The Piscataquis Archaeological Project: A Late Pleistocene and Holocene Occupational Sequence in Northern New England

Recent test excavations at two deeply stratified archeological sites in Milo, Piscataquis County, Maine have revealed a human occupational sequence which spans the late Pleistocene and entire Holocene epoch dating to at least 8,300 B.C. The Brigham site, as the more intensively studied of these sites is known, preserves a 2.0 m deep sequence of occupation in 11 natural strata, with an underlying three strata to a total depth of over 3.0 m. The Derby site, located nearby on the confluence of the Sebee and Piscataquis Rivers, likewise preserves a nearly 2.0 m deep sequence, with at least seven of 10 strata containing cultural remains. Both sites have produced diverse and numerous cultural and paleoenvironmental remains, including faunal and floral materials, throughout nearly the entire occupational sequence. These and over 70 other sites fall within the study area of the Piscataquis Archaeological Project, a cooperative research endeavor between amateur and professional archeologists which is first reported in this paper.