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In the Time of
the Dawn
500 - 12,000 YEARS AGO
| As soon as glacial ice retreated,
Native people occupied the land.
At first, they lived in a landscape
of mixed tundra and scrub forests.
Eventually, as the climate warmed,
mixed forests took hold and
the great rivers of the state
became established. Communities
of hunters and gatherers collected
shellfish on the coast, fished
for salmon along the rivers
and hunted moose in the interior
forests. Trade networks connected
people from Labrador south to
the mid-Atlantic and west to
the Great Lakes |
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Oral Tadition
3,000 years ago
Prophecy
of the Seven Fires (seven prophets)
foretold the coming of the Europeans
to this continent. In response to
the urging of these native spiritual
visionaries, sometime about 1000
years ago many Natives left the
Northeastern salt water shores and
migrated inland along what is now
the St Lawrence River. Over time
newer native settlements were created
during this massive migration.
As recounted by Eddie Bassett, Jr.,
Passamaquoddy
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Detail
from the Fall Diorama,
Abbe Museum, Sieur de Monts
Spring |
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| The Ceramic
Period: 3000-500 Years Ago |
The
introduction of pottery making into
the archaeological record around
3,000 years ago marks the beginning
of the time period archaeologists
call the Ceramic Period. Ceramic
Period sites are the most abundant
in Maine, reflecting increased populations
and expansion of territories. Coastal
sites are especially common, where
people collected shellfish and seasonally
abundant plant foods, and fished
and hunted.
The Ceramic Period
toolkit found in coastal sites contains
a variety of bone implements as
well as chipped stone tools. |
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Decorative
designs on clay pots change through
time. Just as we can identify the
decade when a car was made by its
style, so do archaeologists
use ceramic design changes to date
the Ceramic Period. From the earliest,
fabric-impressed pottery through
the geometrically-stamped dentate
to the most recent, linear incised
style, pottery decoration helps
document the last 3,000 years of
pre contact history.
Visit
the "Layers of Time" exhibit
to learn more about archaeology
at the Abbe |
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| Reconstruction of
a Ceramic Period clay pot. Illustration
by David Putnam |
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| The Archaic
Period: Between 9,000 and 3,000 Years Ago
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| Climatic
warming had transformed Ice Age
Maine into a northern forest environment
of mixed hardwoods and softwoods.
The great rivers of the state were
established and became important
sources for food, and as highways
between the interior and coast.
The Archaic Period
toolkit is marked by the introduction
and prominence of ground stone tool
technology.
Ground stone tools like gouges,
celts, axes, slate
points,
bayonets and rods
were part of a tool kit for people
living in and harvesting resources
of the mixed northern forests, the
rivers and sea. |
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| 11,500-9000 Years Ago |
Paleoindian
Period
The Paleoindian tradition refers to
the earliest archaeological evidence
for people in the Northeast following
the end of the Ice Age. Following
the retreat of massive glaciers that
had covered Maine and extended south
to Cape Cod, people following large
animals such as wooly mammoth began
to inhabit the mixed tundra-woodland
environment. The Paleoindian toolkit
included finely chipped spear points,
scrapers for preparing hides and working
wood, and gravers for incising bone.
Finely made fluted points are the
hallmark artifacts
of the Paleoindian tradition. |
Cast
of a fluted spear point |
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Oral
Tradition
How Glooskap Made
the Animals Small
Glooskap made
all the animals. He made them, at
first, very large.
Then he said
to Moose, the great Moose who was
as tall as Ketawkqu's [a giant,
high as the tallest pines], "What
would you do should you see an Indian
coming?" Moose replied, "I
would tear down the trees on him."
Then Glooskap saw that the Moose
was too strong, and made him smaller,
so that Indians could kill him.
Then he
said to the Squirrel, who was of
the size of a Wolf, "What would
you do if you should meet an Indian?"
And the Squirrel answered, "I
would scratch down trees on him."
Then Glooskap said, "You also
are too strong", and he made
him little. So he questioned all
the beasts, changing their size
or allotting their lives according
to their answers.
Adapted from The Algonquin Legends
of New England by Charles G.
Leland, 1884 |
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| Support
for the development of this website is provided
by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library
Services. |
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| Reproduction of material without
written permission is prohibited. |
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