Each year in conjunction with the Ontario Archaeological Society (OAS) Ottawa Chapter, the Friends host various public archaeological workshops, digs and conferences in and around Bonnechere Park.

Archaeology is the study of the physical remains of past human cultures. At Bonnechere, the focus is on historic archaeology which encompases the period following the first European contact with Natives -- or subsequent to the arrival of Samuel de Champlain in the Ottawa Valley -- post-1600 more or less. View Bonnechere Timeline.

Archaeology Day
2010: Saturday July 10
10:00 am: Hands-on Actitivies
Join members of the Ontario Archaeological Society Ottawa Chapter as they present hands-on historic archaeology activities such as artefact reconstruction, clay pot-making, excavation methods and traditional fire-making. Always a very popular event for the entire family!

Return to Basin - Fall 2009
In October 2009, the FBP and the Ontario Archaoelogical Society Ottawa Chapter co-hosted a week-long research excavation at Basin Depot, which included a public program. Visitors got a first-hand opportunity to learn how archaeologists research the past by touring the site of an archaeological excavation at Basin Depot, a once-bustling logging depot on the shores of the Little Bonnechere River, circa 1855 to the early 1900s. As well, under the direction of local archaeologist Ken Swayze, test pits and excavations were carried out on the sites of a former blacksmith shop and various outbuildings.

“The people who worked at Basin Depot are part of personal family history for many within the surrounding community, but the story that we are piecing together here belongs to all of us,” says  archaeologist, author and historian Rory MacKay. “Visitors can come and learn about how archaeology is done without having to travel to far off places, and the autumn colours along the way should be wonderful.” MacKay penned Spirits of the Little Bonnechere, A History of Exploration, Logging and Settlement, 1800 to 1920, available at Bonnechere Park.

"For a variety of reasons, this excavation may be our last chance to find and study the 1847 shanties, as well as later aspects of this important lumbering community site in Algonquin Park,” says archaeologist Ken Swayze who has conducted archaeological excavations throughout the Ottawa Valley and elsewhere in Canada, including the Arctic.
“Due to limited resources, it’s been several years since we’ve hosted a public archaeological dig,” says Friends president Ross Taylor, “so this is a rare chance for Renfrew County residents to take advantage of such expertise in their back yard.

Read Rory's account of Back to Basin >