ORONO – An archaeological research team from the University of Maine has identified four new sites in the Fish River drainage of northern Maine that could shed light on how people in that region lived during the Archaic and Ceramic periods, 7000 B.C.-A.D. 1500.

Adrian Burke, an assistant professor of anthropology and Quaternary studies, four UMaine students and a student from Acadia University in Nova Scotia conducted an archaeological survey of the area recently.

Stone tools and the byproducts of their manufacture were found at the four sites. The findings demonstrate, among other things, that there were far-reaching trade networks among people in what is now northern Maine, Quebec and New Brunswick.

Burke will present a talk, “Archaeology in the Upper Saint John River Valley of Northern Maine, Quebec and New Brunswick,” Sunday, Oct. 27, at the fall meeting of the Maine Archaeological Society in 120 Little Hall at UMaine. Artifacts from the survey will be on display.

“This part of the state has been virtually unexplored, archaeologically, so this research is beginning to fill in the gaps about that time period. Our initial findings indicate that this region was not on the periphery of communication and trade; rather it was connected to a much larger regional network,” Burke said.