'The ancient New York City of Canada': Archaeologists unearth 'cosmopolitan' 1500s settlement ...... [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

'The ancient New York City of Canada': Archaeologists unearth 'cosmopolitan' 1500s settlement near Lake Ontario which was the size of Manhattan

By Daily Mail Reporter
PUBLISHED:11:06 EST, 13 July 2012 | UPDATED:16:05 EST, 13 July 2012



Scientists have unearthed evidence of a 500-year-old settlement near Lake Ontario so cosmopolitan it has been branded the 'ancient New York City of Canada'.

The recently-discovered 'Mantle site' is thought to have had almost 2,000 inhabitants in a 'cosmopolitan' area in 1500 A.D. which was the size of Manhattan.

Archaeologists say pottery and art found at the site shows how inhabitants had 'unprecedented' trade with the Iroquois - the nations and tribes of indigenous North America.

But amazingly, the same groups also acquired European goods a full century before the first European explorers arrived in that region.

More:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2172652/Archaeologists-unearth-cosmopolitan-1500s-settlement-near-Lake-Ontario-size-Manhattan.html#ixzz20co0QCzC