PHYTOLITH, PROTEIN RESIDUE, AND MACROFLORAL ANALYSES AND ARCHAEOCLIMATIC MODELING FOR SITES FROM NEW BRUNSWICK, CANADA

Four sites located in Pennfield Ridge near Cripps Stream in Charlotte County, along the coast in southwest New Brunswick, Canada yielded samples submitted for a variety of analyses. Sites BgDq-38 and BgDp-4 reflect Paleoindian occupations (10,600-11,200 BP), site BgDq-39 reflects the Terminal Archaic and Early Woodland Period (3800-2800 BP), and site BgDq-40 represents a Late Maritime Woodland Period occupation (500-800 BP). The washes from three stone axes at site BgDq-39 were submitted for phytolith analysis to determine plant resources that might have been processed with these tools. Fill from a midden deposit adjacent to a house platform at the site was analyzed for macrofloral remains. The washes from four slate knives at site BgDq-39, three slate knives from BgDq-38, three slate knives from BgDp-4, and five slate knives from BgDq-40 were analyzed for possible protein residues. A slate knife from a pit feature at site BkDp-18, a Middle Archaic Period (5500-7000 BP) site along the Oromocto River in central New Brunswick, also was washed for protein residues. In addition, archaeoclimatic models were requested for Pennfield on the southwestern coast and Bristol, located in interior New Brunswick close to the border with Maine. Unfortunately, the data for Bristol were incomplete and the station closest to this location with good data is Bridgewater, Maine. Therefore, these two locations were modeled.