Abstract

The increased precipitation and colder weather over the last 5,000 years raised lake and river levels significantly improving their utility for human travel and transport. The birch bark canoe gave humans unparalleled access to food resources and larger cultural networks poorly understood today. On the Maritime Peninsula, bisected by large north to south flowing rivers whose headwaters flow from a common highland and whose east-west tributaries nearly intertwine, prehistoric people used birch bark canoes to establish a variety of routes also used by subsequent cultural groups as revealed by archaeological remains and the distribution of distinctive lithic materials.