ORONO – Adrian Burke, an assistant professor of anthropology and quaternary studies at the University of Maine, and four UMaine students will conduct an archaeological survey of the Fish River drainage area of northern Maine through Aug. 22.

UMaine undergraduate students Kendra Glueck of Winterport, Peter Leach of Penobscot, Christina Caparelli of North New Portland, and Rob Lore of Highland Park, N.J., a graduate student in quaternary studies, will accompany Burke.

The team will search for clues that will help them to better understand what life was like for American Indians in the region before contact with European settlers.

The researchers will determine sites for future archaeological excavation, and lay the groundwork for a long-term research project that will include a UMaine summer archaeological field school in the region.

“It’s always exciting when you begin a project, but this is particularly exciting because this area of the state is virtually unexplored, archaeologically,” Burke said.

The Fish River drainage is located in the upper St. John Valley and consists of a series of large lakes emptying via the Fish River into the St. John River at Fort Kent. The region remains part of the territory of the Maliseet and Micmac Indian Nations of Maine, Quebec and New Brunswick.

Details about American Indian presence, before contact with Europeans, in the Fish River drainage are almost completely unknown. Only six archaeological sites are registered in state prehistoric surveys, and none have been professionally excavated or investigated.

Burke has worked in the areas surrounding the Fish River drainage for the past 10 years, particularly at sites in New Brunswick and Quebec, where he has found extensive evidence of prehistoric occupation.

He said he believed that this unstudied region in northern Maine will provide additional and complementary information about regional trade and exchange networks in northern Maine, Quebec and New Brunswick; portage routes and transportation in the interior; and older occupations related to ancient landforms not yet found in this region.

“People in the southern half of Maine may tend to forget about the connections that northern Maine has had historically with other parts of the northeast. The border between Maine and Canada doesn’t exist in terms of the kind of work we do.

“Culturally, socially and economically the people in this part of northern Maine were tied to what’s now the Maritime Provinces and southern Quebec more than they were with southern New England,” Burke said.

The fieldwork will be conducted by canoe, with the researchers paddling along the shore and disembarking at places that appear to have archaeological potential. Those areas will be partially identified beforehand using topographic maps and aerial photographs, and by looking at the patterns of site distribution in neighboring regions.

Mapping of the sites will be followed by a lab analysis of artifacts to determine the ages of the sites and if there are patterns relating to site locations and landforms. The researchers also will try to find sites that are not associated with contemporary river and lakeshores, such as quarry sites where stone tools were made.

“Working with Dr. Burke in the field is what I am looking forward to the most,” said Leach, a senior anthropology major. “This is an important area to research because it is potentially undisturbed by damming and logging, and the sites in the area will be more intact than sites on any other river if that is the case. Since undisturbed archaeological remains can offer the most information to archaeologists, this area has a lot of potential.”

This fall, Burke will prepare a report detailing initial findings and the direction of future research. He will present it at the Maine Archaeological Society meeting at UMaine on Oct. 27, an event open to the public.

Burke said UMaine will collaborate with researchers at the University of Maine at Fort Kent, the University of Maine at Presque Isle, the University of Southern Maine and West Virginia University. The project also will receive data from glacial geologists, geomorphologists and paleoecologists at UMaine’s Institute for Quaternary and Climate Studies.

Burke, who began his appointment at UMaine in the fall of 2001, is excited about expanding UMaine’s program of archaeological research within Maine.

“Knowing Maine’s past is important, and we want to get our students involved in that process. It helps them to see just how exciting Maine archaeology is,” Burke said.

“Many people don’t realize that there’s a lot of archaeology to be done here in Maine,” said Glueck, a senior anthropology major. “The first thing people think of when they think of archaeology is treasure hunting, or excavations in Egypt or South America. But the treasures we are looking for are keys to the past, not gold or silver, and they can be found at sites all over the world. It’s so exciting to be going out into the field.”