LAKE ONTARIO MARITIME CULTURAL LANDSCAPE PROJECT

Institute of Nautical Archaeology Sponsored Project
Ben Ford , Principal Investigator

The goals of the Lake Ontario Maritime Cultural Landscape Project are to record the archaeological evidence of human occupation on and around Lake Ontario since circa 5,000 BP (date of lake stabilization), to assess the affect of the environment (cultural, physical, and psychological) on the placement and nature of archaeological sites along the lake's margins, and to asses s the impacts of human occupation on the shore environment. Through geographic information system (GIS) modeling of data collected during archival research and systematic survey, the spatial relationships between humans and the environment will be tenable and statistically testable. These relationships are of interest not only to historians and archaeologists because of the information they provide about the decisions and cultures of past peoples, but to environmentalists and planners, because subtle long-term repercussions of many human actions are only accessible through the time depth provided by archaeology.

The field survey will begin July 2007.

Donations of Materials, hardware, software, storage space, etc. are currently being sought. All Donations will be advertised and acknowledged as appropriate.