Perspectivism Mortuary Symbolism and Hum PDF

PERSPECTIVISM, MORTUARY SYMBOLISM, AND HUMAN-SHARK
RELATIONSHIPS ON THE MARITIME PENINSULA
Matthew W. Betts, Susan E. Blair, and David W. Black
Shark teeth are commonly found in mortuary and ritual contexts throughout the Northeast. On the Maritime Peninsula,
shark teeth have been identified in mortuary assemblages spanning the Late Archaic through to the Late Woodland periods
(ca. 5000 B.P. to 950 B.P.). Beyond the Maritime Peninsula, shark teeth have been recovered from Woodland period con-
texts ranging from Chesapeake Bay to the Ohio River. Amerindian perspectivism, or cosmological deixis, provides a frame-
work for understanding the relationship between humans and animals in hunter-gatherer societies. To explore this relationship,
Society for American Archaeology - American Antiquity access (392-89-746)
we examine engagements between sharks and humans over a period of 5,000 years, within a socioeconomic perspective.
We postulate that shark teeth in mortuary contexts were complex, entangled objects that were both mnemonics and instru-
ments. All at the same time, shark teeth were (1) an emblem of a real creature with spectacular predatory abilities, (2) an
icon of transformational and spiritual power, (3) a symbol of a society’s maritime way of life, and (4) a tool—a conduit
through which a person could gain access to supernatural abilities. When shark teeth were exchanged, all of these prop-
erties may have been transferred, suggesting that reinforcing relationships between societies conducting the exchange was
as important as gaining access to the supernatural powers of the teeth.
Les dents de requin sont couramment trouvées dans des contextes funéraires et rituels partout dans la région du Nord-est. Sur
la péninsule maritime, les dents de requin ont été identifiées parmi des assemblages funéraires datant de l’Archaïque récent
au Sylvicole tardif (ca. 4500 BP à 950 BP). Ailleurs que sur la péninsule maritime, les dents de requins ont été récupérées sur
Wednesday, October 31, 2012 2:10:13 PM
des sites du Sylvicole à partir de la baie de Chesapeake jusqu’à la rivière Ohio. Le perspectivisme amérindien ou, la deixis
cosmologique, fournit un cadre d’analyse pour la compréhension de la relation entre les humains et les animaux dans les socié-
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tés chasseurs-cueilleurs. Nous avons à cet effet emprunté une perspective socio-économique pour examiner les modalités d’in-
teraction entre les requins et les humains sur une période de 3000 ans. Nous postulons que les dents de requin trouvées en
contexte funéraire sont des objets complexes et enchevêtrés qui constituent à la fois des mnémoniques et des instruments, qui
A
revêtent plusieurs sens et qui servent à plusieurs fins : (1) emblème d’un animal réel, d’un prédateur hors du commun doté
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d’habiletés spectaculaires ; (2) icône du pouvoir spirituel et du pouvoir transformationnel ; (3) symbole d’une société adap-
tée à un mode de vie maritime ; et, (4) outil redoutable – un canal à travers lequel une personne peut accéder aux habiletés
surnaturelles. Il semble que toutes ces propriétés auraient été transférées à chaque instance de troc ou d’échange de dents de
requin. Ceci suggère qu’il était tout aussi important de renforcer les liens économiques entre les sociétés que d’accéder aux
pouvoirs surnaturels des dents.
nimal remains and effigies are frequently be structural in nature (e.g., Greber and Ruhl
found in prehistoric mortuary contexts 2000; Holt 1996; see also Kelly 1993, in Holt
in northeastern North America, spanning 1996), an approach that has been critiqued for fo-
the Late Archaic (5000–3800 B.P.) through the cusing on anomaly and metaphor and rejecting
Late Woodland (1500–500 B.P.) periods. The history and context (Wilkie and Inglis
meaning of these animal remains has received lit- 2007:18–27). Recently, however, significant ad-
tle archaeological scrutiny. Where they have been vancements in the conceptualization of hunter-
specifically addressed, the analysis has tended to gatherer cosmologies have provided a new means
Matthew W. Betts 䡲 Archaeology and History Division, Canadian Museum of Civilization, 100 Laurier St. Gatineau,
Quebec, Canada, K1A OM8 (Matthew.Betts@Civilization.ca).
David W. Black 䡲 Department of Anthropology, University of New Brunswick, P.O. Box 4400, Fredericton, New
Brunswick, Canada E3B 5A3 (dwblack@unb.ca)
Susan E. Blair 䡲 Department of Anthropology, University of New Brunswick, P.O. Box 4400, Fredericton, New
Brunswick, Canada E3B 5A3 (sblair@unb.ca)
American Antiquity 77(4), 2012, pp. 621–645

Copyright ©2012 by the Society for American Archaeology
621
622 AMERICAN ANTIQUITY [Vol. 77, No. 4, 2012
to address complex human-animal relationships is well documented (e.g., Ritchie 1965:218 –254;
as expressed in ritual contexts. Stewart 1994:85; Wright 1994:65, 1999:679), the
When humans adorn their bodies with animal significance of the shark and the motivations for
parts, they are overtly signalling their relation- placing their teeth in ritual and mortuary con-
ships with animals and, more generally, the nat- texts is poorly understood.
ural world. This paper seeks to develop a means Our research explores ancient relationships
to reconstruct these relationships from the ar- between humans and sharks through a suite of rit-
chaeological record, and, additionally, to under- ual and mortuary assemblages spanning the Late
stand what relationships are being transferred Archaic to Late Woodland periods on the Mar-
when ritually charged animal products are trans- itime Peninsula, an area encompassing Maine
ported or exchanged over long distances. To un- and the Canadian Maritime Provinces (Figure 1).
derstand the nature of ancient human-animal con- We apply the concept of cosmological deixis, or
nections that are expressed in mortuary ritual, we perspectivism (Viveiros de Castro 1998), to the
adopt an approach that is grounded in defining the study of mortuary symbolism among ancient
broad economic, technological, and ideological hunting and gathering groups. Specifically, in this
contexts of real interactions between humans and study, we (1) document the distribution of shark
animals, within a deeply historical perspective. teeth in ritual deposits on the Maritime Peninsula
Using this method, we believe it is possible to and throughout the Northeast; (2) explore the na-
build an understanding of the complex and lay- ture of physical engagements between ancient
ered meanings associated with mortuary and rit- people and sharks and investigate how these in-
ual-related animal remains. teractions may have changed through time; (3)
A suite of teeth and toothed elements employ these engagements as a framework within
(mandibles, maxillae, premaxillae) are known to which to explore the spiritual relationships be-
occur in Late Archaic and Woodland ceremonial tween sharks and people in the past; and (4) con-
contexts in the Atlantic provinces and states (e.g., sider what aspects of these relationships may
Bourque 1995; Burns 1971; Byers 1979; Ford have been co-opted through mechanisms of ma-
1976; Kraft 1976; Snow 2009; Stewart 1982; terial and ideological exchange.
Tuck 1994; Turnbull 1976; Yesner 1994). In many
contexts, the abundance of these objects may be Theoretical and Methodological
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a consequence of preservation issues, because Considerations

enamel preserves better than bone. However, in
sites with good organic preservation, teeth, An intimate human-animal relationship is one of
mandibles, and skull parts are most often found in the most prominent tenets of hunter-gatherer
mortuary and ceremonial contexts (e.g., Byers ideology (Bird-David 1990; Brightman 1993).
1979; Jelsma 2006; Stewart 1982; Tuck 1994). Douglas (1990:36; see also Douglas 1966; Tam-
Outside the Atlantic Provinces and New England biah 1969) proposed that animals are “signi-
states, teeth and toothed elements are also promi- fied” in human societies by a process of
nent among animal remains included in Woodland anthropomorphization—affording animals char-
period burial assemblages (e.g., Carr and Case acteristics similar to humans themselves, espe-
2005:359; Dancey 2005:114; Ritchie 1944:149, cially regarding their relationships to the envi-
165, 1965:218–254). ronment and to each other. As Douglas (1990:35)
In this study we consider the archaeological points out, this concept was first articulated in
occurrence and distribution of shark teeth in the Radcliffe-Brown’s (1952:130) theory of
Northeast. Occurring both as extant (unfossilized) totemism. He argued that humans imagine nat-
and fossilized remains, shark teeth have been dis- ural phenomenon as “a system ... essentially sim-
covered in ceremonial contexts ranging from ilar to the relations that they have built up in their
Nova Scotia to Illinois and from Newfoundland to social structure between one human being and
Maryland. While the importance of shark teeth for another.” Soon after, Levi-Strauss (1962:222)
identifying the extent of exchange networks and suggested that traditional conceptualizations of
mortuary complexes such as Adena and Hopewell animals were essentially a projected “mirror”
Betts et al.] PERSPECTIVISM, MORTUARY SYMBOLISM, AND HUMAN-SHARK RELATIONSHIPS 623
NL
Port au Choix NL
QC
QC
Augus ne
Mound PEI
ME NB
Cow
Pointe-du-Buisson 4
ON Point
NS
LeVesconte Mound
Indian Island
VT Sherbrooke Lake
Point Peninsula
NH Turner Farm Liverpool
Moshier Island Port Joli
NY Jack's Reef
Minister's Island
MA
Taylor Hill
CT
RI Seaver Farm/Ti cut
PA
Ritual/mortuary context with fossil shark teeth

Ritual/mortuary context with extant shark teeth
NJ Extant tooth in possible ritual/mortuary context Kilometers

