Multiple distinct groups historically populated Newfoundland, DNA study suggests
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — About 5,000 years ago, after massive ice sheets from the Last Glacial Maximum retreated, the Maritime Archaic peoples carved a living from the sea and woodlands on Newfoundland’s west coast.
It’s not clear where they came from or how they got there. But they left behind polished slate spears, stone axes and the remains of ancient fireplaces in rows along the beach that hint at how they hunted seals and wild game.
At Port au Choix, north of today’s Gros Morne National Park, archeologists in 1968 recovered hundreds of artifacts. There were carved pendants resembling birds, shell beads, decorative stones, quartz and amethyst crystals suggesting spiritual rites of a well established culture.
This southern branch of the Maritime Archaic mysteriously vanish from the archeological record some 3,000 years ago.