A few weeks ago, a construction team working on a Hydro-Québec parking lot in downtown Montreal started to dig beneath the asphalt when they came across an ancient artifact.
A stone home with a wooden floor that was built between 1801 and 1825 was discovered. The Faubourg Saint-Laurent’s rich citizens resided in the area that is now its center, as revealed by the archeological treasure trove.
The archeologist Martin Perron said that: “It was a working-class town that developed outside the fortification walls around the middle of the 18th century, where artisans, people of lesser means and farmers came to settle in response to the growing densification inside the fortification walls.”
Despite the fact that additional remnants had been discovered during the construction of nearby structures, Perron claimed he had anticipated discovering new artifacts. However, he hadn’t anticipated discovering the building and its contents so close to the asphalt pavement and in such good shape.
According to the reports of CBC, a significant number of items were discovered by the excavation team, most of which date to the 19th century. However, they also discovered stoneware and earthenware pots from the 18th century, which is when the English colonists first arrived. Perron wonders who the objects belonged to and for what reason after making this discovery.
Some items were brought from England, France and the United States, he said, adding: “There is really everything, everything that was used at that time: tableware, jugs, jugs, plates, bowls, some of them still richly decorated. There are also bottles of soft drinks, beer, wine, inkwells, objects used for daily hygiene, lots of bones associated with people’s eating habits, many of them have traces of butchery – pork, mutton, beef.”
Although the quality of the items implies an affluent owner, the Faubourg Saint-Laurent was historically a working-class neighborhood. The building’s demolition towards the end of the 19th century, when the Faubourg Saint-Laurent was flourishing, is the second unsolved riddle, he added.
When the excavation is finished, according to Hydro-Québec, the items will be displayed in its exhibit.