17,000 before present (BP)
- Last glacier – Wisconsin glaciation – begins to recede
11,000 BP
- What is now Maine mostly glacier free, except for far north
10,000 BP
- Paleo–Indians, first humans in Maine, arrive
8,000–3,500 BP
- Archaic peoples with seagoing culture, inhabit Maine, engage in swordfishing
3,000–500 BP
- Maine Indians begin making ceramic pottery; evidence of wigwams dates from this period
1400
- "Dawnland" inhabited by about 20,000 people: Armouchiquois (Casco Bay to Massachusetts), Etchemin (Kennebec to St. John River Valley), and Abenaki (interior). Collectively known as Wabanaki – People of the Dawn
1524
- Giovanni Da Verrazano (1485-1528), Italian navigator in French employ, makes first recorded landfall in region.
1525
- Estevan Gomez (ca. 1483-1538), Portuguese exploring for Spain, sails up Penobscot River to site of present–day Bangor
1529
- Verrazano's map names region "Oranbega"
1589
- Richard Haklyut's (ca.1552-1616) Voyages includes story of David Ingram about fabulous city of Norumbega; region becomes "Norumbega"
