Welcome to the Gaudreau site in Weedon.
Five stages of human settlement are found here.
The Gaudreau site was discovered in the 1960s by a team led by the Société d’archéologues de Sherbrooke (archaeologists' organization). Due to a transcription error, it was not officially recorded until 2007. The excavation took place from summer 2010 to summer 2012, with the site divided into two terraces. The dig at the lower terrace was carried out mostly in the summer of 2010 by young people from the Sherbrooke Museum of Nature and Science’s day camp, under the supervision of archaeologist Éric Graillon. A group of experienced volunteers led by Mr. Graillon excavated the site’s upper terrace.
The Gaudreau site bears witness to the ongoing inhabitation of the area over time. Artifacts have been found there from the last stage of the Late Palaeoindian period (10 800 to 9 500 years BP), the Middle and Late Archaic periods (8 800 to 3 000 years BP), the entire Woodland period (3 000 to 400 years BP), and the historical period (400 years ago to present time). The site thus leads to a better understanding of the chronology of the settlement of the Eastern Townships and the adaptation of the Indigenous peoples to their changing environment.
Excavation area in the central sector of the Gaudreau site’s upper terrace, summer 2012.
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Excavation area in the south sector of the Gaudreau site’s upper terrace, summer 2010.
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Excavation on the Gaudreau site’s lower terrace by archaeology camp participants, summer 2012.
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Two participants from the archaeology camp showing a pottery shard dating from the Woodland period, which was discovered on the Gaudreau site’s lower terrace, summer 2012.
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View of the Gaudreau site’s lower terrace during the 2012 digs.
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