MD Extant tooth in archaeological context
West River Site men ond in text 0 100 200 300 400
Sandy Hill
Figure 1. The Maritime Peninsula (shaded dark gray) and adjacent areas, with sites referred to in the text.
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of the human world (see Mullin 1999, 2002). Put mestic contexts in Mississippian and Late Wood-
simply, these concepts suggest that by signifying land deposits in the American Bottom. Holt iden-
animals in ritual contexts, people are signifying tified groups of “mystified” animals as those that
something about themselves (e.g., Busatta 2008; were repeatedly expressed in zoomorphic art but
Fowler 2004; Mullin 2002). rarely found in domestic faunal assemblages. She
Often, this approach leads to a semiotic/struc- used this patterning to develop a “native taxon-
turalist analysis that views animal symbolism omy” for the period, but was unable to access the
through the lenses of anomaly (how symbolic an- underlying meanings behind this structure (Holt
imals are intrinsically “different” from non-sym- 1996:104), partially because she was unwilling to
bolic animals) and metaphor (how animal be- use ethnographic analogy to assist in the devel-
haviors or traits reflect human behaviors and opment of the necessary metaphors (Holt
social systems). Zooarchaeologists have been at- 1996:91–94). As Holt recognized, the use of the
tracted to the latter in particular because archae- structural approach by archaeologists may com-
ological recordkeeping generally emphasizes di- pel unwarranted use of metaphor and analogy to
chotomous contexts of animal disposition (e.g., make sense out of symbolic animal remains. In-
ceremonial versus domestic contexts; utilized ver- deed, such an “animals are good to think” (Levi-
sus non-utilized species) that are amenable to Strauss 1963:89) form of analysis has been cri-
structural analyses. tiqued because it tends to view animals entirely as
For example, in an explicitly structuralist symbols of the human condition, while denying
analysis, Holt (1996) compared species repre- their real “empirically existing relations with hu-
sentation in mortuary contexts to those from do- mans” (Wilkie and Inglis 2007:18).
Viveiros de Castro’s (1998, 2004a) concept of spectivism as one of many possible “interpreta-
Amerindian perspectivism (cosmological deixis) tions” of ethnographic reality—what Viveiros de
provides a novel point of departure for thinking Castro (2004b: 20) would term a “transduction.”
about aboriginal relationships with animals (and We use this specific interpretation as a frame-
even natural objects and artifacts), which avoids work for exploring ideological relationships be-
the problems of structuralism. Many aboriginal tween hunter-gatherers and animals. However, as
worldviews presuppose that all animals, and even will be discussed below, there is considerable
inanimate objects, have the potential for a spirit ethnographic evidence to suggest that a form of
or soul. As Viveiros de Castro (1998:471) has perspectivism did characterise human-animal re-
documented, many of these societies perceive the lationships on the Maritime Peninsula.
natural world and its beings as sharing “spiritual As the name implies, cosmological deixis, or
unity but a corporeal diversity.” In effect, this perspectivism, is a system for thinking about ani-
means that all spiritual beings are internally iden- mals and other natural phenomena. Deixis, a con-
tical (they are all persons with a soul), and are cept derived from semiotics, can be thought of as
only differentiated by their physical or “manifest a reference or index that depends on context
form” (Viveiros de Castro 1998:471). It should be (Hornborg 2006:317). An animal’s physical form
noted here that human and animal spirits are only forces an exclusive relationship with the world,
considered identical in the sense that they are different from all other animals and humans
“each endowed with the same set of cognitive and (Viveiros de Castro 1998:478). As a result, animals
volitional capacities” (Viveiros de Castro and their parts are deictic, or mnemonics to an ex-
2004b:4), which is not to say that they share the clusive way of perceiving, acting, and living
same spiritual or physical powers or capabilities (Hornborg 2006:317). To hunter-gatherers, ani-
(i.e., some souls or spirits are more potent than mals may be good to think (Levi-Strauss 1963),
others). However, given that all souls are generi- but not because they always reflect the human
cally similar, the fundamental difference between condition; rather, specific animals reference
humans, animals, and inanimate objects is their unique ways of perceiving and interacting with the
material form, or body (Viveiros de Castro world—they are “indexical categories, cosmolog-
1999:478, see also Conneller 2004:43). In such a ical deictics” (Viveiros de Castro 1998:478).
worldview, bodies are viewed as a type of cos- Viveiros de Castro’s concept of deixis implies
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tume composed of multiple components (Con- that the context of an animal’s interaction with the
neller 2004:43; Viveiros de Castro 1998:471): in environment is paramount—thus, an eagle in-
animals these may be fur, scales, claws, and teeth; habiting the shores of Lake Superior will have a
in humans they may be skin, hair, fingernails, different perspective than an eagle living on the
garments, and tools. Because all souls are inher- coasts of Newfoundland. As posited by Bird-
ently similar, they have similar goals, feelings, David (1999:573 –574), human perceptions of
and needs (Viveiros de Castro 2004b:6). How- animals are not imposed, but rather discovered in
ever, as Viveiros de Castro (1998:478) describes, the course of observation and interaction in par-
each soul perceives the world, and seeks its ful- ticular environments. Here indigenous under-
fillment in it, in a manner consistent with its phys- standings of spirituality are brought about by the
ical form. As such, each being animated by a soul relationship between people and the other beings
is conceived as a unique subject with its own dis- in their environment (Bird-David 1999:573). Ev-
tinct point of view. idence for this may be found in the fact that cos-
While Amerindian perspectivism is based on mological deixis rarely applies to all animals.
ethnographic observations of a broad suite of While many hunter-gatherer societies consider
contemporary hunting and gathering populations that every natural phenomenon has the potential
throughout North and South America (Viveiros de for a soul, this potential is not always achieved,
Castro 1998:471), it should not be viewed as a nor is each soul considered equally powerful. In
universal ideological tenet applicable to all fact, potency and ability is a matter of “degree and
hunter-gather groups (past and present). Follow- context rather than an absolute” (Viveiros de Cas-
ing Conneller (2004a:44), we instead view per- tro 2004a:470, 476). Animals more commonly
encountered by humans, typically apex predators 35). Similarly, Reed (1988) suggests that human
and key prey species, are usually credited with conceptualizations of animals are in essence “nat-
special abilities and powers, and often have crit- ural, having evolved as a refinement of our per-
ical mythological and ideological linkages to hu- ception of, and action in, the environment.” This
mans (Viveiros de Castro 1998:471). Recent re- sentiment is shared by Ingold (2000:10, after An-
search has documented the critical relationship derson 2000:116–117), who argues that humans
between detailed knowledge of animal behaviors conceptualize a shared environment created by
and the traditional mythology surrounding such mutual interaction with animals in a substantive
important creatures (e.g., Hornborg 2006:19). space, a concept known as sentient ecology.
Accepting that real relationships with animals Essentially, these perspectives suggest that hu-
are critical to hunter-gatherer’s perceptions of mans acquire their perceptions of animals through
those animals leads us to a practical method for routine engagements with these animals in sub-
linking real-world animal behaviors and biology to stantive spaces. As discussed by Wilkie and Inglis
ancient human conceptualizations of animals. That (2007:20; also Löfgren 1985), such a method can
is, because animal bodies are different from human be augmented to include a historical perspective
bodies, the only way for humans to conceptualize that documents a sequence of sentiments for and
how animals might perceive the world is through engagements with animals. This approach, called
observation and interaction. Tracking, stalking, “historical-processualism” by Pauketat (2001), or
harvesting, and processing prey creates a detailed the “temporality of the landscape” by Ingold (1993,
and unique appreciation for a prey animal’s means 2000), involves reconstructing the types of recur-
of acting in the world (and, indeed, for the prod- ring human activities that may have brought peo-
ucts they provide). Likewise, monitoring, avoid- ple into contact with creatures, landscapes, and re-
ing, competing with and hunting top-tier predators sources, as well as reconstructing the nature of the
may result in a sympathetic understanding of their landscapes, human groups, animals and resources
singular perspectives. In fact, predators who ex- themselves. As suggested by Douglas (1990:24),
ploit the same prey and environmental niches as “the interests of humans,” or the social and eco-
hunter-gatherers may sometimes even be consid- nomic context of the observation and interaction
ered conspecifics—closely related animals who with animals, is also critical. Reconstructing the so-
share similar motivations, actions, and percep- cioeconomic environment of engagements with
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tions as humans (Conneller 2004:43). Further- animals will permit an understanding of the soci-
more, certain animals, such as bears, that share etal importance of the activities that led to human-
similar body shapes and ways of moving with hu- animal contacts. Placing this universe of human ac-
mans, are frequently considered to be conspecifics tivities within a historical framework allows us to
(e.g., Martin 1978:36–37, 117–118). trace lineages of practice that led to the incorpora-
The preceding discussion suggests a practical tion of animal parts in ritual contexts. The core of
way to link Viveiros de Castro’s concept of per- the historical-processual approach—a careful re-
spectivism to animal remains from mortuary and construction of the sequence of historical and prox-
ritual contexts. By defining the recurring types of imate human practices—is critical because this al-
real engagements between people and these ani- lows us to examine the progression of meaningful
mals, archaeologists may begin to understand social and economic engagements that culminated
how ancient humans perceived the unique per- in the rituals whose material traces are observed in
spectives of certain creatures and thus why they the archaeological record.
were considered to be so special. In a response to We adopt a similar method in our analysis of
critiques of the structural approach to human-an- shark remains from mortuary contexts in the
imal relationships, Douglas (1990) has proposed Northeast. Conceptually, reconstructing the types
a similar method. She advocates paying “minute of human behaviors (and the social and economic
attention...to how animals interact with humans environment) that may have brought people into
and to the interests humans pursue when they contact with these important creatures, as well as
chase or eat or tame animals” to “control the the nature and behavior of the animals them-
imagination of the researcher” (Douglas 1990:24, selves, allows us to develop an understanding of
what sorts of animal-environment interactions jects (animals, people, and inanimate objects) pos-
were meaningful to hunter-gatherers on the Mar- sessed buoin, some had access to greater quanti-
itime Peninsula. Following the concept of ties than others. These powerful beings were them-
Amerindian perspectivism, we speculate about selves also called buoin, literally the
why the unique perspective of these animals was personification of this spiritual force. Wabanaki
so important that their teeth were worn on, or buoin have sometimes been called shamans (Hoff-
placed with, human bodies. We attempt to histor- man 1955:428; Johnson 1943; Lockerby 2004), a
ically contextualize our analysis, by tracking the term that applies if we define a shaman as an in-
relationship of sharks to humans from the Late dividual who possesses the knowledge and spiri-
Archaic to Early Historic periods. Furthermore, if tual power to act as an intermediary between hu-
we adopt the theoretical position that all actions mans and the supernatural realm (after VanPool
develop because of specific historical contingen- 2009:180; cf. Hornborg 2006).
cies (e.g., Pauketat 2001), the ethnohistoric record Buoin could harness the spiritual power nec-
that describes traditional behavior can provide essary to access knowledge and realms of exis-
potent evidence of the unique history of human tence denied to normal beings. This often in-
interactions with the natural and cultural land- volved journeys to different worlds, usually
scape. In this case, ethnographic records may facilitated by transforming into an animal (e.g.,
provide insights into human relationships with Hoffman 1955:429). Buoin could also take control
animals and their body parts that are likely to be of an animal remotely; the animal could then be
rooted in Archaic and Woodland period interac- directed to perform benevolent or malevolent
tions with these animals. tasks. As described by Hoffman (1955:429),
buoin had unique and intimate relationships with
Ethnohistorical Evidence for these animals, which were considered “spiritual
Wabanaki Perspectivism and Shamanism guardians” or “spirit helpers.” So close was the re-
lationship between a human and their spirit ani-
While we recognize that reliance on the ethno- mal that they were believed to be, essentially,
graphic and ethnohistoric records may be prob- two manifestations of the same being.
lematic (Trigger 1978), our historical framework For the Wabanaki, the ability to communicate
necessitates critical consideration of the ethno- with, control, and/or transform into these spirit an-
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graphic and ethnohistorical accounts of tradi- imals was obtained through the use of a bone or
tional spirituality on the Maritime Peninsula. Here representation of the animal itself (Johnson
we consult explorers’ and missionaries’ accounts 1943:70–72). These bones, called nti’emel by the
of early historic Wabanaki, the traditional name Mi’kmaq, were often concealed in a pouch or
for the indigenous inhabitants of the Maritime “medicine bundle” and were a direct conduit to the
Peninsula, including the Mi’kmaq, Wolastoqiyik, animal and its spiritual power (Hoffman
Peskotomuhkatiyik, Abenaki, and Penobscot. As 1955:440–442). Each nti’emel had a specific task.
described above, this record must embed clues to Some were powerful conduits through which a
antecedent behaviors of the Archaic and Wood- transformation could occur, or through which spir-
land periods. itual power could be accessed (Hagar 1896:172);
Hornborg’s (2006, 2008) recent application of others seem to have been employed exclusively to
Viveiros de Castro’s concept of Amerindian per- assist in hunting (e.g., Rand 1894:357).
spectivism to the subject of Mi’kmaq spirituality To return to the concept of Amerindian per-
provides a useful vantage from which to consider spectivism, when buoin sought to control or trans-
traditional relationships between ancient animals form into animals, they were seeking to gain a
and humans on the Maritime Peninsula. Central to new perspective, a new means of acting in and
Wabanaki cosmology was the concept of buoin perceiving the world (Hornborg 2006:318). When
(also known as medeolin in the Wolastoqiyik– the Wabanaki used an animal body part as a cos-
Peskotomuhkatiyik language). To the Wabanaki, tume, adornment, grave good, or tool, they har-
buoin—roughly translated as “spiritual power”— nessed its point of view and its unique way of in-
is the driving force behind all life. While all sub- teracting with the world. From this vantage,
animal bodies and their products become “an as- mals’ lives; they do not make allegorical com-
semblage composed of... ways of perceiving and ments on human society... To switch perspective
acting in the world” (Conneller 2004:44). In short, becomes a way of knowing the worldviews of
animal parts used in clothing, costumes, jew- other beings.” Thus, Wabanaki spirituality did
ellery, or tools are “not fantasies but instruments” not make distinctions between culture and na-
(Viveiros de Castro 1998:482). ture; Wabanaki shared the same environments
For the Wabanaki, the bond between these an- and foods as animals, all of whom were consid-
imal objects and hunting success was critical ered persons (Hornborg 2006:32). Their perspec-
(Hoffman 1955:449, 452). By gaining the per- tivism was based on real-world engagements with
spective of a predator, a hunter was able to repli- animals, whose behaviors and life histories they
cate its techniques for capturing prey. Alterna- understood intimately. Through this detailed ob-
tively, to access the perspective of prey provided servation, Wabanaki gained an appreciation for
a critical advantage for a successful hunt. A re- the varying perspectives of predators, prey, and
vealing example of this relationship was docu- other beings in the natural world. At the same
mented by Le Clercq (1910:215–223), a mis- time, these ethnohistorically described beliefs
sionary who lived among the Mi’kmaq during must be viewed as part of a cosmological tradition
the seventeenth century. Le Clercq obtained the rooted in prehistoric Wabanaki belief systems.
medicine bundle of a Mi’kmaw man that con- From this perspective, these beliefs might be
tained, among other objects, bones and/or repre- viewed as an ancient spiritual convention, main-
sentations of wolverines, birds, bears, beavers, tained in the ethnohistorical “present,” but fun-
and moose. Believing it was “the property of the damentally based in human-animal engagements
Devil,” Le Clercq callously burned the bag and its that took place many centuries (or millennia) in
contents; thereafter, the Mi’kmaw man reported the past. Of course, this does not imply that these
meager success in hunting, which he directly at- beliefs were not under constant transformation
tributed to the loss of his medicine bundle. and renegotiation as Wabanki interacted with con-
In Wabanaki cosmology, animal parts were temporary creatures and landscapes.

