Matthew James

Matt graduated from the University of Maine with a BA in Anthropology. As an archaeologist, his research aims to better understand, from an interdisciplinary standpoint, the environments in which indigenous ceramics were crafted and used in Maine. While working with the Holmes Point assemblage in 2018, Matt found voids within some sherds that were later determined to be the impressions of Balsam fir (Abies balsamea) needles. At the graduate level, Matt plans to continue this research to determine if this practice was temporally and geographically limited to just the Holmes Point area. This data can also be used to corroborate the presence and historic range of Abies balsamea across Maine, and as a proxy for the climate, flora, and fauna that may have been present during the Ceramic Period.