Georges Bank - First a Stepping Stone

A Background to the Bank

In the modern day, Georges Bank is a submerged sandbank in the north Atlantic Ocean. It is the southeastern bound of the bay of Maine and a once important fishing ground for cod, haddock, and flounder. However, this was not always the case. The George's bank was the terminus of the Laurentide ice sheet during the last ice age. While completely covered by ice for most of its history, as the ice age began to close the ice sheet retreated. Through the action of post-glacial rebound, the Georges Bank, Scotian Shelf, and Grand Banks became exposed, low-lying islands.

As the ice sheet retreated, the island environment changed from barren windswept tundra to spruce and broadleaf forests. Fossils of animals which could travel across channels of water such as Moose, Mammoths, and Ground sloths, have all been found in the waters of the Georges Bank. Due to the relatively short gaps between islands from the North American mainland to the Georges Bank, human settlement quickly followed.

Some tools snagged in fishermen's nets in the Georges Bank demonstrate similarity to those found in prehistoric excavations in the Mossfell Islands (Clovis culture). Tool evidence here indicates that humans settled this area from at least 13,000 years before present (11,000 BCE). These deposits are generally found in the deeper areas of the bank, while more advanced tools are found in the shallowest areas of the Georges Bank. The presence of later cultures on the Georges Bank will be addressed in a further entry.

A Stepping Stone - Out 

The current model for human settlement in the Mossfells is the Island-Hopping Hunter Hypothesis. This idea postulates that paleo-American settlers followed familiar prey species such as mammoths, ground sloths, auks, and seals across the small islands of the Gulf of Maine until reaching the Georges Bank. As megafauna became scarce in these areas, humans continued to follow prey species such as seals, sealbirds, and walrus into the oceans. This led to the development of capable boats to hunt animals from. Finally, the strengthening of a strong southward Labrador Current likely brought humans intentionally (or unintentionally) to the northern islands of the Mossfells (Gasmensyi, Tyrkimani). At this point in time the islands were also larger due to lower sea levels during the ice age. The oldest evidence of human habitation on the Mossfells is the infamous Shearpoint cave, with some cave pigments dating to 11,000 years before present (9,000 BCE).

During the initial colonization of the Mossfells, it appears that the Shearpoint culture on the islands became separated from the Georges Bank peoples. This was likely due to strong currents making it difficult for rudimentary craft to travel reliably between the two cultures. Pollen analysis of soil isolates in the Georges Bank also indicate no cross over of flora to the islands. It appears the trip from the Georges Bank to the Mossfells may have been a one-way voyage.

A Stepping Stone - In

There are theories which postulate that the Shearpoint culture did interact and re-integrate with the Georges Bank peoples. First postulated by Professor Abigail Gideon in 1925 as an explanation for the apparent abandonment of the Mossfells after 9,500 years before present (7,500 BCE), The Shearpoint Return Hypothesis states that survivors from the Shearpoint disaster likely attempted to travel to other islands and there is potential evidence that they returned to the Georges Bank. Initially, Professor Gideon's hypothesis was dismissed as fringe science as there was very little evidence to indicate that the Shearpoint peoples possessed craft capable of traveling the open ocean for that distance. The only evidence that could be provided was the find of oars dating to 9,500 years before present off the shore of Gasmensyi. There was also no evidence to indicate human fabricated or transported materials from the Mossfells being found on the Georges Bank. Instead the prevailing theory for the disappearance of humans on the Mossfells postulated that the surviving human population diminished to an unsustainable level, and the Shearpoint culture was quietly snuffed out after suffering a cataclysm. 

It wasn't until 2010 when both ideas were, in a way, proven correct. In February 2010, fishermen in the Georges Bank discovered the petrified remains of two large watercraft. These watercraft were initially thought to be a rafts created from spruce wood by children in nearby Cape Cod for a local regatta. It wasn't until carbon dating as well as molecular analysis that the raft was revealed to be created from trees native to the Mossfell archipelago. In addition to the rafts, hollowed gourds attached to the rafts were of cultivars only found on the archipelago, strengthening the idea that the craft had made it from the Mossfells to Georges Bank. Finally, the presence of an atlatl made of wood from an indigenous Idunn tree was discovered near the rafts. This further solidified support for at least one potential Mossfell-Georges Bank voyage.

Later that year in June 2010, excavations in Nishsystir revealed three sets of paleo-American remains associated with Shearpoint tools which carbon-dated to roughly 9,400 years ago (7,400 B.C.E). These remains constitute the "youngest" set of human remains from the Shearpoint culture on the archipelago. Osteological analysis of the remains indicate that these were old individuals (estimated ages from 60-80) which had suffered severe nutritional deficits in their childhood. Two of the remains presented with crushing injuries suffered to their legs which were likely acquired during childhood. Evidence of joint wear as well as severe osteoporosis in all three elderly individuals may indicate that these three were left to fend for themselves for a long period of time - perhaps even as the last remaining humans on the archipelago. The "Agua Fria Trio" are hypothesized to be the three survivors of a cave-in which eradicated their group. Their persistence on the islands roughly 50-70 years after the disaster which destroyed the Shearpoint culture lends credence to the hypothesis that a few hardy groups of human survivors persisted on the archipelago before it was again depopulated.