L'Anse Amour Historic Site and Point Amour LIghthouse

As we travelled south along the coast of Labrador, we had seen the L'Anse Amour historic site on the map. Since I am really interested in early man sites, this one captured my attention because it dates to 7500 years ago. As with many early man sites, there is not a lot to see - this was a special burial mound of an adolescent boy - special because there seems to have much ceremony related with the burial: The body was buried in a deep and wide pit, fires burned, food was cooked and weapons and tools were placed as offerings in the grave. A large stone was placed on the boy's back and a large mound of rocks were placed over the grave. The archaeologists believe that the elaborate detail of this burial means that this young man either had a special role or association with the tribe or there was something significant about his death. The site has been excavated and the human remains have been removed. Since the grave has been reconstructed, it loses a little of its historical sense for me - I always marvel when I see things still remaining from human activity so long ago.

I also knew I had a light house to enjoy - the Point Amour Lighthouse.

It was an overcast afternoon, and it looked like there was an event going on in one of the buildings. Lighthouses always need electricity so I explored trying to find a camera angle to minimize the distracting wires. As I was photographing I heard a noise coming from the sea, a harumph! I glanced over and a minke whale was feeding just off the shoreline, gracefully surfacing to breath. I was shooting with my landscape lens, so I didn't try to photograph the whale. Instead, I just enjoyed the magic of the moment, the quiet evening, the peaceful sea, and the amazing whale as it moved off into the distance.



I came back the next morning. The clouds were still covering the sky, but the light and clouds were still different than the evening before. While the whale was no longer hanging around, this lighthouse is still a peaceful and beautiful place to sit and enjoy the beauty around you.