People have lived around Moosehead for more than 11,000 years, according to archaeologists, and they have arrived in succeeding waves, representing a multitude of cultures and technological advancement.

The first settlers were hunter-gatherers, thriving on the large herds of caribou that lived around Moosehead at the end of the last ice age. Distinctive spear points called fluted points, characterized by round channels chiseled on both sides, indicate the presence of these Paleoindian people.

No one knows how long these first settlers lived here, but archaeologists believe around 8,000 years ago, in the middle Archaic period, a new wave of inhabitants came to Moosehead from the south. Their settlements are characterized by stone woodworking tools – gouges, adzes and axes – which seem to be stone equivalents of tools modern boatbuilders use today. For that reason, archaeologists believe this second wave of settlers generally traveled by dugout canoe along larger waterways around Moosehead

Roughly 3,800 years ago, the Archaic culture around Moosehead was rapidly replaced by an immigrant culture from the south known as the Susquehanna tradition. These settlers used birch bark canoes. Far lighter and faster than dugouts, they could be carried on the back, and navigated narrow, shallow waterways. They allowed quick and efficient transportation over great distances, and facilitated trade between the Moosehead region and communities hundreds of miles away.

Much of that trade may have been dominated by the mining and transport of Kineo Rhyolite, a unique kind of flint. Rhyolite was prized for the ability to be shaped into a very smooth and sharp edge. For this reason, the base of Mt. Kineo is one of the most intriguing and well-documented archaeological sites in Maine.

To learn more, you may visit the Maine Archaeological Society's website:

Maine Archaeological Society