Teaching Curation: Using Collections to Foster Disciplinary Reflection and Research Opportunities among Undergraduates
Despite decades-long acknowledgment of a curation crisis, undergraduate education in archaeology continues to emphasize excavation as central to the discipline and to our understanding of the past. Moreover, lab classes that emphasize analytical skills are more common than those that teach curation procedures. Whether consciously of it or not, this conveys to our students that […]
Large Landscape Conservation: Policy Approaches for Managing a Sense of Place
Assessing Cultural Heritage Landscapes in the City of Toronto: Out of the Black Creek Watershed and into the Hydro Corridor
To Save a Butterfly, Must One Kill It? The Historic Places Initiative in a Rural Context
This paper examines the findings of the Rideau Heritage Initiative (RHI), a 2006 Ontario provincial summer pilot project, conducted in the predominantly rural municipalities of the Rideau Canal Corridor that was designed to advance the heritage conservation goals of the Historic Places Initiative (HPI). It seeks to show that rather than freezing places in time, […]
Regional Borders and Cultural Heritage Landscapes in Ontario
Cultural heritage landscapes in Ontario reflect historic settlement patterns, archaeological resources, cultural influences, architectural styles, and historic events. They are perhaps best understood as geographies that retain cultural and/or historical value to communities, narrowly or broadly conceived. However, these resources are preserved using legislation created by the Ontario Government and exercised by municipalities operating within […]
The Niagara Escarpment: Exploring Bioregional Approaches to Cultural Heritage Landscape Management
Ontario’s 2005 and 2014 Provincial Policy Statements (PPS) mandate that “significant cultural heritage landscapes shall be conserved.” This, however, has not led to great advancement in strategic heritage planning, nor has policy compliance improved substantially since 2005. This presentation will explore whether Ontario’s PPS and its associated definitions for cultural heritage landscapes should be supported […]
Archaeology and the Commemoration of the Irish Famine: A Report from Kingston
Across eastern Canada, Irish Famine commemoration sites remind us that geopolitical tensions are not a modern phenomenon, and they can have horrific consequences. The oldest memorial was erected in 1859, within living memory of the Famine, by railway workers to commemorate the thousands who died in fever sheds at Point St. Charles, Québec. In Kingston, […]
Sentimental Jewelry in Colonial Canada: Conservation of a Sealed Locket from Stanley Barracks
A poster presentation showing the conservation treatments of a locket found at the Stanley Barracks site. The corrosion on this sentimental jewelry piece functioned to seal the edges of the locket, creating a possibility that a photo or lock of hair might be preserved inside. A treatment of mechanical removal combined with swabbing with diluted […]
Encouraging a Broader Lens in Cultural Heritage Conservation: Amplifying Voices and Layering Stories
A decade ago, common concerns related to heritage conservation that we were hearing from property owners, developers, or governmental representatives focused on the economic costs and physical building restrictions perceived to be imposed by cultural heritage policies or protective mechanisms such as designation. These concerns are still very much pervasive today but, as practitioners, we […]
Using Legacy Collections to Investigate Subtle Changes in Tionontaté Ceramic Artifacts
In 2014, ASI reached an agreement with Charles Garrad to assume curatorial responsibility for his archaeological collections, which represent his life’s work as an avocational archaeologist in the Collingwood area of Ontario. The collections are derived from 47 Tionontaté sites that date roughly from the 1450s to 1650. In the fall of 2017, a volunteer […]
