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----- Original Message -----
From: "SwampQueen;" <A-mae-znCajun(a)webtv.net>
To: <LADATA-L(a)rootsweb.com>
Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2001 11:42 AM
Subject: [LADATA] ACADIAN CHURCH
(Paul) Date: Thu, May 31, 2001, 9:20am (CDT-2) To:
A-mae-znCajun(a)webtv.net (Alice Chauvin Bradshaw) Subject: Grand Pre
Hi Alice,
I thought you might enjoy reading this.
Thursday, May 31, 2001 Back The Halifax Herald Limited
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Dig unearths 'tantalizing' clues
Archeologists believe they've found site of original Grand Pre church
Gordon Delaney / Valley Bureau
Students from Saint Mary's University dig around the foundation of an
old Acadian building at Grand Pre National Historic Site Wednesday. The
archeological dig could pinpoint the exact location and size of the
original Acadian church.
By Gordon Delaney / Valley Bureau
Grand Pre - An archeological dig has unearthed numerous artifacts at
Grand Pre National Historic Site and might even solve the mystery of the
exact location and size of the original Acadian church here.
Archeologist Jonathan Fowler says the dig, undertaken over the past
three weeks, has uncovered everything from cookware to glass to beads to
clay pipe fragments to the hammer of an 18th-century French musket.
"We've found some tantalizing bits," Mr. Fowler said in an interview at
the excavation site Wednesday. "We've also found a lot of rubble and
fragments of bricks."
The Saint Mary's University archeologist is conducting a field school at
the Grand Pre site with nine students. For the past three weeks they've
been carefully excavating two sites on each side of the memorial church.
The sites were chosen after geophysical testing last summer showed
underground "activity." The excavation was made possible with funding
from Parks Canada.
In addition to the artifacts, the dig is especially important because it
might pinpoint the exact location and size of the original Acadian
church and priest's house here.
The existing memorial church was built on this site because 19th century
historians believed it was the location of the original church. But that
was never proved through scientific study.
"The question still persists. Is this the site of the original church?"
asked Mr. Fowler.
He believes it is. The recent excavations could solve that puzzle for
good.
The existing church was built in 1922 as a memorial to the more than
6,000 Acadians deported from their homeland in 1755.
An archeological dig east of the church has unearthed the foundation of
a building and the outline of a basement. "It's a big building with a
cellar in it," said Mr. Fowler.
"At first we thought it was the priest's house, but now we believe it
may be part of the church. We want to identify it and propose strategies
for getting at it further."
An excavation on the west side has uncovered artifacts from what appears
to be a dumping ground. That's where many of the relics were found,
including what's believed to be a fragment of Saintonge, an early coarse
earthenware from western France.
When the dig wraps up on Friday, the artifacts will be taken to a lab in
Halifax, where they'll be cleaned, dated and recorded. The information
will later be published online at
www.northeastarch.com.
"We're really excited about this dig," said Donna Doucet, spokeswoman
for Societe Promotion Grand Pre, which co-manages the historic site with
Parks Canada.
"No one really knows the original size or location of the church. It's
believed it was a large structure."
The data can be used in a new interpretive centre planned here. The park
attracted about 62,000 visitors last season.
Paul
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