A Snook Kill Phase Site in Marshfield, Massachusetts

Summary

Archaeological and Historical Services Inc. recently excavated a rich Snook Kill phase site in Marshfield, Massachusetts. Dated features and diagnostic tools from the site indicate a radiocarbon age of 3500 years ago. Artifacts were recovered beneath a horizon of peat that had formed over the past 1500 years in this near-coastal setting. The strikingly pristine site documents a complete lithic artifact production, use and discard sequence, from the reduction of rhyolite cobbles into carefully prepared cores, and large flake blanks into tools. Bifacial implements include numerous Snook Kill points, asymmetrical knives, and over a dozen awls. Refitting between debitage and tool fragments indicates two contemporaneous areas of activity. The organization of the site and spent tool kit suggest that a focused episode of construction occurred here, possibly related to bark canoe manufacture.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• New Research on the Archaic Period in the Northeast: The Past 20 Years   •
• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage