Indigenous artifacts found at site of new Highway 7 bridge over Grand River

Indigenous artifacts have been discovered along the Grand River where the new Highway 7 bridge is slated to go.

The items which include pottery and arrowheads were found by an archaeology firm hired by the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) to carry out an assessment of the land prior to the start of construction.

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The team, which has been on the site north of Bingemans since the summer of 2016, are also working with First Nations archaeological monitors.

The artifacts and ancient tools date back roughly 2,000 years, a release from the ministry said.

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"The arrowheads are made from a rock called chert, also known as flint, some of which came from more local quarries along the north shore of Lake Erie and as far away as Thunder Bay, through travel and trade," the release said.

"Fire pits and burnt mammal bones were also discovered."

Excavation work is set to wrap up this fall and then all artifacts will be analyzed and catalogued at the firm's laboratory. A final report will be submitted to the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport.

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"Archaeological clearance of the floodplain will be an important milestone to reach as the ministry moves towards securing all approvals required to begin construction of the bridges crossing the Grand River as part of new Highway 7," MTO said in the release.

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The find is not expected to delay construction of the new highway, which is set to be completed by 2021.