Chapter 12 - Mid-Holocene cultural adaptations to central Maine

Abstract

This chapter reviews the cultural adaptations as a result of climatic changes in the state of Maine in the New England region (United States), focusing on the central Maine region. The study assesses the potential impacts of climatic and environment changes on humans, which can be seen as vegetation and climatic changes, wetland evolution, and changes in water levels. It explores the reason for stating that a climatic perturbation or environmental change impacted hunters and gatherers living in an ecosystem with considerable biological diversity, especially if, as suspected, cultural coping devices had evolved to buffer negative aspects of environmental variability. Central Maine experienced a lengthy warm and dry mid-Holocene period. A decade-long effort has produced a Holocene record of cultural events, vegetation, wetland evolution, lake levels, and moisture balance at comparable temporal and spatial scales. Following deglaciation, wetlands of various types dominated central Maine. As far as cultural changes are concerned, this chapter states that Maine’s aboriginal populations practiced hunting, fishing, and gathering in mid-Holocene times. Finally, it indicates that though changes did occur, aboriginal people could mitigate, or at least minimize, the impacts of environmental perturbations, through prey switching and moving people from affected areas.