What Lies Beneath

 en Français 

In 1632 a group of French immigrants made their way across the Atlantic to a land they called Acadia, present day Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island. The capital of this colony was Port-Royal and it was the centre of a thriving agricultural and commercial region, of the same name, that spread along the shores of the basin and river.

A fort eventually rose here as the seat of government and focus of military defence. This was also the heart of the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Parish and a burial ground was used by the French administrators and the burgeoning Acadian population.

By the early 1700s, thanks to their special relationship with the Mi’kmaq, these settlers developed their own unique and strong cultural identity. They were Acadian.

But it was not always easy for the Acadians. Throughout history, Acadia was tossed back and forth between French and English rule. In 1755 English tension was high.

In 1755, 1664 Acadians residing around Annapolis Royal were forcibly removed from their homes, and their communities were destroyed. Thousands more were deported from all areas of Acadie. This event will forever be known as the Deportation.

Port-Royal, present day Annapolis Royal, is home to the Garrison Graveyard one of Canada’s most historically significant burial grounds. It includes an unmarked Acadian and French cemetery, in use before 1686 until 1755, and a British cemetery used as a community burial ground from 1710 to 1940.

Over 230 headstones remain from the British cemetery but many additional gravesites are unmarked. The graveyard probably contains 2,000 or more burials. This begs the question, where are these Acadian and French graves located? What lies beneath?

In a combined effort, MAPANNAPOLIS Boreas Heritage Consulting and Parks Canada in the hopes to find some answers.

In 2018, an investigation was launched in hopes of finding evidence of the unmarked Acadian burials located in the Garrison Graveyard. Ground-Penetrating Radar [GPR] was used to detect subsurface anomalies in the ground.

Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data was also analysed in an effort to identify buried features in the vicinity of the cemetery. This information allowed the research team to establish a grid, approximately 18m x 20m, designed to intersect the suspected location of the Acadian cemetery.

To facilitate the GPR investigation and provide high-resolution imagery of the grid area, researchers from the Applied Geomatics Research Group (AGRG) of the Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC) conducted an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle [UAV] survey of the burial ground.

Based on the results of the GPR survey, Boreas Heritage identified numerous anomalies believed to represent the remains of 19 unmarked burials. The application and integration of various modern technologies also revealed the presence of additional historic features within the Garrison Graveyard. With these exciting results, Boreas Heritage, in partnership with MAPANNAPOLIS and Parks Canada, expanded the geophysical survey to search for other buried features at Fort Anne National Historic Site, including the St. Jean-Baptiste parish church.

Having detected a buried feature believed to be in the location of the Acadian church, Boreas Heritage initiated a small archaeological excavation, which revealed the original ground surface on which the church was built and artifacts dating to the Acadian occupation of the area.

With thousands of people all over the world sharing lineage tied to Acadia, these findings play a significant role for those wanting to discover more about their Acadian descendants and cultural heritage.

Learn more about the Acadian culture, communities by visiting  MAPANNAPOLIS.ca .

Our Acadian Settlements map showcases the approximate locations of early Acadian settlements along the Annapolis River based on the census of Acadie in 1707, as per Delabat.

  RETURN TO STORYMAP MENU