MIDDLEPORT

Middleport is one of two stages in the Middle Ontario Iroquois period. Along with the Uren sub-stage, Middleport marks the transition from the development of full villages, which occured during the Early Ontario Iroquoian period to the emergence of distinct tribal groups (Huron Neutral etc.) which marks the beginning of the Late Ontario Iroquoian period.

Middleport is slightly later in the Middle Ontario Iroquois period than Uren, dating to between A.D. 1330 and A.D. 1400.

Sites attributed to the Middleport stage have been found over a large area extending from from southwestern Ontario to eastern Ontario. The greatest concentration of Middleport sites occurs in the 'golden horseshoe' and in Simcoe County.

SETTLEMENTS

Middleport people were predominately village dwellers. Their settlements consisted on a number of longhouses surrounded by a stout defensive palisade. Many village sites were chosen for their naturally defensible position which could be further protected by the palisade walls. However, some village locations appear to have offered little or no natural defenses. And some villages appear to have had no defenses at all.

Villages were fairly large, often enclosing an area of as much as 2.5 hectares and containing up to a dozen longhouses. Middleport longhouses were larger than those of Uren Pickering and Glen Meyer peoples, reaching an average length of 33 metres and being about 8 metres wide. These were often arranged in pairs within the village.

Where excavation of Middleport longhouses has taken place, archaeologists have found that the floors of these buildings were pitted with numerous storage and refuse pits and the stains left by a wide variety of interior support posts. Indeed, the density of pits within longhouses of this stage is greater than those of the preceding or succeeding stages. This suggests that Middleport longhouses (and villages) may have stayed in active service for a long time.

Other Middleport settlements include small 'cabin' sites. These may have been occupied during periods of crop harvesting, or may have been occupied as satellite settlements to the main village. Fishing camps are also known to have been used by Middleport people, particularly in the upper reaches of the St. Lawrence River.

SUBSISTENCE

Middleport people raised corn and beans. The cultivation of these staple crops had become increasingly important during the preceding 500 years and by Middleport times was a major source of food. Deer and other mammals, and fish were continued to be important sources of food.

In order to raise sufficient food to feed a whole village full of people, Middleport farmers cleared and planted substantial tracts of land surrounding their villages.

BURIALS

Pickering people (who preceded Middleport in south-central and eastern Ontario) had begun the tradition of periodically burying the dead from a village in mass graves. By Middleport times this tradition was firmly established, culminating in the well documented 'Feast of the Dead' rituals of the Huron.

Although relatively little data is available, it seems clear that Ossuary burial was the main way in which Middleport people disposed of their dead. Few undisturbed burials have been found on the Middleport sites which have been excavated. Those that have been located are usually of children, who, for whatever reason were not exhumed for collective burial. Others are represented by a few hand or foot bones and teeth - items which may have been missed during the disinterment for reburial.

Two large ossuaries north of Toronto were found within a few hundred metres of Middleport villages and are assumed to have been the communal burial places for the inhabitants of those villages.

ARTIFACTS

STONE TOOLS

One of the characteristic artifacts of Middleport sites is small, thin notched arrowheads. These artifacts tend to be long and slender and some have concave bases. Small unnotched triangular points are also found on Middleport sites.

Middleport people also used a wide variety of small chert flakes and scrapers as well as ground stone adzes, hammers and grinding stones. Generally though, Middleport people are not known for the excellence of their stone tool work.

POTTERY

The pottery made by Middleport people is similar in many ways to that made by those that preceded them, and by those that followed. They favoured globular, round bottomed pots made by the paddle and anvil method. During the Middleport phase the use of collars (a distinctive thickening of the rim) increased and castellations were common. The bodies of Middleport pots were usually plain. 

Archaeologists have identified a number of 'types' or patterns of decoration on Iroquoian pottery in Ontario. The most common types found on Middleport sites are Ontario Horizontal and Middleport Oblique. Middleport people used some of the broken fragments of pottery which littered their villages to make beads and gaming discs. These were plain or decorated body sherds which were ground round, and sometimes drilled.

PIPES

Middleport people made a wide variety of pipes. Pipes with conical, barrel shaped or cylindrical bowls were the most popular. In most instances the stem joins the pipe bowl at an angle close to ninety degrees forming a distinct elbow, (later pipe have more curved stems). Pipes with trumpet shaped bowls tend to occur late in Middleport times. Similarly effigy pipes, which are a common feature of Late Iroquoian sites, are relatively rare in Middleport times. 

BONE TOOLS

The bones of animals caught for food provided a ready source of raw materials for making tools and ornaments. Middleport people made awls, arrow points and pins from a wide variety of mammal bones. Cut sections of bird bone were polished and used as beads. Bears teeth were drilled or grooved so that they could be suspended as pendants. Deer toe bones were also drilled and used as beads or as part of the 'cup and pin' game of skill. Lengths of polished bone tune were probably used for 'sucking out' disease during shamanistic curing ceremonies.

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