Object Entanglements in the Connecticut River Valley

Summary

We examine the material residues of 17th century Pocumtuck Indians to understand their long-term entanglements with others: kith and kin, ally and adversary, Native and non-Native. The Pocumtuck resided in New England’s middle Connecticut River Valley and were enmeshed in the Euro-Native exchange networks made possible by the river, its smaller tributaries, and well established trail networks linking Native and non-Native communities in all directions. We consider objects of copper alloy, stone, clay, glass, and shell recovered from feature deposits at a Pocumtuck site in Deerfield, Massachusetts. We focus on the acquisition, production, circulation, and deposition of these objects to understand the long-term networks that were maintained and reworked over several decades of occupation. We build on recent ethnohistoric and archaeological research to further counter the prevailing notions that (1) 17th century Pocumtuck were the same as their pre-contact ancestors; and (2) that they disappeared mid-century.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Long-term Indigenous Entanglement in the Colonial World   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2016

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 546