When Dr. Marit Munson first arrived at Trent University from New Mexico, she was surprised to learn there were no current books that provided an overview of Ontario’s archaeological past. Her desire to know about her new home led to the recent publication of Before Ontario, the first book in 30 years that covers Ontario archaeology for the general public. Launched on October 25, 2013, the book is co-edited by Dr. Munson and Dr. Susan Jamieson, professor emerita of Anthropology at Trent.

“As an archaeologist, I wanted to understand something about the place where I now live,” said Dr. Munson, who is associate professor in Trent’s Department of Anthropology. “I was surprised that I couldn’t find an overview and wondered how the average person, who was not a specialist, would learn about Ontario’s archaeological heritage. So I approached Professor Jamieson with the idea of collaborating on a book that would fill this gap.”

Five years in the making, Before Ontario provides both an outline of Ontario's ancient past and an easy-to-understand explanation of how archaeology works.  The volume is comprised of articles from the province's leading archaeologists who work both in academia and the private sector.

“We chose contributors from a range of backgrounds who have specialized knowledge that we wanted to bring to the public,” Prof. Munson said. “We wanted to paint a broad picture that explains what archaeologists do and gives people an idea of the many different kinds of information that archaeologists use to understand the past. And we wanted to highlight what we archaeologists have learned about the people who lived on this land over the past 13,000 years.”

The book’s contributors include Trent faculty, as well as members of the Trent University Archaeological Research Centre (TUARC). “Trent’s contribution speaks to the quality of researchers at TUARC,” said Prof. Munson, who credited TUARC for the fundamental role it played in making the book happen. “TUARC was supportive of the project and provided funding so we could hold a workshop with all the contributors. But more than that, the collaboration that TUARC maintains between archaeologists working in academia and those working in the private sector is what made the idea possible in the first place.”

The book also contains a chapter by Kris Nahrgang, one of the few individuals in Canada who is both a member of a First Nation and an archaeologist.  “His commentary is important, because many of the issues that archaeologists face today involve their relationship with First Nations, which has been both rocky and positive,” Prof. Munson said. “So we wanted Kris to address the promises of archaeology in terms of learning about the past, but also some of the problems that exist.”

Prof. Munson pointed out that Ontario has an incredibly long and rich past, and she hopes Before Ontario will help people to understand the depth of that history.

“What I appreciated most about this process was getting the big picture view, to get a sense of the big sweep of history going back to the last ice age. It’s humbling and amazing to remember that people have lived and died here for 13,000 years, and what we see today is not the only thing that has happened on this landscape. We need to be thinking about this as we transform the landscape with modern activities, because Ontario’s heritage needs to be preserved for future generations.”

Before Ontario is available in most book stores and can be ordered online from McGill-Queens University Press at www.mqup.ca.

Posted on Thursday, November 14, 2013.