Northeast Subsistence-Settlement Change: A.D. 700 –1300

Among the food plants listed above, Canada plum
(Prunus nigra) may be of particular importance. It
grows wild throughout the province, but is most
densely clustered along the upper Saint John and
Restigouche Rivers, the mouth of the St. Croix River,
and along the lower portion of the Miramichi River
(Gorham 1943:44). The common occurrence of plum
trees at Native sites and the recovery of charred plum
pits at Meductic led Gorham (1943) to suggest that the
prehistoric Native peoples of New Brunswick were
intentionally planting this species around their campsites.
Leonard (1996) recently recovered plum pits
from a Late Prehistoric burial at Skull Island site,
Shediac Bay, and has revived Gorham’s theory concerning
Native arboriculture. Additional evidence for
possible plum arboriculture comes from the discovery
of nine plum pits in a leather pouch that accompanied
a Protohistoric female burial from Northport, Nova
Scotia (Whitehead 1993:45). The Skull Island site also
produced 75 gm of charred groundnut (Apios americana)
tubers (Leonard 1996:144-152). This species was
an important food resource in the Early Historic period
and very likely represents a form of pre-Contact
plant use. Leonard (1996:150-152) presents evidence
that indicates that the groundnut may actually have
been introduced into the Maritimes during prehistoric
times.
Leonard (1995, 1996:168-186) also reviews the evidence
for possible Mi’kmaq horticulture during the
Protohistoric period. He cites Lescarbot’s assertion
that the Mi’kmaq once cultivated corn, beans, and
squashes, only to abandon the practice when they
began to acquire foodstuffs through trade with the
French (Leonard 1996:176). Leonard also cites Pierre
Arsenault’s 1714 account of Mi’kmaq gardens of corn
at Shediac and Richibucto, and John Giles late seventeenth
century account of Maliseet gardens of corn
and storage practices at Meductic (1996:177-180). As
Leonard points out (1996:176), both of these areas had
suitable climatic conditions for corn horticulture,
along with portions of southwestern New Brunswick.
Historic accounts also indicate that the Mi’kmaq were
growing tobacco (probably Nicotiana rustica) during
the early seventeenth century (Leonard 1996:168-174).
Monckton (1997) recently identified corn kernel and
cupule (Zea mays) fragments, and a single possible
tobacco seed from the Jemseg site. Unfortunately, the
cultural context for these specimens is presently
unclear (Susan Blair 2000, pers. comm.), and other
specimens of uncharred squash seeds (Cucurbita pepo)
and a single charred barley seed (Hordeum sp.) are
believed to date to the period of European settlement.
Leonard’s (1996) study provides a provocative
model of Late Prehistoric-Protohistoric plant use. It
begins with a Late Prehistoric hunting and fishing subsistence
strategy, supplemented by the collection of
edible berries, nuts, and roots. This much is consistent
with existing paleoethnobotanical evidence. Some time
during the Late Prehistoric period, plum arboriculture
and tuber management were introduced from outside
the region. This rudimentary form of horticulture prepared
them for the adoption of tobacco, and later, corn
(maize) cultivation. The latter most likely took place
between A.D. 1350 and 1550, in areas suitable for corn
cultivation (Leonard 1996:185). As the volume of
European foodstuffs including peas, beans, biscuits,
and prunes increased, attempts at corn horticulture,
along with plum arboriculture, were abandoned. This
model is very compelling, but much more archaeological
evidence is needed, especially in areas of possible
corn cultivation.
Faunal Resources
Faunal resources utilized by the Late Prehistoric
peoples of New Brunswick include a variety of land
and marine mammals, birds, freshwater and marine
fish, and shellfish. Today, the diversity and richness of
faunal resources varies considerably by ecological
zone within the province. Although the archaeological
record for faunal resources in this province is far
from complete, it demonstrates that this situation also
existed in the Late Prehistoric period when it affected
local patterns of resource exploitation (e.g., Burley
1981:206). There have been over one hundred zooarchaeological
reports written for the Maritime
Provinces (Murphy and Black 1996). These reports
tend to be short research papers, often unpublished,
concerning faunal assemblages from single sites, but
together they give us a glimpse of prehistoric animal
use. Stewart (1989) provides one of the few published
overview papers for this region.
It should be noted that the preservation of archaeological
specimens varies considerably between coastal
and interior locations. Large quantities of shell in
coastal midden sites counteract the acidity of midden
sediments and allow the preservation of a wider
range of organic materials, including mammal, bird,
and fish bones. Bones do not survive well at interior
sites unless they have been exposed to fire. Even then,
some denser bone, such as beaver, survive charring
better than bones of other species (Knight 1985; Spiess
1992), thus influencing the interpretation of faunal
assemblages at interior sites. Evidence of interior
Chapter 17 Aboriginal Land and Resource Use in New Brunswick During the Late Prehistoric and Early Contact Periods 325