Harbour Mitchell III, archaeologists from the Maine Historic Preservation Commission and volunteers from the Georges River Land Trust, will present an illustrated talk on the St. George River Basin on Thursday, June 29th, at 6:30 p.m. at Old Town House in Union (Maine, USA). The talk will be preceded by a late afternoon field trip to Hart's Falls (registration required, call the GRLT office for more information 594-5166)
     Mitchell characterizes the St. George River watershed as among the best archaeologically preserved in Maine. "The fact that large tracts bounding the St. George are still in private hands with limited public access creates a virtually unspoiled time capsule," he says. "In addition, rather than one or a series of geographically separate sites where archaeological materials are to be found, the record here is continuous for enormous distances."
     In the areas investigated so far along the river, materials dating back thousands of years have been uncovered. In the fall of 2004, Mitchell excavated in Warren through the courtesy of a private landowner. The test pits yielded a rich selection of artifacts. Mitchell says this section of the river comprises at the very least a half mile on either bank, thus more than a mile in total, of uninterrupted archaeological evidence for 9,000 years of Native American life.
     Mitchell, GRLT and the Historic Preservation Commission plan to continue excavations this fall along the St. George. For more information about the Georges River Land Trust and its activities, check the website at www.grlt.org, call 594-5166 or email info@grlt.org.

Source: Village Soup (21 June 2006)