November 7, 2018

325 year old fortification excavated at Quebec City construction site

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Archaeologists in Quebec City have discovered the first fortifications built in 1693 to protect New France from a major attack, in what is considered the first reinforced palisade of that era.

The discovery was made by an archaeological firm, Ruralys, that was overseeing renovation work on a building on Sainte-Ursule street, after a worker found a small piece of wood sticking out of the black sand.

“We knew we had to [be cautious] because usually we don’t find wood that deep in the soil,” said archaeologist Jean-Yves Pintal, who was knee deep in the mud on the day the site was found.

The team carefully dug deeper and found the wooden structure was nearly 20 metres in length — the first tangible proof of the rempart palissadé de Beaucours, that is featured in history books as the predecessor to the stone fortifications that still surround the old city to this day.

“It’s the first time that a reinforced palisade of that kind is found,” Pintal said Tuesday at a news conference organized by the Ministry of Culture and attended by Premier François Legault, as well as Quebec City Mayor Régis Labeaume.

Pintal said it took 500 people to build the wooden structure that stood nearly four metres high, anchored in a trench and filled with sand.

The wood, which normally would have disintegrated over the centuries, was preserved due to the humid environment of clay and water in which it was buried.

The rempart de Beaucours replaced a temporary structure built in 1690, a simple wooden wall protecting the 2,000 to 3,000 residents from arrows and land attacks.

That palisade was in place during the Battle of Quebec and the six-day siege of the city in October 1690.

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