WHO WERE THE RED PAINT PEOPLE?

No one knows for sure because so few sites have been found, though it’s believed they were among the first people to live here after the Ice Age. Their name comes from the red ochre pigment found in the few grave sites that have been unearthed. They were most likely coastal dwellers who lived off the sea. Since the Ice Age, sea level has risen and the prime archaeological sites for the Red Paint People are probably deep underwater.

Henry in Pemaquid. More was used as fertilizer and road fill, but the largest amount of the midden was removed in the late 1880s when a factory turned the shells into chicken feed. The site is now managed by the Damariscotta River Association as a State Historic Site. There are hiking trails, interpretive panels explaining the area’s history, and beautiful views of the river.

Researchers believe this midden may represent at least 1,000 continuous years of use by Native Americans. In 1886, Harvard’s Peabody Museum purchased the rights to artifacts found there. Arrows, ax heads, ceramic pots, and the bones of extinct species, such as the great auk, were sent to the museum. Some of the oyster shells found measured more than a foot long.

HELPFUL SITES

• machiasport.org/points-of-interest/

• damariscottariver.org/trail/whale back-shell-midden-state-historic-site/

• mainestatemuseum.org/learn/ schedule_a_tour_or_program/museum_tours_and_gallery_programs/

• newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/ the-red-paint-people-of-maine/