Saint Croix Island: A 400 Year Climate Change Story

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Northeast Region National Park Service Archeological Landscapes and the Stories They Tell" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Saint Croix Island, in the Saint Croix River, on the international boundary between New Brunswick and Maine represents 400 years of climate change stories. Today, the island is the Saint Croix Island International Historic Site managed by NPS.   The 6.5 acre island is in the Passamaquoddy homeland and is a significant cultural site for Canada and France. NPS consults with all three nations about management. The Monument commemorates the French attempt to establish a colony in 1604. Settled in the Little Ice Age, the colony failed and half the French explorers died. Today NPS manages the island for other climate change impacts. We are seeing storm events increasing in both intensity and frequency leading to bluff erosion that has whittled the small island down, risking loss of the cultural resources the Monument was created to protect. NPS is using climate change scenario planning, intensive non-invasive archeological survey, and stakeholder engagement to adapt.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2020   •
• Northeast Region National Park Service Archeological Landscapes and the Stories They Tell

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 916