both a metonym for the animal and a tool to gain

its spiritual power and perspective (Hornborg Shark Remains in Mortuary and Ceremonial
2006:325). As both a mnemonic device and an in- Contexts on the Maritime Peninsula
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strument, animal parts were complex entities with

entangled meanings. As a mnemonic, the animal In the following section, we utilize a simplified
part could symbolize the animal itself, the spiri- chrono-cultural schema for presenting informa-
tual alliance between the human and the animal, tion on the temporal distribution and cultural as-
and/or the type of perspective shared between sociations of shark-related mortuary and cere-
the human and animal. As an instrument, it was monial evidence on the Maritime Peninsula
used to channel spiritual power and abilities from specifically and the greater Northeast generally.
animal to human, and/or to gain the perspective or Amalgamating previously developed chronolo-
talents necessary for successful hunting. gies specific to the Maritime Peninsula (Black
It is clear that Wabanaki spirituality incorpo- 2002; Blair 2004a; Bourque 1994; Petersen and
rated a complex ethnoecology based on detailed Sanger 1991), and acknowledging overlap with
observations of the environment in which they other regional chronologies in the Northeast (e.g.,
lived (Hornborg 2006, 2008). Mi’kmaq oral his- Burks 2005), we define these periods as: Late
tories, especially those involving supernatural or Archaic (5000–3600 B.P.), Terminal Archaic
spiritual matters, are replete with detailed obser- (4000–2700 B.P.), Early Woodland (3100–2000
vations of animal behavior and biology (Hornborg B.P.), Middle Woodland (2200–1300 B.P.), Late
2006:19). This strongly suggests that Wabanaki Woodland (1500–500 B.P.), and Protohistoric
engagements with animals were critical to the (550–350 B.P.). Our schema incorporates tempo-
development of their particular cosmological ral overlap specifically to allow for the possibil-
deixis; as Hornborg (2006:32) states: “Mi’kmaq ity of phenomena ascribed to different cultural tra-
tales...deal with ‘real’ landscapes and ‘real’ ani- ditions/complexes occurring concurrently. We

Figure 2. Extant and fossilized shark teeth from archaeological contexts on the Maritime Peninsula: (a) ochre-stained
mako shark teeth from Cow Point (BlDn-2, note polish and blunted cusps); (b) ochre-stained great white shark tooth
from Cow Point (BlDn-2); (c, d) great white shark teeth from Ministers Island (BgDs-10, note polish on lingual surface
of (d); (e) great white shark tooth from Port Joli (AlDf-24, note worn cusp); (f) great white shark tooth from Gorman
IP Address: 204.19.14.51
Farm (BjCj-1); (g) megalodon fossil shark tooth from Sherbrooke Lake (BeDd-1, note modifications to occlusal margin);
(a-d, f) archaeology collection, Canadian Museum of Civilization; (e) reburied on site at request of local band;
(g) Archaeology Collection, Nova Scotia Museum.
recognize that this schema is not consistent with Magennis and Barbian 1996:98; Robinson
all local and regional terminologies and chronolo- 1996:41; Sanger 1991:82), we adopt an approach
gies and we employ it as a heuristic device for the that views specific shared traits between Late Ar-
present study only. chaic mortuary customs and those in later periods
Furthermore, we note that an abrupt shift in the as representing significant ideological continuity.
archaeological record on the Maritime Peninsula, The earliest evidence of shark remains in an ar-
ca. 3800 B.P., has been interpreted as evidence for chaeological context on the Maritime Peninsula
cultural discontinuity, representing the decline of comes from the Late Archaic (Moorehead Phase)
Late Archaic (Moorehead Phase) groups and their Cow Point cemetery (BlDn-2), near Grand Lake,
replacement by Terminal Archaic (Susquehanna New Brunswick (Figure 2). The site includes at
Tradition) peoples who migrated from a southern least 56 mortuary features (Sanger 1973, 1991), of
homeland (e.g., Bourque 1994:27–29, 2001:62–64; which two were associated with shark teeth. Bone
Sanger 2006:241–244). This is a complex issue preservation at the site was poor; only the enamel
(e.g., Robinson 1996:38–41), and the efficacy of portion of the shark teeth has survived. In Locus
diffusion, migration, and population replacement 31, a single ochre-covered tooth from a great
models cannot be reviewed comprehensively here. white shark (Carcharodon carcharias; Table 1,
However, following previous researchers (Blair Table 2) was recovered; allometry reveals that the
2004a, 2004b, 2010:38; Loring 1985:103–106; length of the individual shark was 3.8–4.0 m
IP Address: 204.19.14.51
Betts et al.]
Table 1. Taxonomy and Characteristics of Shark Species Referred to in the Text.
Family Species Common Name Prey Tooth Shape Habitat

