PALEOINDIAN SITE LOCATION AND SMALL SCALE SAND DUNES IN CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MAINE

Across much of the New England-Maritimes-southern Quebec region, there is a clear association of Paleoindian sites and well-drained, sandy soils. For the most part, the sand was originally emplaced as the coarse-grained facies of near-shore marine deposits (deltas) during relative sea level retreat at least a millennium before Paleoindian occupations. Large-scale sand dune formation in central Maine has been ascribed to strong late glacial regional winds. Here we point out a number of associations of Paleoindian sites with smaller scale sand dunes that might have developed during or after Paleoindian occupation, during the Younger Dryas.