Subarctic Coastal Pioneers: Evidence and Implications of a New Maritime Archaic Site in Eastern Newfoundland

Summary

The earliest colonization of the island of Newfoundland was by a coastal and marine oriented people belonging to the Maritime Archaic tradition (ca. 8,000-3,200 B.P.). The exact timing and nature of that colonization and subsequent ‘settling in’ process remains largely unknown. Part of the reason for this is the dearth of well-dated, systematically excavated habitation sites on the island during the Archaic period. In the summer of 2016, our excavations at the Stock Cove site on the coast of southeastern Newfoundland recovered a significant artifact assemblage that suggests an extensive Maritime Archaic occupation. This provides some of the first evidence for the settlement of that region from a secure stratigraphic context. In this paper we will present initial analyses of these recent finds and briefly discuss their broader significance to our understanding of the role that coastal adaptations played in the colonization and settlement of northern post-glacial regions in the North American Eastern Subarctic.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Arctic and Subarctic Coasts: Current Research and Modern Challenges

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 14554