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

Cultural Imp6calions
82
The continuity of Moorehead Phase and Susquehanna Tradition traits
suggests several aspects of the transitional period between the Archaic and
Ceramic Periods. These aspects form a body of hypotheses for flKther testing.
The first of these relates to the "decline' of the Moorehead Phase. The
potential for the continuar occupation 01 parts of the region by peoples using
Moorehead Phase tool assemblages counters a possible decline of the
Moorehead Phase. This raises seversl questions. The first is what, if any. were
the relationships between the Moorehead Phase and Susquehanna peoples?
Some indications appear that there wefe lew amicable relations between
the two. As mentioned previously, multi-component sites show a definite
chronological break between occupations. This suggests thatthe Susquehanna
Tradition peoples displaced those ofthe Moorehead Phase in the southam parts
of New Brunswick and Maine. 1his displacement occurred QUickly at each
particular site, as is indicated by radiocarbon chronology. How this
displacement could have occurred is presently unknown.
A notable exception to this hypothesis is the Goddard site (Bourque and
Cox 1981; q.v., Figure 12, Tables 1 and 2). Here, artifacts of the Moorehead
Phase are associated with radiocarbon dates from well into the period of time
associated with the Susquehanna Tradition. This may be indicated in the
occupation of the Goddard site by Moorehead Phase peoples during the
Susquehanna occupation 01 Turner Farm, only a short distance away. It is