The Auger Site reflects a time when the Huron people were concerned about safety. They had traditional enemies, including some of the New York Iroquois peoples, whose swift raids might come at any time. They were doubtful about the intentions and good will of the French, whose presence in Quebec had unsettled much of the ancient network of alliances and enemies in the Great Lakes. And of course, they were surrounded by deep woods where bears, wolves and perhaps even pumas flourished. More troublesome, though less frightening, were the smaller scavengers -- skunk, raccoon and domestic dogs. Finally, there were the threats of nature: snow and fire.The Auger village was carefully situated and constructed, therefore, in order to ensure the greatest possible protection from these sources of difficulty. Two factors contributed to this protection:
Natural defenses -- Steep hillside slope to the south and eastFortifications -- Three-row wooden palisade
The palisade, together with the steepness of the terrace, provided a strong defense against attack from the Coldwater Valley. There is no evidence that the Auger village was ever successfully attacked by enemies, but traces of burning have been found in many parts of the site.
The builders of the Auger village chose a location on a sandy hillside terrace, 58 meters above the valley of the Coldwater River. The terrace itself is broad and fairly flat, but beyond its edge the ground drops away quite sharply. (One kilometer to the east, the same terrace edge forms the main slopes of the Mount St Louis ski resort.)The elevation of the terrace provides a broad view of the Coldwater valley, a perspective which would have been even more marked in the 17th century when surrounding trees and brush had been removed. It would be difficult for anyone to follow the stream, in canoe or on foot, without being seen from the village.
Even if enemies should manage to penetrate the valley, the terrace edge provided a strong defense for the village. Enemies would have to climb its steep slope in order to reach the village. Defenders, on the other hand, could shoot down or roll rocks down the hill. Certainly, many large rocks were found around the traces of the palisade on the hillside slope, and few rocks were found in other palisade contexts in the site.
The hillside terrace thus protects the east and south sides of the village. There are no natural defensive landforms on other sides of the village, however, as the land slopes up at a less precipitous angle to the top of the Mount St Louis ridge. The Auger village planners were clearly aware of this weakness in their defenses.
From its initial period, the Auger village was entirely surrounded by a palisade of three or more rows of thick wooden posts. This palisade ran along the edge of the terrace, on the east side of the village, and circled to enclose the houses and other domestic structures.The three rows of palisade posts were generally separated by a distance of a meter or so. This left a space wide enough to walk comfortably between the rows. In many areas, this space tended to accumulate domestic garbage.
Of course, the wood of the palisade has long since decayed, but the palisade posts have left traces of their ends in the ground. These traces, known as post moulds, are dark greyish-brown soil stains 12-18 cm (5-6.5 inches) in diameter and about the same depth below the surface. Trees of this size are generally at least 10 meters high, depending upon species, so we may assume that the palisade was at least 5 meters (15 feet) in height.
The posts were not set close together, as illustrations and modern reconstructions suggest. In each row, the posts were separated by a distance of 35 centimeters or more. This is wide enough for most people to slip between them, a factor which would seem to reduce their effectiveness for defense. It would have been easy to pass through all three rows of palisade in this manner.
Prof. J. N. Emerson, working at the nearby Warminster Site, observed that the palisade posts seemed to be staggered between rows. Thus, looking from the outside, the holes between the posts in the outer row would appear to be filled by trees in the second or third row. Against an archer or spear thrower, this would be as effective a means of defense as a single solid row.When the Auger residents decided to enlarge their village, they began by removing the old palisade and building a new one which enclosed a much larger area. This expansion was primarily on the north and west side of the village. It seems likely that the new palisade was built before the actual village expansion had taken place and perhaps, like developers today, the builders overestimated their market. Much of the enclosed area in the north and northwest portion of the site appears to have remained unoccupied.Some 17th century illustrators' pictures suggest that palisades might have been reinforced by weaving bark or branches between the posts. This would have required far fewer large trees than a solid palisade. It would also have had the merit of being removable in other sorts of emergencies.
According to the French reports, the greatest fear of the Hurons was for fire. In a village consisting entirely of wooden structures, heated solely by open hearths, a disastrous fire could happen at any moment. Since the houses were close together, fires were difficult to contain or control; the entire village might burn in a few minutes. In this circumstance, it would have been suicidal to have a firm, fixed wall which prevented people from rapid flight. Sticks or bark could be quickly removed, and they could be easily replaced when the emergency ended. There is evidence that this actually happened at the Auger village: several palisade post moulds on the west side of the village contain white ash.
On the west side of the expanded village, where there is no protective land form, the palisade consists of as much as seven rows of posts. The rows vary in post size, some being hardly thicker than house posts (8-12 centimeters); none is as large as the great posts in the original palisade. Perhaps some of these "rows" were actually props, stabilizing the actual palisade. It seems likely, however, that the supply of large timber had been greatly depleted and that the developers of the later village had to make do with poorer materials for their palisade.
There is no evidence of a gate or other formal structure, but palisade sections with dense concentrations of posts probably represent entry-ways of some sort. Although it may have been possible to pass between the palisade posts in an emergency, these entry-ways were utilized for most purposes. Their location is marked by garbage middens, representing years of accumulated debris just outside the palisade.
Wooden planks have been found lying directly over palisade posts in two parts of the site. This suggests that the palisade was probably a solid woven structure rather than an open-work as suggested by Emerson. Such a palisade would keep out wild animals as well as human enemies, though raccoons could certainly have climbed over it. It would also serve as a snow fence, blocking the heavy drifts of the Huronia winter.