Archaeologists Opened a 7,500-Year-Old Mound in Labrador — What Was Buried Inside Shocked Them

Ancient Canada reveals one of the most extraordinary burials ever found in Labrador: a 7,500-year-old stone mound built above the grave of a child, containing rare tools, red ochre, a walrus tusk — and what is described as the oldest known toggling harpoon in the world. In 1974, archaeologists Robert McGhee and James Tuck began dismantling what looked like an ordinary pile of rocks on a terrace above the Strait of Belle Isle. Beneath the stones they found an empty stone chamber. But when they kept digging, they discovered the burial of a young person more than a metre below the original surface. The child had been placed face down, covered with red ochre and buried with an extraordinary collection of objects. A walrus tusk lay directly in front of the face, while stone points, bone tools, graphite pigment, a decorated ivory toggle, a pendant and a bone whistle were placed around the body. But the most important object was a toggling harpoon head found beneath the chest. This technology was designed for hunting powerful marine animals such as seals and walrus, locking beneath the skin when pulled by a line. The Labrador example is described as the earliest known toggling harpoon anywhere in the world, revealing how sophisticated Maritime Archaic sea-hunting technology already was thousands of years ago. The burial itself was also extraordinary. The grave required a deep pit, fires, carefully placed objects, an upright stone chamber and a mound of boulders roughly eight to ten metres across. Archaeologists have estimated that constructing it may have required at least a week of labour from the local hunting group. In this video, we explore what archaeologists found beneath the 7,500-year-old Labrador mound, why a child was buried with such remarkable objects, what the ancient harpoon reveals about life on Canada’s Atlantic coast, and why some details of this burial still remain unexplained. #AncientCanada #CanadaHistory #Archaeology #IndigenousHistory #Labrador ⚠️ Some visuals are illustrative. Certain materials may be used under Fair Use for commentary and educational purposes.