Ceramic Period occupation of the central Maine coast: Hunter-gatherer estuarine adaptations in the St. George River drainage

Archaeologists in Maine assume that the structure and resource characteristics of estuarine zones naturally promote logistical resource procurement strategizing by Ceramic Period hunter-gatherers. Coastal hunter-gatherers in Maine and elsewhere in the world have been described as semi-sedentary, with attendant higher population densities and complex social organization. However, little archaeology has been done, beyond using environmental circumstance and seasonality determinations, that substantiates these assumptions. A critical examination of the current state of knowledge regarding estuarine structure and productivity and archaeological coastal hunter-gatherer adaptation models and case studies is presented. A model is offered that tests current assumptions on the basis of inter- and intra-site assemblage variability. A major assumption of this model is that hunter-gatherer logistical collecting strategies will have specific archaeologically patterned corollaries in assemblage and site structure. Data to compare and contrast with the model is supplied by artifacts and faunal material from six Ceramic Period shell-midden sites located in the St. George River estuary in Maine. This study reveals that Ceramic Period coastal hunter-gatherers in Maine used an assortment of activity and subsistence strategies on annual and seasonal bases. It is concluded that coastal hunter-gatherers cannot be conveniently restricted to one mode of resource procurement. General notions about how hunter-gatherers organized themselves in coastal environments must be tested against the structure and patterning of artifact assemblages and sites and not rely solely on physical environmental characteristics or site seasonality based on faunal remains. Future research on coastal hunter-gatherer adaptation in coastal Maine and other areas must modify site excavation and areal survey procedures to escape from site-specific interpretation and attempt to reconstruct larger systems. Demographic reconstruction and precise chronological controls are necessary before any meaningful statements can be made about the nature of a coastal hunter-gatherer settlement and subsistence system. The search for middle-range archaeological correlates for specific resource procurement strategies must continue. This dissertation provides a critical review of coastal hunter-gatherer archaeology and an admonition to avoid stereotyping these people as inevitably semi-sedentary, logistical collectors, restricted by an estuarine determinism