Household Size and Organization at the Tenant Swamp Paleoindian Site

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Hearth and Home in the Indigenous Northeast" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Four well-defined Paleoindian house floors radiocarbon dated to 12,600 BP were excavated at the Tenant Swamp site in Keene, New Hampshire. Believed to be a winter occupation during the Younger Dryas, these dwellings were oval in shape and organized in defined zones with a central hearth, a defined work area, and an “empty” space along the outer wall of the dwelling that likely served as a sleeping area. Household size is estimated from the size of the sleeping area, and household economics are inferred from faunal remains and use-wear analysis of flaked stone tools. In contrast with other regional Paleoindian sites, there is little evidence at Tenant Swamp for hunting or fluted-point manufacture, but ample evidence for hide processing, woodworking, and other activities. The households at Tenant Swamp are contrasted with each other to assess variation in household size and activities, and comparisons are made with other well-defined Paleoindian dwellings in the northeast, notably from the Vail and Bull Brook sites.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• Hearth and Home in the Indigenous Northeast

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 30922