the tobey site revisited edwin c. ballard · of jeff boudreau while flintknapping, the chippage...

The Tobey Site Revisited

Edwin C. Ballard

BULLETINOFTHEMASSACHUSETTSARCHAEOLOGICALSOCIETY78(2)FALL201743

TheTobeysiteislocatedinthevillageareaofRe-hoboth,MA,justsouthoftheeast-westsegmentofthePalmerRiver(Figure1,Figure7,A).Thepur-pose of this article is twofold. The primary pur-poseistomeetanunfilledcommitmentfromtheCohannetChapteroftheMassachusettsArchaeo-logicalSociety(MAS)toprovideanexcavationre-port to the Tobey family. A secondary purpose, based on discussions with Joshua Tobey and my ownpersonal interest, isunderstandinghowthesitefitsintotheprehistoricrecord.

Myconnectiontoexcavationarchaeologystartedinthesummerof1986. WhileIwaswalkingthefamily dog along my south property line stonewall,Scooterstoppedatthewallopeningforthepath onto my neighbor Paul Tobey’s property,raisedhisears,sniffedtheair,shotupthepathanddisappearedover the topof theglacial kameonPaul’sproperty.Ifollowedhimandfoundmyselfin themiddle of an archaeological excavation inprocess by members of the Cohannet Chapter of MAS. Ivisited theexcavationseveral times thatsummer.Ijoinedthedigteamthefollowingsum-mer,openingnewsquaresandsifting thesoil tojunction.OverthenextfourandahalfseasonsIspentabout70daysinthedirt,gainingarespectfortheorganizationanddisciplineofexcavation

Introduction

Discussion TheTobey site, as shown in Figure 1, is locatedabout300meterssouthoftheeast-westflowpathofthePalmerRiveronaglacialkameonthenorthsideofanapproximately15,000year-oldmoraineoftheBuzzardsBayglacial lobe(personalobser-vation,Smith2016,Skehan2001).Theexcavationwasonanopenareaofthekameabout75metersnorth of the moraine. The course of this moraine is traceable from the Blackstone River in East Provi-dence,RItoMiddleboro,MA,whereitjoinsare-cessional moraine of the Cape Cod lobe.

Thiswesternsegmentofthekamewasrelativelyopen, while the area to the east is covered by a dense stand of white pine. The west side of the kame and the northwest corner are bounded by a swamp.Thewestswampisreplenishedbyayear-round,spring-fedbrook.Thenorthernedgeofthekame, east of the path to the river, is bounded by anotherswampyarea;theheightofthekamefromtheleveloftheswampsisabouteightmeters.Thewestern edge andnorthwest corner of the kamecontainseveralsandpits.Theexposedjunctionofthe soil overburden at present varies from ten to twenty centimeters in thickness.

When Mr. Tobey purchased the property, this area was under cultivation, which he allowed to continue for severalyears. During that time,af-terspringplowingpeoplewouldrequestpermis-sion towalk thearea insearchofNativeAmeri-can artifacts. The project was initiated when the Tobeys’daughter founda groupof stonepointsalongtheerodeduppersurfaceofoneofthesand-pits.Throughthetown’sHistoricalCommission,thefamilycontactedtheMAS’sBronsonMuseuminAttleboro,MA. During the initial evaluation,Brady Fitts of theCohannetChapter, one of theearlyprincipalinvestigators,examinedtheupperarea of the sand pit and found stone chips and sev-eral additional points. Based on the evidence, an excavationprojectwasinitiated.

Fromanopeninginaroughsoutheast-northweststonewallsegmentataboundarypost,Bradyrana north-south transit line. Eight one-meter testpitswereexcavatedattwometerintervals.Basedontheartifactdensity,heestablishedazeropointat the north end of the test pit and established an east-westline.Theinitialexcavationswereinthenorthwestquadrant(-A/-E,1through6and+A/+E,0through5(seeFigure2).Atotalof100two-meter square pits were excavated during week-ends from 1985 through the Fall of 1991. Sixtypercentwereonanorth-northwestlinefrom-Ato-L1through6/8,andasinglesquarewasexca-

44 Ballard-TobeySite

vated in the extreme north-northwest section, at-Z14. About25%were in thesouthwestsectionof the northeast quadrant, and the balance werein the southeast quadrant with a concentration inthelowerarea+L/+O4through8.Therewasnoexcavationinthesouthwestquadrant.Thisquad-rant,whichisclosesttothespring,whichsuggestsa primary area of habitation, was overlooked. AsuggestedreasonforthiswasaforcedclosureoftheBronsonMuseuminAttleboroin1987,whichwas the primarymeeting place of theCohannetChapter, which occurred shortly after the initia-tionofthedig.Themuseum'sartifactcollectionswereplacedinstorage.Shortlybeforetheendoftheexcavation, themuseumwasmoved toMid-dleboro MA and renamed the Robbins Museum.The result of this disruption was clearly evidentintherapidfall-offinthedigcrewsizeafter1987toaworkinggroupoffiveorsixforthelastthreeyears.TheCohannetChaptereffectivelydissolvedand the promised report was not completed.

