A Story Of Maine In 112 Objects From Prehistory To Modern Times

Founded in 1836, the Maine State Museum is America’s oldest state museum and is known to many as “Maine’s Smithsonian” because of the breadth and diversity of its holdings—nearly a million objects covering every aspect of the state’s cultural, biological, and geological history—and the thousands of stories its collections tell. For this book the museum selected and photographed 112 artifacts and specimens that, together, tell an epic story of the land and its people from prehistoric times to the present. It is a story covering 395 million years, a story told with a walrus skull and fossils, tourmaline and spear points, mammoth tusks and bone fishhooks, Norse coins and caulking irons, militia flags and survey stakes, treaty documents and wooden tankards, a temperance banner and a locomotive, Joshua Chamberlain’s pistol and a cod tub trawl, a Lombard log hauler and a woman’s WWII welding outfit, L. L. Bean boots and German POW snowshoes, and many more objects from the museum’s collections. Short narratives written by museum curators are woven around each item—including photos of related objects—and the ensemble has been honed, polished, and introduced by museum director Bernard Fishman. This is a book that historians and Maine residents and visitors will delve into again and again, unearthing new treasures with each reading.

Explore the spruce-studded mountains, classic shoreline villages, and rugged character of the Pine Tree State with Moon Maine. Inside you'll find: Strategic itineraries ranging from an eleven-day road trip through the whole state to a week exploring the coast, with ideas for every season Must-see highlights and unique experiences: Sample wild blueberries, farmstead cheeses, and preserves from roadside farmers' markets or find the best beachfront lobster shack. Trace picturesque lighthouses down the coast, stop to smell the roses at the botanical gardens, and taste some of Maine's best wines, craft beer, and mead. Watch the boats sway in a quiet harbor, mingle with locals over a "chowdah suppah," and unwind on a sandy pocket beach Outdoor adventures: Hike through majestic timberland forests or summit the peak of Katahdin on the final stretch of the Appalachian Trail. Take a moose safari, experience the rush of whitewater rafting, or ski the slopes at Sugarloaf. Canoe down the Allagash, paddle a sea kayak along the serpentine coastline, and immerse yourself in the secluded wilderness of Acadia National Park Honest advice from born-and-raised Maine local Hilary Nangle on when to go, where to eat, and where to stay, from luxury hotels and historic inns to budget campgrounds Full-color photos and detailed maps throughout Essential information including background on Maine's landscape, climate, wildlife, and culture With Moon Maine's practical tips and local insight, you can experience the best of the state. Hitting the road? Try Moon New England Road Trip. Sticking to the coast? Check out Moon Coastal Maine. About Moon Travel Guides: Moon was founded in 1973 to empower independent, active, and conscious travel. We prioritize local businesses, outdoor recreation, and traveling strategically and sustainably. Moon Travel Guides are written by local, expert authors with great stories to tell—and they can't wait to share their favorite places with you. For more inspiration, follow @moonguides on social media.

The first comprehensive history of Maine to be published in decades, Maine: The Pine Tree State surveys the region's rich history from prehistoric times to the early 1990s. Drawing on a team of twenty-six scholars with a professional interest in Maine's past, the book features fresh research and new interpretations of even familiar periods such as the Civil War. The chapter authors are respected authorities in Maine history from the fields of archaeology, anthropology, ethnic studies, and the various sub-disciplines of history: political, cultural, economic, labor, military, maritime. Certain themes recur from chapter to chapter and across historical periods. For example, larger structural changes in the nation - market trends, wars, economic fluctuations, demographic flows - strongly affected the everyday world of Maine people. Other prominent themes are the importance of geography and the environment in shaping Maine's economy and culture. Caught up at times in national events, Maine has also led the nation in important ways. Its fishing industry fed and its textile industry clothed the nation's people. Maine loggers contributed heavily to the technologies used in cutting, hauling, and driving timber. Maine excelled in the production of wooden ships and supplied the expertise to sail them. In the nineteenth century Maine's political leaders were among the most powerful in the nation, and Maine's contribution to social reform attracted national recognition.

This Dictionary covers a civilization largely forgotten until recently. This dictionary includes hundreds of entries on important persons, places, essential institutions, and the significant aspects of the society, economy, material culture, and warfare of this ancient people. A 16-page photospread, introductory essay, chronology, and bibliography complement the dictionary entries. For general readers and scholars alike who are interested in ancient history.