Lamnidae Carcharocles Megalodon extinct; unknown very large, broad, extinct; unknown
megalodon triangular, serrated
Carcharodon Great White porpoise, dolphin, seals, large, broad, temperate waters of
carcharias large boney fish, sea triangular, serrated coastal shelf, near or at
turtles, seabirds surface; small bays and
harbours, offshore
islands
Isurus oxyrinchus Shortfin Mako seals, swordfish, tuna, long, narrow, smooth- temperate waters of
large boney fish edged, with reflex at coastal shelf, near or at
tip surface; small bays and
harbours, offshore
islands
Lamna nasus Porbeagle small to medium sized short, narrow, smooth- temperate coastal
boney fish, squid edged, with basal waters; near shore and
cusplets littoral in summer,
offshore in winter
Alopiidae Alopias volpinus Thresher small bony fish, squid, short, small, curved, migratory; nearshore
crustaceans and smooth-edged, waters in summer, but
without reflex at tip prefer pelagic waters
PERSPECTIVISM, MORTUARY SYMBOLISM, AND HUMAN-SHARK RELATIONSHIPS
629
(Steven Cumbaa, personal communication 1999). not be confirmed as the dentin portions of the
This tooth (Figure 2b) was associated with six teeth, through which holes or lashing grooves
celts and nine “slate” (argillite) bayonets. One of would usually be made, have disintegrated. How-
the bayonets (specimen 137) bears incised deco- ever, both teeth are highly polished on their buc-
ration composed of “right obliques in triangles” cal and lingual margins (Figure 2c, d), suggesting
(Sanger 1973:61), perhaps intended to signify post-mortem modification—perhaps a form of
shark teeth (see discussion below). Nearby, in use-polish from being worn as pendants or trans-
Locus 47, six ochre-stained lower teeth from a ported in a pouch. Both shark teeth have enamel
shortfin mako shark (Isurus oxyrinchus) were re- heights of 2.73 mm, which corresponds with a
covered, again from a large shark (Figure 2a). Lo- great white shark ca. 2.6 m in length (calculated
cus 47 also contained two abrading stones. The from formulae in Helfman et al. 1997:184; Ran-
single cusp on each of these teeth has been worn dall 1973:170), strongly suggesting the two teeth
away, and a form of use polish is evident around are from the same individual.
the labial, buccal, and occlusal surfaces. Radio- As described by Turnbull (1976:59), the asso-
carbon assays on wood charcoal indicate the ciated artifacts, which include rolled copper beads
cemetery was in use between 3980 ± 74 (AA- and chipped and ground celts, are similar to arti-
22172; ␦13C = –25.0‰) B.P. and 3630 ± 135 (SI facts from the Augustine Mound. These similar-
–988; ␦13C = –25.0‰) B.P (Sanger 1991:75). ities link the Ministers Island mortuary features to
At the Ministers Island site (BgDs-10), on other Early Woodland (Adena/Middlesex) ritual
Passamaquoddy Bay, New Brunswick, several sites on the Maritime Peninsula with connections
mortuary features were excavated that included to a greater Northeast ritual complex. A single ra-
shark teeth (Sanger 1987). While bone preserva- diocarbon assay on preserved grass matting pro-
tion was poor in these contexts, resulting in the duced an age estimate (1930 ± 100 B.P.; Beta
recovery only of human teeth and a few small –21263; ␦13C = –25.0‰) at the extreme recent
fragments of bone, analysis indicates that at least end of the period in which these cultural influ-
six individuals were interred in four distinct fea- ences are present on the Maritime Peninsula.
tures (Burns 1971:2). Two of these features, Lot At Port Joli, Nova Scotia, Betts (2008, 2009,
1 and Lot 2, each contained a single great white 2010) documented a modified great white shark
shark tooth (Figure 2c, d). In both instances, the tooth from midden deposits in Area A at the AlDf-
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shark tooth was recovered in direct association 24 site. The tooth (Figure 2e) was discovered in
with fragments of a human cranial vault and hu- association with a formal rock-outlined mortuary
man teeth. The human teeth recovered from Lot feature including an adult human mandible and a
1 are likely from one individual, aged 12–17 fragment of worked antler. While the feature was
years (Burns 1971:3), based on dental wear pat- not fully exposed and all remains were reburied,
terns. Lot 2 contained human skeletal material analysis of detailed photographs of the mandible
from two individuals, one aged >25 years and the indicate the individual was likely aged 35–45
other 8–10 years (Burns 1971:5), based on pat- years, based on dental wear patterns (Janet Young,
terns of dental attrition and the presence of de- personal communication 2011), An evaluation of
ciduous dentition. The teeth from the younger in- the shark tooth prior to reburial revealed that the
dividual are deciduous and may represent a case dentin of the tooth had been modified with side
of curation. However, a deciduous molar from notches, although the base was subsequently bro-
this individual was also associated with a devel- ken, leaving only remnants of the notches. Simi-
oping and erupting crown (found beneath it in di- lar modifications of shark teeth in prehistoric
rect association), indicating the mandible was South American contexts have been interpreted as
present at deposition (Burns 1971:6). Thus, two modifications for suspension (e.g., Cione and
interments are represented. Bonomo 2003:225). As with the Ministers Island
The association of the shark teeth with human specimens, significant wear and polish occurred
crania suggests that they were worn around the on the occlusal and buccal margins of the Port Joli
neck (whether as part of a medicine bundle or tooth, and the single cusp has been worn away.
pendant is uncertain). Their use as pendants can- Allometric regression on the enamel height of
the tooth indicates it belonged to a shark greater abraders consistent with an Early Woodland
than 2.3 m long. Wood charcoal from nearby de- (Meadowood) cache (McEachen 1996:74).
posits at the same stratigraphic level as the tooth At Liverpool, Nova Scotia, a collector dis-
returned an age estimate of 1430 ± 40 B.P. (Beta covered five fossil megalodon/great white shark
–256564; ␦13C = –23.5‰). teeth in direct association with two stone gouges,
Isolated great white shark teeth have been re- a ground slate point or bayonet (since stolen from
covered from other shell midden deposits in Nova the museum), and a large side-notched chert point.
Scotia and New Brunswick, including Bear River These teeth are unique because all were deliber-
(BdDk-1; Erskine 1959, 1986), Cellars Cove ately broken, with the root portions of the fossils
(BdCx-1; Davis 1987; Erskine 1986; Rojo 1990), missing. While no datable remains were recov-
Reid (BdCx-5; Erskine 1986), Hosking (BeCs-5), ered, the artifact styles indicate a Middle to Late
Timber Island Brook (AlDf-14; Erskine 1962, Archaic (possibly Moorehead Phase) age. Shark
1986), Quarry Island (BjCo-1; Smith and Win- teeth do not occur in any of the fossil-bearing for-
temberg 1929), Gorman Farm (BjCj-1; Davis mations on the Maritime Peninsula, although they
1973), and Bocabec (BgDr-25; Suttie 2011). Be- are sometimes recovered offshore by fishermen
cause of preservation, disturbance, and excavation using scallop drags. This suggests that they were
issues, it is difficult to assign an unquestionable locally inaccessible to prehistoric peoples on the
mortuary or ritual association to any of these con- Maritime Peninsula; instead, their source may be
texts, although it is important to note that the the Calvert formation in Chesapeake Bay, the
Quarry Island context contained scattered human nearest land-based source of shark fossils on the
remains and Gorman Farm contained bifaces and Atlantic Seaboard (Steven Cumbaa, personal
chipped and ground implements consistent with communication 2010).
Early Woodland (Middlesex) ceremonial deposits. Further south, a possible medicine bundle, dis-
Bear River also contained two human interments, covered under a rock that formed part of a hearth
although the two recovered shark teeth have no feature, was recovered from the Indian Island
provenience information and were not described site, Maine (Snow 2009). As Snow (2009:7) de-
by the excavator (Erskine 1986:26) as being part scribes it:

of the burial assemblages. Similarly, the Reid site
The bundle consisted of a wrapping of birch-
contained multiple secondary human interments
bark that contained 35 shark teeth, 6 rolled
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(possibly cremations), although again the exca-

