Exploring 12,000 Years of Occupation, Land Use, and Conflict: Archaeological and Historical Research Sponsored by the Mashantucket and Eastern Pequot Tribes

The Mashantucket and Eastern Pequot Reservations in southeastern Connecticut have an extraordinarily rich culture history that together span over 12,000 years. Over the last thirty years both tribes have generously supported a wide range of archaeological and historical research on Colonial and Native (Pequot) lifeways on and off the Reservations. This research has focused primarily on pre-contact occupations, documenting the richness and continuity of the Pequot presence on the reservations, the Pequot’s contact, conflict, and interactions with European colonists, and the Pequot’s continued survivance throughout the colonial era. These investigations have led to a better understanding of Native American experiences in southern New England and provided new opportunities for public education through scholarship, exhibits, and educational programs. This session highlights recent and ongoing research with papers focused on periods ranging from the Paleo-Indian to the Historic.