During the excavation an additional test pit linewasrunfrom+A8/+H8.Theartifactfindingsug-gested that the occupation area would extendfurther to the east, reinforcing the previous siteextensionhypothesis. Included in this small as-semblageweretwoLevannapoints.Onlytwoad-ditionalLevannaswerefoundin themajorareasofexcavation.Oneofthesewasinloam.ThetestpitLevannasarenotincludedintheartifactdatashowninFigure3.FiveC14 dates were recorded. Thefirst,4470+50B.P.,GX-28956;dC13=-26.0;cal5208,5192,5048bp(StuiverandReimer1998)wasfoundinahearthinsquare-A1.Theareainthesoutheastcornerof thenorthwestdigareafrom-A1-6to-F1-6hadthehighestartifactdensityonthe site. Itsmost significant featurewas feature7A,centeredin-C2.Thiswasacircularpresumedsweat lodge extending into several squareswithan east-west diameter of 308 centimeters and anorth-southdiameterwitha smallentrance rect-angleofabout20centimetersextendingthenorth-southline. Thefloordepthwasabout150centi-meters; in the middle was a layer of burnt stones.A C14dateof4710+60B.P.(Beta-27934,nodC13 cor-rection;cal53565552bp(CalPal2007))wasfoundin a charcoal sample taken at 153 centimetersunderthestonelayer. Alongthenorthwallseg-ment,thefloorwasnotcompletelyexcavatedforthe lower45-50centimeters,providingaseat for

the occupant. The sand under the stone layer was darkred;thereddishintensityreduced,becomingmore brownish at the base of the seat. The lower area of the inside walls was brown. There was no evidenceofanycoveringoftheupperwallsnearjunction,suggestingthatplowingmayhaveelimi-natedanyresidualevidence.Theplowzoneatthesiterangedfrom3to20centimeters. Intheareaofthisfeature,theplowzonewasabout15centi-meters.

An additional C14 dateof4470+80B.P.(GX-27743,dC13 = -27.7; cal 5208, 5192, 5048bp (Stuiver andReimer1998))wasobtainedfromahearthat+M5/6. The lithic artifacts from this area includedprimarily Squibnocket andother small triangles,withasingleNevillepoint.Anassemblageofninemodifiedscraperswithrounded,highlypolished,bulbous ends was found adjacent to the feature, suggestingthelocationwasahideprocessingarea(seeFigure4).Onlyoneflatscraperwasevident.Therewereseveralsignificantfeaturesintheareabetween-A1/4to-D1/4;theyincludedaconcentra-tionoffirecrackedrockalongthenortheastsouth-eastperimeteroftheapparentsweatlodge.Therewere two grooved pestles, one broken and ap-parentlytossedontotheringoffirecrackedrock.There were two smudge pits, a group of threehammerstones and an anvil. There was also an in-terestingheart-shapedconcentrationofundefinedstonechippage.InaSpring2017discussionwithBradyFitts,henoted that therewasalsoa smallpile of roasted hickory nut shells adjacent to the chipconcentration.BasedonBrady’sobservationofJeffBoudreauwhileflintknapping,thechippagedistributionthatbuiltupwhileknappingtoolsinthis feature suggested that a site occupant wasmunchingonhickorynutswhilemakingpoints.

Two additional C14dateswerefound.Oneisfroma small shallow, circular stone lined hearth (Fea-ture16)atthejunctionof-I4/5,-J4/5.TheC14 date was3630+70B.P.,Beta-27835,nodC13 correction; cal38664062bp(CalPal2007);aStarkpointwasfound in the charcoal of this feature. An addi-tionalStarkpointwasfoundintheone-halfmetercharcoal stained area around the hearth. An ad-ditionalsmallhearth(Feature10)withaC14 date of3730+80B.P.(GX-27744;dC13=-26.0;cal4088bp(StuiverandReimer1998))wasfoundintheupperrightsectionofsquare-J4.AdjacenttoFeature10


wasatwo-centimeterverticalpoststain.Theareafrom-H,-I,-J,-K5-7hadaconcentrationofdrillsandgravers.Acurvedlineoffirecrackedrockex-tendedthroughseveralsquaresinthe-H5/6area,similar to thegrouping adjacent to the apparentsweatlodgeFeature7A,suggestingthepossibilityof an additional sweat lodge in theunexcavatedarea to the west.

About one half of the Stark points found on the sitewereattheworkinglevelsofFeatures16and10,southofFeature7A(seeFigure5).Apost-diganalysis sessionwith JeffBoudreauverified thatthe twopoints found in Feature 16were Starks.Jeff reclassified four of the other close by StarkpointsasPoplar Island,a typebestknown fromeasternPennsylvania (Boudreau2017; seeFigure6).ThestandardStarkroundedtaperedbasehadbeenchangedtoshowaninvertedcurveatthebasetip.DuringanadditionalsessionwithJeff,theca.65SmallStempointsfromthesitewereobservedundermagnification,andtwo-thirdsshowedsec-ondaryusage.Wehadplannedforanadditionalsession todetermine if therewas any significantdifferencebetweentheprimaryandsecondaryus-agepoints. In otherwords,were the secondaryusagepointsrejectedasweaponspoints?Unfortu-nately,Jeffpassedawaybeforewecouldcompletethatproject.JeffalsoreclassifiedtwooftheSmallStems,oneasaFoxCreekandtheotherasaJack’sReef. The balance of the Starks and the distribu-tionofNevillepointswerefoundinthesoutheastsectionof thenorthwestquadrantwithin+2 to3cmofthe-30cmworkinglevelofthehearthin-A1(Feature1).

An area in the southwest corner of the northeast quadrant from+A0/5 to+E0/5hada smudgepitand a concentrated area of scrapers and knives. Therewasalsoanenigmaticfeaturefrom+A2to+E2,atwocentimeterwidestainattwentymetersbelow junction; several places along the lengthof the stain showed a bulge of about four centi-meters.Oneofthesewasexcavatedtoadepthofforty centimeters and appeared to be some kind ofasupportingstick.Closeexaminationofthestainshowedanapparentlinearlongitudinalgradient;a cross section showed a similar type of discon-tinuitybutvery,veryshort innature. This sug-gestsapossiblelengthofbraidedreedswithsmall

forked branch elements to keep the stick in place (Fitts,2017).

