Stunning Discovery: Lost Ancestral Village of the Wendat at Lake Ontorio

ONTORIO, CANADA --- Once upon a time, when New York wasn't the metropolitan how we know it today, at the north shore of Lake Ontorio in Canada there rose a new world, a center point of social and economic growth in the northern region. Never heard before of this story? This might be well true, because it was 'once upon a time' - A story of an ancient metropolitan that seemed to have vanished after the settlement of Europeans in early times, was uncovered by archaeologists to the world.

Huron-Wendat group from Wendake (Lorette) at Spencerwood, Quebec City, 1880,
Jules-Ernest Livernois, February 11, 1880 (photo courtesy of Wikipedia)

Lake Ontario was between A.D. 1500 and 1530 the so called Mantle site and occupied by the Wyndot (or Wendat in their native language), also known the Hurons. The Hurons are indigenous people of North America. Researchers estimated that up to 1,800 people lived in Mantle, which has the size of Manhattan.

A team of archaeologists excavated between 2003 and 2005 the area and uncovered 98 longhouses, a palisade consisting of three rows which seems to be of high fences made of robust wooden stakes made for defense against intruders. Aside the impressive architecture, about 200,000 artifacts were obtained that showcase a range of cultural heritage of the folks that time, restoring the importance of man and hunting and animals.

"This is an Indiana Jones moment, this is huge," said Ron Williamson, an archaeologist and founder of Archaeological Services Inc., a Canadian cultural resource management firm, who led lead the excavation at the site.

"It's the largest, most complex, cosmopolitan village of its time," said Williamson, also of the University of Toronto, in an interview with LiveScience. "All of the archaeologists, basically, when they see Mantle, they're just utterly stunned."

Mantle Site - looking west from Byers Pond Way.
(Photo courtey: Wikipedia)

According to reports, the site remained hidden for hundreds of years, because the structures were mainly made of wood and are not easy to detect. It was only by mere chance, when a new subdivision was about to be built, that constructions made the discovery.

The people of Mantle, it seems, were on trading relations with the Iroquois of the St. Lawrence, which was revealed by the art and pottery that shows elements from their cultures. An interesting fact knowing from history books that the Wendat and the Iroquois were mortal enemies.Today:In Summer 2011, Wendat ceremonies were held at the site and it was renamed the "Jean-Baptiste Lainé" Site.

According to Wikipedia, the Huron are considered part of the larger Iroquoian cultural and language family. The Huron-Wendat Nation is a First Nation whose community and reserve today is located at Wendake, Quebec. The Huron as well as other local First Nation peoples have urged towns and developers in York Region to preserve aboriginal sites "for worship at the places where [their] ancestors are buried."

In 2012, a two-hour documentary film on the Mantle Wendat-Huron Village Site was produced, entitled "The Curse of the Axe" - surely, worth a watch.