copper beads, the deciduous dentition of a
vator (Erskine 1986:64–65) provides no direct
human child and a small amount of red ochre
information on the association of the shark teeth
(hematite). One of the shark teeth was that of
to the mortuary features. Interestingly, the Bo-
a man eater or white shark (Carcharodon car-
cabec, Timber Island, and Gorman Farm shark
charias). The remaining 34 shark teeth were
teeth exhibit wear on the occlusal and labial mar-
probably from either a thresher (Alopias volpi-
gins consistent with the Cow Point, Port Joli, and
nus) or a sharp-nosed mackerel [shortfin
Ministers Island teeth and the Bocabec specimen
mako] shark (Isurus oxyrinchus).
shows signs that these areas were “intentionally
blunted through abrasion” (Suttie 2011:4). Inspection of the photographs of the latter 34
Several fossil megalodon (Carcharodon mega- teeth by Betts indicates that they can only be
lodon) shark teeth have also been recovered from from a shortfin mako shark (Table 1). The large
ritual or cache-type deposits in Nova Scotia. A quantity of teeth might suggest access to an entire
very large megalodon tooth was recovered by a individual, although we note that this number is
collector at Sherbrooke Lake in Lunenburg less than half the total number of erupted teeth in
County, Nova Scotia (BeDd-S1; Figure 2g). The an adult shortfin mako shark. Snow (2009:7)
fossil was intentionally retouched around the oc- records that a radiocarbon assay from wood char-
clusal margin, perhaps to simulate the serrations coal recovered from the hearth yielded a normal-
found on unfossilized great white shark teeth. ized age estimate of 1650 ± 115 B.P. (SI-790).
The associated artifact assemblage includes At the Moshier Island shell midden site in
pecked and ground celts, large bifaces, and Casco Bay, Maine, the remains of 14 individuals
were encountered in a single feature of Late At the Taylor Hill site in Wellfleet, Massachusetts,
Woodland age, interpreted as the mass interment a single mako shark tooth was found in a Late
of an extended family unit (Hamilton 1985:78). Woodland burial of an adult male (Torrey and
While complete descriptions of the associated ar- Bullen 1946). The shark tooth was directly asso-
tifacts have not been published, shark teeth (taxon ciated with several deciduous human teeth,
unreported), shell beads, copper beads, and lithics though no other human remains of this age were
were recovered (Hamilton 1985:78; Yesner found, potentially indicating that the deciduous
1994:157). There are two normalized radiocarbon teeth were intentionally curated and not from the
assays from the feature: 970 ± 70 B.P. (Beta- interment of a juvenile individual. Artifacts found
6408; Mya arenaria shell) and 970 ± 145 B.P. in association with the burial include a hone or
(GX-7061; human bone collagen) (Petersen and abrader, a small celt, and a small triangular chert
Sanger 1991:166). projectile point with a concave base. At the Titi-
It is necessary here to note that mortuary sites cut site in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, a Proto-
with shark teeth also occur in Atlantic regions historic burial (#15) was associated with numer-
both north and south of the Maritime Peninsula. ous artifacts and a single unmodified great white
The Maritime Archaic cemetery at Port au Choix, shark tooth (Robinson 1967). Burial 15 included
Newfoundland, included a great diversity of ani- the fragmented skeletal remains of a male aged
mal remains associated with the burial contexts 35–40 years, associated with many artifacts, in-
(Jelsma 2006; Tuck 1994). The skeleton of an cluding a pouch containing iron residue and a
adult female (Interment 9) was associated with 36 flint for making fire, an early historic European
teeth from a shark in the Lamna genus (porbeagle clay pipe, four triangular chert projectile points
or salmon shark), as well as bear (Ursus sp.), mer- with concave bases, three stemmed projectile
ganser (Mergus sp.), duck (Anatidae) and loon points, and eight bone/antler awls (Robinson
(Gavia sp.) effigy pendants, a gull bill (Larus sp.), 1967: Figure 6).
gannet wings (Morus sp.), quartz crystals, and a Excavations at the Sandy Hill site, on the Chop-
stone resembling a claw or tooth (Tuck 1994:137). tank River, Maryland, revealed a large Early Wood-
While this context has not been directly dated, land cemetery adjacent to a Late Woodland os-
other mortuary features in close association have suary. Two large fossil megalodon shark teeth and
provided normalized age estimates between 4290 one fossil great white or mako shark (genus Isurus
IP Address: 204.19.14.51
± 110 B.P. (I –3788; wood charcoal) and 3690 ± or Cosmopolitodus) tooth were discovered in as-
90 B.P. (I –4682; wood charcoal) (Tuck 1994:163), sociation with poorly preserved human remains
indicating that these contexts at Port au Choix are and artifacts. Two of the fossil teeth are described
roughly contemporaneous with the Late Archaic as burned, while the other was coated in red ochre.
cemetery at Cow Point inNew Brunswick. The spectacular array of artifacts recovered from
Four great white shark teeth were recovered the site includes large stemmed and leaf-shaped bi-
from an early Middle Woodland cemetery at the in- faces, blocked-end tubular pipes (made from Indi-
land Seaver Farm site in Bridgewater, Massachu- ana limestone, Ohio fireclay, and steatite), gor-
setts (Taylor 1970). The teeth, of which only the gets, celts, and copper beads, all arguably related to
enamel has survived, were found in direct contact pan-regional Early Woodland (Adena) exchange
with human teeth, again suggesting the shark teeth and ceremonialism (Ford 1976).
were placed or worn around the head. Taylor has The Early Woodland West River mortuary site,
suggested that one of these shark teeth may have located just across Chesapeake Bay from Sandy
been used as an arrow point, an interpretation Hill, also contained fossil shark teeth (Ford 1976).
sometimes made of shark teeth in nonceremonial The deposit is described as including a cremation
contexts (e.g., Smith and Wintemberg 1929:26). pit and a reburial pit, “dug for the sole purpose of
However, given the mortuary and/or ceremonial as- redepositing the cremated remains with some sort
sociation of the majority of shark teeth in the study of burial ceremony” (Ford 1976:65). Associated
area, this function seems improbable. with these contexts were numerous artifacts in-
Two Late Woodland/Protohistoric burial con- cluding gorgets, blocked-end tubular pipes made
texts in Massachusetts also revealed shark teeth. from Indiana limestone and Ohio fire clay, large
lanceolate and stemmed bifaces, abraders, and var- species known to frequent North Atlantic waters
ious other objects, which Ford (1976) linked to (e.g., Scott and Scott 1988:12–37). While other
pan-regional Early Woodland (Adena) ceremoni- species of large sharks in other families (e.g.,
alism. Among these artifacts were four fossil mega- Carcharinidae) exhibit similar behaviors and prey
lodon shark teeth found at the base of the “rebur- on similar species as Lamnid sharks (such as the
ial pit.” Two of the fossils were unmodified; the blue shark, Prionance glauca), they are relatively
other two had been intentionally broken and burned rare in waters off the Maritime Peninsula (Scott
(Ford 1976:73). Both of these sites are within 25 and Scott 1988:22–29).
miles (40 km) of the Calvert formation (Ford Great white and mako sharks are warm season
1976:73), from which the fossil shark teeth found visitors at these latitudes, and have been reported
in Nova Scotia were also likely acquired (Steven in coastal waters as far north as Newfoundland.
Cumbaa, personal communication 2010). Nor- Makos occur with greater frequency than do great
malized radiocarbon age estimates on wood char- white sharks, but the feeding habits of the two
coal from the reburial pit range between 1630 ± species are similar. Smaller, younger sharks feed
200 B.P. (M-148A) and 2130 ±100 B.P. (M-418B) on large boney fish, such as herring, cod, and
(Boyce and Frye 1986; Crane and Griffin 1958). mackerel (Scott and Scott 1988:15), and are
known to pursue their prey into shallow water. To-
Interactions between Humans and Sharks in day, human and shark encounters most often oc-
the Late Archaic and Woodland Periods cur during fishing forays, and large sharks have
been caught in various types of fishing gear, in-
The association of shark remains with so many cluding nets, rod and line, jigs, and weirs. Larger
mortuary and ceremonial assemblages on the sharks are known to feed on harbor seals, porpoise
Maritime Peninsula during the Late Archaic and swordfish in Atlantic Canada (Campana et
through to the Late Woodland periods suggests a al. 2004, 2005; Mollomo 1998). In the Gulf of
deeply rooted symbolic relationship between hu- Maine, both large makos and great whites have
mans and sharks. The notion of cosmological been observed attacking swordfish that were har-
deixis provides a means to explain what sharks pooned by fishers; in fact, the majority of great
meant, as an indexical category, to prehistoric white shark encounters in the Gulf of Maine occur
humans. As discussed above, we can only begin during swordfish hunting excursions (Mollomo
IP Address: 204.19.14.51
to deconstruct this relationship by focusing on the 1998:208). An excellent, if fictional, account of

