Written in the Ruins: Cape Breton Island’s Second Pre-Columbian Chinese Settlement2017 Robbie Robertson Dartmouth Book Award — Shortlisted Paul Chiasson reveals the possibility that early Chinese settlers landed in Cape Breton long before Europeans. From the very beginning of the European Age of Discovery, Cape Breton was considered unusual. The history of the area even includes early references to the island having once been the land of the Chinese. In 1497, at least a century before any attempt at European settlement in the region, the explorer John Cabot had referred to Cape Breton as the “Island of Seven Cities.” The indigenous people of the region, the Mi’kmaq, were the only aboriginal people of North America who had a written language when Europeans first arrived. This writing, clothing, and customs also suggested an early Chinese presence. In Written in the Ruins, Chiasson investigates the ruins at St. Peters in the southern part of the island, where evidence brought to light supports a theory that could answer all the questions raised by the island’s curious, unresolved history. |
Other editions - View all
Written in the Ruins: Cape Breton Island’s Second Pre-Columbian Chinese ... Paul Chiasson Limited preview - 2016 |
Written in the Ruins: Cape Breton Island's Second Pre-Columbian Chinese ... Paul Chiasson No preview available - 2017 |
Written in the Ruins: Cape Breton Island’s Second Pre-Columbian Chinese ... Paul Chiasson No preview available - 2016 |
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Acadian Age of Discovery ancestors ancient Antonio Zeno appears archaeologists archives Atlantic believed Bourinot Bras d’Or Lakes British build built Canada canal cannon found Cape Breton Island Cape Dauphin cartographers Champlain Chancewell Chedabucto China claimed coast Coronelli Daniel Barbaro Denys’s discovery earth platform eighteenth century English Estotilanda European flag Forster French military French surveyors Frislanda Ganong Glooscap Grail Greenland Guysborough Hakluyt Haliburton Henry Sinclair historians Ibid important Ingram Island of Seven isthmus Judge Haliburton Knights Templar land legends Louisbourg Mi’kmaq monument Mount Grenville mysterious Nicolas Denys Nicolo the Knight Nicolo the Younger Nicolo Zeno nineteenth-century North America northern Nova Scotia opium Patterson Peters Bay Peters cannon Pohl Pohl’s Port Prenties published redoubt region road ruins in Saint sailing Saint Peters Saint Peters Bay settlement settlers Seven Cities shore theory Treasure Fleets Venetian Venice voyages walls World written wrote Zeno family Zeno Map Zeno Stories Zichmni