In addition to the lithics therewas a significantpresence of bone. A concentration of bird bone wasfoundintheareaofFeatureOne.Othertypesof bone included deer, possible snapping turtleandsmallanimal.AsamplesenttoDr.NicholasBellantoniwasverifiedasdeerandturtle(2002).AlargersamplewasanalyzedinareportbyTonyaLargy(tobepublishedin2018-ed.).Thisreportverifiedtheconcentrationofdeerboneinthreelo-cations in the northwest quadrant: one in the area ofFeature1,asecond2/3rdsofthewaybetweenFeature1andFeature16,andathirdinthesouth-eastquadrantintheareaof+V,W2-3.Therewasalsoasignificantdistributionofanimalbone.Oneset of samples was possibly woodchuck. There was scattered bird bone, including both smallerbirds and turkey. Bone from several locations was confirmedasturtlebone.FlotationsamplesfromFeatures10and1wereanalyzedbyTonyaLargy(2017).ThesamplefromFeature10wasoak,sug-gestingahotfire,andseveralhazelnutshellfrag-ments were also present. The sample from Fea-ture 1 showed the presence of birch in multiple sizes. Theelementsfromsmallsizebirchfamilybrushshowedevidenceofgreenbark,suggestinglate seasonal Fall activity; there was an incom-pletecombustion,suggestinga low intensityfiretogeneratesmoke.Theaforementionedevidenceofroastedhickorynutshellsattheknappinglocus,inconjunctionwiththeflotationdataandthepres-enceofanimalbone,suggeststhesitewasusedasaprimarilyFallseasonhuntingsite.

Afterthecloseofexcavationsinlate1991IjoinedtheSaturdaystaffattheRobbinsMuseuminMid-dleboro,MA. During the early years I assistedTomLux,whohadsucceededBradyFittsasprin-cipalinvestigatorin1989,intheanalysisoftheTo-beysitedata.Aftermyretirementin1998Ijoinedthe Wednesday working group at the museum.That groupwas responsible for the operation ofthemuseum.InmyfreetimeIcontinuedtosup-port Tom in analysis of the Tobey site data, until he suddenly passed away and those records dis-appeared. Several years later, they were found in acontainerbehindhisdesk,restartingtheTobeysite data analysis project.


HowDoestheTobeySiteFit?At the completion of the report there was an obvi-ousconnectionbetweenseveralNativeAmericanceremonial sites and the adjacent habitation asso-ciated with the location of the Tobey site. These observations add a new dimension to the focus ofthisarticle.Myinitialexposuretoarchaeologyoccurred in thespring in1983whenIwentonafield trip sponsoredby theNewEnglandAntiq-uities Research Association in which we observed severalinterestingenigmaticstoneconstructions.IlaterdiscoveredthatIhadwalkedintoa70plus-yearcontroversyrelatingtothenatureoftheenig-maticconstructions.Icontinuedfieldresearchinthis area, and in the Fall of 1989 Iwalked a sitethat contained an array of horizon-oriented U-shapedlaid-upstoneconstructionsthatappearedto be related to the yearly Sun cycle. This was confirmed on 12/22/89. While kneeling in a U-constructionthatfacessoutheast,Iphotographedthewintersolsticesunriseasitbrokethehorizonat the base of a canted, chocked, in-place stand-ingstoneforesite.Thiswaspreciselytwominutesafterthelistedhorizonsunrisetime.Icontinuedmyinvestigationsthrough2009.Theresultsweredocumented both in publications (Ballard 1999, 2014,BallardandMavor2010)andinoralpresen-tationstotheNortheasternAnthropologicalAsso-ciation(1992)andtheEasternStatesArchaeologi-cal Federation.

DuringtheinterveningyearsIspentasignificantamount of time becoming knowledgeable aboutthe Museum’s displays and inventory, using asresources MAS publications, and the museum’slibraryandexhibits. OneoftheseresourceswasitscollectionofMassachusettstopographicmapswhich showed the recorded locations of known Native American sites. The Rehoboth area de-tailwasprimarilyontwoquadranglemaps(EastProvidence,RI andSomerset,MA).These includ-ed thegeographicarea fromupperNarragansettBay including parts of East Providence, RI, andSeekonk,Rehoboth,Dighton, Swansea, SomersetandBerkley,MA. Therewere twelvesignificantactivityareasalongthelowerPalmerRiverinRe-hoboth and the west bank of the Taunton River, nineactivityareasfromSweet’sKnollinDightonthroughSomerset.Theaccompanyingindexcarddata for the Palmer River sites indicated that they

had been recorded in 1939 by Mr. Milton Hall.Milt was a resident of the town of Rehoboth, one oftheoriginalmembersoftheMASandoneofthefounders of the Bronson Museum. After his death, the family donated his lithic collection and docu-mentationtotheMAS,exceptforasmallsamplethat went to the Carpenter Museum in Rehoboth. Imademyselffamiliarwithitscontents,butwasstymiedbecauseIwasinitiallyunabletobreakhislocation code.

