Von Mach Site facts for kids

The Von Mach Site is a special place in Brooksville, Maine. It's an archaeological site, which means it's a spot where scientists study how people lived a long time ago. This site is on the south side of the Bagaduce River, across from Castine.

The most important part of the site is a big shell midden. A shell midden is like an ancient trash pile, mostly made of shells from seafood people ate. This midden shows that people lived here for a very long time. When an early archaeologist named Warren K. Moorehead dug here in the 1920s, he found amazing things. He said some of the pottery found here was among the most beautifully decorated he had ever seen on the New England coast. Because of its importance, the Von Mach Site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

What is the Von Mach Site?

The Von Mach Site is a place where archaeologists learn about the past. It's located in Maine, a state in the northeastern United States. The site is known for its large shell midden. This midden is a big pile of shells, bones, and other things left behind by people who lived there thousands of years ago.

Archaeologists dig carefully through these layers. They find tools, pottery pieces, and animal bones. These finds help them understand what life was like for the ancient people. They can learn about their diet, their tools, and even their art.

Why is the Von Mach Site important?

The Von Mach Site is important for several reasons. First, it shows a very long history of people living in this area. The different layers in the midden tell a story over time. Second, the discoveries made here were very special. Warren K. Moorehead, a famous archaeologist, found some of the most decorated pottery ever seen in New England at this site. This tells us that the people who lived here were skilled artists.

The site helps us understand the history of Native American people in Maine. It gives clues about their daily lives, their hunting and gathering methods, and their culture. Protecting sites like Von Mach helps us preserve this important history for future generations.

How was the Von Mach Site discovered?

The Von Mach Site was first studied in detail by Warren K. Moorehead. He was a pioneering archaeologist who explored many sites in Maine during the 1910s and 1920s. Moorehead was looking for large shell middens. He found the Von Mach Site to be one of the biggest along the lower part of the Bagaduce River. This river flows into Penobscot Bay on the coast of Maine.

The shell midden was on land owned by an art historian named Edmund von Mach. He kindly gave Moorehead permission to dig there. Local people told Moorehead that others had dug at the site before. He even found old trenches, but there were no written records of these earlier digs.

What did archaeologists find when they dug?

The shell midden at the Von Mach Site is about 200 metres (660 ft) long. Its width and depth change in different places. Moorehead and his team dug trenches that were about 100 metres (330 ft) long and 40 metres (130 ft) wide in total. The deepest part of the midden was between 3 feet (0.91 m) and 5 feet (1.5 m) deep.

Most of the shells found were from quahogs. These are a type of clam that still lives in the area today, though they are smaller now. Moorehead identified ten different layers in the midden. These layers often switched between plant material and thick layers of shells.

Most of the ancient tools and items were found in the lower, older layers. These finds included layers of ash from old fires, shells that were blackened by heat, pieces of pottery, and tools. Many tools were made from bone, such as awls (for piercing), gouges (for carving), and fishhooks. They also found evidence of stone tool making, like small stone flakes left over from shaping tools.