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Fleur de Lys Soapstone Quarry National Historic Site
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| For two centuries mines
on the Baie Verte Peninsula have yielded gold, copper
and asbestos, but the area's oldest mine is the Dorset soapstone quarry at
Fleur de Lys, dating to about 1600 years ago. here, over a period of perhaps
several hundred years, the Dorset people, using hammerstones, chisels and
scrapers, quarried more than 200 rectangular and oval blocks of soapstone
which they shaped into pots, bowels and seal oil lamps. they used most of the
pots themselves, but traded some, and bits of Fleur de Lys soapstone have
been found at other places in the province. Maritime Archaic artifacts have
been uncovered at Fleur de Lys, so they may have used the quarry before the Dorsets arrived. A wooden walkway provides easy viewing of the cliff face
where the soft mineral was quarried. Nearby the wheelchair accessible museum
tells the intriguing story of this early mine. |
| Season |
May
15 - Sept 31
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| Location |
Fleur
De Lys
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| Contact |
Neil Lewis |
| Mailing
Address |
General Delivery
Fleur de Lys, NL, A0K 2M0 |
| Telephone |
709-253-2126 |
| Fax |
709-253-2121 |
| E-Mail |
dorseteskimo@nf.aibn.com |
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Did You Know?
The quarry was proclaimed a National Historic Site in 1982. |
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