Starting in the summer of 2013, things beganto fall in place. A Rehoboth resident, Bill Swal-low, brought his extensive artifact collection tothe Robbins Museum for evaluation. For years he had walked local landscapes and participated inseveralexcavations.Thebulkofhiscollectioncame froma site about 2,500meterswest of theTobeysitealongthesouthbankofFuller’sBrookbefore it turns south and empties into the Palm-er River at Summer Street, in an area where the Palmer River broke through the glacialmoraineandheadedsouth(Figure7,B).Theareawasnearthepropertyofhisgrandmother.Whenhefoundthepropertyalongthebrookwasabouttobede-veloped,hecontactedthedeveloperandgotper-missiontodoasalvagedig.Thesitewasgriddedandeachexcavatorwasdirectedtofindasquare.Theexcavatorswereentitledtoanyartifactstheyfound.Duringourdiscussion,Billindicatedthattheyhadunearthed15hearths;oneofthoseinhisarea turned out to be a stack of three, one on top of theother.OneoftheotherdiggersobtainedaC14 datefromahearthinhiszoneofca3600B.P.(nofurther information is available). This is similarto thedatingofFeatures16and10at theTobeysiteandisaclearfirstconnection.Unfortunately,someof the artifacts inBill’s collection includedartifacts fromotherareas. However, thebulkofthelithicswereoftheTransitionalArchaic/Early/MiddleWoodlanderas,similartotheTobeysite.Several years earlier, Bob Sharples, also a former MASmember, had shownme a pair of Nevillepointsthathehadfoundwhilesurfacewalkinginthegeneralareaofthedig,suggestingthatsomeoftheearlierartifacts inBill’scollectionwereprob-ably from this dig site. Reviewing the RobbinstopographicmapdatafromMr.Hall’snotes,oneof the locationshe referencedwas alongFuller'sBrookabout100meterswestofBillSwallow’sdigsite. With that concurrence, Iwas able to break

about100to300feetinacontinuouswavepattern.Thenorth-southflowofglacialiceswepttheareacleanof250millionyearsofdebris.Astheglaciersreceded,theyleftbehinddepositsofsand,gravel,andboulders. InRehoboth, the soil overburdenrangesfrom120feetintheanticlinesto5feetonthetopsofthesynclines.IntheareafromNarra-gansettBaytoMiddleboro,theriversflownorth-southuntiltheyaredeflectedbythemoraine;afterthebreakthroughtheycontinuenorth-southintheanticlinal valleys.

Thereare severalother recordedexcavationsbe-tweenSeekonkandMiddleborowithsimilargeo-graphiclocations.TheReadFarmsiteinSeekonk,MA (Figure 7, C)was a 110-acre property over-looking the Running River. It is on a relativelylevel stretch of land on the east side of the junc-tionoftheRunningRiverwithOneHundredAcreCove about 7,000 meters south of the moraine.TheBearSwampsite inBerkeley(Figure7,G) ison the north side of the moraine above the east bankoftheTauntonRiveroppositeSweet’sKnoll.TheWapanucketsiteinMiddleboro(Figure7,H)runsalongthenorthshoreofAssawompsetPond,theNemasketRiverrunsnorthfromthepondforseveral miles until it joins the Taunton River. All these sites are in the anticlinal valleys with fertile alluvial river banks and spring fish runs whichcontinue to this day.

The Read Farm site excavation in Seekonk,MAwas the subject of an article in the Bulletin of the MAS in the fall of 1985 (Johnson andMahlstedt1985). C14 dates of 3475+70 B.P. (UGa-921) and3145+65B.P.(UGa-922)werefound(Barnes2016).Comparativelithictypologydatasuggestsapos-sible Middle Archaic to Middle Woodland Period occupational presence.

Therewere two excavations at the Bear SwampsiteinBerkley,MA.Thefirst(BearSwampOne)was reported in the Bulletin of the Massachusetts Ar-chaeological Society (StaplesandAthearn1969). Itison thenorth sideof aglacialkame, similar totheTobeysite.Itsmainfeaturesweretwentypits.Severalwere used as residences. Of the others,one was a burial site and the other was a possible burial of collection of cremation residue (packed finechar).TwoC14 dateswereobtained(4640+80 B.P.,Y-2499,and4145+65B.P.,UGa-389).Thesite


MiltHall’slocationcodeandidentifythelocationof four of the twelve lower Palmer River sites. We were able to determine that about 100 of the 800 artifacts inMiltHall’s collection had come fromthese four sites. These points were from the Tran-sitional Archaic through Middle Woodland. In2016,acollectionofabout100pointsfromtheareaof one of the twelve locations recorded by Mr. HallwasdonatedtotheCarpenterMuseum.Thepointsweresurfacefinds;over50%weresmalltri-anglesandthebalancewerefromtheTransitionalArchaic through Woodland, except for a singleNevilleandadentatestamp.

In the spring of 2014 theMAS received a letterfrom thedaughterofa formerDighton resident,Mr.EdwardRose,whohadanextensivecollectionof lithics from the west bank of the Taunton River (Figure7,D),justsouthofSweet’sKnoll(Figure7,E) andoppositeGrassyIsland(Figure7,F).Twoofthemuseum’sworkingstaffflewtoCaliforniaand drove the collection back to the Robbins. Theywere unable to obtain any documentation with thecollection.Mr.Rosehadexcavatedonthesiteforabouttwenty-fiveyears.AfterhemovedtoCali-forniahereturnedtoDightonforonemontheverysummer to continue excavation formany years.Mr. Rose documented his findings in twoBulle-tins of the Massachusetts Archaeological Society (Rose1953,1965).AnarticleintheFall2015Bulletin ofthe Massachusetts Archaeological Society (Bello2015)detailsthecollection’scontents.Thelithicsextendfrom a small sample of Paleo points extendingthroughtheWoodlandperiods,withaconcentra-tion starting from Late - TransitionalArchaic toMiddle/Late Woodland Periods, based on com-parativetypologysincenoC14 data was available.

