The Archaeology and Heritage Planning Unit maintains a computerized database with an entry for each registered archaeological site in Ontario. About 16,000 sites are documented in the database, and about 600-700 new sites are added each year as a result of archaeological investigations. To be added to the database, the site must be found and recorded by a licensed archaeologist and reported to the province. Archaeological sites in Ontario include aboriginal hunting and fishing camps, ceremonial sites and spiritual places, villages, battlefields, remnants of pioneer cabins and cemeteries and shipwrecks. This computerized sites database, which documents some 10,000 years of settlement in Province of Ontario, is currently part of the Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN).

The Archaeological Sites Database program is based on a requirement of Part VI, of the Ontario Heritage Act. Data is gathered in a standardised format with up to 70 fields of information available for any particular site. Included are detailed site location, type of site, history of research, disposition of the artifacts, and dates when excavated.

Users of the database include property owners, agents and lawyers acting on behalf of property owners, consulting archaeologists and engineers, researchers, and municipal planning staff.

The Archaeological Sites Database program is in the process of converting its computer-based site and report database to one using a topographic map-based GIS format. Conversion will be completed in 1998. For more information on this program, please contact the Archaeological Data Coordinator.