Date of Award

Spring 5-9-2025

Level of Access Assigned by Author

Open-Access Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Quaternary and Climate Studies

First Committee Advisor

Bonnie D. Newsom

Second Committee Member

Daniel H. Sandweiss

Third Committee Member

Arthur Spiess

Abstract

Despite their potential as a lens to examine past socio-ecological dynamics, birds have been neglected in Northeast North American archaeology. This project establishes the first in-depth socio-environmental baseline regarding birds in regional archaeology by investigating the Ceramic period-aged (3200 – 550 cal BP) Frazer Point Site (ME 44-49), located in Acadia National Park, which produced a bird bone flute during excavations in the 1970s (Sanger 1981). By combining a traditional faunal analysis of the avifaunal assemblage at the Frazer Point site, a survey of ethnohistoric literature, and an attribute analysis of regional bird bone flutes, results indicate that birds were integrated into many aspects of past lifeways from subsistence to spirituality. The highly conserved morphology of bird bone flutes in the region throughout the Archaic and Ceramic periods indicates artistic continuity. The significance of birds in past lifeways is diverse and should not be ignored by archaeologists working in Wabanaki homeland. This research serves as a baseline data set for future birds in the Northeast and as model for Acadia National Park to expand research programs using “two-eyed seeing” methodologies (Bartlett et al. 2012). Additionally, the results from this study can be used to bolster Wabanaki food sovereignty programs which seek to incorporate birds in their food work.

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