The similarity of location of these three sites, which were all just on the south side of the moraine at or neartheendoftheeast-westflowsegmentofboththePalmerandTauntonRivers,caughtmyatten-tion.IhaveworkedforseveralyearsonadrinkingwaterwellmappingprojectinRehoboth.Coupledwithmy surface archaeology experience, I havegainedanunderstandingofboththebedrockandglacialgeologyoftheareafromNarragansettBayeast toMiddleboro(Skehan2001). Thebedrockruns in a waveform pattern with a north-southstrike. Thedifference inheight fromthebaseofthe anticlines to the top of the synclines runs from


overlooked a swampy area. Bear Swamp Two was on the opposite side of the swamp. Several C14 dates were found (4180+75B.P.,UGa-386;4080+85B.P.,UGa-913; 3520+180 B.P., GX-2418; 3445+80B.P.,UGa-387;and2210+70B.P.,UGa-388)(Barnes1972).Artifactsatbothsitesweresimilar,belong-ingtowhatBarnesreferredtoastheSquibnocketculture.

Continuingeast,theWapanucketsiteisintheal-luvialplainon thenorthshoreofAssawompsettpondsouthoftheroadbetweenthebeginningoftheNemasketRiverasitexitsthenorthwestcor-nerofthepondandacemetery.Overanextensiveofperiodofyearsendingintheearly1980’s,sevenexcavationswereconductedatthissiteasreport-edbyDr.MauriceRobbins(1980). AC14 date of 4720+140B.P.(M-1350)wasfoundduringtheWa-panucket8excavation.Therangeofartifactswasextensive and included two separate Paleo loci,bothconsistingofflutedpoints.Onewasbasedonsurfacefindsinthebeachareasouthofsitenum-ber8;theotherwasanexcavationfindofseveralfluted points in the Site 8 excavation area itself.Thereareabout6,000artifacts fromWapanucketintheMuseum’sinventory,outofareportedtotalofabout14,000.Basedoncomparativetypology,they range fromPaleo through theEarly/MiddleWoodlandperiods(Fitts2017).Themostsignifi-cantfindwasahabitationcomplexextendingfromthesouthendofSite6throughSite8almosttotheend of its southern boundary. This consisted of several circlesofverticalpostholepatternswithan entrance area on the outside of the circle, simi-lartotheoutsideofasnailshell.Inthecenterofthecircleswereverticalpolessuggestingroofsup-ports.Thereweretwolargestructures,oneinSite6theotheratthesouthernendofSite8;thesehadtwoentrancesonoppositesides. Inbetweenthelarge structures were several smaller size units,perhaps for extended families. Adjacent to oneof the structures was a bundle of sections of bark, suggestingthatbarkwasusedfortheexternalcov-eringoftheoutsidewalls.Therewerenohearthsinsidethestructures.Thesewereexternalandad-jacent to the structures. Several C14dateswereex-tractedfromthehearths:3550+130B.P.(M-1212),3,610+130B.P.(M-1213),3655+55B.P.(UGa-860),and3765+65B.P.(UGa-1412)(Robbins1980).

OnthefirstterraceattheMiddleboroLittleLeaguesite(Figure8,I),whichsitsontheedgeofakameterracefacingsouthwestabout3kmnorthofWa-panucket, a pit feature dated to 3400+110B.P.(GX-33768,Hoffman 2014)was found; it contained alobatestemmedpointinterpretedatthetimeofex-cavation as a Rossville or Stark, but on comparison with the Tobey Site recoveries it can comfortably be reassigned to the Poplar Island type. OtherdatedfeaturesonthisterracerangedinagefromearlyLateArchaicthroughearlyLateWoodland,andthetypologyrangedfromSquibnocketTrian-gles,SmallStemmedpoints,andAtlanticpointstoLateWoodlandMadisonpoints.

The concentration of C14 dates in the areas discussed aboveisinteresting.Theybracketamajorcoldcli-mateeventfrom4200to4000BP(Schlesier1987)that caused the migration of proto-Algonquianssouthwards. In themid-continent, the BlackfeetandrelatedtribesretreatedfromAlbertathroughSaskatchewan to the northern plains, bringingtheirsky-basedMedicineWheelswiththem.TheCheyennemigratedsouththroughManitobaintothe Dakotas and east to Minnesota and later back totheplains. TheCheyenne’smajorannualcul-tural event was the Massaum ceremony, which was controlled by the dawn rise of several stars. ItsaltarwasaUfacingeast(Schlesier1987).

Perhapsaroundthesametime,theLenapemovedsouthviatheHudsonRivercorridortoDelaware.Delaware oral history notes that they came from anareawheretherewerenotides. Inthe1600s,afterthePequotWar,theymigratedwestovertheAlleghenies to eastern Ohio. In the early 1800sthey were forced by the federal government tomove fuither west because they chose to retain theirsky-basedculturerather thanconverting toChristianity. Inthe later1800stherecordshowsthattheirJanuarymid-winterBigHouseceremo-ny contained elements of moonrise and the Bear constellation,whichwasvisiblethroughtheroofofthestructure,AnimageoftheconstellationwecalltheBigDipper,consistingof3huntersandthebear,wasdrawnonthefloorofthelodge,andtheceremonialmealwasbearmeat. (Schlesier1987,Speck1931)


The lithic data fromMassachusetts shows adis-tinctive change inpoint typesbetween4500and3600B.P.,suggestingsometypeofculturalchangeduringthatperiod.ThepresenceofPoplarIslandpoints at theTobey site suggest apossible traderouteexpansionatthistime–or,itcouldsimplybethatthistypeisunderrecognizedintheregion,sincealloftheexamplesfromtheTobeySitearemade of local lithic materials.

