Quarry Fleur-de-Lys

Figure 12. Chondrite-normalized REE patterns from quarries and artifacts in Labrador and Newfoundland. Sample N is from the Fleur-de-Lys quarry on the east coast of Newfoundland L from an outcrop near the Viking habitation site at Vanse aux Meadows in northern Newfoundland F from soapstone outcrops in the Freestone Harbor region and M from outcrops of Moore s and Okak Islands on the central Labrador coast. Both E and A are artifacts which represent a group of artifacts having similar REE patterns but for which no quarry of origin has been found.

N = Fleur-de-Lys quarry, Northeastern Newfoundland. A3,CJD are artifacts grouped on the basis of REE patterns, quarry locations unknown. 

The types of variation in REE concentrations expected from a single geological source were studied at the Fleur de Lys quarry in Newfoundland. Although the absolute concentrations varied, the chondrite-normalized distribution patterns remained parallel. Analysis of debitage indicates that most materials worked were from nearby outcrops, but there was some working of soapstone from more distant quarries. Artifacts representing various Eskimo and Indian cultures over the past 4000 years have been analyzed and many have been matched to geological outcrops on the basis of their REE patterns. 

In Labrador, true prehistoric soapstone quarries—as opposed to geological outcrops— where clear evidence of mining or other extractive activities is preserved, have proved to be rather difficult to locate. An exception is the well-documented Fleur de Lys quarry, where Dorset Paleo-Eskimos apparently worked the deposits for many years (3). Quarried zones are found in two discrete localities, referenced as Localities 1 and 2, which are located about 0.5 km apart. The most intensively worked location (Locality 1) consists of a discontinuous series of areas where soapstone was removed, spaced over a distance of 200 m. Preliminary calculations based on the number of preform removal scars and unfinished preforms suggest that material for a minimum of 1000-2000 vessels was mined from this locality alone during the period of time that it was being quarried. 

Previous work had indicated that the variations of REE contents within an outcrop were less than those between outcrops (4) this conclusion required further testing for the Labrador quarries. The large Fleur de Lys quarry offered an excellent opportunity for this study. Figure 3 shows the REE patterns typical of Fleur de Lys quarry. Over half of the samples are parallel to and fall between curves 1 and 2. Although this pattern is characteristic of the soapstone in this formation, the pattern shown by curve 3 is typical of the samples found at locality 2 and one worked area (B) at locality 1. The difference between these similar types of REE patterns is in the size of the europium anomaly. In early studies, this kind of difference between soapstone samples from... 

Figure 3. Chondrite-normalized REE patterns showing the range of patterns found for soapstone from the Fleur de Lys quarry in Newfoundland. Curves 1 (o) and 2 (x) represent range of concentrations for most of the samples curve 3 (%) is the somewhat different pattern that was more typical of the Locality 2 soapstone. Range of REE patterns typical of the soapstone outcrops at Peabody Point is shown by curves 4 (n) and 5 (m).

The Fleur de Lys soapstone quarry is unique in preserving considerable evidence of the methods used to extract soapstone. The worked areas at Fleur de Lys are almost certainly Dorset (11). There is no archaeological or historical evidence that the Neo-Eskimo population, which supplanted the Dorset peoples in Labrador, ever occupied the northern Newfoundland area (12). In more recent times, the 17th and 18th centuries, the Neo-Eskimos frequented the Strait of Belle Isle to trade with Europeans. The only other people who might have used the soapstone at Fleur de Lys were the Maritime Archaic Indians, who also lived in Newfoundland. However, these people used soapstone for plummets, so it is doubtful that they would have needed to employ any elaborate quarrying methods to extract the small amounts they needed. 

Evidence of plummet manufacture was not observed from survey and test excavations at the quarry (3). There is no evidence for soapstone utilization by other Indian cultures in the area. Although no lithic tools, which are diagnostic of the Dorset culture, were found at Fleur de Lys, the preform morphology observed in the quarry corresponds to finished Dorset vessels in size and shape. Thus the consistent and uniform technology of soapstone extraction observed at Fleur de Lys is assumed to be only that of the Dorset people. Association of artifacts from dated archaeological sites may provide some indication of the length of time that the quarry was in use. 

Figure 5. Photograph of prehistoric soapstone quarry at Fleur de Lys showing site of removal of preforms from the cliff face.

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