Bead Hill archaeological site
Late 1600s map of Lac de Frontenac (Lake Ontario), showing Ganatsekwyagon (Ganatchekiagon) and Lac Taronto, and the land occupied by the Mississaugas and the Iroquois
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| Alternate name | Ganatsekwyagon |
|---|---|
| Location | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| History | |
| Periods | 17th century |
| Cultures | Iroquois |
| Site notes | |
| Public access |
No |
| Official name | Bead Hill National Historic Site of Canada |
| Designated | 1991 |
No
Bead Hill is an archaeological site comprising the only known remaining and intact 17th-century Seneca site in Canada. It is located along the Toronto Carrying-Place Trail on the banks of the Rouge River in Rouge Park, a city park in Toronto, Ontario. Because of its sensitive archaeological nature, it is not open to the public, nor readily identified in the park. It was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1991.
The Bead Hill site is believed to be one of seven villages established along the north shore of Lake Ontario by the Iroquois in the 1660s. The Bead Hill site was settled temporarily as part of a mid 17th century push by the Iroquois Confederacy north, from their traditional homeland in New York state. The Huron Wendat Confederacy, had once occupied the north shores of Lake Ontario but had moved north toward Georgian Bay and Lake Simcoe at the end of the 16th century.
Following extensive excavation undertaken in the 1980s it was determined that the Bead Hill site could be the historically documented village of Ganatsekwyagon. Evidence from test excavations suggests that it was home to about 500 to 800 people for about 22 years (1665-1687). Bead Hill was primarily a fur trading outlet, not a military or agricultural site. It was located at the nexus of major trade and transportation routes, including the lakeshore trail that follows modern-day Kingston Road and the historic Toronto Carrying-Place Trail.
Bead Hill is adjacent to Glen Rouge Park and Campgrounds.
The Bead Hill site is believed to contain the archaeological remains of the village of Ganatsekwyagon. French missionaries and explorers arrived at Ganatsekwyagon in 1669. François de Salignac de la Mothe-Fénelon passed the winter of 1669 in the village, which was the first recorded residence of Europeans in the neighbourhood of Toronto.François-Saturnin Lascaris d'Urfé may have also spent the winter of 1669 in Ganatsekwyagon with Abbé Fénelon but the records are unclear.
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