Archaeological area.

Details of Site Location: Both sides of Eglinton Avenue, west of Jane Street towards the Humber.

PDM: Borden # AkGv 4.

Boundary History: The area is huge and encompasses 30 to 40 acres.

Current Use of Property: Eglinton Avenue, parks, and some high-rise housing.

Historical Description: Eglinton Flats is an area of floodplain for both the Humber River and a tributary that ran through to the river from the northeast. It is also within close range of the Toronto Carrying Place Trail, which was one link on a major trade route linking northern and western Canada with the Gulf of Mexico. The flats would have seen great traffic in prehistory. Encampments by all of the aboriginal peoples using the route would have been made throughout the area except in flood periods in the spring and fall. Traces of these encampments reflect many different periods and cultures. The route was used during the French Regime as well, although most travellers in that period would have tried to reach the Humber’s mouth before camping. The area has been disturbed by road building and parks development and, more extensively, by high-rise construction along the north side of the parks. Despite human interference with the lands and watercourse, the area is major in scale and has major archaeological potential – probably over a major time scale. Several individual sites are known in this area and others have been predicted.

Relative Importance: Konrad ranked the site 5/5, and 5/5 threatened.

Planning Implications: Preservation of the area through parks use is recommended as long as there is no landscaping or construction by the Parks Department. Since the archaeological potential is so large, work would require substantial funding. It might be appropriate to assign responsibility for archaeology to an educational institution at either high school or university level, and obligate those with such jurisdiction to carry out full reporting. In itself, this would serve public education purposes. Reports should be filed by a licensed archaeol­ogist with the Ministry of Culture, and also with the Toronto Preservation Board. In cooperation with Heritage Toronto, the Toronto Preservation Board could then take public educ­ation to the next stage, as appropriate.

Reference Sources: Victor A. Konrad, The Archaeological Resources of the Metropolitan Toronto Planning Area: Inventory and Prospect (Department of Geography, York University, Discussion Paper Series #10, 1973).

Acknowledgements: Maps Project; Ontario Archaeological Society, Toronto Branch.