Afterword

Thisbriefdescriptionsatisfiestheinitialobjectivesoftheoriginalreport.Plottingthedataregionallyshowssomeinterestingobservationsthatsupportthe hypothesis of the use of certain surface stone constructionstoaugmenttheoralmemoryofthesky-basedelementsofindigenousculture.Onthehigh ground synclines from Seekonk toMiddle-boro there are six Native American ceremonialsites. Themap inFigure7 shows thehabitationsite locations as circles and the ceremonial site locationsas triangles. Thefirst two (Figure7,KandL)areU-constructsitesontheDightonSyn-cline which separates the Palmer River and lower TauntonRiverhabitationsites.Thefirstoneisinnortheast Rehoboth. This site is named DTR 1b (Ballard 1999, 2014). The summer solstice andequinoxsunsetU’sonthissiteoverlookanarrayof stonepiles. During sand andgravel removaloperations that supported a nearby Nike mis-sile construction area, one of the stone piles was removed. It contained aNativeAmerican buri-al. The remains were quietly reburied (Sharples 2003).TheU-constructionontheeasternedgeofthe syncline at DTR 1a included my initial record-ing ofwinter solstice sunrise 12/22/89. Betweenthe lower Taunton River and Wapanucket on the highgroundsynclineinLakeville,theceremonialsite consists of a boulder circle of stones with boul-derlinesextendingalongsignificantsolarsunriseazimuths(Leonard,2010).AthirdU-constructionsite is on the high ground betweenWapanucketandRockVillageinMiddleboro,southofWalnutStreet (Figure 7,O) (Ballard 1999, 2014). Afifthsite apparently existed on the top of a drumlinonAssawompsetNeck overlookingWapanucket(Figure7,N).BeforeKingPhilip'sWar,Tispaquindeeded the drumlin area to three male members ofhis extended family. AfterKingPhilip’sWar

thisareabecameoneofthelargestNativeAmeri-can habitations sites in southeasternMA (Leon-ard 2010). In 1690, in order to prevent theNa-tiveAmericansfromusingthehillforcelebrationevents, the Middleboro selectmen took the site by eminent domain and leveled the top four acres of thedrumlin(Leonard2010).

After Contact to the present, these alluvial riv-erineareasbecameprimeagriculturalsites. Thelithic recordof thepre-ContactMiddle andLateWoodland Periods were impacted by the plow. The lithic contents were widely dispersed into the private collections of the surface hunters who fol-lowed the plow. This has further limited our abil-itytodefinelocalNativeAmericanculture,whichis already ill-defined due to archaeologists rely-ing only on excavations in trying to understandwhatisprimarilyasky-basedculture.Therecordshows a three witnesses to our hypothesis. The firstoftheseisinthewritingsofRogerWilliams(1643):

They are punctuall in measuring theirDay by the Sunne, and their Night bythe Moon and the Starres, and their ly-ingmuchabroadintheayre;andsoliv-ing in the openfields, occasioneth eventhe youngest amongst them to be veryobservant of thoseHeavenlyLights . . .ByoccasionoftheirfrequentlyingintheFields and Woods, they much observe the Starres,andtheirverychildrencangiveNames to many of them, and observetheir Motions. . . And know their Course andthereindoeExcelltheEnglishtame.

Second, Snow (1996) states that the Iroquois ob-served the Pleiades and timed their midwinter cer-emonytoitshighestpointinthesky.Thethirdisapair of C14 dates of 800+50B.P.and860+50B.P.fortwoofthefourU-constructionsattheMouscosuckCreeksiteinWestBarringtonRI,thesoutherntipoftheSeekonk,MAsyncline(Figure7,J)(Ballard1999). Applying the principles of comparativetypology to the U-construction ceremonial sitesdiscussedaboveaugmentsthehypothesis.Hope-fullyacceptingtheevidencewillprovidepermis-sion for researchers to broaden the study of the sky-basednatureofprehistoricNativeAmericanculturesintheNortheast.


1999 ForWantofaNail:AnAnalysisoftheFunctionofSomeHorseshoeor“U”-shapedStoneStructures. Bulletin of the Massachusetts Archaeological Society60(2):38-54.

2014 It’sAboutTimeandtheParadigm.Bulletin of the Massachusetts Archaeological Society 75(1):13-21.

Ballard, Edwin C., and James W. Mavor2010 ACasefortheUseofAbove-SurfaceStoneConstructsinNativeAmericanCeremonialLandscapes

intheNortheast.Bulletin of the Massachusetts Archaeological Society71(1):8-25.

Barnes, Ruth Carol1972 Bear Swamp II.DoctoralDissertation,UniversityMicrofilms,AnnArborMI.

2017 personalcommunication.

Bellantoni,Nicholas2002 personalcommunication.

Bello,Grace2015 TheBoatsSiteCollectionReturnstotheEast.Bulletin of the Massachusetts Archaeological Society

76(2):49-60.

Boudreau,Jeffrey2017 A New England Typology of Native American Projectile Points.ExpandedEdition.Alphagraphics,

NewBedfordMA.

CalPal2007 OnlineCalPal.CologneRadiocarbonandPaleoclimateResearchPackage.http://www.calpal- online.de/cgi-bin/quickcal.pl.

Fitts,Brady2017 Personalcommunication.

Hoffman,Curtiss2014 MiddleboroughLittleLeagueSite,FirstTerrace,SiteExamination2012-2014,FinalReport.Onfile

attheMassachusettsHistoricalCommission.

Johnson, Eric, and Thomas Mahlstedt1984 TheCharlesReadArchaeologicalCollection,SeekonkMA.Bulletin of the Massachusetts Archaeologi- cal Society46(2):56-60.

