The Geoarchaeology of the Peace Bridge Site, Fort Erie, Ontario

The Peace Bridge site (AfGr-9) is a very large multi-component site situated at the head of the Niagara River in the Town of Fort Erie, Ontario. On-going archaeological investigations have documented occupations from the Late Archaic period (circa 3,580 B.P.) through to the present. Archaeological deposits, sediments, and paleosols exposed through construction activities, bore holes, test pits, and archaeological excavations, reveal the evolution of this riparian landscape and its colonization by Indigenous peoples. This paper reviews the geoarchaeology of the site and outlines its implications for reconstructing paleoenvironment and interpreting Indigenous land-use trends.