CARIBOU AND SNAPPING TURTLE IN AN INNU STYLE SHAPUTUAN FEATURE IN AROOSTOOK COUNTY, MAINE

Excavations at a prehistoric archaeological site (ME 167.2) at the mouth of Presque Isle Stream on the Aroostook River in Aroostook County, Maine revealed a single component winter camp dated to 1,340+/-50 radiocarbon yrs. B.P.(BETA 196915). An elongate hearth feature composed of fire cracked rock, calcined animal bones, lithic flakes and tools was surrounded by a larger rectangle of large cobbles. The feature is interpreted as a bark shaputuan, usually associated with interior Labrador, and Newfoundland. The faunal assemblage represented by the calcined bone sample was consistent with a winter occupation and included Rangifer (Woodland Caribou) and Chelydra serpentina (snapping turtle). The presence of boreal and temperate species in a sub-arctic human feature during the Medieval warm period suggests a non-extant biological community that was separated geographically by Little Ice Age climatic cooling.