AIA Toronto Lecture: From Mastodons to Parliament
Dr. Ron Williamson from ASI will be speaking for the AIA Toronto Society’s Winter Lecture Series: The first European settlement of Toronto was simply a continuation of patterns that had been in place for thousands of years. The Indigenous occupants of the encampments and semi-permanent villages that lined the former water courses in the City left […]
ASI locates burials under Toronto church parking lot
ASI was been retained by the Archdiocese of Toronto to investigate a reportedly closed and relocated cemetery behind St John the Evangelist the church in Weston (Toronto), Ontario. While it is of course not surprising that a cemetery was associated with a nineteenth-century church, it is also to be expected that not all remains were disinterred […]
West Wind: The Vision of Tom Thomson
The film West Wind: The Vision of Tom Thomson was produced by White Pine Pictures and follows the mysterious life and death of the famous Group of Seven painter. On July 8 1917, Thomson died mysteriously on Canoe Lake, just as he was reaching ascendancy in his career. Why does Thomson’s life and art fascinate us […]
Hangman’s Graveyard
ASI was retained to find, exhume and rebury those men who had been hanged at Toronto’s Don Jail as part of the Bridgepoint Hospital redevelopment project. Our work was followed by Ballinrun Productions film crew, under the direction of Mick Grogan, and the film shows ASI archaeologists in both the field and the lab.
Curse of the Axe
See the film Curse of the Axe by clicking the play button below. The documentary was developed by Yap Films, in association with History Channel Canada and Archaeological Services Inc. Listen to Dr. Ron Williamson from ASI and Mr. Luc Laine from the Huron-Wendat First Nation talk about the film on the CBC radio show […]
Camp Ooch Archaeology Day ’13
On Thursday July 4th 2013, campers from Camp Oochigeas came to site to hang out with us and learn how to dig! Camp Ooch is a camp organization for children living with cancer and ASI has had the privilege of working with them closely over the years. We had a great time and we hope […]
Huron-Wendat Day with Heritage Toronto
Heritage Toronto, The City of Toronto, Cycle Toronto, BIXI Toronto and ASI came together on Saturday June 15th to honour the Huron-Wendat’s ancestral presence in the region of Toronto by unveiling a series of plaques dedicated to sharing that presence. The plaques are found along the “Huron-Wendat Trail” (or the Finch Hydro Corridor) and Dr. […]
Stouffville residents keep digging Mantle Site history
On Monday March 11th, Dr. Ron Williamson and ASI archaeologist Andrea Carnevale headed to the the Whitchurch-Stouffville Museum to sign copies of the book The Mantle Site, written by Dr. Williamson and Dr. Jennifer Birch. About 100 people filled the museum’s community hall to hear about the Mantle Site, which was excavated near the museum.
Curse of the Axe nominated for a Canadian Screen Award
The film Curse of the Axe – based on an ASI project and developed by Yap Films – has been nominated for a Canadian Screen Award for Best History or Biography Documentary Program or Series. The award ceremony will air on Sunday, March 3rd at 8:00 pm on CBC. ASI would also like to congratulate […]
Getting paid to dig up the past
ASI and Dr. Ron Williamson were featured in The Globe and Mail’s ‘Report on Business’ section on December 24th, 2012: “Most archeology in Canada is performed not by academics, but by private firms examining building sites before the developers move in with bulldozers. One of the biggest specialty consulting firms in the market is Toronto-based […]