Largy,TonyaB.2017 AnalysisofFlotationSamplesfromFeatures1and10,TobeySite,RehobothMasssachusetts.Bulle- tin of the Massachusetts Archaeological Society78(2):57-59.

References Cited

Ballard, Edwin C.1992 LithicRitualStructuresintheTauntonandPalmerRiverBasins.Paperpresentedattheannual

meetingoftheNortheasternAnthropologicalAssociation,BridgewaterMA.


Leonard,KennethC.,Jr.2003 The Beechwoods Confederacy, 1709-1809.HeritageBooks,BowieMD.

Robbins, Maurice1980 Wapanucket: An Archaeological Report.MassachusettsArchaeologicalSociety,AttleboroMA.

Rose, Edward F.1953 FiveUnusualCachesattheBoatsSite.Bulletin of the Massachusetts Archaeological Society 14(4):109- 111.

1965 TheBoatsSiteExcavationNo.2.Bulletin of the Massachusetts Archaeological Society 26(3/4):33-38.

Schlesier,KarlH.1987 The Wolves of Heaven.UniversityofOklahomaPress,NormanOK.

Sharples, Robert2003 personalcommunication.

Skehan, James W.2001 Roadside Geology of Massachusetts.MountainPressPublishingCompany,MissoulaMT.

Smith, Alan2016 personalcommunication.

Snow, Dean R.1996 The Iroquois.Wiley-Blackwell,HobokenNJ.

Speck,FrankG.1931 A Study of the Delaware Indian Big House Ceremony. Publications of the Pennsylvania Historical Commis- sion,v.2.Harrisburg,PA.

Staples, Arthur C., and Roy C. Athearn1969 TheBearSwampSite:APreliminaryReport.Bulletin of the Massachusetts Archaeological Society

30(3/4):1-8.

Stuiver,Minze,andPaulaJ.Reimer1998 HighPrecisionRadiocarbonAgeCalibrationforTerrestrialandMarineSamples.Radiocarbon

40(3):1127-1151.

Williams,Roger1976[1643]A Key into the Language of the Americas.Ed.JohnJ.JennissandEvelynJ.Hinz.Wayne

StateUniversityPress,DetroitMI.


Figure1:BradyFitts’OriginalContourMapoftheAreaaroundtheTobeySite


Figure2:LayoutofExcavationUnitsattheTobeySite


Figure4:SandstoneScrapersfromtheTobeySite


Figure5:SampleofStarkPoints:A-C–Quartzite;D,E–Argillite

Figure6:SampleofPoplarIslandPoints:A–Quartzite;B--Hornfels;C,D–Ledite;E,F–Argillite


Figure7:AreaMapShowingSitesMentionedintheText


Analysis of Flotation Samples from Features 1 and 10Tobey Site, Rehoboth, Massachusetts

Tonya Largy, Archaeobotany Consultant

Introduction

Flotation samples from two features (Feature 1 andFeature10)excavatedattheTobeysitebytheCohannetchapteroftheMassaschusettsArchaeo-logicalSocietyweresubmittedforanalysis. Tworadiocarbon dates were obtained on charcoal from thefeaturesfromGeochronLaboratories(Ballard2002). Feature1 returnedadateof4470+80 B.P. (d13Ccorrected,calibrated5093+206bp).Feature10wasdatedat3730+80 B.P. (d13C corrected, cali-brated 4088+130bp).Thesedatesplacethesefea-turesintheLateArchaicperiod.

Analytical Methods

Allmaterialswereexaminedundermagnificationranging from5X to 280Xusing aWildM3Zoomstereomicroscopeanddoublefiber-opticlighting.Specimensweremanipulatedwith“feather-light”forceps.Woodfragmentsweresnappedmanuallytoobtainacleanercross-sectioninordertoviewdiagnostic anatomical features. Materials wereweighedonanAandDdigitalscaletothenearestone-hundredthofagram.

Wood samples were placed in plastic zip-lockbags. Samples from Feature 1were placed in acardboard box to protect them from crushing.Provenienceinformationwaswrittenonacid-freepaperlabelsandplacedinthebagswiththespeci-mens.Smallitemssuchasfragmentsofbarkandnutshellwerepackagedinhardplasticmicrotubesalongwithsmallacid-freetagsbearingtheidenti-ficationofthespecimen.

Wood identifications were made using manuals(PanshinanddeZeeuw1970;Core,Cote,andDay1979)aswellasmyrecollectionofcharredwood.I also field-checked the bark on older trees andshrubs of alder and American hornbeam.

Wood fragments shown on Table 1 represent asample removed as voucher specimens for identi-fication.Theywereweighedratherthancountedsinceonecharcoal fragmentresults inacountoftwoormore after beingbrokenduring analysis.Also, wood charcoal may continue to break up afterbeingexcavatedandtransported.Althoughthesamemaybetruefornutshell,thesefragmentsareboth countedandweighed. Weight as com-paredwithcountindicatesthedegreeoffragmen-tationorsize.Seedsarenotweighedsinceweightisnegligible.

Rate of RecoveryPoppyseeds(N=10)wereaddedtoeach400-mil-liliterbulksamplepriortoflotationasacontroltogaugetherecoveryrateforseedsandothersmallspecimens. Four poppy seeds were recovered fromFeature1,representinga40%rateofrecov-ery.SixpoppyseedswererecoveredfromFeature10, representing a 60% recovery. One of these,from Feature 1, was found in the heavy fraction 2.00mmscreen.Therestwerefoundinthelightfraction1.00mmand0.5-0mmscreens.

