Abstract

The Bliss Islands archaeological site inventory includes three Late Maritime Woodland (CP4-CP5) components dating ca. 1,050-1,350 BP (ca. AD 600-900), which contain significant amounts of exotic flaked lithic artifacts and debitage. We have conducted hand-specimen examinations and thin-sectioned selected lithics to identify the materials represented, and have compared them to samples from known sources on the Maritime Peninsula, to determine the sources of the exotic lithics. Our research shows that, at least on the Bliss Islands, the use of most exotic lithics is restricted to a relatively brief period. We conclude that native people living on the islands at that time acquired lithic materials that originated from widely separated sources in northern interior Maine, interior New Brunswick, the Minas Basin of Nova Scotia, and, perhaps, from Prince Edward Island and Quebec