Explore 8,000 years of artifacts uncovered during recent archaeological investigations conducted by the Cape Porpoise Archaeological Alliance (CPAA). Learn about Indigenous stone tool technology and the science of archaeology in the Brick Store Museum’s new exhibit.
A highlight of the exhibit is the remains of the oldest dugout canoe ever found in the Wabanaki homeland of the Far Northeast, first identified in 2018 and painstakingly excavated in the summer of 2019 by CPAA. Carbon dating places the canoe between 1280-1380 C.E.
CPAA was formed in 2016 to conduct scientific archaeological research on the islands and intertidal zone of the Cape Porpoise Archipelago. CPAA is a collaboration between the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust and the Brick Store Museum, in which a team of professional archaeologists works with citizen scientists to conduct archaeological surveys and excavations. Over several seasons, a variety of objects have been uncovered from Wabanaki stone tools to early Euroamerican pipe stems, revealing histories of culture and colonization in southern Maine.
Below, you’ll find a video created for the exhibition explaining more about the project: