Illustrations 5, 7, 13 and 20 are simplified representations of the distribution of archaeologically identified cultures across the province. An archaeological culture is roughly equivalent to historically identified broadly related populations such as the Ojibwa / Algonquin/ Cree / Montagnais or the St. Lawrence Iroquois as represented by the Stadaconans, Hochelagans. Of necessity archaeological cultures are mainly based upon the surviving technology (stone, bone, and pottery tools and the evidence of the techniques used in their manufacture). Additional information which is important in differentiating between archaeological cultures can be found in subsistence practices (maritime hunters and fishermen versus interior riverine and lake hunters versus corn farmers, etc.), in settlement patterns (how people distribute themselves across the land during their seasonal rounds and, at a more specific level, how they construct their houses and villages), and cosmology as reflected in burial practices, involvement in southern burial cults, rock art, etc. It is this totality of archaeological evidence which is used to construct the archaeological cultures which are undoubtedly but crude reflections of the numerous independent societies they represent.
The physical configuration of the province of QuΘbec requires that the distribution of the prehistoric cultures of adjacent provinces are also shown. Although the cultural distributions do extend into adjacent states they have been stopped at the international boundary for the sake of simplicity. The Island of Newfoundland has also been excluded from the mapping procedure due to the archaeological descriptive complexities it would introduce. Finally, although not indicated on this map, there is a weak appearance of Middle Archaic culture (6,000 - 4,000 B.C.) in the upper St. Lawrence Valley.
Near the beginning of this period Plano culture people of ultimate western origin likely shared the St. Lawrence with Early Archaic culture people. Both of these cultures developed out of an earlier Fluted Point culture base but in different regions and in different ways. Even at this early period it appears that the various archaeological cultures are associated with different environmental zones such as the Laurentian Archaic culture with the interior riverine and lake country of the mixed hardwood forests and the Maritime Archaic culture with the coastal regions of the St. Lawrence estuary and environs.
Courtesy: Canadian Museum of Civilization, National Museums of Canada and National Film Board of Canada