Results

The samples are composed almost entirely of charredwoodandbark.NocharredoruncharredseedswerenotedineithersampleexceptforonesmallcharredfragmentfromFeature10whichre-semblesaseedcoat.Nutshellispresentinaverysmallquantityandisdiscussedbelow.Also,Isawno evidence of calcined bone or other fauna in anyofthefractionsfromeitherfeature,althoughcalcined bone was recovered from Feature 1. All planttaxafrombothfeaturesareshowninTable1.

1

58 Largy-TobeySiteBotanicals

Feature 1

WoodThe wood from Feature 1 appears to be homo-genous; i.e., all one species consisting of smallrounds from limbs measuring 0.25 cm and 2.00cm indiameter. This suggests that shrubwoodwasselectedforburning.Thetaxonisbetulaceae(birchfamily). Twogenerainthisfamily,Alnus (alder) andCarpinus caroliniana (American horn-beam) strongly resemble each other, possessingdiffuse-porousvesseldistributionwithbothnar-rowandbroadraysandY-shapedpith.Thispithconfiguration is present in all generawithin thebirch family. The fragments strongly resemblecharred alder in my reference collection, but cer-tain fragments have characteristics of Americanhornbeam.Amorepreciseidentificationrequiresa microscope with higher magnification and agreaterinvestmentoftime,soIhaveofferedbothpossibilities based on the analytical methods de-scribed. More work needs to be done when access toadifferentmicroscopecanbearranged.

The degree of preservation of complete roundsofwoodinthefeaturesuggeststhefiremayhavebeenalowoxygenfireforsmoking,whichwouldcontribute towood beingpreserved closer to itsoriginal condition rather than being consumedmorecompletelyinahighertemperaturefire.

BarkTwo types of bark, one thick and one thin, are pres-ent. A sample of these were removed for study. Both alder and hornbeam have smooth, thin bark markedlydifferentfromthethickbarkpresentinthe feature. This raises the question of whether the pit may have been lined with thick bark, or perhapsitwasusedtokindlethefireorwasaddedas part of the fuel.

SeasonalityCharred bark found adhering towood providesinformation regarding the season the woodstoppedgrowing. Many fragments (2.81grams)in Feature 1were removed as being good diag-nosticpiecestoobservethesedata.Allfragmentsshow that the tree stopped growing some timebetweenlatesummerthroughwinter.Treestypi-cally stop growing in late summer, rest through

fall andwinter, and resumegrowth in the earlyspring. Assuming the tree/shrub was collectedwhilestillalive,thissuggestsatimeframefortheconstructionofFeature1. Selectinggreenwoodalsoinsuresaslower-burningfire.

Feature 10

WoodDiagnosticwood(0.54grams)fromFeature10in-cluded one genus,Quercus spp. (oak, more than onespecies).Oakwoodoftencanbeplacedinoneoftwogroups,thewhiteoakgroup(leucobalanus)andtheredoakgroup(erythrobalanus).However,someoaksareknowntohybridizeandoftenshowfeaturesofbothgroups,as is thecase inFeature10. Oak isaprime fuelwood,whichburnsatasteady,hightemperature.Thefactthatitisfoundinafeatureinterpretedasa“stone-linedhearth”isnotsurprising.Oakcharcoalalsopreserveswellandisoftenfoundinfeaturesthroughoutsouth-ernNew England in fragments large enough toidentify.

NutshellSixverysmall(<0.01gram)fragmentsofcharrednutshellwerefoundintheheavyfraction2.00mmscreen.Theyallexhibitedrecentbreaksandmayhavebeenoriginallyonefragment.Onefragmentresembled Corylus (hazelnut) showing residualgrooves after the outer surface burned away. Itiswithintherangeofthicknessandcurvatureforhazelnutshell.Theremainingfivefragmentsareverysmall(1mm–2mm)andareidentifiedjustas nutshell based on appearance, density, and cur-vature.

There are two species of hazelnut in New Eng-land, C Americanus (Americanhazel) andC. cor-nuta (beakedhazel). Bothspeciesmature in latesummer and early fall and are eaten by animals as well as humans. Both are native to southern NewEnglandandareoftenfoundinsitesof theLateArchaicperiod.Assumingthathazelwasde-posited inFeature10during the samecollectingseason,itsuggestsalatesummer/earlyfallseasonofoccupation.Thepossibilityalsoexiststhatha-zelnut shell lying on the forest floor could havebeenincorporatedintothefire.Perhapsifalarger


amount of the feature soil had been collected for flotation, more nutshell might have been recov-ered,providingmoredataforthisinterpretation.

Conclusions

Based on feature descriptions and field records,and the type of wood identified, Feature 1 andFeature10likelyhaddifferentfunctions.Feature1mayhavebeenconstructed for smokingeitherplantoranimalfood,orusedasasmudgingpit.

Thepresenceofcalcinedbone,notyetanalyzed,may suggest that boneswere discarded into thefireasamethodofdisposalandasadditionalfuel.Or,perhapsithadsomeunknownpurpose.Theseasonalitysuggestedbythewoodwithadheringbarkislatesummer/earlyfall.

Feature 10, containingmostly oakwood, almostsurely isahearthused forcookingandwarmth.The presence of a small amount of nutshell may indicate a fall occupation, which concurs with the wood seasonality data from Feature 1.

References cited

Ballard, Edwin C.2002 Personalcommunication.

Core,H.A.,W.A.Cote,andA.C.Day1976 Wood: Structure and Identification.SecondEdition.SyracuseUniversityPress,SyracuseNY.

Panshin,A.C.,andC.deZeeuw1970 Textbook of Wood Technology,Vol.1.Thirdedition.McGraw-HillBookCompany,NewYork.

the tobey site revisited edwin c. ballard · of jeff boudreau while flintknapping, the chippage...

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