR AND 
VICINITY 
The known archaeological sites on Merigomish harbour comprise 
eighteen shell-heaps, the prehistoric cemetery excavated by Patterson, 
a modern cemetery, and places that may possibly be, respectively, a 
modern wigwam site, a burial place or “battle field”, an earthwork, and 
a workshop. Most of the shell-heaps are located in the most sheltered 
places, generally on southern shores. Many of them are on islands. 
The sites are above high tide, but usually in low places along the shores 
of small bays. A large proportion, although undercut by the waves, 
are sheltered from the wind by bluffs, and are near beds of shell-fish. 
Similarly, the Eisenhauer shell-heap, on Mahone bay, has a southern 
exposure and is protected from west and north winds by higher land. 
Most other sites seen by Mr. Wintemberg in the Maritime Provinces 
have either southern or eastern exposures. The sites on Merigomish 
harbour are described in order, beginning at the west. 
Shell-heap A (Figure 1) is on the south side of the low part of the 
east end of Quarry island, at the north end of the quarry. At low tide 
one can walk around the island and wade to the mainland to the west. 
The land and quarry are owned by Mr. James W. Sutherland. The scarp 
of the heap was at least SO feet long. Part of it is shown in Plate II A. 
Scattered shell-heap material extends to the trees shown in Plate II A 
on the opposite or north side of the island. There, east of Mr. Sutherland’s 
house, is a very thin and scattered amount of shell-heap material, which 
shows slightly in a low, wave-cut cliff on the north shore. This is probably 
the northern part of the heap; slight traces between it and the main part 
to the south have been disturbed by many years of cultivation, and in 
1915 were obscured by a crop of hay. The site is sheltered by a hill to 
the west. 
The heap had been partly dug away by quarrymen, and part of w T hat 
remained had been covered, in places, to a depth of 2 feet, with earth and 
rock from the quarry. This debris had to be removed with scrupulous 
care so that no modern cultural features became confused with the older 
remains. The remaining part of the heap was 2 feet in maximum depth. 
This shell-heap was made up about equally of black dirt and sea-shells. 
Charcoal was occasionally found and, rarely, masses of bones of small 
fish. The shells are chiefly those of the quahog (Venus mercenaria), 
the oyster (Ostrea virginica), and the common mussel (Mytilus edulis). 
Shells of the hen clam (Spisula solidissima ), the soft-shelled clam (Mya 
arenaria), the horse mussel (Modiola modiolus), the moon shell (Lunatia 
heros ), the boat shell ( Crepidula fornicata ), a spiral shell, probably 
Urosalpinx cinerea, and another spiral shell, were less common. 
A tabular statement of the finds in this heap is given in Appendix I. 
Shell-heap B (Figure 1). A shell-heap on Indian island, an Indian 
reservation, shown in Plate I A, was disclosed at one place by particles 
of shell and refuse among the roots of a fallen tree. The heap extends 
