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- Lab number
- GSC-1674
- Field number
- CMC- 487
- Material dated
- charcoal; charbon de bois
- Taxa dated
- (5.25 g)
- Locality
- on the south shore of Minister's Island, Passamaquoddy Bay, Charlotte County, New Brunswick
- Map sheet
- 21 G/03
- Submitter
- D. Sanger
- Date submitted
- July 4, 0097
- Measured Age
- 1060 ± 140
- Normalized Age
- 1060 ± 140
- δ13C (per mil)
- -25.0
- Significance
- Woodland; Sylvicole
- Context
- housepit 1, Feature 15, N19.25/W31.5-32.0, 50-60 cm depth
- Associated taxa
- see GSC-1445
- Comments
- BgDs-10, Minister's Island: This is a shell midden site spanning a long time range, from Late Archaic to Late Prehistoric. Pearson (1970) tested the site with a 7 sq m excavation, and collected Y-1293, the oldest of eight dates now available. Sanger's (1987: 105-109) 85 sq m excavation a decade later was designed to explore the meaning of the early date obtained by Pearson and also to search for buried semi-subterranean houses. In addition to four such houses, Sanger found a mass grave containing the remains of 12 individuals. Similarities between the artifacts in this grave and those in the Adena-related Augustine mound, "in addition to other Late Archaic and possible Early Ceramic Period evidence, probably explains the early date ... recovered by Pearson" (Sanger 1987: 106). The four houses belong to the Middle and Late Ceramic periods, and the shell midden itself to the Late Ceramic period. Comment (D. Sanger): Suggested ages were based on estimate of A.D. 1000 as terminal date. Results of GSC-1452 and GSC-1445, however, clearly indicate that the site was occupied up to the late prehistoric period. GSC-1580 seems too recent for the associated artifact assemblage. Possibly the hearth was contaminated by recent charcoal. GSC-1581, representing a minimum date for a mass burial, is extremely useful as the burial is suspected to be Late Archaic. GSC-1674, also very useful, tends to confirm the suspicion that GSC-1580 from the same site is too young. It now appears that dentate-stamped pottery persisted in the Passamaquoddy Bay area until A.D. 900, at which time cord-wrapped stick became the predominant decorative technique. Comment (R.E. Morlan): Normalizing GSC-1452 and GSC-1445 to -25 parts per mil causes them to conform to Sanger's original estimate of a terminal date for this site.