Peter Timmins

I am an anthropological archaeologist with an area specialization in the lower Great Lakes and northeastern North America in general. Although I retired from teaching in 2025, I continue to be actively involved in research as an Adjunct Research Professor. My research interests encompass the archaeology of northern Iroquoian peoples, issues of current practice in archaeology, especially cultural resource management (CRM), and the continuum from hunter-gatherer-foragers to farmers in the lower Great Lakes. I am currently involved in the SSHRC funded Onkwehón:we Partnership, which aims to document, decolonize, and disseminate Indigenous and Western knowledge about the history of the Haudenosaunee, Huron-Wendat, and other Iroquoian societies. I am also interested in archaeology in the service of Indigenous peoples, and currently serve as an archaeological advisor to the Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Point First Nation.

The Dorchester Iroquoian Village and the Onkwehón:we Project: Territory, Identity and Social Interactions in Ancestral Iroquoia

The Dorchester Iroquoian Village (ca. 600-700 BP) was fully excavated by Timmins Martelle Heritage Consultants in 2004. The excavation revealed a complex community pattern indicative of at least three sequential periods of re-building in the same locale. Johnathan Freeman analyzed the settlement patterns of the site his Master’s thesis (Freeman 2019). A more detailed study of the Dorchester site is being undertaken as part of the Onkwehón:we Project, an SSHRC Partnership Project that aims to document, decolonize, and disseminate Indigenous and Western knowledge about the history of the Haudenosaunee, Huron-Wendat, and other Iroquoian societies.

The Middle Archaic II Period (ca. 5500-4500 BP) in the Southern Lake Huron Basin

This project draws on data from two important Middle Archaic sites, South Bend and Ridge Pine 2, excavated by Timmins Martelle Heritage Consultants near Grand Bend, Ontario. The South Bend site has been discussed in two conference presentations and a published paper (Ellis, Timmins and Martelle 2009). Detailed analysis of these sites was undertaken in two Master’s theses completed under my supervision. Gabryell Kurtzrock Belyea analysed the stone tools from South Bend and Ridge Pine 2 (Belyea 2019), while Jessica Russell studied the Ridge Pine 3 site (Russell 2021).

The Wheaton Ste, A “Lost” Mid-19^th Century Tavern on the Governor’s Road

The Wheaton site, located near Thamesford, Ontario, was discovered during a cultural resource management survey in 2012. Historical background research suggests that it was a tavern that was operated from the early 1840s to the early 1860s. From 2014 to 2023, I conducted excavations at Wheaton as part of the Department of Anthropology’s Field Methods in Archaeology course. While we exposed only a small portion of the site each year, we gradually gained an understanding of the site structure through the discovery of a foundation wall, a cellar feature, and an associated midden.

2023   Early Palisaded Villages in Southwestern Ontario (with William Fox, James Conolly and Andrew Stewart). Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 48, No. 3, 173-202.

2010   Going Beyond Professional and Research “Enclaves”: An Appreciation of Michael W. Spence (with C.J. Ellis, N. Ferris, and C. White), In The “Compleat Archaeologist”: Papers in Honour of Michael W. Spence. C.J. Ellis, N. Ferris, P. Timmins and C. White (eds.). Ontario Archaeology Number 85-88, 2008-2009.

2009   Don’t Fence Me In: New Insights into Iroquoian Village Organization. In Iroquoian Archaeology & Analytical Scale, L. Miroff and T. Knapp, eds., pp. 51-67, University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville.

2009   At the Crossroads and Periphery: The Archaic Archaeological Record of Southern Ontario (with C.J. Ellis and Holly Martelle). In Archaic Societies: Diversity and Complexity Across the Midcontinent, edited by Thomas E. Emerson, Andrew Fortier and Dale McElrath, pp. 787-840. State University of New York Press, Albany.

2006   Bruce Trigger’s Impact on Ontario Iroquoian Settlement Pattern Studies (with D. Smith, G. Warrick, R. McDonald and R. Pearce). In The Archaeology of Bruce  Trigger: Theoretical Empiricism, R.F. Williamson and M. Bisson (eds.). McGill-Queen’s University Press, Montreal.

1999   A Flexible Model for the Study of Prehistoric Social and Political Complexity in the Midwest and Great Lakes Regions (with John Paul Staeck).  In Taming the Taxonomy:  Toward a New Understanding of Great Lakes Archaeology, R. Williamson and C. Watts (eds.)., pp. 151-174.  eastendbooks, Toronto. 

