NEWSLETTER Number 85 ISSN 1043-1918 September 1998
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VERMONT ARCHlEOLOGICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER Number 85 ISSN 1043-1918 September 1998 The First Excavated Susquehanna Tradition A Brief Report of Continuing Phase III Data Site in Northwestern Vermont Recovery Excavations at the Cloverleaf Site Robert Florentin in Bennington, Vermont Consulting Archaeology Program, UVM Belinda J. Cox Field Director, UMF Archaeological investigations at VT-CH -384 revealed a multicomponent site dating to the Late Archaic and On August 10th, 1998, a team of archaeologists from Late Woodland periods. The recovery of a Genesee- the University of Maine at Farmington Archaeology like projectile point and an associated radiocarbon Research Center (UMF ARC) began supplemental date of 3700±60 B.P. provides the framework for archaeological excavations at the Late Archaic better understanding of local and regional cultural Cloverleaf site in Bennington, Vermont. This chronologies during the later part of the Late Archaic supplemental fieldwork is being conducted for the period. Vermont Agency of Transportation Special Projects The site, identified during the Chittenden County Unit - Bennington Bypass and the Federal Highway Circumferential Highway project, is located on a Administration. high, gently sloping, outwash terrace roughly 0.56 km Initial phase III excavations were conducted at the south of the Winooski River. The north side of the Cloverleaf site in 1997. These excavations were terrace drops into a narrow valley drained by a small completed in approximately 58 days. As a result of stream that flowed northwest to the Winooski River. the 1997 work effort, a total of 209 square meters of To the east and south, a small spring-fed stream has site sediment was hand excavated. In addition, six 1- incised a drainage channel which joins the larger meter-wide trenches of variable lengths were stream along the north side of the terrace. mechanically excavated by backhoe to enable Artifacts recovered during the Phase 1 and 2 stratigraphic and geomorphological interpretations studies were located within three distinct loci. Loci 2 across the site. and 3 contained limited artifacts, including three quartzite flakes and a quartz core. Locus 1, where most of the excavations were focused, contained NOTICE several artifacts related to hunting, processing, cooking and tool manufacturing activities. These VAS Annual Fall Meeting artifacts include three projectile points or point Business, Reports, Elections, Papers, & Dinner fragments, three possible utilized flakes, one bifacial Saturday & Sunday, November 7 & 8 blank, 596 flakes, 361 pieces (14.0 kg) of fire-cracked in South Burlington rock, and 1.5 g of burned mammal bone. The majority Mark your Calendar Now of flakes are chert, with quartzite and quartz consti- tuting a minority of the assemblage. Additionally, one deep cooking hearth was identified. Other shallow Overall, the archaeological field work conducted in hearths were probably once present, but were 1997 was extremely productive and further confirmed destroyed by plowing. A radiocarbon date of 3700±60 the significance and importance of the site in both B.P. (Beta-116685) was obtained from the cooking local and regional contexts. The excavations resulted hearth. The calibrated date for the sample is 2270- in the identification and documentation of 66 cultural 1910 B.C. features (for a combined site total of 92 features) that Two diagnostic artifacts, a Genesee-like projectile have been variably identified as hearths, refuse pits, point and a Madison projectile point, were recovered storage pits, roasting pits, and lithic concentrations. from Locus 1. The presence of these points, along In addition, several thousand prehistoric Native with the radiocarbon date, indicates the site was American artifacts were recovered including lithic occupied during the Late Archaic period and again (stone) tools, lithic debitage, fire-altered and fire- roughly 3,000 years later during the Late Woodland cracked rock and subsistence remains, including both period. Most, if not all, of the chert debitage was pro- flora (or charred plant remains) and fauna (or burned bably produced during the Late Archaic period bone). see Cloverleaf Site -5 see Susquehanna Tradition Site -3 Great Discoveries in Vermont Archeology: The Vermont Archaeological Society The State Archeologist's "Top 10"Picks 1997-1998 Officers and Directors (although there's more than 10!