EXCAVATION OF THE WHITBY BRANCH SITE (7NC-G-151)

Summary

The Whitby Branch Site is one of many Native American archaeological sites that have recently

been excavated along Delaware’s new State Route 1. Planning studies for this new highway have

included a broad program of archaeological investigations, resulting in a great amount of new

information about Delaware’s ancient cultural heritage. Indeed, there has been a virtual explosion

of new information from the numerous archaeological excavations. Perhaps more important than

new data, new analytical methods have been developed, new theories constructed, and new ways

of interpreting information to broader audiences have appeared.

The Whitby Branch Site is unusual in that it was found in one of the few arable locations in

Delaware that had not been subject to cultivation. The archaeological deposits were extremely well

preserved and the site therefore offered an excellent opportunity to examine a Native American

occupation area. The site investigation focused on issues of prehistoric chronology, subsistence,

settlement patterns, intrasite patterning, environmental adaptation, and technology. The first period

of documented site use occurred during the Clyde Farm complex of the Woodland I period (ca.

3000-500 BC). Intensive site use occurred during the Black Rock I complex of the Woodland I

period (ca. 500-1 BC), and was followed by occupation during the Webb complex (ca. AD 500-

1000). Site use during the Woodland II period (ca. AD 1000-1650) was limited and the remains

from this period may represent only sporadic visits.

The site occupies a low ridge surrounded by extensive tidal wetlands that are tributary to the

Appoquinimink River. The site was exploited for its extensive bed of workable cobbles, and may

have been a procurement and processing station for game and plant resources. A number of hearth

areas were present, as well as tool and activity areas relating to the manufacture and maintenance

of lithic implements. One area of the site contained unusually high concentrations of lithic debris.

Four 1x1-meter units excavated in this area collectively yielded over 4,000 pieces of debitage, a

number that exceeds the total assemblages from many other sites in Delaware. The concentration

of debitage at the Whitby Branch Site appears to have been the location of a refuse deposit situated

at a distance from the site’s primary work area. The activities inferred from the observed debitage

and tool frequencies suggest that the site functioned in large part as a lithic quarry and workshop.

A possible pit house dwelling was uncovered and was dated to the Black Rock I complex. Botanical

and faunal preservation at the site was poor, although charred walnut and hickory nutshell were

recovered from a number of features, including a large storage pit within the proposed pit house.

These remains may represent consumed food items.

Several regionally recognized point types were identified in the artifact assemblage, including

Susquehanna Broadspear, Poplar Island, Jack’s Reef Corner Notched, and Levanna. Artifact

frequencies were unusually high for a site of this size, reflecting the extensive utilization of the

locally available cobbles for tool manufacture. Flake-attribute and flake-size analyses demonstrated

that the range of production techniques used at the site included core reduction and biface reduction.

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