Abstract

Housepit remains are common in the Maine-Maritime region. Many have been recognized along the coastal zone of Maine and New Brunswick. Housepits present problems in the qualitative interpretation of stratigraphy. Aboriginal digging activities disturb, destroy and reorganize pre-existing strata. By digging into subsoil, no pre-existing strata would be damaged; however, subsoil could be re-deposited over other strata. Excavation of a pit into pre-existing shell midden or a pre-existing housepit disturbs cultural strata and their associated artifacts. To conceptualize digging activities, the term 'Building Episode' is used. Building Episodes consist of cultural and natural events leading to the development of archaeological remains referred to as housepits. Examples of building episodes and their implications for shell midden deposition are drawn from the Knox site, East Penobscot Bay.