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Home arrow Timeline arrow Prehistory arrow The Prehistoric Era
The Prehistoric Era Print E-mail
Written by The Editors   

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PEOPLE OF THE DAWN LAND

For at least 10,000 years before European settlement, this region was the home of Native American tribes. Indians traveled with the weather, spending summers on the coast where they were extraordinary fishers and hunters.  Precious little evidence of these people are on display locally.

We know extraordinarily little about the diverse native cultures that flourished in the Seacoast region for at least 10,000 years. We assume our Paleo-Indian founders were part of the migration across the land bridge at the Bering Strait following the last Ice Age. We know they were sophisticated and resourceful hunters, able to catch giant deep sea swordfish from dugout canoes as early as the Late Archaic Period 4,000 years ago. We know that soon after the arrival of foreign settlers in the 1600s, native populations were literally wiped out. In Western NH, for example, 98% of the Abnaki speaking people succumbed to the spread of European-borne disease, war and colonization.

Prehistoric Seacoast NHReconstructing Seacoast life before the "contact" period is a tricky task at best. We have so few puzzle pieces, even when combined with numerous artifacts found in the NH Lakes Region and along the Merrimack River near Manchester. Nearby Maine is riddled with important sites. Reports beginning in the 18th century documented large shell middens or piles of prehistoric kitchen debris including discarded shells, bones and tools. Here we find the mysterious " Red Paint People " who may have marked their burial sites with reddish mineral deposits. Studying prehistoric coastal people is an especially difficult puzzle because the NH Seacoast, part of the Gulf of Maine that extends south to Cape Cod in Massachusetts, has changed shape over the years. Sea level has risen at least 150 feet since Paleo and Archaic Indian days. That means the secrets of their existence may be lost forever, buried miles out to sea.

The most extensively researched and excavated site in our region was the 1974-75 dig in Seabrook, completed just before construction of the nuclear power plant there. This University of New Hampshire project proved the Winnicunnet region, a marshy area not far from modern Hampton Beach, was occupied for at least 4,000 years. Methodically unearthed and analyzed the artifacts include the bones of large and small animals, turtles, codfish, birds and sizable deposits of shells mixed with stone weapons, tools and clay pots.

Funding for scientific study of the region's primitive heritage is hard to come by. The work involves untold hours of scientific work by colleges, professionals, students, and volunteers. Programs like S.C.R.A.P. , a "hands on" field study effort organized by the NH state archeologist, provide crucial training. An active all volunteer NH Archeological Society publishes detailed site reports that are available to the public.

Many collections of Native American artifacts were excavated years ago, but have yet to be effectively studied with modern techniques. Some human skeletal remains have been recently reburied at the request of modern NH Native Americans. But prehistoric artifacts from coastal and inland NH Indians can be seen at local museums. Fundraising efforts are underway to create a new museum to house the Howard Sargent Collection.

No efforts will ever bring back the rich native heritage lost to time and modernization. Today the people who lived here for thousands of years are known simply by the stone weapons they crafted . For lack of more data, archeologists call them "small stemmed point" people. Contemporary Native Americans call them sacred ancestors. Only by listening to the combined voices of modern historians and modern Indians, can we all hear the whisper of their ancient songs.

 

Calendar
Mother Courage
May 16 - 17, 2008
Our mainstage season wraps up in May with the Senior Youth Repertory Company production of Bertolt Brecht’s epic masterpiece Mother Courage and Her Children. Through Brecht’s stark vision, the play relentlessly questions the distinctions between war, bu...

Remembering Oney Judge
May 17, 2008
PORTSMOUTH -- In commemoration of the Bicentennial Anniversary Year that ended the legal U.S. Atlantic Slave Trade and Annual Spring Symposium From Saturday, May 17, 2008 - 9 am to 1 pm - Keynote: Cheryl LaRoche describing him life at Presid...

Books & Blooms Sale
May 17, 2008
BRENTWOOD -- Our Annual Books & Blooms Sale is scheduled for Saturday, May 17th from 9 - 11:30 am! Come to the Mary Bartlett Library, 22 Dalton Road in Brentwood, to purchase lots of books for little money - and purchase great plants at great prices. Pl...

Lighthouse Cruise
May 17, 2008
Lighthouse cruise from Portsmouth aboard the Thomas Laighton, sponsored by the Isles of Shoals Steamship Company. This cruise will leave from the Isles of Shoals Steamship Company dock at 315 Market Street in Portsmouth, across from the Sheraton Harbors...

American Lighthouse Foundation Annual Dinner
May 17, 2008
Portsmouth Elks Lodge, 500 Jones Ave., Portsmouth, NH. Buffet dinner featuring garden salad, baked stuffed haddock, chicken breast with fruit glaze, roast beef, and more. The featured speaker at the dinner will be Chris Mills, author, former lighthous...

2nd Portsmouth Peace Treaty Commemorative Concert
May 17, 2008
Seacoast Wind Ensemble presents “Peace & The Presidency: Music for Washington, Lincoln & Theodore Roosevelt” featuring Aaron Copeland's "Lincoln Portrait" narrated by Phillips Exeter Chaplain Robert Thompson. At The Music Hall. In 1905, diplo...

Free Gaelic Football Clinic
May 18, 2008
Gaelic Football is a FUN, fast moving high scoring game that incorporates the skills used in playing soccer and basketball. When- Sunday, May 18th, 2008 Where- Stevens Field-Stratham, NH Ages- 5-12-Boys & Girls Cost- FREE!! Prior Expe...

Mother Courage and Her Children
May 18, 2008
Our mainstage season wraps up in May with the Senior Youth Repertory Company production of Bertolt Brecht’s epic masterpiece Mother Courage and Her Children. Through Brecht’s stark vision, the play relentlessly questions the distinctions between war, bu...

4 Walls 1 Roof Meeting
May 19, 2008
Join the new "seacoast chapter" of 4 Walls 1 Roof, a network of women business owners and professionals who collaborate on a variety of marketing initiatives for our respective businesses. Members offer services or products for home owners, fr...

Greenability Lecture & Soup
May 19, 2008
EXETER -- Blue Moon Natural Foods, 8 Clifford Street, Exeter, celebrates its thirteenth year with “an intergenerational green initiative” that includes three different cooking series running through May. The anniversary schedule of events promoting h...

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