| Southwold Earthworks | |
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| National Historic Site of Canada | |
Trees growing out of the remains of raised earthworks at the Southwold Earthworks site |
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| Province | Ontario |
| Municipality | Southwold |
| Original use | Village site of the Neutral people |
| Current use | Archaeological site |
| Administrative body | Parks Canada |
| Designated as a NHSC | 1923 |
| Established | circa 1500 |
| Website | http://www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/on/southwold/index_e.asp |
The Southwold Earthworks is the remains of a pre-contact village site of the Neutral people in Iona Station, Ontario, Canada.
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Occupied between AD 1450 and 1550, it is located in southwestern Ontario in rural Elgin County, near the banks of a tributary of Talbot Creek, approximately 20 km west of St. Thomas, Ontario. Archaeological investigations have indicated the presence at one time of eighteen longhouses of various sizes within the village, with an estimated population of 800-900 people. These native inhabitants were the Attiwandaronk Indians. An open area in the centre of the community appears to have provided a common activity area or meeting place. The archaeological interpretation concludes that Southwold was a typical pre-contact Neutral village, palisaded for defensive purposes. The site consists of an oval ring of earthworks enclosing archaeological remains of a double palisade and village that may have included up to 24 longhouses. Estimated to have originally been about 0.8 hectares (2 acres) in size, the village was surrounded by a double ring of earthworks which served as the foundation for a double ring of upright pickets or palisades which completely circled the village. The main entrance was believed to have been located at the northeast corner of the earthworks, and two other openings , one on the northwest and one in the southern section of the perimeter, permitted a small stream to flow between the rows of palisades.
The Southwold Earthworks was one of the first sites considered for official recognition by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada. The site was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1923[1][2] and was purchased by the Canadian federal government in 1929.
There have been two major archaeological investigations at Southwold Earthworks, in 1935 and 1976. Oral tradition within the local Oneida community speculates that Southwold was used as a ceremonial site, which was enclosed by the pallisade so that that activities taking place within the village were screened from the view of people outside the wall. According to the same oral tradition, the site would have been occupied not as a year-round village, but as a seasonal place of pilgrimage and that the site was not defensive in nature, but was dedicated to healing and purification rituals. Archaeologists found the site atypical of Neutral villages of the period in the sense that it is located on flat land with no natural defensive advantages and despite the presence of apparent fortifications, it contains no evidence of ever having been attacked. Although archaeological estimates of site population were that about 800 people could have lived there, curiously, there was little evidence of refuse and garbage within the site.
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