REVISITING AND REASSESSING NORTHERN MAINE LITHIC SOURCES AND THEIR OCCURRENCES IN SELECTED ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES IN NORTHERN NEW ENGLAND

The Moosehead and Munsungun lake areas of western and northern Maine have been recognized as source areas for lithic materials utilized by native populations for stone tools. Changing artifact styles together with an array of ¹⁴C dates from selected sites demonstrate that these sources together with their specific rock types were utilized by Paleoindian, Archaic and Ceramic cultures. Mount Kineo (554m) in western Maine and at the northern end of Maine’s largest lake is a prominent landmark with panoramic views. Quarries from this area were documented as early as 1895. Rhyolite from quarries and talus slopes is widely distributed along in the interior region as well as along the western coast of the Gulf of Maine. However, to date, only two excavated Paleoindian sites one the Searsmont site in the mid coastal region of Maine and the Cliché – Rancourt site in Quebec are known to have Kineo Rhyolite as components.

Norway Bluff (703m) is also a prominent landmark with panoramic views. Norway Bluff and the immediate surrounding area has been considered an archaeologically significant source for chert since the 1980s. Because of archaeological investigations during this time period portions of this area were placed on the National Historic Register. Other locations proximal to Munsungun Lake and Norway Bluff, such as Willard Mountain, Willard Ridge, and Munsungun Ridge, also with panoramic views are known to have quarried chert outcrops. The 1985 Bedrock Geological Map of Maine showed that the Munsungun Lake Formation was more extensive. Within the last few years it has become apparent that high quality chert is not restricted to the area immediately adjacent to Munsungun Lake but crops out both to the northeast and southwest of those previously documented areas.

High quality chert attributed to the Munsungun Lake Formation is widely distributed beginning with the Paleoindian period. Archaic and Ceramic period sites along several river drainages and the western Gulf of Maine contain mixtures of both Munsungun chert and Kineo Rhyolite.