A Woman’s Retouch: Lithic Recycling at the Strow’s Folly Site (Locus 3), Wareham, Massachusetts

Summary

Locus 3 of the Strow’s Folly Site (19-PL-1161) in Wareham, Massachusetts represents a small, temporary camp. Archaeological investigations at the site resulted in the recovery of an unusual artifact assemblage believed to be associated with a single component dating to the Middle Woodland Period. Evidence for hunting was notably absent, and the presence of processing tools and relatively dense deposits of ceramics indicate that women were present at the site. Domestic activities associated with women are typically more apparent at sites of a more residential nature. Previous studies indicate that lithic assemblages associated with women’s activities are oriented towards use of processing tools and the production of expedient flake tools. The site assemblage does not contain expedient tool forms, but does contain a number of reworked older diagnostic tools suggestive of a strategy of expedient tool production. Such tool recycling may be an indicator of women’s activities that are otherwise less archaeologically "visible" at smaller, more ephemeral temporary campsites.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21402