So you’re coming to Pointe-à-Callière for an archaeology workshop. You can prepare your students for their visit by sparking their curiosity about this fascinating profession. Afterwards, back in the classroom, you can build on what they saw and learned during their cultural outing.

It’s a great opportunity to discover the past!


AN OBJECT TOLD ME EXERCISE
Introduce your students to what an archaeologist does by analyzing an everyday object.

Competencies developed:

• Use information
• Adopt effective work methods
• Analyze an object
• Make connections between objects and human activities

Materials required:

• An object that the students bring from home
• Catalogue sheet

Duration:

• 45 minutes

Instructions:

1. Have your students pick a category at random: eating, playing, clothes, hygiene or school. Then ask them to bring in a small personal object (small enough to hold in one’s hand) related to their chosen category.
2. In the classroom, lay the objects out so that everyone can see them. Ask the students, individually or in groups, to choose an object other than the one they brought in, pretend to be archaeologists who have just dug it up, and complete a Catalogue sheet describing it. Did they find this easy or difficult? Were they able to answer all the questions?
3. Place the completed Catalogue sheets in front of the corresponding objects. Then, as a group, try to classify the objects into the different categories: eating, playing, clothes, hygiene or school. Do some objects fall into more than one category? Are you missing some information you need to classify them?
4. Imagine what archaeologists would think if they dug up these objects 100 years from now. What picture would this give them of your generation? Would it be an accurate impression? A complete one? Would they need to consult other sources to better understand your lifestyle? If so, what sources?

Imagine what archaeologists would think if they dug up these objects 100 years from now. What picture would this give them of your generation? Would it be an accurate impression? A complete one? Would they need to consult other sources to better understand your lifestyle? If so, what sources?

At Pointe-à-Callière, the Young Archaeologists workshop lets students learn about the scientific method in archaeology and think about what real archaeological finds can tell us.



Ask your students what they thought of their trip to the Museum.

Did they enjoy it? What did they learn about the scientific method in archaeology? Did the workshop answer any questions they had about archaeology?


YOUNG ARCHAEOLOGISTS NEWSPAPER EXERCISE

After their visit to the Museum, ask your students to produce a newspaper about archaeology and archaeological discoveries, based on the workshop at the Museum and a documentation file. This is an opportunity to conduct a multidisciplinary project in Social Sciences, Language Arts, Science and Technology, and also relating to the Personal and Career Planning broad area of learning.

Competencies developed:

• Use information
• Exercise critical judgment
• Use creativity
• Use information and communication technologies
• Communicate appropriately
• Read and write a variety of texts

Materials required:

• Young Archaeologists sheet
• Notebook sheet
• Computer connected to the Internet for additional research

Duration:

• varies, depending on how long you wish to devote to the project

Instructions:

1. Ask the students to write about their visit and present what they know about archaeology by producing a newspaper. The Young Archaeologists sheet suggests different possibilities depending on their interests and skills, in the form of articles or opinion pieces or even drawings. The Notebook sheet, which you can print out or consult on line, contains details to help the students prepare their articles. Afterward, their newspaper can be placed in the school library, for other students to read and learn about archaeology as a profession and some of the archaeological discoveries that have been made.
2. You can also invite your students to try their hand at one of the on-line educational games on the Pointe-à-Callière Website:
   • Archaeological Digs: Mission for an Apprentice Archaeologist

STUDENT:

GROUP:

Object name:

Purpose:
What is this object used for?

Materials:
What is this object made of? Wood, plastic, etc.?

Shape:

Colour(s) :

Decoration(s) :
Is the object carves, painted, textured, etc.?

Dimensions:
Measure the object and indicate its height, width and depth?

Condition:
Has this object been heavily used? Does it show signs of wear or breakage?

Means of manufacture:
Was the object made by hand or by a machine?

Maker's name:
IS the maker's name indicated on the object?

Date of manufacture:
Is there a date on the object or some other clue indicating when it was made?

Users:
Who used this object?

A newspaper about archaeology and archaeological discoveries, written by apprentice archaeologists

Decide what part of the newspaper you would like to write. Consult the Notebook for ideas.

