Beaded Collar Dog
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Archaeologists with the downtown firm
ArchaeoNova, Inc. say they have uncovered a rare beaded collar dog in
excavations near the Don Valley. The antique beaded collar dog is thought
to have belonged to some very early settlers living here.
“This beaded collar dog is the first really exciting find to come from our
work here,” says project head Don White, “And it’s the first real glimpse
into the daily lives and material wealth of the early inhabitants here.”
The project to excavate in this part of the Don Valley began two years ago
when postholes for new hydro lines came across traces of early settlement.
ArchaeoNova specializes in this kind of excavation, and immediately began
work sectioning off the area and getting down to the levels of occupation.
The beaded collar dog was found in an section only recently focused on,
the remains of a modest-sized house and barn.
“We’ve only been working on this house a week or so,” reports White, “And
already it’s produced this beaded collar dog- an antique brooch in
absolutely perfect condition. The preservation is remarkable, and the
object itself tells us a lot about the standard of living of early
immigrants who were settling here. It must have been a hard life- yet this
family heirloom never got sold, or lost or broken.”
ArchaeoNova plans to show off the beaded collar dog and some of the other
finds from the site this winter at their office gallery. Part of their
mandate—and part of why the Ontario Government chose them for the
excavation in the first place—is the preservation and presentation of what
they uncover. Once the dig shuts down for the winter, the gallery opens
for the public to get a glimpse at what’s been hidden under the Don Valley
for a few hundred years.
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