1997   The Calvert Site:  An Interpretive Framework for the Early Iroquoian Village.  Archaeological Survey of Canada Mercury Series Paper 156, Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull. (250 pages)

1997   The Little Shaver Site: Site Structure and Excavation Methodology on a Small Unploughed Site.  In Home is Where the Hearth Is: The contribution of small sites to our understanding of Ontario's past.  Edited by J.-L. Pilon and R. Perkins, pp. 72-88.  Proceedings of the 23rd Annual Symposium of the Ontario Archaeological Society (disk version), Ottawa Chapter of the Ontario Archaeological Society, Ottawa.

2023   A Nice Place to Visit and a Great Place to Live: The Grand Bend Area as an Ancient Gathering Place. Paper presented at the Annual Symposium of the Ontario Archaeological Society held at Southhampton, Ontario, November 3, 2023.

2023   (with James Conolly, Trent University) Refining the Chronology of the Tillsonburg Iroquoian Village. Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the Canadian Archaeological Association, held in Membertou, Nova Scotia, May 4, 2023.

2022   The Dorchester Precontact Iroquoian Village: Dissecting a Spatial Archaeological Palimpsest. Paper presented at the 87th annual Meeting of the Society for American archaeology, held in Chicago, Illinois, March 31, 2022.

2019   (with Liam Browne) Gurney 3: A Multi-Component Site in Brant County, Ontario. Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the Canadian Archaeological Association, held in Montreal, P.Q., May 17, 2019.

2017   In Spite of Ourselves: Urban Archaeology at the Salmoni Site, King’s Navy Yard, Fort Malden, Amherstburg, Ontario. Paper presented in a session entitled Methodological Challenges, Logistical Nightmares and Untold Stories: CRM Contributions to Urban Archaeology at the Canadian Archaeological Association Meetings, May 10-13, Ottawa-Gatineau.

2016   The Wheaton Site: A “Lost” Mid-19th Century Tavern on the Governor’s Road. Paper presented in a session entitled Historical Archaeology in Ontario at the 43rd Annual Symposium of the Ontario Archaeological Society held at Waterloo, Ontario, November 4-6th, 2016.

2016   (with Holly Martelle) Best Practices and Lessons Learned. Paper presented at the Ontario Heritage Conference, May 12-14, 2016, Stratford, Ontario.

2016   Inverhuron Revisited: Recent CRM Investigations at Inverhuron, Ontario. Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the Canadian Archaeological Association, held in Whitehorse, Yukon, May 5, 2016.

2015   Beach Ridges, Sand Dunes and Buried Sites: Recent CRM Investigations at Inverhuron, Ontario. Paper presented in a session titled Practices and Products of Cultural Resource Management in North America held at the 80th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology held in San Francisco, California, April 15-19, 2015.   

Professor Timmins retired in 2025 and is no longer teaching or accepting new graduate students, with occasional exceptions.

Past Graduate Students and Theses

Samantha Albanese (2024) – MA (Archaeology/Bioarchaeology Program); Thesis title: “Kabeshinan: Situating the BiFw-6 site in broader Middle Woodland cultural landscapes.”

Vienna Mann (2022) – MA (Applied Archaeology Program); Thesis title: “An Investigation into the Curation of Archaeological Collections in Cultural Resource Managment in Ontario, Canada.”

Jessica Russell (2021) – MA (Applied Archaeolgy Program); Thesis title: “Ridge Pine 3: A Late Archaic Site in the southern Lake Huron Basin.”

Johnathan Freeman (2019) – MA (Applied Archaeology Program); Thesis title: “Exploring the occupational history of the Middle Ontario Iroquoian Dorchester Village site.”

Gabryell Kurtzrock Belyea (2019) – MA (Applied Archaeology Program); Thesis title: “South Bend and Ridge Pine 2: Fraternal Twins.”

Amanda Parks (2018) – MA (Applied Archaeology Program); Thesis title: “The Semi-Subterranean Sweat Lodges of the Redeemer Site.”

Rebecca Parry (2017) – MA (Applied Archaeology Program); Thesis title: “Exploring Community Formation and Coalescence at the Late 14th-Early 15th Century Tillsonburg Village Site.”

Katelyn Mather (2015) – MA (Applied Archaeology Program); Thesis title: “Situating the Pot and Potter: Ceramic Production and Use at the Silvercreek Sites, Two Early-Late Woodland Sites in Elgin County, Ontario.”

Lara Wood (2015) – MA (Applied Archaeology Program); Thesis title: “Understanding Early Woodland Meadowood Complex Settlement Patterns in Southwestern Ontario.”

Megan DeVries (2014) – MA (Applied Archaeology Program); Thesis title: “Cultural Resource Management and Aboriginal Consultation: Policy and Practice in Ontario.”