CI[)l1:721 - Memorial University of Newfoundland DAI

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approximate 600 radiocarbon year difference between the appearance of these
in New York and their adoption in the Maritimes.
This temporal separation suggests that, during this time. some type of
cultural contact was taking place with the south. However. their distribution
suggests that these contacts are not direct. Their relative absence in Maine
appears to indicate that these external influences may be entering the mgion via
the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence River, rather than directly along the coast. Their
presence in southwestern Nova Scotia is indicative of some cultural conlacl to
the easl, as well.
Without further data, it is difficult to comment on the mechanism for the
transfer of this trait from its apparent source in New York state.
The continuity of chipped and ground celts offers an interesting avenue of
investigation. The vast majority of Early Ceramic Period examples come from
Middlesex Tradition burials. Specimens from Augustine, McKinlay, and the
Minister's Islar,d sites are all from burial proveniences. These differ from the
pecked and ground celts included in southern Middlesex burials (Turnbull 1986:
22). Chipped and ground celts, while known as a Susquehanna trait in much
of the Northeast (Griffin 1978: 254), are not common in Maine and New
Brunswick. They are found at the Turner Farm sile (Plate 11), however, as
burial inclusions in a Susquehanna feature (8. Bourque 1988: personal
communication). This may suggest continuity in, not only technological, but
ideological function also.