Examination
of the “Red Paint,” or Maritime Archaic, cultures
in Maine show that a seafaring culture flourished there between
4,000 years ago and 7,500 years ago. Remains of swordfish and
other deep sea fish, plummets, gouges, slate lance points and
toggling harpoons confirm that these were seafarers of considerable
skill. Images of whales, and other marine species, as well as
stylised bird heads appeared on decorated objects, such as combs
and pendants, and funeral sites revealed the use of red ochre
at burial sites. The cemeteries were inevitably placed on high
hills overlooking the sea.
James
Tuck and Robert Mcgee of St.John’s Memorial University
uncovered a rectangular stone chamber of upright stones on the
coast of Labrador that closely resembled similar stones found
on the island of Teviec just off the coast of France. Both were
burial sites where the dead were covered with red ochre, and
dating of charcoal pieces from ceremonial burnings at these
sites have been carbon dated as being 7,500 years old. The graves,
like pyramids built in Mesoamerica, were oriented to reflect
light at the time of the rising sun on one day only, at the
time of the summer solstice. And instead of a red ochre burial
we find at these sites an urn containing cremated ashes, obviously
a special treatment for a unusual person, a shaman or tribal
chief.
The
use of ground slate, a material inferior only to metal, in harpoons
and bayonets in both northern Scandinavia and the northern shores
of the Americas may not by itself reveal a shared maritime culture
7,500 years ago. But the use of red ochre, the similarity of
designs and engravings, the use of bamboo in tools, and a similar
use of oil lamps, all point to a shared culture across the North
Atlantic.
From
Atlantis in America – Navigators of the Ancient World
by Ivar Zapp and George Ericson
