Pickering is a name used to describe the Early Iroquoian peoples who inhabited central and eastern parts of southern Ontario between A.D. 900 and A.D. 1300. Pickering shares many characteristics with
Glen Meyer of southwestern Ontario. Indeed some archaeologists prefer to view both Pickering and Glen Meyer simply as slight regional differences of a single early stage in the development of the Ontario Iroquois. Others have argued that Pickering people expanded west into Glen Meyer territory, eventually conquering them (Conquest theory). Pickering is thought to have developed out of the preceeding
Princess Point and Sandbanks traditions. Pickering sites have been found at a number of locations across the region. They usually occur in clusters, leading some archaeologists to suggest that several separate groups occupied specific areas or 'homelands'. Concentrations of Pickering sites have been found at the western end of Lake Ontario, in the Port Hope area, near Rice Lake, in Prince Edward County and at the east end of Lake Ontario. Pickering people also lived in the vicinity of Lake Nipissing. In general, these people appear to have preferred to live close to lakeshores or rivers in areas where light, sandy soils occurred.
ECONOMY
During the Early Iroquoian period horticulture was playing an increasing part in the economy of the people of southern Ontario. Corn, beans, squash and sunflowers were grown as an add-on to the traditional staples from hunting and fishing. It is probable that in the spring Pickering people moved from their villages to fishing camps along major rivers and lakes. The summer would have been a busy time when planting, tending and harvesting crops was fitted in inbetween hunting and fishing trips. During the fall, Pickering people probably concentrated on hunting, fishing and gathering whatever ripe natural plant foods were available in the area, returning to the village for the winter to live off their stored supplies.
The importance of corn in this seasonal round probably increased through time, so that by the fourteenth century raising crops had become the main summertime activity.
SETTLEMENT
Pickering people used two main types of settlement: villages and fishing camps. On average the villages covered an area of less than a hectare and were usually located on a level gravel or sandy peninsula near a creek. The creek provided a ready supply or water, while their ravines of channels provided some measure of defence.
Villages were usually further defended with palisade walls of vertical posts set at close intervals across the neck of the peninsula. In some instances these did not encircle the whole village, and may well have been erected more for the shelter from winds and snow than for the security they provided.
Pickering villages did not approach the size attained by some of the massive late prehistoric Huron villages, and probably sheltered no more than about three hundred people. Each village contained five or six longhouses averaging 5 metres by 15 metres. The houses do not appear to have been arranged to any organized plan. Each house was heated by a number of hearths, and numerous storage and garbage pits were dug through the earth floor.
BURIALS
Pickering people buried many of their dead in communal pits. This practice, which is well documented amoung later Iroquoian peoples (see Huron) may have had its original with Pickering people. However, isolated, flexed burials have also been found in and around village sites. These people may simply have been missed during the gathering of the dead for reburial, or they may represent a separate burial tradition. Much remains to be learned about the burial patterns of Pickering people.
ARTIFACTS
Pickering people made and used a wide variety of pottery vessels. Pottery sherds form the largest quantity of artifacts recovered from Pickering sites. Pickering pots tend to be globular in shape and were made using the paddle and anvil method of construction. Collars around the rim were relatively rare, although castellations were quite common.
Most of the decoration on the pottery was applied to the upper part of the vessel. Pickering people favoured the use of dentate stamping on their pottery. This decoration, created by applying a notched tool (made of bone, stone or turtle shell) to the clay, was much more common on Pickering sites than on Glen Meyer sites. Linear stamping was also a popular technique. Push-pull - the technique of pushing, then dragging a simple tool along a linear path, was also used. Bosses and punctates were used to enhance the appearance of the pots. These were usually applied around the narrowest part of the neck.
Compared to later Iroquoian pipes, such as those made by the Huron or St. Lawrence Iroquois, Pickering pipes were crude and
un-elaborate. The bowls of Pickering pipes are generally cylindrical or slightly bulbous, and meet the stem at an angle approaching a right angle. The stems tend to be tapered and some are squared off. Decoration is usually limited to simple punctate designs (both on the bowl and stem) or one or more bands of grooves just below the lip of the bowl.