Coastal Adaptations to the Northern Gulf of Maine and Southern Scotian Shelf

Abstract

The northern Gulf of Maine (NGOM) and its watershed have attracted humans for the last 12,500 years (cal BP), and evidence of Palaeoindian marine economies is well established in adjacent regions by ca. 8000 cal BP. Sea level rise (SLR) has obscured understandings of early coastal adaptations, although underwater research and some near-shore sites are providing important insights. The earliest evidence from surviving shell middens dates to ca. 5000 cal BP, and reveals that shellfish collecting and the seasonal exploitation of benthopelagic fish were important throughout the Late Maritime Archaic and Maritime Woodland periods. However, significant economic shifts have occurred. In particular, a Late Archaic focus on marine swordfish hunting was replaced by a dramatic increase in inshore seal hunting in the Maritime Woodland period. After ca. 3100 cal BP, inshore fishing for cod, flounder, sculpin, sturgeon and other species intensified. During the Late Maritime Woodland period, shellfish exploitation declined somewhat and the hunting of small seals, and, in some areas, white-tailed deer, increased sharply. The extent and nature of coastal economies in the NGOM was controlled, in part, by SLR, increasing tidal amplitude, and concomitant changes in surface-water temperatures, in tandem with broad regional cultural shifts.