The Iroquoian Sweat Lodges of Dorchester Village

During the Middle Iroquoian period (1300-1400 A.D.), semi-subterranean sweat lodges were structures commonly built on the inside of longhouses in Southern Ontario (Parks, 2018). These structures are known to have been used for health, social, and spiritual purposes (P. Timmins: personal communication, 2022). Stratigraphically, the basal layers of sweat lodges can yield artifacts that were used during shamanistic rituals and social ceremonies that took place within the structures (Parks, 2018). The lack of research on sweat lodges simply highlights the broader need to learn more about indigenous cultures across Ontario, both in prehistoric and modern contexts. In this report, the examination of the types of artifacts found in the basal and the infill layers of three sweat lodges aim to help provide further insight into the use-life of these structures and their cultural significance