Editing Bas-Saint-Laurent (section)

=== Prehistory and proto-history ===

The first inhabitants of the area that is now known as Bas-Saint-Laurent lived on the shore of the estuary soon after the glaciers melted{{sfn|Fortin|Lechasseur|1993|p=64}} Archeological excavations between 1980 and 1990 around Bic and Rimouski indicate an amerindian presence during the Paleoindian, between 9,000 and 8,000 BP years, according to Pierre Dumais and Gilles Rousseau.{{sfn|Fortin|Lechasseur|1993|p=64}} and between 10,000 and 8,000 BP years according to Claude Chapdelaine.<ref name="C.Chap272">{{cite journal |last1=  Chapdelaine |first1= Claude |date= 1996 |title= Réflexion sur l'ancienneté du peuplement initial du Québec à partir de nouveaux indices matériels du Paléoindien récent de la région de Rimouski, Québec |url= http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/033100ar |location= Quebec |journal = Géographie Physique et Quaternaire |volume= 50 |issue= 3 |page= 272 |doi= 10.7202/033100ar |doi-access= free }}</ref>

Paleoindian sites discovered on an ancient beach {{convert|80|m|abbr=on}} above and a sea shelf contained stone tools and [[lithic flake]]s, indicating an [[Industry (archaeology)|industry]] belonging to the Plano culture. These nomads inhabited the region and practiced a hunter-gatherer lifestyle.{{sfn|Fortin|Lechasseur|1993|p=66}}

A second period, the Archaic covers about 5,000 years and starts at around 7,000 BP to end 2,500 years ago in the south of Quebec. In 1977, researchers listed 19 sites in the region; six near the   estuary and thirteen inland. The [[Archaic Period (Americas)|Archaic Period]] is characterised by nomad populations using various methods to use more efficiently the resources of the land. The sites are often located near small lakes or along rivers like the [[Touladi River]] in the Témiscouata. The [[Artifact (archaeology)|artifacts]] discovered seem to indicate these groups preferred hunting rather than fishing.{{sfn|Fortin|Lechasseur|1993|pp=66–67}}

Four sites are located in the [[Bic National Park]]. The most ancient, dated at around 4,000 years old, is located on the east shore of the [[Orignal's Cape]]. It is an old abandoned marine shelf abandoned 1,000 years ago by the [[Sea of Goldthwait]]. Aside from tools and lithic flakes, archeologists also found broken and heated stones, sign that the inhabitants created hearths with which they cooked food and maybe [[Smoking (cooking)|smoked the meat]].{{sfn|Fortin|Lechasseur|1993|p=67}}