The Atherley Narrows Fish Weir
The Atherley Narrows Fish Weir
Examining the Archaeological Evidence
Ethan Moncion
Port2Port - 2024
Some 5000 years ago, a group of Indigenous Peoples recognized a prime fishing spot and gathered there to capitalize on its potential.1 This ideal spot, along the channel connecting lakes Simcoe and Couchiching carefully selected by those Indigenous fishers of the late Archaic period became continuous seasonal fishing location in the area now known as Atherley Narrows, located near Orillia, Ontario.2 The Narrows consisted of two main channels between the aforementioned lakes within the Trent-Severn Waterway system, and were laced with alignments of upright wooden stakes embedded into the soft clay of the river bottom.3 This structure was likely a weir, and would have channeled schools of spawning freshwater fish into a small area making them easy to catch.4
Fishing was a staple in both the diet and economy of the people of the Archaic period in the Great Lakes. Six Late Archaic sites yielding evidence of fishing have been identified by archaeologists in Southern Ontario and at one of them stable isotopic analysis of a dog skeleton has revealed that fish made up a substantial proportion of its diet.5 Evidence that trade networks developed with copper miners on Lake Superior suggests the complexity of the economy in this era, wherein large catches of fish could have played a significant role.6 Weir fishing, known to have occurred in this era, would have produced such substantial catches and the Atherley Narrows site represented a prime example of that strategy, as seen in Figure 1.7

Figure 1: Remains of the Atherley Narrows fishing weir with underwater archaeologist in the background.
Discovered by accident during dredging of the channel in the nineteenth century, the first major archaeological assessment of the area began in July of 1973 under the auspices of Dr. Richard B. Johnston.8 Johnston's Trent University team identified a 100 foot baseline of the structure, five areas of major stake concentration including one of approximately 4,000 square feet which they surveyed more closely, and removed sixteen wooden stakes for radiocarbon dating.9 Later analysis of the site revealed an array of fascinating mysteries surrounding the specifics of the use of the weir. Analysis of the wood of the extracted stakes revealed a roughly even proportion of hard to softwood timbers with a very uneven distribution.10 Such evidence suggested a differentiation in the sections of the weir segregating their building materials for specific uses. However, as historian R. James Ringer noted any conclusions are very uncertain given the condition of the remains of the structure.11 Another tantalizing enigma was brought about by closer inspection of the shaping of the stakes. The stakes were sharpened to a point with a metal blade leaving distinctive striations of the carved surface caused by imperfections in the metal.12 Patterns of these have been matched among stakes to suggest simultaneous construction of the different alignments of the weir complex.13 However, radiocarbon dating of the stakes revealed a date of construction well before the accepted time for the introduction of metal tools into this society's manufacturing repertoire!14 Such evidence presents an intriguing mystery into which more research is needed.
The earliest known written record for weir fishing at this location comes from Samuel de Champlain.15 As he traveled with a group from the Wendat confederacy, he clearly described in his journal the location and setting of the weir within the strait and adjoining lakes, noting it was here that, "they make great catches of fish."16 His account was not only textual evidence confirming the use of the wooden structures as a fishing weir, but underscored the notion of the importance of this location to the Wendat in the scale of resources that it produced. The archeological evidence underlined the vitality of the Atherley Narrows to the story of humanity in the Great Lakes vicinity spanning millennia; it highlighted the enduring importance of human beings' connection to the maritime environment.
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Kimberly Monk, "Indigenous Settlement in Ontario to 1650," Mp4 video lecture, Brightspace, 20:12, Dr. Kimberly Monk, Adjunct Professor, Brock University, Viewed October 6, 2023, ↩
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R. James Ringer, "The Atherley Narrows Fish Weir Complex: A Submerged Archaic-To-Historic-Period Fishing Site In Ontario, Canada" Revista de arqueología americana, no. 26 (2008): 131, ↩
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Richard B. Johnston and Kenneth A. Cassavoy, "The Fishweirs at Atherley Narrows, Ontario," American Antiquity 43, no. 4 (1978): 698, 700, 702-703 ↩
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Monk, "Indigenous Settlement in Ontario to 1650," 18:50. ↩
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Monk, "Indigenous Settlement in Ontario to 1650," 20:12. ↩
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Kimberly Monk, HIST 2F00: Charting Indigenous Settlement in Ontario, PowerPoint, Brightspace, Slide 3, ↩
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Kimberly Monk, HIST 2F00: Charting Indigenous Settlement in Ontario, Slide 3. Figure 1: Peter Waddell, [Stakes # 54, 55, 56 etc., immediately north of channel marker buoy mooring block,] Parks Canada, August 1, 2016. ↩
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Ringer, "The Atherley Narrows Fish Weir Complex" 134; Ken Cassavoy, "The Atherley Narrows Fishweir Project," Bulletin - Canadian Archaeological Association 5 (1973): 116--117,. ↩
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Cassavoy, "The Atherley Narrows Fishweir Project," 116--117. ↩
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Ringer, "The Atherley Narrows Fish Weir Complex" 145-146. ↩
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Ringer, "The Atherley Narrows Fish Weir Complex" 146. ↩
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Ringer, "The Atherley Narrows Fish Weir Complex" 146. ↩
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Ringer, "The Atherley Narrows Fish Weir Complex" 146. ↩
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Ringer, "The Atherley Narrows Fish Weir Complex" 146. ↩
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Johnston and Cassavoy, "The Fishweirs at Atherley Narrows, Ontario," 698, 700, 702-703. ↩
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Samuel de Champlain, The Works of Samuel de Champlain, Vol. 3, Toronto, ON: Champlain Society, 1936, 474-475 ↩