real-life repeated engagements between humans this sort of shark behavior is famously depicted in
and sharks. These engagements were the nexuses Hemingway’s (1952) The Old Man and the Sea.
where this symbolism was engendered—where Makos and white sharks are known for their
humans observed and interacted with sharks and speed, aggressive behavior, and propensity to
came to understand their unique perspectives. steal on-line fish and damage gear (Scott and
The shark remains found in mortuary contexts Scott 1988:16). Both species are known to breach
on the Maritime Peninsula belong to three closely the ocean’s surface in spectacular leaps, often
related species (one extinct) in the family Lam- during the hunting of sea mammals and large
nidae, as do all identifiable shark remains dis- fish. While many sharks fin (exposing their dor-
cussed in this paper (Table 2). This is noteworthy sal fin above the water’s surface), these species
because 19 species of shark, spanning seven fam- are so large that finning is a particularly conspic-
ilies, are known to frequent the coasts of the Mar- uous aspect of their behavior. Although human at-
itime Peninsula (Scott and Scott 1988). Why this tacks are rare, they are more commonly initiated
specific family of large sharks was prioritized in by lamnid sharks than by any other sharks in
ritual and mortuary contexts is difficult to ascer- North Atlantic waters (Scott and Scott 1988:16).
tain, but probably relates to their size and popu- Biologists believe that attacks occur because large
lation density, meaning they were both more vis- sharks mistake swimming humans and small wa-
ible and more frequently encountered and tercraft for marine mammals or large fish.
observed by ancient humans. Lamnid sharks are Archaeological evidence from sites such as
generally quite large, especially compared to other Turner Farm indicates that Late Archaic people
actively hunted fish species that are known prey for grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) and harbour
of makos and great white sharks, including sword- seals (Phoca vitulina) increased dramatically dur-
fish and cod (e.g., Spiess and Lewis 2001). Dur- ing the Woodland period. On balance, the avail-
ing this period, an active boat-based inshore fish- able evidence suggests that the majority of seals
ery is believed to have dominated coastal were taken at rookeries and haulouts (e.g., Black
subsistence activities (Spiess and Black 2004; 2003; Spiess 2003; Spiess and Lewis 2001), a
Spiess and Lewis 2001; Spiess and Mosher 2006). strategy that appears to have increased substan-
Swordfish and cod are believed to have been tially in the Late Woodland period (Bourque
taken on open nearshore waters from canoes, as 1995:221; Spiess and Lewis 2001:148). Ethno-
evidenced by faunal remains, bone and slate bay- historic evidence indicates that these hunts often
onets, plummets, and wood-working tools (e.g., took place at offshore islands or islets using boat-
Bourque 2001:57–64; Spiess and Lewis 2001: ing technology (e.g., Denys 1908:349). Inshore
149, 156). In particular, the presence of gouges in hook-and-line fishing from canoes is well evi-
many Late Archaic deposits has often been taken denced by the remains of demersal fish, such as
as evidence of the use of dugout canoes during cod, in many Woodland period shell-bearing sites
this period (Bourque 1995:91; Snow 1980:198). (Betts 2008, 2009; Black 1993, 2004; Spiess and
However, Sanger (2009a, 2009b) proposes that Lewis 2001). Evidence of fishing with the aid of
birchbark canoes may also have been used during weirs extends from the Late Archaic through
the Late Archaic (and may have been more suited Woodland period (e.g., Dincauze and Decima
to seagoing forays). Regardless of the boating 2002; Johnson 1942; Petersen et al. 1994).
technology employed, it would have been on Whatever the procurement differences be-
these open-water excursions that Late Archaic tween the Late Archaic and Woodland periods, it
hunters encountered sharks. Interactions were is likely that human hunters in both periods were
probably similar to those experienced by modern encountering sharks in their ocean habitat as the
fishers in Atlantic waters, who observe sharks two species competed for similar marine re-
finning, breaching and hunting prey, and who sources. These encounters would have resulted in
know sharks as aggressive and dangerous com- an intimate knowledge of shark behaviors and,
petitors (e.g., Mollomo 1998:208–211). thus, a deep appreciation of their unique per-
Evidence for sea mammal hunting in the Late spective. However, it is important to point out
IP Address: 204.19.14.51
Archaic is not well represented (Spiess 1992; some subtle potential differences in the nature of
Spiess and Black 2004; Spiess and Lewis 2001), encounters between humans and sharks during
although seals do occur in limited frequencies in these two periods. In the Late Archaic period,
shell midden contexts. If sealing was limited in fishers may have had unique and extended contact
the Late Archaic, the majority of shark encounters with sharks as they competed for (and, perhaps,
probably occurred during fishing activities, rather fought over) swordfish, an exploitation strategy
than sea mammal hunting. Given their low den- not archaeologically evident in Woodland period
sities, and the paucity of shark teeth in Late Ar- times. Although details of the transition from
chaic domestic contexts, it seems unlikely that dugout boats to birchbark boats are unknown,
lamnid sharks were taken in significant quantities and estimations for the timing of the introduction
either as prey, bycatch, or beached carcasses, sim- of birchbark canoes range from the Late Ar-
ilar to modern times (Campana et al. 2004, 2005). chaic/Terminal Archaic to the Middle-Late Wood-
Regardless, given that a single shark can have land transition (Black 2004; Blair 2010; Bourque
hundreds of erupted teeth, the rare encounter of a 1995; Sanger 2009b; Spiess and Black 2004),
beached carcass, or killing of a live shark, may this change in transportation technology must
have been a significant source of shark teeth. Un- have affected the nature of direct human contacts
like the preceding Archaic period, open-water with sharks. Although evidence indicates that
swordfish hunting in the Woodland period is not even a sturdy wooden dory is vulnerable to a se-
well-supported by available faunal or artifactual vere shark bite, dories usually survive the attacks
evidence (e.g., Black 1993, 2004; Spiess and of large sharks (Mollomo 1998:208–209), and
Lewis 2001). However, seal hunting, particularly dugout canoes would likely be similarly resis-
tant. A birchbark vessel, however, would be more adopt the shark’s habitus specifically to perceive
vulnerable to shark attacks; in fact, ethnohistori- and act in the world as a shark does (e.g., Horn-
cal accounts of Mi’kmaw sea voyages emphasize borg 2006:43). What was it about shark behavior
this vulnerability. As de Paul (1886:29) states: that made this desirable?
On the Maritime Peninsula, ancient human
Another time that I started [from Tracadie,
encounters with sharks may have taken three pri-
N.S.] on a mission to this same Cape [Breton]
mary forms: (1) observation, of sharks breaching,
the Indians who conducted me in a canoe per-
finning, or hunting prey; (2) competition, as
ceived three monstrous fish called maraches
sharks and humans actively sought the same prey
and they were frightened, as these fish are very
at the same time; and (3) confrontation, as sharks
dangerous. Their teeth are made like garden-
and humans fought over prey, or as sharks at-
ers’ knives for cutting and boring, or like razors
tacked humans and their vessels. A fourth type of
slightly bent [Table 1; probably a mako shark].
encounter likely occurred far less frequently, as
They are extremely voracious, and often fol-
humans found deceased sharks washed up on
low boats, attacking them with violence. Bark
shore. Such encounters are rare, even today (e.g.,
canoes cannot resist them, they rend them open
Mollomo 1998:212), but may have been a signif-