••. .) Giovanna Peebles, State Archeologist Jill Oliver, Vice President James B. Petersen Division for Historic Preservation P.O. Box 265 Anthropology Dept., UVM Middlebury VT 05753 Burlington VT 05405 In September 1997, I signed myself up to do a special 443-5546 (w) 656-3884(w) slide program at the Vermont Historical Society in [email protected] [email protected] honor of Vermont Archeology Week. Choosing Victor Rolando, Newsletter Editor Herman C. Brown Vermont's "most important" archeological discoveries 214 Jefferson Heights 250 West Shore Road was a challenge, and summarizing their importance Bennington VT 05201 Grand Isle, VT 05458 in a few sentences and a handful of slides was 442-0105 (h/w) 372-8743 (h) difficult indeed. These are the sites I picked and the qwerty. [email protected] [email protected] stories I told about them. Which sites would you have selected as contributing the most to our knowledge of Robert Sloma, Secretary Scott McLaughlin, President past Vermonters? 22A Blodgett Street 183 Plains Road Discovering 10,000-year-old groved spear points in Burlington VT 05401 Jericho VT 05465 a sandblow in East Highgate remains one of 862-5817 (h) 899-4036 (h) Vermont's greatest archeological discoveries. Dis- [email protected] [email protected] covered by two St. Albans amateur archeologists, Bill Jen Russell Gerd Sommer Ross and Benjamin Fisher in the 1920s, the Reagan RFD 1 Box 710 746 Covey Drive Site lies high above the Missisquoi River Valley. Its Northfield VT 05663 Underhill VT 05489 importance was that it confirmed conclusively that 828-3981 (w) 899-3165 (h) Native Americans first occupied Vermont approxi- mately 10,000 years ago. In 1979, in Swanton, the Marjorie Robbins Frank Bump Vermont Agency of Transportation initiated pro- 10 Springside Road 4 Church Street fessional archeological studies on a small rocky knoll Middlebury VT 05753 Brandon VT 05733 above the Missisquoi River prior to replacing an 388-2881 (h) 247-6980 (h) aging (and historic) bridge on Route 7. A small Native American campsite was discovered by the Perter Brouke University of Vermont's Consulting Archaeology 77 Main Street #1 (vacancy) Middlebury VT 05753 Program. At first, we believed it to be a relatively common-place 5,000-year-old small campsite similar Ex Officio to others known throughout the Champlain Valley. Then the radiocarbon dates from a sample of charcoal Joseph Popecki, Treas. David Starbuck, 1st Past Pres. made Vermont's archeological community sit back. 33 Woodridge Drive P.O. Box 492 The John's Bridge Site seems to have been occupied Burlington VT 05401 Chestertown NY 12817 several times about 8,000 years ago. It drafted 863-4121 (h) 518-494-5583 (h) Bruce Hedin, 2nd Past President 20 Brimstone Corner Rd. Hancock NH 03449 603-525-3701 (h) Address general inquiries concerning the Society to the Secretary VASBoard Opportunities a whole new chapter of Vermont's history about which we had known nothing. This site in Swanton One resignation and some end-of-term expirations was the first professionally excavated and reported have resulted in a few openings on the VAS Board. If site in Vermont and gave us a small but clear you are interested in serving and are in good glimpse into Vermont's remotest human history. In standing (no dues arrears), contact Robert Sloma at this place on the Missisquoi River, approximately 862-5817 (h) or at [email protected]. The Board 8,000 years ago, one or two small families spent days ~. meets every 3rd Wednesday in Middlebury. or weeks making corner notched spear points, repair- see Giovanna's "Top 10"Picks =6 2 Archaeologists excavating VF-CH-384, Locus 1 (CAP-DVM photo). Susquehanna Tradition Site (continued) tradition as originally defined by Ritchie (1969:134- occupation. No other artifacts besides the Madison 142). Snook Kill points and related artifacts occur point could be explicitly associated with the Late with some frequency at sites in the middle and upper Woodland period occupation. Hudson Valley where they have been dated at 3420 The recovery of a Genesee-like point next to a ±100 B.P. (1470 B.C., uncalibrated) at the Snook Kill feature dated to 3700±60 B.P. indicates that Locus 1 site and 3620±130 B.P. (1670 B.C., uncalibrated) at was occupied during the latter part of the Late the Kuhr site (Funk 1976:259).The weighted average Archaic period, or to what Snow has called the of a host of standard and AMS radiocarbon dates of Terminal Archaic period (Snow 1980). Genesee-type ca. 3665 B.P. from Atlantic phase features at the points are stylistically related to a variety of Turner Farm site on the central Maine coast strongly generally large, broad-bladed points with straight to suggests a rapid spread of this point style throughout slight contracting stems. They are variously known New England (Robinson 1996). The date of 3700±60 as Atlantic (in eastern New England and north to the B.P. derived from VT-CH-384 is significant for central Maine coast) or Snook Kill (in eastern New Vermont because it is the only date that can be York and western New England) points. Both are directly associated with a Genesee-like point. Falling associated with the earliest phase of the broader squarely within the time range estimated by Funk, Susquehanna tradition of the Northeast. In New this date reinforces the idea of a regional chronology. York, Funk (1976) associates Genesee points with Excavations at VT-CH-384 have provided what he refers to as the Batten Kill complex.