Located in West Flamborough township, the Hamilton site (AiHa-5) was the subject of surface-collection for amateur archaeologist George Gee (of Dundas, Ontario) as early as 1960. In 1969, he drew Dr. W.C. Noble’s attention to the site. Under Noble’s supervision, McMaster students mapped and excavated the site in 1970, and joined by Laurentian University students and Professor Helen Devereux in 1972. In 1976, Paul Lennox excavated an additional two houses at the site. A total of 14, 390 square feet of the estimated six-acre site have been excavated to date.

This site was considered to be the latest-dating historic Neutral town (ca. AD1650) investigated in the core Neutral territory. Initial analysis was challenged by the lack of comparative data beyond the nearby Walker Site. Nevertheless, Hamilton was used as a source for better understanding Neutral lifestyle in the 17th century and sociocultural relationships and organisation as the Confederacy crumbled.

At SA McMaster:

Sustainable Archaeology McMaster houses 22 boxes of material from the Hamilton site, including well-documented ceramics, lithics, and faunal. Some of the original records are also available.

Resources about this site:

Lennox, P.A. (1977). The Hamilton Site: A Late Historic Neutral Town. Unpublished MA thesis submitted to McMaster University, November 1977.