Canadian Historic Sites: Occasional Papers in Archaeology and History No. 7

Archaeological Explorations at Signal Hill, Newfoundland, 1965-1966

by Edward B. Jelks

Acknowledgements

Heading the list of those who contributed to the Signal Hill excavations are the archaeologists who served as assistants: J. Ned Woodall and Carole Yawney in 1965; Stephen Archibald and the self-same J. Ned Woodall, undaunted after his first summer on the hill, in 1966. They all demonstrated professional skill of high order. My debt to them for nursing the field work to completion is gratefully acknowledged.

In the chilly, violently windy environment of the hilltop, the labourers—truly a hardy breed in the best Newfoundland tradition—exhibited commendable zeal, prideful facility in the use of tools, and remarkable stamina (sustained in part, it was sometimes suspected, by surreptitious tippling of that ubiquitous beverage of the Avalon Peninsula, Big Dipper Rum).

I wish to thank Newfoundland Memorial University, through whose offices labourers were recruited from the student body and laboratory space for processing field specimens was provided the first year. The Federal Unemployment Insurance Commission was also helpful in finding labourers.

Special thanks are due Patrick Wohler, Superintendent of Signal Hill Park, for his full support of the archaeological work and for innumerable personal courtesies. Patrick Brophy, Park Custodian in 1965, and Richard Clancy, Assistant Custodian, extended a helping hand in one way or another every day.

David Webber, Director of the Newfoundland Memorial Museum, was in Europe in 1965, but in 1966 he was in St. John's where he freely offered every possible assistance and courtesy. Among other things, he provided work space in the museum's laboratory for processing field specimens, furnished copies of important historical documents relating to Signal Hill, compiled a list of regiments that were stationed at Signal Hill, and examined the military buckles, shako plates, and other decorative accoutrements, making precise identifications when possible.

During the first summer, the artifacts were processed, catalogued, and packed for shipment by a crew headed by Sonia Kuryliu that had been especially trained for the purpose at Fort Lennox.

Archaeologists who visited the dig included John Rick, Jervis Swannack, Donald McLeod, and Helen Devereaux (all of the Canadian National Historic Sites Service), Roger Grange of the University of South Florida, John L. Cotter of the U.S. National Park Service, and Curtis D. Tunnell, Texas State Archaeologist. I benefited greatly from the useful suggestions they had to offer.

Most of the artifact analysis and preparation of the site report were done at Dallas, Texas, where the Laboratory of Anthropology at Southern Methodist University kindly provided work space. SMU students who helped sort and tabulate artifacts included Marcia McGee, Scott Hays, Sherry Humphreys, and Gerald Humphreys. Above all, I am indebted to Norma Hoffrichter, Kathleen Gilmore, and Dessamae Lorrain who helped with so many aspects of the laboratory work and report preparation that it is impossible to list their many contributions. In particular I wish to thank Mrs. Lorrain, then a Research Archaeologist at Southern Methodist and an authority on 19th-century glass, who examined the entire sample of glass from Signal Hill and set up the classification under which it is described in the report.

Richard Ahlborn of the Division of Cultural History, Smithsonian Institution gave date estimates for the spoons. Edgar Howell and Craddock Goins, both of the Department of Military History, Smithsonian Institution, helped identify such military items as uniform buckles, buttons, and friction tubes used for igniting cannon charges.

Final typing of the manuscript was done by Marilyn Kelly.

After the manuscript had been submitted to the Canadian National Historic Sites Service, many useful editorial suggestions were offered by editors Angela Gorman and Natalie Stoddard, and by Jean-Pierre Cloutier, DiAnn Herst, Olive Jones, and Elizabeth Wylie, all on the staff of the Service's Ottawa office.

The combined knowledge and skill of all the persons enumerated above were brought to bear on the archaeology of Signal Hill. My debt to them, individually and collectively, can hardly be overstated, and I am sincerely grateful to each and every one of them.