Great Diamond Island Site facts for kids

The Great Diamond Island Site, also known as Site 9-16, is a very old place where people lived long ago. It's an archaeological site found on Great Diamond Island in Casco Bay, off the coast of southern Maine. This site is mostly a shell midden, which is like a giant ancient trash pile made mostly of clam and oyster shells.

This special site helps us understand how Native Americans lived and used the Casco Bay area many years ago. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, which means it's an important historical spot.

Where is This Special Place?

Great Diamond Island is one of the islands in Casco Bay. It's about 2 miles (3.2 km) east of the city of Portland. The island is part of Portland. For many years, it was home to Fort McKinley, an old military fort.

What Did Archaeologists Find?

Site 9-16 is mainly a large shell midden. This means archaeologists found many layers of discarded shells from seafood eaten by ancient people.

They also found several pits dug into the ground. These pits were probably used for storing food or for cooking. One human burial was also discovered at the site.

Clues from the Past: Tools and Pottery

Archaeologists found many different kinds of fish bones here. Most of them were from Atlantic cod. This suggests that the Great Diamond Island Site was mainly a fishing spot. For example, another nearby site on Moshier Island had many animal bones, mostly from deer. This shows different ways people used these islands.

The site also contained many stone tools. There were also lots of small stone pieces called debitage. Debitage is what's left over when someone makes a stone tool. Finding both tools and debitage suggests that people lived here for longer periods during certain seasons.

Pieces of ancient pottery were also found. Scientists have figured out that this pottery was made between 300 BCE and 1200 CE. This helps us know when people were living and working at this site.