Montreal’s streets are lined with history, but for Hydro Quebec archaeologist Andre Burroughs, the real history is under those roads.
Whenever Hydro Quebec is working underground, Burroughs is on the scene, just in case a discovery is made.
“Whenever we have a new project, we look into the historical background of the area we’re going to be building on,” he said.
For instance, he was standing by this summer when Hydro Quebec excavated a strip of Rene-Levesque Blvd. in front of Place Guy Favreau to install new power lines. Amidst the dirt was a site of some importance: a former cemetery. While the interred had long ago been moved to a new resting place, it had once been home to the body of one of Montreal’s best known people. James McGill, founder of the university that still bears his name, was buried there, but was later reinterred on the school’s lower campus.
“After a while, we found a few bones here and there and finally, we had two complete skeletons that were still in their original place,” said Burroughs of the site.
In total, remains of 40 people were found. The skeletons will be studied, as archaeologists like Burroughs try to determine the sex and age of the individuals and look for signs of disease and violence.
The Rene-Levesque dig is just one of many. Last year, work on the Turcot Interchange was halted so scholars could retrieve artifacts from the former Tannery Village site. In 2009, a Catholic cemetery from the 1800s was discovered during renovations on Dorchester Square and Place Du Canada.
“There are archaeological sites all over this city, all over the island and year, it’s near to be able to talk about it,” said Burroughs.
