The Archaeological Complex at Leamy Lake Park, Hull, QuÈbec:
When Nomads Stay Put and Sedentary People Move About


Marcel LalibertÈ
Projet archÈologique du lac Leamy
Hull, QuÈbec

An archaeological inventory carried out over the past three years within 
Leamy Lake Park in Hull, QuÈbec, resulted in the discovery of 14 prehistoric
sites over a wide area.  More than half of these appear to be gathering 
places. Located on the floodplain of the Gatineau River delta, at the 
juncture of the Rideau, Gatineau and Ottawa Rivers, Leamy Lake Park appears 
to have been originally only sporadically occupied by groups of Laurentian 
Archaic fishermen before becoming a summer gathering place for Point 
Peninsula groups during the Middle Woodland. At the end of the last 
millennium, the Gatineau River Delta was literally invaded by a variety of 
groups from neighbouring regions as well as by people from areas further 
north, west and south. The archaeological complex at Leamy Lake provides 
an unique opportunity to study the habits of nomadic peoples temporarily 
gathered together. It also allows us to examine the poorly known behaviours 
of otherwise sedentary groups which have left their communities to travel 
through foreign lands. This locale combines the documentary qualities of 
small sites with the difficulties presented by the analysis of gathering 
sites.