Paleoindians and the Younger Dryas in the New England-Maritimes Region
Section snippets
Introduction and background
Marking the end of the last major climate reorganization, the Younger Dryas (YD), 12,900–11,600 calendar years before present (cal BP), was the most significant rapid climate change event during the last deglaciation of the North Atlantic region (Dansgaard, 1993, Alley, 2000, Broecker et al., 2010, Carlson, 2010). In the North Atlantic region, Greenland ice core data show a centennial-scale climate reversal from warm to cold at the onset of the YD, and an extremely rapid change back to warm
Physiography, drainage, toolstone
Extending from eastern New York to southeastern Québec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, the NEM study area is dominated by alternating mountain and lowland sections. On the west, major barriers to movement include the eastern slopes of the Adirondacks and the Appalachian Plateau, with peak elevations exceeding 1400 and 1200 m respectively in eastern New York. Moving east, the Hudson-Champlain and Connecticut lowlands, drained largely by the south-flowing Hudson and Connecticut rivers, mark major
The Younger Dryas in the New England-Maritimes
During the Paleoindian occupation of the NEM, dramatic environmental changes influenced the surroundings in which these people lived. Pollen records from Maritime Canada (Mott et al., 1986, Levesque et al., 1993, Mayle et al., 1993, Mayle and Cwynar, 1995) and New England (Peteet et al., 1990, Peteet et al., 1993, Shuman et al., 2002, Shuman et al., 2004) record the impact of the colder-than-previous conditions at the onset and throughout the YD. Warming at the end of the YD was substantial
Paleoindian Biface sequence and chronology
Newby et al. (2005, pp. 148–150) and Spiess et al. (1998, pp. 235–238) proposed the first comprehensive sequence of Paleoindian bifaces for the NEM, consisting of early (Bull Brook, Debert/Vail); middle (Michaud/Neponset); and late Paleoindian (Nicholas, Agate Basin-related, Dalton-related and Ste. Anne/Varney) biface forms. These seven “types” were defined using morphological and technological criteria (Newby et al., 2005, pp. 149–150). Newby et al. (2005) compared this proposed sequence to
Paleoindian subsistence and NEM habitat change
The rare physical evidence for subsistence at NEM Paleoindian sites suggests a subarctic, seasonal terrestrial hunting and gathering component. Thus far, evidence for Paleoindian adaptation to the marine or estuarine environments of the Champlain Sea is limited to site location data, especially near estuaries (Robinson, 2009, Robinson, in press). The Late Pleistocene Gulf of Maine/Atlantic coast is now deeply submerged (approximately 60–70 m) and consequently has not yet yielded any evidence of
Conclusions
The interpretive model presented here holds that cooling at the YD onset (circa 12,900 cal BP) fostered more open habitats in the NEM favorable to both long-distance migrating and local herds of caribou, and may have encouraged early and middle Paleoindian settlement of this unoccupied region. Conversely, warming at the YD terminus (circa 11,700–11,600 cal BP) caused a rapid reorganization of regional vegetation and prey species populations, accompanied in the archaeological record by a decline
Acknowledgements
We thank Lawrence Straus and Ted Goebel for inviting us, first, to participate in the symposium “Human Responses to the Younger Dryas in the Northern Hemisphere: The New World,” at the 2010 Society for American Archaeology meetings, and second, to submit our paper for this thematic volume of Quaternary International. Thanks also to Lawrence and Ted, and Editor-in-Chief Norm Catto for their assistance during preparation. We also thank Richard Boisvert, Chris Ellis, Jess Robinson, and an
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