whitefish, salmon and trout were also common at many of the sites. In 1983-1985, another site was excavated. One of the largest Attawandaron villages, the location covered 13 acres of the Badenoch section of Puslinch, on the east side of Morriston, Ontario. The estimated population of the Ivan Elliot site was 4,000; the Neutrals lived in longhouses and used the village for about 20 years. Another nearby site, on the McPhee farm, owned by Raymond Reid, was excavated in 1983. The village had a population of about 1,000 around 1500-1530. The Neutral Nation's decline and eventual end can be attributed to genocide. The final catastrophe that led to its end by the early 1650s was investigated by the archaeologist Mary Jackes. The demise of the Neutral Nation occurred in spite of reports by the French, who first met it, "in 1610 as strong, healthy and numerous. They lived in the most fertile and warmest part of Ontario. They were determined to remain neutral in the conflicts between the Iroquois from south of the Great Lakes and the Ontario Iroquoians who lived to the north of the Neutral. They throve on trade, rather than war." Jackes re-examined French reports including the Jesuit Relations and the artefacts found in the Grimsby site. When grounds were prepared for a new housing development in Grimsby, Ontario, in 1976, a Neutral Nation burial site was uncovered in sheltered embayment of the Niagara Escarpment. The excavation by Kenyon was closed after only two months in 1977, and the skeletons were reburied near the original site. It was estimated that over 100 bodies were recovered at the time. "Natural disruption, disease, famine and years of severe weather would have been sufficient to begin population decline. Intensifying war, with many killed, taken captive or forced to become refugees, led to almost complete population collapse." Jackes suggested that this burial site "had significance and that it was a place of refuge... especially for women and children." See also Beaver Wars Kandoucho Petun References Citations Notes Sources Further reading External links The Attawandaron by Niagara-on-the-Lake Museum History of the Neutral Natives Huron Indians in the Catholic Encyclopedia Quebec History Niagara Falls history http://www.dickshovel.com/neutral.html Neutral people Extinct Native American tribes First Nations history in Ontario Native American tribes in New York (state) History of Hamilton, Ontario Extinct Native American peoples Iroquoian peoples History of Bruce County History of Oxford County, Ontario