"Civilization is a term used by literary circles, historians, and publicists to describe a superior level of accomplishments of certain nations. After many later attempts to refine the definition, references are made to the difficulty posed by the physical environment and nature's physical challenges, which had to be overcome because they presented a danger to the human race. "Astonishingly, ignored was the importance of morality and the influence it exercised on the way humans treat each other within the framework of a social setting. "For the actions of men and women, if unhindered in the struggle for self-preservation and seeking material prosperity to attain the desired level of creature comforts, give rise to self-made obstacles in their quest to defy the natural order. We humans are the cause of hazards to our existence created by overpopulation, environmental degradation, and injecting various toxic substances into the food supply; we are the designers of an unbalanced economy whose stratification favors the well-to-do to the detriment of the disadvantaged, keeping most in a state of turmoil; we are the contrivers of religious systems, some of which are responsible for the most unnatural crimes committed by humans against humans; last but not least, we are the instigators of mass slaughters resulting from wars fought in anger, causing ever increasing casualties and destruction reaching totally destabilizing magnitudes. These acts bode ill for civilization. "Humanity, that flawed creation of a flawed nature, in bondage to survival instincts and a virtual slave to circumstances beyond its control, nevertheless possesses the capacity to free itself from some of the burdens imposed by the natural order to rise above the gravitational pull confining all living species. We must discover that our welfare and that of society depend on the rejection of the natural order, so as to be freed, however moderately, from nature's evolutionary competition and the struggle for the survival of the fittest, an order totally in conflict with morality. For the aims of morality are antithetical to nature's imposed scheme of things, reflecting the conflict between our aims and nature's designs." From the Introduction

A practical guide to the magical history, customs, and practices of pre-Christian Northern Europe • Details the everyday magic of the Northern Tradition, including household magic, protection spells, and the significance of the days of the week • Explores direct natural magic, such as shapeshifting and soul travel, and talismanic or sigil magic, including runes and rituals to unlock the power of crafted objects • Explains how many of these customs continue to the present day In the pre-Christian societies of Northern Europe, magic was embedded in the practical skills of everyday life. Everything in Nature was ensouled with an inner spirit, as was anything made by hand. People believed in magic because it worked and because it was part of the functionality of their day-to-day lives. Many of these practical observances and customs continue to the present day as rural traditions, folk customs, household magic, and celebrations of the high and holy days of the calendar. Exploring the magical pagan traditions of the people now called Celtic, Germanic, Scandinavian, Slavonic, and Baltic, Nigel Pennick examines the underlying principle of the Northern Tradition--the concept of Wyrd--and how it empowers the arts of operative magic, such as direct natural magic and talismanic or sigil magic. Through direct natural magic, individuals can shape shift, journey out of the body, or send one of their three souls (fylgia or “fetch”) ahead of them. Sigil magic involves the powers contained in objects, which can be channeled after the appropriate ritual. Runes are the most powerful sigils in the Northern Tradition and were used to ward off illness, danger, hostile magic, and malevolent spirits. Emphasizing the importance of the cycles of Nature to the tradition, Pennick explores the eightfold sun dials and the four ways the solar year is defined. He looks at the days of the week and their symbolic association with different deities as well as why particular acts are performed on certain days and what the customary lucky and unlucky days are. He also examines sacred spaces, household magic, protection spells, and the role of music in the Northern Tradition. Explaining all the traditional holidays and activities necessary to honor them, Pennick shows how anyone can participate authentically in the magic of the Northern Tradition if they take care to do things properly, with respect, and on the right day.

How modern philosophers use and perpetuate myths about prehistoryThe state of nature, the origin of property, the origin of government, the primordial nature of inequality and war why do political philosophers talk so much about the Stone Age? And are they talking about a Stone Age that really happened, or is it just a convenient thought experiment to illustrate their points?Karl Widerquist and Grant S. McCall take a philosophical look at the origin of civilisation, examining political theories to show how claims about prehistory are used. Drawing on the best available evidence from archaeology and anthropology, they show that much of what we think we know about human origins comes from philosophers imagination, not scientific investigation.Key FeaturesShows how modern political theories employ ambiguous factual claims about prehistoryBrings archaeological and anthropological evidence to bear on those claimsTells the story of human origins in a way that reveals many commonly held misconceptions