Port au Choix National Historic Site
Location, as the old saying goes, is everything. The Port au Choix Peninsula juts slightly out into the Gulf of St. Lawrence on Newfoundland’s northwest coast. With marine resources like fish and mammals within reach, it’s been a favoured spot for peoples who have lived and traded here for 5,500 years.
Maritime Archaic Tradition, Groswater and Dorset Palaeoeskimos, and Recent Indians occupied the area before Europeans arrived. Beginning in the late 1500s, Basque, French and English occupied the site. A main portion of the Maritime Archaic heritage of the area was uncovered by accident during the excavation for a theatre in 1967. Subsequent archaeological investigation led to it being named a National Historic Site in the 1970’s. Today, archaeologists continue to peel away the layers of this rich site and expose more of its rich past.
While many other sites along the coast have acidic soils that break down organic materials, the Port au Choix area’s underlying limestone geology has helped preserve many ancient artifacts. It also means calcium-loving arctic alpine plants usually found much further north can live here. Over 100 rare types of these plants are found around the site.
Today’s residents still depend on the sea for their livelihood. The technology may have changed over the millennia, but adaptation to this environment remains a major feature of whatever cultures have lived here. The visitor centre provides an extensive overview of the history and ecology of the area. Information panels and artistic depictions on the landscape help tell the story of the place. Nearby trails take visitors along the exposed shoreline to rich archaeological sites. Whales can often be spotted frolicking alongside small boats as fishermen pull in their day’s catch.
Getting Here:
Port au Choix National Historic Site is located midway along The Viking Trail on Route 430 approximately 234 kilometres or 3 hours north of Deer Lake airport and 161 kilometres or 2 hours from St. Anthony airport.
For more information visit the Parks Canada official website for Port au Choix National Historic Site of Canada
Location data provided by the operator. Please confirm location
before departure. Also see offshore area disclaimer.
The offshore lines appearing in the map above which purport to delimit the offshore area of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador have no legal effect. Apart from the boundaries established pursuant to the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Atlantic Accord Implementation Act, which include the line established pursuant to the 2002 award of the arbitration tribunal concerning the delimitation of portions of the offshore areas between Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia, there are no agreed boundaries between the offshore areas of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Government of Canada, the Provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island or Quebec or the Nunavut Territory, and no such boundaries have been established under statute, regulation or agreement. The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador has made these facts known to Google.
