No. 2 – October 1990

VOLUME 51. NUMBER 2 73
The Interior Uplands will include both the upland interior and near interior
ecoregions, as designated by the RIHPC. This ecoregion is at or above the 100' contour line,
and is characterized by transitional forests and hemlock northern hardwood forests biomes.
The Bay and Coastal Margins will consist of those areas (including the Salt Pond ecoregion)
from the immediate shoreline to the 100' contour line, which is designated as a lowland
coastal zone characterized by oak forests. The Offshore Islands will consist of those land
masses which are separated from the Rhode Island mainland by bodies of water. Those
islands include: Block Island, Conanicut, Prudence, Patience, Hog, Rose, Dutch, Gould,
Aquidneck, and Dyer.
Microenvironments. Information on microenvironments such as proximity to watersource type
and site locations was made available from USGS maps and RIHPC site files. The two major
types of water source types included those of freshwater and saltwater. Freshwater sources
included rivers, ponds, streams and lakes. Saltwater sources consisted of the actual shoreline
(ocean), saltmarshes, and salt ponds.
Archaeological site locations were
designated as having a freshwater or
saltwater source. Certain sites were
within equal proximity to both
saltwater and freshwater source
locations, and were designated as
being associated with both fresh and
saltwater sources.
Figure 1. Map of Rhode Island
showing ecoregions as defined in
this paper, and very approximate
site locations.
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