The New England-Maritimes: Environments and Human Lifeways from the Late Pleistocene into Early Holocene

Author(s): Jonathan Lothrop; Arthur Spiess

Year: 2016

Summary

The New England-Maritimes (NEM) region in northeastern North America is noted for clear environmental signals of the Younger Dryas climatic reversal (circa 12,900-11,600 Cal BP), followed by an abrupt transition to a warmer and more dry early Holocene climate. In this paper, we first review evidence for changes in paleoenvironments and animal populations that accompanied these climatic transitions in the NEM. We then examine archaeological evidence for early human occupations in the region, focusing on (1) variation in settlement and technology, (2) the timing of changes in these phenomena, and (3) possible links with climatic and environmental shifts from the late Pleistocene into the early Holocene.

Cite this Record

The New England-Maritimes: Environments and Human Lifeways from the Late Pleistocene into Early Holocene. Jonathan Lothrop, Arthur Spiess. Presented at The 81st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Orlando, Florida. 2016 ( tDAR id: 403418)

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Spatial Coverage

min long: -80.815; min lat: 39.3 ; max long: -66.753; max lat: 47.398 ;