FRONT PAGE
Grab readers’ attention. On the first page, place an attention-getting article and an outline of what readers will find in your newspaper.

EDITORIAL
Explain your point of view on archaeology. What do archaeological digs contribute to our society? What do they teach us? Do you think they are important? Why?

CULTURE AND SOCIETY
Describe how shoes were made in the 19th century, before sewing machines were invented. Use objects found during archaeological digs at Pointe-à-Callière as examples.

CREATIVE WRITING
Medicine bottle
Mould-blown glass
PAC BjFj-101.338
2nd half of the 19th century
Rectangular bottle with panels on three sides and a half-panel on the front. Inscribed DAVIS, PAINKILLER and VEGETABLE. Multi-part mould

Marie-Claude Brien, an intern at the Pointe-à-Callière Archaeological Field School in 2006, unearthed this object in a layer of soil associated with the 19th century on the archaeological site of Montréal’s birthplace. The find raised many questions for her: “What did this bottle marked painkiller really hold, and what pains was the person taking it trying to ease? Did it belong to a craftsperson or labourer working in the rented warehouses here? Or was it some passer-by who threw away this empty bottle, which fortunately remained in one piece and came all the way down to us in the present?”
http://www.pacmusee.qc.ca/ecole/default.asp?id=119

Write a short essay imagining the answers to her questions.


MAIL BAG
Tell everyone what you think about archaeology as a profession. What skills and attitudes does a successful archaeologist need? What does an archaeologist do? Do you think it would be an interesting career?


ILLUSTRATION
Draw an archaeologist finding one of the artifacts mentioned in the Notebook.


SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Explain how technology led to solutions that increased productivity in shoemaking in the 19th century.


VIRTUAL GAMES
Describe the Archaeological Digs: Mission for an Apprentice Archaeologist on-line game, where players can take part in virtual archaeological digs on the site of Fort Ville-Marie, Montréal’s birthplace. Pretend you’re reviewing the game and tell us what you think.

Some definitions:

• Artifacts: Items made by humans, as opposed to natural objects like fossils.
• Ecofacts: Organic (natural) remains associated with human activities, found on archaeological sites (animal bones, wood and charcoal, seeds, etc.).
• Remains: What is left after something has been destroyed or has disappeared (part of a wall, floor, etc.).

The scientific method on archeology

1. Consult sources of information
2. Explore to find remains
3. Excavate methodically
4. Clean and classify objects
5. Inventory the finds
6. Associate findings with history
7. Share the findings

Source : http://www.pacmusee.qc.ca/ecole/default.asp?id=51

See the glossary at Pointe-à-Callière’s Archaeological Field School, too:
http://www.pacmusee.qc.ca/ecole/default.asp?id=65


SOME 19TH-CENTURY BUILDINGS LOCATED WHERE POINTE-À-CALLIÈRE STANDS TODAY:

THE WÜRTELE INN (1802-1838)

In 1802, Jacob Würtele had a building erected on a piece of land he had purchased. The building included an inn, as well as premises serving as a workshop or store. There were rooms to let upstairs and in the attic. The Würtele Inn served good food: archaeological digs have turned up remains of mutton, lamb, beef, veal, pork, poultry and fish. Beverages were served, too: water, tea, coffee and alcohol, from gin to beer and wine imported from Europe. People played dominoes and marbles there, and talked business.


THE FIRST CUSTOM HOUSE (1836)

By about 1830, Montréal had become a hub of trade in Canada. Imports from England, like pottery, farming implements and cloth were all flooding into Montréal harbour. Goods for export, like wheat, wood and potash, were also being shipped from the port. In 1836, the city authorities built a Custom House on the old marketplace, to meet demands from merchants. That building is now part of Pointe-à-Callière.


THE INSURANCE COMPANY BUILDING AND CUSTOM HOUSE (1861-1951)

In 1861, the Royal Insurance Company erected this triangular building as its head office in the heart of Montréal’s harbour. The building boasted some of the latest technological innovations: central heating, gas lighting and flush toilets. It housed customs offices from 1871 to 1914.


WAREHOUSE STORES

With growing industrialization between 1850 and 1900, warehouse stores became more common in Montréal. On the ground floor of these multi-storey buildings, goods were displayed for sale. Upstairs were workshops and manufacturing operations of all kinds. Toward the end of the 19th century, these warehouse stores gave rise to the first large stores.

MORE TO DO:

You can also invite your students to try their hand at the on-line educational games on the Pointe-à-Callière Website:
• • Archaeological Digs: Mission for an Apprentice Archaeologist
• Iroquoians 1350, Fortifications 1720, Marketplace 1740, Smallpox Epidemic 1885 to relive Montréal’s history during four different time periods.


SOME 19TH-CENTURY OBJECTS UNEARTHED DURING ARCHAEOLOGICAL DIGS AT POINTE-À-CALLIÈRE

Gin bottle /Mould-blown glass PAC BjFj-101.68 / 2nd half of the 19th century Square bottle with round shoulders, short neck and conical mouth roughly folded over. Moulded embossed pattern under the base: 4 droplets. Blown in a two-part mould plus one part for the base..	Chamber pot / Earthenware / PAC BjFj-101.388 / 2nd half of the 19th century Reassembled from base, side and rim fragments.	Shoe polish container / Stoneware / PAC BjFj-101.390 / 2nd half of the 19th century Small cylindrical bottle for shoe polish, with a wide mouth.
Domino / Earthenware / PAC BjFj-101.164 / 19th century Half a domino (?) with two black dots painted on the diagonal.	Doll / Porcelain / Factory and handmade / PAC BjFj-101.56 / 2nd half of the 19th century Moulded head and shoulder of a doll. The hair is brown enamel, the eyes are blue and the mouth is red. The doll was made in a factory, but the colours were added by hand (enamel).	Coin / Copper / PAC BjFj-101.336 / 1844 1844 half penny, Bank Token "Concordia Salus" inscribed in an oval shield with the symbols of Montréal (beaver, clover, thistle and rose). The reverse has an image of the Bank of Montreal, in Old Montréal, and is inscribed PROVINCE OF CANADA BANK OF MONTREAL.

Credits: www.lucbouvrette.com

Shoes

Child’s shoe / Leather / Hand made / PAC BjFj-101.31 / 2nd half of the 19th century
Left foot. Lace present. Traces of soil and seeds.
Photo: Luc Bouvrette

The 19th century brought tremendous changes for shoemakers. In the first half of the century, craft shoemakers, or cobblers, fashioned shoes by hand, to order, performing all the steps themselves. Then cobbler-merchants began arriving in Montréal. They divided up the different parts of the job among various workers. These journeymen worked in workshops or at home, and were paid by the piece. This allowed cobbler-merchants to boost productivity.

The arrival of new machines transformed shoemaking. Sewing machines made it possible to mechanize production, and the introduction of steam power made tools faster and more efficient to use. Starting in the second half of the 19th century, shoes were produced in workshops, where unskilled workers, including women and children, worked long hours under difficult conditions.

Leather was widely used in the 19th century, particularly for making boots, shoes, clothing, straps, saddles and harnesses, and upholstering coaches and carriages. The Saint-Henri district was famous for its tanneries. [...]

Leather pieces and objects that have spent many years underground are generally in fragile condition. Leather is an organic material that decomposes quickly. Shoe heels tend to last longer, since they are made of several thick layers of leather held together with tiny metal nails or, if they are very old, little wooden pegs. These pieces and objects cannot always be saved, although restorers are true artists.



Engraving / The new way: 300 pairs a day, 1880 / John Henry Walker (1831-1899) / 1880, 19th century
McCord Museum M930.50.5.142

Shoemaker’s tool / Iron / PAC BjFj-101.296 / 19th century Piece of metal, curved at one end and with a gouge at the other. May be a shoemaker’s tool. Photo: Luc Bouvrette	Shoemaker’s tool / Wood / PAC 1992.18 / 19th century Shoemaker’s last. Probably for making a woman’s or child’s shoe. Photo: Luc Bouvrette	Shoemaker’s tool / Metal, leather / PAC 1992.17 / 19th century Metal tool with a wooden and leather handle. Photo: Luc Bouvrette

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