Person, Place or Thing: Ongoing Questions and Evidence for New England Settlement and Material Culture

DOCUMENT Citation Only Kristen Jeremiah.

The Susquetonscut Brook Site 11 (SB-11) is a Native American campsite occupied primarily during the Archaic Period and again briefly in the Woodland Period. Data recovery excavations conducted by The Public Archaeology Laboratory, Inc. (PAL) in the summer of 2015 resulted in the recovery of thousands of artifacts and the exposure of 14 cultural features, including post-molds, pit features, fire hearths, and a roasting platform. Feature definition was attained through a variety of analyses,...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Ora Elquist.

Regional studies of eastern Connecticut suggest seasonal movements between valley lowlands and uplands along the Connecticut River Valley, and year-round occupation of the Northeastern Highlands by mobile groups during the Archaic. The Public Archaeology Laboratory recently excavated a complex of sites in the Susquetonscut Brook drainage, a minor tributary located in a transitional zone between river valley lowlands and highlands. This site complex contains a wide range of occupation types, and...

DOCUMENT Citation Only John Kelly.

In the summer of 2015, the Public Archaeology Laboratory, Inc. (PAL) conducted data recovery excavations at Susquetonscut Brook Pre-Contact Site 11 (SB 11), a multi-component site in Franklin, Connecticut. Prior archaeological investigations had produced a high density of pre-contact artifacts, but very few artifacts that would have suggested a sizeable post-contact occupation. However, the data recovery yielded 1,798 post-contact artifacts, revealing a substantial post-contact component to the...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Mandy Ranslow. Sarah Sportman.

Robbins Swamp is a large freshwater swamp located within the Housatonic River drainage in Litchfied County, Connecticut. Archaeological sites within its environs and along nearby rivers date from the Paleoindian period through the Woodland period, indicating the wetland and nearby rivers and streams were an important resource for Native Americans for over 12,000 years. With the exception of George Nicholas' extensive work for his dissertation, which identified 500 additional sites, few...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Richard Boisvert.

A long-term research project in northern New Hampshire has identified nearly 20 Paleoindian components within a one kilometer by half kilometer space overlooking the Israel River. Consideration of the spatial distribution of tools and debris within the components and the distribution of these components on the landscape suggest a rigorous organization of migrating bands of Paleoindians who focused on caribou hunting. Site specific topography appears to be an essential element in the selection...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Bruce Rusch.

In the Northeast and especially New Hampshire, Paleoamerican small lithic sites or scatters represents one of the most common site types. Even though represented by small lithic scatters some of these sites also contain evidence of short-term habitation, food preparation and tool production activities. Twenty km to the east, opposite the Israel River Complex, is situated a site with an area of 2 ½ acres, 11 excavation units (1m x 1m or greater) and approximately 15,900 lithic artifacts, known as...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Dianna Doucette.

Artifact types are often used as markers of social boundedness or "ethnicity" although the relationship between typology and culture remains a very complex and poorly understood issue. Projectile points from the Narrow-stemmed Tradition (also called the Small Stemmed Tradition) are ubiquitous in southern New England and can rarely be attributed to a single component Native American archaeological site. Attempts have been made to seriate this style of point with varying success, given its style...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Erin Flynn.

Archaic Period dwellings have largely gone unnoticed in New England due to poor preservation and thousands of years of bioturbation. However, a concentration of post molds, large and small pits, and fire hearths uncovered at the Halls Swamp Site in southeastern Massachusetts are attributes that characterize, and have been associated with, the few Native American semi-subterranean dwellings identified in New England. Recognizing structural attributes is essential for understanding Native American...