with their teeth, so that they sink to the bot-
icant source of shark teeth in the archaeological
tom, which is why the Indians have such a ter-
record, as well as detailed information about their
ror of them.
unique anatomies.
Sanger (2009a, 2009b) has recently addressed Repeated observations of sharks by hunter-
the issue of the use of dugout boating technology gatherers would have resulted in a detailed knowl-
and argues that the presence of gouges and wood- edge of shark behavior. Great white and mako
working paraphernalia alone provides slim evi- sharks, among the fastest and most powerful fish
dence for the preferential use of dugout canoes in the ocean, with multiple rows of serrated teeth,
during the Late Archaic period. In fact, he posits and unique sensory organs unlike other fish, may
that birchbark canoes, given their weight and ma- have been perceived as beings of almost super-
noeuvrability, would have been a more adequate natural predatory skill. Exploiting the same prey
vessel for conducting inshore harpooning and jig- and ecological niches as humans, but much more
ging forays (Sanger 2009b:26, 29). If such is the efficiently, sharks may have been appreciated as
IP Address: 204.19.14.51
case, the propensity of sharks to imperil vessels as the embodiment of the effortless, deadly, marine
well as hunters/fishers might have been tied up in hunter/fisher. From the vantage of cosmological
human-shark spirituality from a very early period. deixis, sharks would be considered conspecifics,
beings with similar motivations and perspectives
Signifying Sharks in the Late Archaic and as humans. This may have created a close spiri-
Woodland Periods tual connection between sharks and humans, both
symbolically, as beings that shared the same per-
A historical perspective presupposes that the spective on the marine environment, and practi-
ethnographic record embeds clues to ancient be- cally, as marine hunter-gatherers sought to gain
lief systems. As discussed previously, for Wa- the unique predatory abilities of sharks. By using
banaki buoin/medeolin, a shark nti’emel (animal shark teeth as nti’emel (objects of power) in med-
part) was both a mnemonic to a deictic category icine bundles or as pendants, humans were both
(the shark) and an instrument through which the signifying their spiritual connection to sharks and
buoin could access the spiritual power and/or ac- attempting to adopt their habitus—with the aim of
quire knowledge and abilities to facilitate hunting. gaining some of the shark’s abilities.
Viveiros de Castro (1998:478) indicates that ani- We may consider related burial objects within
mal behaviors constitute a series of “effects or this framework. The triangle or zig-zag motif on
ways of being that constituted a habitus.” If the Late Archaic bayonets, bone daggers, and fore-
ethnographic record is applicable, when the an- shafts (e.g., Byers 1979; Rowe 1940; Sanger
cestors of the Wabanaki adorned themselves with 1973, 1991, 2009b) have been suggested to rep-
shark teeth, they may have been attempting to resent stylized rows of shark teeth (Keenlyside
1999:64). If these artifacts are, in fact, marine sharks represent a unique way of perceiving the
hunting weapons, or stylized versions of func- marine world that was also shared by their human
tional counterparts (e.g., Sanger 1973:51; Keenly- conspecifics—that of an apex marine predator.
side 1999:63), Late Archaic hunters may have And yet, while sharks maintain this perspective as
been making a direct link between the bayo- a natural condition, it is achieved only by humans
net/dagger and the shark tooth. Given that these adopting complex cultural and behavioral accou-
objects were each species’ primary means of dis- trements. For maritime hunter-gatherers, open-
patching prey, and accepting that sharks and hu- water hunts represented critical cultural moments:
mans were seen as conspecifics, this symbolic re- the crucible in which technological, procurement,
lationship would have been extremely significant. and dietary strategies were forged into an inte-
A core tenet of shamanistic ritual is the concept grated way of life. Put another way, open-water
of transformation (e.g., Guenther 1999:426–427), hunts involved people with state-of-the-art trans-
where the shaman can shift between realms of ex- portation and procurement technologies, employ-
istence (the land, the sea, the air), or change di- ing the most complex and intricate hunting strate-
rectly into other animals or animal-human hy- gies they could devise, pursuing animals with the
brids. Ethnohistorically, transformation into other highest caloric returns, at the greatest risk of fail-
beings or between realms of existence was central ure and personal catastrophe. And it was in these
to a Wabanaki buoin’s (shaman’s) power, and it is watershed moments, when an entire socioeco-
clear that the bones of “animal familiars” nomic system was being put to the test, that hu-
(nti’emel) were conduits through which this trans- mans engaged with sharks. As a cosmological de-
formation took place (Johnson 1943:70–72). ictic and a conspecific, sharks may have
Shamanistic paraphernalia has long been associ- represented a fulcrum around which humans could
ated with Early Woodland mortuary ceremonial- both think about and signal their complex techno-
ism in the Northeast (see e.g., Brown 1997; Carr logical, economic, logistical, and socioecological
and Case 2005:91). The link between shamanism relationships with the marine environment.
and Late Archaic cemeteries in the Northeast has From this perspective, we may also explore
not been studied in detail, but given its prevalence the significance of bone daggers and slate bayo-
among later groups, this common hunter-gath- nets found in Moorehead Phase ritual deposits. If,
erer ideological system likely had its roots in the as Sanger (2009b:11) suggests, bone daggers were
IP Address: 204.19.14.51
Late Archaic, if not earlier. Lamnid sharks, as used to administer the “coup de grace” to a har-
some of the world’s fastest swimmers and as apex pooned swordfish or other aquatic creature, then
marine predators, would naturally have become they may have held powerful ideological conno-
attractive targets for a shaman’s animal transfor- tations. In short, used at the ultimate climax of the
mation. However, it is the shark’s propensity to marine hunting foray, these tools embodied the
breach and fin that may have been even more critical moment of the maritime hunt and there-
meaningful to shamanistic peoples. Breaching fore the marine way of life itself. The exquisitely
and finning sharks are the quintessence of a trans- crafted and decorated slate bayonets found in
formative animal: a liminal organism that can Moorehead Phase cemeteries, which may be styl-
leave its marine realm and penetrate the surface— ized non-utilitarian versions of bone daggers
in this case with spectacular and often terrifying (Sanger 1991:77, 79, 2009b:11), may also have
results. Thus, during the Late Archaic and Wood- been imbued with a similar meaning. The form of
land periods, the shark tooth may have signified these slate tools—which mimics the shape of a
both this transformative quality and its impor- swordfish rostrum (e.g., Bourque 1995:7, 238)—
tance in the spiritual life of maritime peoples, provides a further entanglement with maritime
while providing a material conduit through which foraging and its social, economic, and environ-
such transformations could take place. mental correlates.
That said, even deeper meaning may be re- Given that primary interactions with sharks
vealed by a consideration of the broad social and likely took place while on open-water fishing and
cultural context of human-shark interactions. As an hunting excursions, a gender- and/or age-centric
indexical category (Viveiros de Castro 1998:478), attribution for shark symbolism might be sug-
gested. Specifically, ethnohistoric sources sug- (Table 1, Figure 2). We infer that the attributes of
gest that adult males might have been primary living sharks, especially great whites—as cosmo-
participants in fishing and hunting excursions logical deictics—were transferred to, and perhaps
(e.g., Hoffman 1955:269–271, 311), and therefore intensified, in these massive stone simulacra.
might have a prioritized relationship to sharks. The next direct evidence for the transportation
However, the limited human skeletal evidence of shark teeth occurs again in Nova Scotia, where
available indicates that shark remains may cross- a large megalodon fossil tooth from the Chesa-
cut age and sex boundaries. While the skeletal ev- peake Bay Calvert formation was discovered in an
idence is far from conclusive, the association of Early Woodland (Meadowood Phase) cache as-
children, men, and women with shark teeth rein- semblage found near Sherbrooke Lake. Rein-
forces their potential meaning as emblems repre- forcing the link between megalodon and great
senting an entire society, rather than a gendered or white sharks, this specimen was retouched around
aged subset of that society. This further supports the occlusal margin, possibly to simulate the ser-
the concept that the marine way of life—a pro- rations on an extant great white shark tooth. The
found identification with the sea—was critical to Early Woodland period represents a time when
the identity of many ancestral Wabanaki and their there is considerable evidence of the grafting of
predecessors. “external” customs and material culture on to lo-
Finally, large lamnid sharks are beings of ex- cal traditions in the Maritime Peninsula. It should
plosive power and terror, and prehistoric hunters be noted that this appears to involve a series of
and fishers undoubtedly witnessed attacks on wa- pan-regional cultural phenomena, which resulted
tercraft, competition for prey, and perhaps even in a large number of local hybrid entities through-
direct predation on humans. The importance of out the Northeast. In this light, the appearance of
this perception of sharks is suggested by Mi’k- fossil shark teeth in Early Woodland ceremonial
maw oral traditions, which emphasize their terri- assemblages in Chesapeake Bay, near the source
fying attributes (de Paul 1886; Lockerby 2004; of the fossils, is particularly noteworthy.
Martjin 1986). Indeed, adopting the shark’s per- While shark teeth from sources in Chesapeake
spective through the medium of a tooth, or per- Bay and the Gulf of Mexico are sometimes cited
haps exercising the ability to control the animal as components of interior Adena-related assem-
through the abilities of a buoin, may have pro- blages (e.g., Brose 1994; Griffin 1967), our re-
IP Address: 204.19.14.51
vided some sense of security when interacting view of the literature revealed no credible report
with these frightening creatures. It is possible of shark remains in a non-coastal Adena-related
that this perception of sharks may have intensified site. The first evidence of interior-coastal trade of
through time, with the presumed switch from shark teeth appears to be down the St. Lawrence
dugout canoes to birchbark canoes (Blair River trade route defined by Wright
2010:41–43), which are highly susceptible to at- (1994:65–66). Two fossil great white shark teeth
tack from a large shark. that were found in Early Woodland deposits in the
Pointe-du-Buisson 4 site near Montreal may have
Transportation and Exchange of come from trade with Atlantic Canadian groups,
Shark Teeth in the Northeast who had access to Calvert formation fossils since
Archaic times (Clermont and Chapdelaine
The earliest direct evidence for exchange in shark 1982:112; see also Wright 1994:66). While the
teeth appears to be along the Atlantic Seaboard stratigraphic association of these teeth is prob-
during the Late Archaic period, as evidenced by lematic (Clermont and Chapdelaine 1982:110), it
fossil megalodon shark teeth from the Calvert seems likely, given the evidence presented above,
Formation in a Late Archaic assemblage from that they were associated with Meadowood Phase
Liverpool, Nova Scotia (Figure 1). What might ceremonial material recovered at Point-du-Buis-
have been the motivations for transporting/ex- son 4 and the nearby Meadowood Phase cemetery
changing these fossil teeth, if extant versions were at Pointe-du-Buisson 5 (Clermont 1978).
available? Except for size, megalodon teeth are Further up the St. Lawrence drainage, near
strikingly similar to those of the great white shark Rice Lake Ontario, a perforated extant great white
IP Address: 204.19.14.51
638
Table 2. Summary of Mortuary/Ritual Contexts in the Atlantic Provinces and New England (and adjacent states) Where Shark Teeth
Have Been Recovered (“N/A” denotes sex and age of human remains are undetermined due to poor preservation).
Site Name Province or Number of Shark Species Age of Deposit Age and Sex of Associated Associated Diagnostic Source
State Shark Teeth Human Remains Artifacts
Cow Point New 1 Great white Ca. 4000 B.P.- N/A Ground celts Sanger (1973)
Locus 31 Brunswick 3650 B.P. Argillite bayonets
Red ochre
Cow Point New 6 Shortfin mako Ca. 4000 B.P.- N/A Abrasive stones Sanger (1973)
Locus 47 Brunswick 3650 B.P.
Ministers New 1 Great white Ca. 1950 BP One individual aged 12-17 Rolled copper beads Burns (1971)
Island Lot 1 Brunswick years (sex unknown) Chipped and ground celts
Ministers New 1 Great white Ca. 1950 BP One individual aged > 25 Rolled copper beads Burns (1971)
Island Lot 2 Brunswick years (sex unknown), one Chipped and ground celts
individual aged 8-10 years
(sex unknown)
Port Joli Nova Scotia 1 Great white Ca. 1450 B.P. One individual aged 35-45 Worked antler Betts (2010)
years (sex unknown)
Sherbrooke Nova Scotia 1 Megalodon Early Woodland Possible non-mortuary ritual Chipped and ground celts McEachen
Lake (fossilized) context “Cache” bifaces (1996)
Abrasive stones
AMERICAN ANTIQUITY
Liverpool Nova Scotia 5 Megalodon Middle-Late Unreported contextual data Fully channelled (?) gouge
(fossilized, Archaic Side-notched projectile points
broken)
Port au Newfoundland 36 Porbeagle or Ca. 4300 B.P.- One female aged > 21 years Effigy pendants and stones Jelmsa (2006)
Choix Salmon shark 3700 B.P. Sea gull bill Tuck (1994)
Interment 9 (Lamna sp.) Gannet wing bones
Quartz crystals
Indian Maine 35 1 great white, Ca. 1650 B.P. One individual aged 2-10 Birch bark (part of bundle) Snow (2009)
Island 34 shortfin years (sex unknown) Rolled copper beads
mako Red ochre
[Vol. 77, No. 4, 2012
IP Address: 204.19.14.51
Betts et al.]
Moshier Maine Unreported Unreported Ca. 950 B.P. Multiple individuals of Shell beads Hamilton (1985)
Island various ages and sexes Copper beads Yesner (1994)
(specifics not reported) Lithics (unreported type)
Seaver Farm Massachusetts 4 Great white Middle N/A “Cache” bifaces Taylor (1970)
Woodland
Taylor Hill Massachusetts 1 Shortfin mako Late Woodland/ One individual aged 2-10 Abrading stone Torrey and
Protohistoric years (sex unknown), one Ground celt Bullen (1946)
male aged > 21 years Triangular projectile point
Titicut Massachusetts 1 Great white Protohistoric One male aged 35-40 years Iron residue Robinson (1967)
Internment Flint strike-a-light
15 European clay pipe
Triangular projectile points
Stemmed projectile points
Bone awls
Sandy Hill Maryland 3 2 megalodon, Early Woodland N/A Red ochre Ford (1976)
(fossilized) 1 great white “Cache” bifaces
or shortfin Blocked-end tubular pipes
mako Gorgets
Ground celts
Copper beads
West River Maryland 4 (two Megalodon Ca. 2150 B.P.- N/A “Cache” bifaces Ford (1976)
broken and 1650 B.P. Blocked-end tubular pipes
PERSPECTIVISM, MORTUARY SYMBOLISM, AND HUMAN-SHARK RELATIONSHIPS
burned) Gorgets
Abrading stones
639
shark tooth was placed with an infant interment in or more important, than the economic benefits?
the Middle Woodland (Point Peninsula complex) As discussed by Viveiros de Castro
LeVesconte Mound. The context is dated to be- (2004a:473) in the context of cosmological deixis,
tween 1720 ± 55 B.P. (DIC-732) and 1830 ± 50 “any exchange is an exchange of perspectives.”
B.P. (DIC-107) based on assays on human bone For the receiver, what is really transferred is the
collagen (Kenyon 1986:88; Wright 1994:65). ability to access a new way of living and acting in
Given its near contemporaneity with the Ministers the environment—that is, access to a new ani-
Island shark teeth, it is possible that the Rice Lake mal’s perspective. For a Hopewell shaman, ac-
shark tooth may have been acquired directly from cessing the perspectives of exotic creatures and
the Atlantic provinces/states, though Wright their unique spiritual and physical powers may
(1994:65–66) notes several other potential sources, have been critical. Many of the creatures repre-
such as Chesapeake Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. sented in Hopewell ritual contexts exemplify traits
Between ca. 2000 B.P. and 1500 B.P. fossilized significant to a shaman’s transformational journey
and extant shark teeth became relatively wide- (Brown 1997; Carr and Case 2005:358–363; De-
spread in Middle Woodland (Hopewell culture) Boer 1997:Figure 9; Holt 1996; Kraft 1976).
sites throughout the Midwest (e.g., Carr and Case These include animals adept at swimming, flying,
2005:608), as well as related sites (Hopewell In- and running, dangerous animals known to prey on
teraction Sphere/Point Peninsula complex) in in- humans, and liminal creatures that span ground-
terior New York state, such as Point Peninsula and air, ground-water or water-air interfaces. Sharing
Jack’s Reef (Ritchie 1944:69,165; Ritchie 1965). all of these qualities, the shark was an obvious ex-
Many of the extant teeth found in these sites were otic creature to appropriate for inclusion in cere-
perforated (e.g., Ritchie 1965:218, 234), presum- monial contexts that emphasized these sorts of ca-
ably for suspension as pendants. Carr and Case pabilities.
(2005:206) specifically include shark teeth as part At the same time, the shark tooth may have
of a greater assemblage of paraphernalia related represented a potent emblem of a relationship
to public shamanistic ritual in the Hopewell cul- with peoples in other societies. As a conspecific,
ture, and Ritchie (1965:254) uses perforated shark a shark’s way of living in the sea is analogous to
teeth as a defining trait of the Point Peninsula the way coastal hunter-gatherers in the Northeast
complex (part of the Hopewell Interaction made their living from the sea. To the giver, ex-
IP Address: 204.19.14.51
Sphere) in New York. Fossil shark teeth, in par- changing shark teeth may have reinforced the
ticular, appear to have been traded out of the cultural importance of the behaviors—marine
Chesapeake area in large numbers during these hunting/fishing—that brought people into inter-
times (Ritchie 1965:252) and have been found in action with sharks. To the receiver, shark teeth
caches containing dozens of fossil great white, may have signified both a relationship to a group
mako, and megalodon teeth (Murphy 1975:27). of people with a unique—and other—way of liv-
ing, and a means to access their point of view
Discussion and Conclusions through the transformative power of the tooth. In
effect, shark teeth may have signalled, in a phe-
What were the motivations for Hopewell peo- nomenological way, who coastal peoples were,
ples and those that interacted with them to draw both to themselves and to others. This suggests a
in animal relics from sources as far away as the potent rationale for their inclusion as sacred ob-
Rocky Mountains and the Atlantic Ocean (e.g., jects in ritual and mortuary contexts from the
Carr and Case 2005:608, 349)? Explanations that Late Archaic through the Late Woodland, a period
emphasize economic motivations (the exchange spanning at least three millennia.
of shark teeth for other valuable commodities Loring (1985; see also Bourque 1994; Dragoo
such as toolstone, tobacco, and religious para- 1976) has discussed the Early Woodland mortu-
phernalia) are obvious, but do not take into ac- ary contexts along the North Atlantic Coast as rep-
count the innate symbolic value of animal re- resenting a set of religious symbols and behaviors
mains. What if the social and ideological contexts incorporated into what was essentially a Late Ar-
of the exchange, on both sides, were as important, chaic mortuary system, in the process forming
distinct local religious entities. Shark remains In conclusion, we believe shark teeth reveal
may provide some support for ideological conti- how a deeply embedded spiritual relationship,
nuity from the Late Archaic through the Early one with a pedigree spanning at least a thousand
Woodland periods. From this perspective, it is years, was integrated into local expressions of
interesting that no extant or fossil shark teeth widespread religious movements and subse-
have ever been discovered in Terminal Archaic quently transplanted throughout the Northeast.
(Susquehanna Tradition and contemporaneous We believe our theoretical and methodological ap-
manifestations) archaeological contexts in Maine proach can be applied to other animal remains and
or the Maritime Provinces. The Susquehanna Tra- effigies from ritual contexts in the Northeast and
dition has often been interpreted as having a more elsewhere. Such analyses may expose the deep
interior-adapted subsistence orientation (e.g., histories of animal interactions that were embed-
Black 2000; Bourque 1995; Sanger 1988; Spiess ded in local, regional, and trans-regional religious
and Lewis 2001; Spiess and Mosher 2006), and, practices. An example may be found in the killer
thus, it is not surprising that this icon of a marine whale (Orcinus orca) stone effigies at the Ar-
way of life is absent from Susquehanna ritual and chaic Port au Choix cemetery in Newfoundland.
mortuary assemblages. Moreover, it may be note- As apex marine predators, killer whales exhibit
worthy that, unlike the Maritime Provinces, no many of the behavioral characteristics of sharks,
shark teeth or fossils have been found in Early and were probably brought into contact with hu-
Woodland contexts in Maine, where the Susque- mans in similar ways. The killer whale effigies at
hanna Tradition appears significantly better de- Port au Choix are likely a regional expression of
veloped and apparently more pervasively inte- a conspecific relationship between predators on a
grated (e.g., Sanger 2006). shared landscape (Tuck 1994:92), in many re-
While recurring interactions with sharks spects similar to the relationship signalled by the
helped to perpetuate the human-shark spiritual shark remains at the site (e.g., Keenlyside
relationship from the Late Archaic through the 1999:64).
Late Woodland periods, the importance of sharks On the Maritime Peninsula, Late Archaic and
in later periods must also be viewed from the Woodland cemeteries and ritual deposits were lo-
perspective of peoples maintaining an ancient cations where relationships between animals and
ideological tradition. By the Early Woodland pe- humans were overt. This is to say, the shared per-
IP Address: 204.19.14.51
riod, this tradition may have had roots so ancient spectives and lives of humans and sharks, and the
that it transcended action, memory, and oral his- transformative power that could be gained from
tories to become a persistent tenet, perhaps capa- this relationship, were explicitly signalled and ex-
ble of resisting changing technologies and ploited in these contexts. Our analysis indicates that
economies that otherwise might have modified shark teeth in mortuary and ceremonial contexts
the nature of human-shark interactions. So per- signalled complex and entangled meanings; they
vasive had this ideological tenet become that it were, all at the same time, the embodiment of a
was woven into introduced Early Woodland pe- maritime way of life, an emblem and instrument of
riod mortuary customs (Adena, Middlesex, Mead- shamanistic transformation, and a relic from a real
owood) that spread across much of the north- living creature that was—in equal measure—icon,
eastern Atlantic Seaboard from the Canadian comrade, competitor, and monster.
Maritimes to Maryland. It seems this coastal trait
eventually penetrated into the centers of the great Acknowledgments. The research for this paper was supported
by funds from the Canadian Museum of Civilization and the
Woodland socioeconomic and ceremonial net- University of New Brunswick. Fieldwork for Betts was un-
works, perhaps originally via the St. Lawrence dertaken in collaboration with Acadia First Nation; their con-
trade route. It intensified in the Middle Woodland tinued support is greatly appreciated. Karen Ryan, Stephen
period, with fossil and extant shark teeth flowing Augustine, Jean-Luc Pilon, and David Morrison provided
from the Atlantic seaboard into Hopewell centers valuable comments on the manuscript and the concepts
therein. Christopher Watts reviewed an early version of the pa-
(Carr and Case 2005:608; Murphy 1975), while per and his suggestions had a significant influence on many
still occurring as fundamental mortuary and ritual aspects of our approach. Lucy Johanis kindly translated the
accoutrements on the Maritime Peninsula. English abstract into French. Stephen Powell and Brent Sut-
tie provided crucial data and photographs of shark teeth in the 2004b Pihcesis Ajemseg: The Maritime Woodland Period
collections of the Nova Scotia Museum and New Brunswick at Jemseg. In Wolastoqiyik Ajemseg: The People of the Beau-
Archaeological Services, respectively. We are grateful to tiful River at Jemseg, Volume 2, Archaeological Results, edit-
Karine Taché who invited us to participate in a stimulating ses- ed by Susan E. Blair, pp.66–82. Manuscripts in New
sion entitled “Theoretical and Methodological Approaches to Brunswick Archaeology No. 36E, New Brunswick Ar-
chaeological Services, Culture and Sports Secretariat,
Interactions in Eastern North America” at the Society for
Fredericton.
American Archaeology conference in St. Louis, Missouri. As 2010 Missing the Boat in Lithic Procurement: Watercraft and
session discussants for that symposium, Adrian Burke and the Bulk Procurement of Tool-Stone on the Maritime Penin-
Elizabeth Chilton provided insightful comments on the writ- sula. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 29:33–46.
ten version of the paper. We thank Alison Rautman, Kenneth Bourque, Bruce J.
Sassaman, Michael Deal, and three other anonymous review- 1994 Evidence for Prehistoric Exchange on the Maritime
ers for their thoughtful substantive and editorial comments. Peninsula. In Prehistoric Exchange Systems in the North-
east, edited by Timothy G. Baugh and Jonathon E. Eric-
son, pp. 23–46. Plenum Press, New York.
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PERSPECTIVISM, MORTUARY SYMBOLISM, AND HUMAN-SHARK

