Lake Ontario Paleoshorelines and Submerged Prehistoric Site Potential in the Great Lakes

Abstract

Numerous maritime cultural landscapes have been situated around the North American Great Lakes throughout the historic period. Archaeological sites surrounding the Great Lakes indicate that they were equally crucial to pre-Contact residents, although it is currently unknown precisely when prehistoric lifeways changed to maritime cultures. As Great Lake shorelines have been very dynamic, reconstructing past human activities on the Great Lakes requires an understanding of lakeshore change and processes. Lake Ontario, the smallest Great Lake but culturally and geologically rich, is a perfect example of the need for geological consideration when recreating cultural landscapes. This chapter discusses where maritime occupation sites may have survived submergence in Lake Ontario along three different paleoshorelines roughly coincident with the Paleoindian, Early Archaic, and Middle Archaic periods as a beginning step in reconstructing pre-Contact maritime landscapes of the lake.