sebasticook lake fish weir complex

Sebasticook Lake Fish Weir Complex

The north end of Lake Sebasticook is the site of the fish weir complex.

Aerial photo of Sebasticook Lake after the Fall draw down. The Alder Brook channel is clearly visible, giving us an idea of water levels during prehistoric times.

• With a caloric value six times that of any other freshwater fish, the eel was a prized catch, tasting somewhat like chicken, though quite bony. (home.gwi.net/~fks/listingpetition.html)

The 1991 draw down exposed a series of stakes driven into the stream bed. Upon further investigation 142 stakes where identified and mapped.

The first indication that the site dated back to the late archaic period was the presence of stakes cut with stone tools.

The 1992 draw down revealed a more elaborate site then previously suspected. The lower water levels of 1992 revealed a total of 630 stakes and archaeologists concluded this to be a fish weir complex not merely a fish weir site.

The contrast between stone cut stakes and steel cut stakes is evident.

A stake removed from the stream bed for inspection and study.

Mapping of the 630 stakes, the channel as it appeared during the Woodland and Archaic periods and rock emplacements.

Specimen No. Material Radiocarbon Years B.P.

Years B.C./A.D. Sample No.

1

86

90

116

142

Wooden Stake

Wooden Stake

Wooden Stake

Horizontal Log

Bark

Wooden Stake

1760 +/- 70

1780 +/- 80

2940 +/- 70

4150 +/- 70

5080 +/- 90

A.D. 190

A.D. 170

990 B.C.

2200 B.C.

3130 B.C.

Beta-52536

Beta-54918

Beta-60099

Beta-60101

Beta-60100

(Petersen & Robinson p.14, 1993)

Samples from the fish weir complex for study. Some of the stakes have carbon dating chips removed, to be used in the carbon dating process.

Investigation into the stratigraphy and sedimentology of the shoreline. Organic material found in the core sample can be used in the dating process.

Bangor Daily News article on the

Sebasticook Lake fish weir complex.

A stone gouge located at the fish weir complex.

Artifacts located at the Sebasticook Lake fish weir site.

Think like and archaeologist!!

•What can we determine about this family?

•What items would last several hundred years or more?

•What might an interrupted trend tell us?