RELATIONSHIPS ON THE MARITIME PENINSULA

Matthew W. Betts, Susan E. Blair, and David W. Black

American Antiquity 77(4), 2012, pp. 621–645

a consequence of preservation issues, because Considerations

Ritual/mortuary context with fossil shark teeth

NJ Extant tooth in possible ritual/mortuary context Kilometers

In Wabanaki cosmology, animal parts were temporary creatures and landscapes.

both a metonym for the animal and a tool to gain

strument, animal parts were complex entities with

Wednesday, October 31, 2012 2:10:13 PM

Table 1. Taxonomy and Characteristics of Shark Species Referred to in the Text.

Family Species Common Name Prey Tooth Shape Habitat

by the excavator (Erskine 1986:26) as being part scribes it:

(possibly cremations), although again the exca-

to deconstruct this relationship by focusing on the 1998:208). An excellent, if fictional, account of

Mollomo 1998:212), but may have been a signif-

Betts, Matthew W. Boyce, H.L., and L.A. Frye

um, Halifax. Brown, James A.

Clermont, Norman, and Claude Chapdelaine Fowler, Chris

DeBoer, Warren R. Holt, Julie Z.

North America (Acadia). Translated and edited by William 119 (473):312–336.

Kraft, Herbert C. Rand, Silas T.

Suttie, Brent D. dian Museum of Civilization, Gatineau.

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