Fort Toulouse Archaeological Site - BjCf-02

Fort Toulouse Archaeological Site is valued as a mostly undisturbed example of a French military facility that was established at the time the Acadians were moving into Cape Breton from mainland Nova Scotia, after the French loss of that area to the British in 1713. The fort was built to protect the village of the same name and the nearby short overland transportation route from the Atlantic to the Bras d'Or Lakes in the interior of Cape Breton. Occupying an open grassy area, which has apparently remained open in an otherwise heavily wooded setting as a result of earlier occupation activities, Fort Toulouse over looks both the village and approaches to the transportation route that it was built to protect. A study of artifacts found at Port Toulouse could provide a basis for comparison with those at Louisbourg and information about interaction between various French strategic points. Excavation of the Port Toulouse structures would contribute to knowledge of relatively simple, frontier-style military structures.