Pukaskwa Pit

Pukaskwa Pits are small holes dug in the ground by ancestors of the Ojibwa, [http://www.parkwardens.com/wardenswork/cultural/2.html The Mysterious Pukaskwa Pits and Other Cultural Sites on Lake Superior] ] named after the near-by Pukaskwa River. Estimations of the dates of their digging range from between 1100 and 1600 CE on the near end, [ [http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/superior/timeline.html History of Lake Superior, A Timeline] ] to 3,000 to 8,000 BCE on the far end. These rock-lined pits are dug in cobblestone beaches and are about one to two meters long and one and a half meter deep. Theories about the purpose of these pits range from hunting blinds to food storage pits to spiritual sites. The existence of these pits came into academic light in 1949, and was studied by the Royal Ontario Museum, University of Toronto and Lakehead University. [Breining, Greg (2000). [http://books.google.com/books?id=1Jn6wpWv9_sC&pg=RA1-PA46&lpg=RA1-PA46&dq=%22Pukaskwa+Pit%22&source=web&ots=t_ifMJSs9q&sig=xTLPj1WLIcRhHW64NBmrCQvy0Fc&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=9&ct=result#PRA1-PA48,M1 Wild Shore: Exploring Lake Superior by Kayak] . (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press). ISBN 0816631425.]
Pukaskwa National Park was established in 1971 to protect the large clusterings of these Puaswa Pits. [ [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9061864/Pukaskwa-National-Park Encyclopedia Britannica: Pukaskwa National Park] ]

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