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Instrumental neutron activation of sixty-one copper-based metal samples from Mi'kmaq First Nations archaeological sites at Northport, Pictou, and Avonport in Nova Scotia shows that all samples are of European origin. There are two brass and one gun metal samples; all are of different trace element chemistries. The remaining fifty-eight pieces of European copper displayed from six to thirteen different trace element chemistries, implying that a minimum of this number of cooking pots was associated with the assemblage. Six of the seven Northport copper samples match with different Pictou copper chemistries, linking the sites. Since two Northport samples were from essentially whole pots, and since they match trace element groupings 1 and 2i, at least two pots of each of these chemistries must have arrived at Northport and Pictou. On the other hand, the two copper samples from Avonport are chemically unique in this small collection, matching nothing from Northport or Pictou.

Recently, there has been an exchange in the archaeological literature of the Northeast coast regarding the interpretation of some Northeastern coastal shell middens as resulting from the intensive exploitation and preservation of shellfish resources. This article examines both sides of this exchange critically. It is concluded that, while the ethnohistoric evidence supports interpretations of prehistoric preservation and storage, archaeological evidence for these practices will be difficult to discern.