Paddling through the Past

Ever wonder about landscape archaeology and how landscape played a role in people’s lives in the past along Lake Champlain? Follow doctorate student Andrew Beaupre through his journey where he and his crew will be paddling through the past.

Paddling through the Past is a multi-disciplinary archaeological project designed to investigate the role of waterways in the French colonial period. Their mission is to document the landscape archaeology of the Champlain valley and raise awareness of the need for heritage stewardship of the Lake Champlain/Richelieu River Corridor. The culmination of the project will be a 10 day canoe expedition from the shadow of Fort Ticonderoga in New York, north to the forts of the Richelieu River in Southern Quebec. 

This will be the first expedition of its kind in the Champlain Valley, and is being undertaken as a portion of a larger multi-disciplinary archaeological project to better understand the history and heritage of the northern borderlands.

Along the way they will stop at numerous 17^th and 18^th century archaeological sites, analyzing the landscape from the water level, in an effort to better understand why Native American and French settlements were positioned on the landscape.

Here are the state parks where they will be staying and giving presentations in the evenings:

August 7^th and 8^th at the DAR State Park

August 9^th at Button Bay State Park

August 13^th at Burton Island State Park

August 14^th at North Hero State Park

To follow the expedition go to: http://paddlingthroughthepast.blogspot.com/