This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Old Sydney Society offering monthly public talks on the history of Cape Breton. Becki Dunham, senior archaeologist, will speak at the next meeting of the Old Sydney Society on 24 March 2016, 7:30 PM at the Centre for Heritage and Science, 225 George St., Sydney. The title of the talk is: "Words are Wanting to Represent the Severity..." The Unexpected Discovery of an Eroding 18th century Mass Grave at the Fortress of Louisbourg.
On a cold February morning in 2006, Becki came across the most interesting archaeological find of her career while conducting a coastal erosion survey along the shores of Fortress Louisbourg. Although not evident at first, this find, initially consisting of remnants of a stone foundation, turned out to be a c.1746 mass grave of forty-five New Englanders that nobody knew about, or at least had not been written about for 250 years. This discovery has shed light on a tragic and obscure aspect of Louisbourg's history in relation to the first siege of Louisbourg. As well, through scientific study, this find has taught us much about the people who lived in Louisbourg in the mid-eighteenth century, from their very bones.
Everybody Welcome. Please see attached photos of the excavation site and a page from a 2007 Field note book burial plan.
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