Written in Stone: 10,000 Years of Activity at the Acushnet LNG Site

Summary

The Acushnet LNG Site is a multicomponent Native American campsite located along the Brayton Point peninsula in southeastern Massachusetts. Brayton Point extends into the Mount Hope Bay, at the confluence of two major rivers - the Lee and Taunton rivers - an area with numerous documented Native American campsites and ceremonial sites. Cultural resource management investigations identified an extensive archaeological site, measuring a minimum of 71,000 square meters, that was occupied from the Early Archaic through Middle Woodland Periods based on diagnostic artifacts and radiocarbon dates. Stone piles and configurations were identified within the site by representatives of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head Aquinnah and Mashpee Wampanoag tribes, who defined the stone features as components of a ceremonial stone landscape (CSL). The CSL, combined with the recovered artifact assemblage and archaeological features (fire pits and lithic workshops), indicates the Acushnet LNG Site was a significant Native American meeting place during the pre-contact period, and a valuable resource with the potential to provide new information about Native American settlement patterns along the Mount Hope Bay.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

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

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22292