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The Turner site is one of the more well known Red Paint People sites along with the Nevin site. The Turner site is located on North Haven Island which is one of the Fox Island group in Penobscot bay located approximately at the center of the Maine coast.
Maine coast showing Turner site Dig taking place in 1972 in relation to others in the same area Click on thumbnails to see larger images The Archaeological dig has produced four occupations. 1) Occupation one has little to connect it to the Red Paint Culture and has yielded little in the way of artifacts 2) However occupation two seems to be the one that has reveled the most in regard to the Red Paint people and this is due mainly to shell midden deposits. The shell middens have a tendency to reduce the acidity of the soil so that much has been preserved and has yielded artifacts that are similar to those found in other parts of Maine and Canada. Below are a few of the artifacts recovered from the turner site. Click on thumbnails to produce larger images
Barbed Bone Fish Hooks A zoomorphic plummet
Barbed Spears of Swordfish Rostrum The age of Occupation 2 deposits range from 4555 ± 95 B.P to 2705± 60 B.P. In addition: Analysis of data from seismic profiles and sediment cores throughout Penobscot bay indicates that Mean High Water stood approximately 4 m below modern levels during Occupation 2 times . . . This suggests that significant areas of the Occupation 2 midden have been submerged or destroyed by erosion (Bourque 1995 p.43) Faunal data suggests that Occupation 2 represents a more or less year-round (or at least extended multi-seasonal) habitation. Brief periods of total abandonment cannot be ruled out, but the site probably served at least as the central base for a community for at least one year. Perhaps the most likely season for abandonment was the spring, when anadromous [river migration] fish runs may have attracted many to riverine camps. However equally plausible is the notion that some people, perhaps elders and small children with their mothers, remained at the site year round. (Bourque 1995 p.93) 3) Occupation 3 of the Turner Farm site is considered to be in the Susquehanna tradition and is even more extensive and again this is due to the shell middens. Although a great deal of information was obtained from the refuse heaps. It dates from 4020± 80 B.P. to 3105± 75 B.P. 4) Occupation 4 has been termed the "Ceramic Period" and has also yielded many artifacts of ceramic pottery. Dates of Occupation 4 are from 3280± 50 to 115± 65. |
