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

to Loring’s (1988) regional exchange hypothesis for
the Late Prehistoric period.
Archaeological evidence for the sixteenth century
indicates that traditional summer fishing villages
were abandoned after European contact, and that
people began to move to the coast to trade (Allen
1991:37). The faunal information from archaeological
sites indicates more variety in site seasonality on the
east coast compared to the Fundy coast (Stewart
1989:56). Stewart (1989:74) indicates that the discrepancy
between the faunal evidence from the Fundy
and northeastern coast sites may be indicative of an
ethnic split, with the ancestral Mi’kmaq using coastal
sources mostly in the summer and the ancestral
Maliseet-Passamaquoddy using coastal resources
mostly in the winter.
SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION
Although the archaeological evidence is far from
complete, it is obvious that the Late Prehistoric and
Protohistoric populations of New Brunswick exploited
a broad and diverse range of natural resources.
Faunal resources recovered from archaeological sites
represent a wide range of the available modern
species, as well as extinct sea mink and great auk. Furbearing
mammals were widely distributed throughout
the province. Anadromous and catadromous fish
species were a particularly valuable riverine resource,
especially Atlantic salmon. Shellfish were important
in certain areas, especially during the Middle and
early Late Woodland period in Passamaquoddy Bay.
Archaeological evidence of plant use is beginning
to accumulate, but at a slow pace due to considerable
preservation problems. The present archaeological
evidence is obviously only a small fraction of the
species once collected in prehistoric times. Nutshells
and seeds from various wild fruits are represented in
charred form, but the green parts of plants and flowers
used for herbal medicines and beverages do not
survive in the acidic soils of the province. Wood, bark,
and plant fibers have survived only under exceptional
preservation conditions. Local variability in foodstuffs
may have been important to social and economic
interactions within the region. The exchange of
botanical products is well documented for western
Canada, including seaweeds, berries, roots, bulbs,
nuts, woods, baskets, mats, twines, and fibers (Turner
and Loewen 1998). While documentation is inadequate
for the east coast, a similar range of products
was available for exchange. Leonard’s incipient horticulture
model for portions of the province also
deserves further consideration, but at present it
should be considered speculative.
Certain rock and mineral resources were also
important to aboriginal populations in New
Brunswick. In the Late Prehistoric period, knappable
lithics were the raw materials for hunting and processing
tools. Native populations in the Northeast
sought out the best quality lithic materials in each
region, and certain higher quality lithics were distributed
over long distances. Cherts from coastal
Labrador and the Quebec interior made their way to
the Maritimes and Maine, and especially toward the
end of the Prehistoric period. Cherts, chalcedonies,
and rhyolites from certain Nova Scotian quarries were
also prized. Ground stone raw materials and clay for
pottery making were widely available within the
province. Copper was an important material for making
both ritual and domestic items throughout the
Woodland period. Only small amounts of local copper
were available, so raw copper was most likely
acquired through trade, at first from long-distance
Native sources, then regional Native sources, and
finally through European trade during the
Protohistoric period.
As archaeological evidence accumulates for the
Late Prehistoric/Protohistoric period, more finegrained
studies of settlement form and mobility
patterns in different parts of the province may be possible,
like Black’s (1992) study of the Bliss Islands. For
most of the region we are forced to look at large-scale
similarities and differences in landscape and resource
availability. Some of the major characteristics of the
archaeological areas are listed in Table 17.2. There is a
possibility that the Chiputneticook-St. Croix drainage
and Passamaquoddy Bay area had two distinct populations
during the Woodland period. The St. Croix
River is difficult to navigate. In fact, from the
Chiputneticook Lakes, it is easier to travel via
portages to the Saint John River than to use the St.
Croix. An interior population would have had greater
access to lithic resources, nut trees, terrestrial fauna,
and freshwater fish. The Quoddy Region is a rich
marine environment with sheltered coastal campsites
and a number of large islands. Terrestrial fauna could
be hunted near the coast and on some of the larger
islands. Harbor seals are attracted to freshwater estuaries,
rivers, and lakes (Beck 1983) in the early spring and
summer, and the harbor porpoise is a year-round resident
(Gaskin 1983). Cod were resident and abundant
336 Deal