M. A. P. Renouf

Prehistoric cultures, reconstructed coasts: Maritime Archaic Indian site distribution in Newfoundland

We argue that variable and complex post-glacial relative sea level (RSL) in Newfoundland is linked to (1) the uneven distribution around the coastline of late Maritime Archaic Indian (MAI) sites (5500–3200 bp) and (2) the apparent absence of early MAI sites (8000–5500 bp), despite their presence in nearby southern Labrador. Three post-glacial RSL histories are described for different regions of Newfoundland: continuous emergence (type A), initial emergence followed by submergence (type B) and continuous submergence (type C). In areas characterized by type B or C curves, where the lowstand is greater than 20m water depth, late MAI sites older than 3000 bp are today submerged. In all areas other than those characterized by a type A curve, early MAI sites would be under water. The Northern Peninsula is the only region of Newfoundland described by a type A curve. If early MAI did occupy Newfoundland, we predict where on the Northern Peninsula those sites would be found.

In the Woods: The Cow Head Complex Occupation of the Gould Site, Port au Choix

This chapter presents Recent Indian Cow Head data from the Gould site (EeBi-42), Port au Choix. The Cow Head complex (hereafter abbreviated to Cow Head) appears to be centred on the Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland (Fig. 13.1), and its current characterization is based on published material from two Northern Peninsula sites, Spearbank (DlBk-1) (Hartery 2007; Tuck 1978) and Peat Garden (EgBf-6) (Hartery 2007). Material from the recently excavated St. Pauls Bay-2 site (DlBk-6), also on the Northern Peninsula, supports this characterization (Lavers 2009). In addition, Cow Head bifaces have been identified at L’Anse aux Meadows (EjAv-1) (Ingstad 1977) and in two surface collections at Portland Creek Pond (EbBj-4, EbBj-5) (Biggin 1985; Thomson 1987). On the Quebec Lower North Shore, sites comparable to Cow Head (EiBg-85, EiBg-86) are found at the Blanc Sablon River (Pintal 1998). Elsewhere in Newfoundland, individual Cow Head bifaces are identified in Recent Indian contexts at a small number of Bonavista Bay sites (Austin 1980, 1984; Carignan 1975, 1977), and Cow Head projectile points are identified in private collections from three sites near Burgeo (Rast 1998, 1999) (Fig. 13.1).

Across the Tickle: The Gould Site, Port au Choix-3 and the Maritime Archaic Indian Mortuary Landscape

This chapter links two Maritime Archaic Indian (MAI) sites in Port au Choix, the extensive mortuary site of Port au Choix-3 (EeBi-2) and the younger Maritime Archaic component of the Gould site (EeBi-42) (Fig. 3.1). This is the first detailed description of the latter site and we argue that it was an intermittently used field camp connected directly to Port au Choix-3. Understanding the 5,000 year-old coastal topography is fundamental to establishing this connection. We argue that the importance of Port au Choix-3 lay in its key position on the coastal travel route along the Northern Peninsula and that it was an important landmark for Maritime Archaic not just at Port au Choix, but throughout the larger region.

By Land and Sea: Landscape and Marine Environmental Perspectives on Port au Choix Archaeology

This chapter provides a palaeoenvironmental context for prehistoric human settlement at Port au Choix. It describes the physical setting of the Port au Choix region and documents the changes in landscape, climate and vegetation that have occurred over the period of human occupation, that is, over the last 6,000 years. Using terrestrial and marine proxy climate records, chronologies of climate change are compared with the settlement history of six different cultural groups.