SSStttooonnnyyy BBBrrrooooookkk UUUnnniiivvveeerrrsssiiitttyyy The official electronic file of this thesis or dissertation is maintained by the University Libraries on behalf of The Graduate School at Stony Brook University. ©©© AAAllllll RRRiiiggghhhtttsss RRReeessseeerrrvvveeeddd bbbyyy AAAuuuttthhhooorrr... Exploratory Steatite Source Characterization in the Long Island Sound Watershed A Thesis Presented by Mark Stephenson Tweedie to The Graduate School in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Anthropology (Archaeology) Stony Brook University December 2014 Stony Brook University The Graduate School Mark Stephenson Tweedie We, the thesis committee for the above candidate for the Master of Arts degree, hereby recommend acceptance of this thesis. John J. Shea, PhD. - Advisor Associate Professor, Anthropological Sciences E. Troy Rasbury, PhD. - Second Reader Associate Professor, Geosciences Nina M. Versaggi, PhD. - Outside Reader Associate Professor, Binghamton University This thesis is accepted by the Graduate School Charles Taber Dean of the Graduate School ii Abstract of the Thesis Exploratory Steatite Source Characterization in the Long Island Sound Watershed by Mark Stephenson Tweedie Master of Arts in Anthropology (Archaeology) Stony Brook University 2014 For as long as humans have incorporated stone into their material culture, they have used cooperative strategies (i.e., exchange networks) to mitigate the uneven distribution of available resources on the landscape. The procurement, transport, and selective distribution of lithic materials are thus uniquely human social institutions. One of the few ways to examine the limited evidence for this behavior in the archaeological record is through the geochemical characterization of artifacts and their potential source areas. Steatite cooking vessels recovered on the outer coastal plain of Long Island, New York, are unique in that their acquisition required water-borne transportation from quarries in Connecticut, Massachusetts, or Rhode Island. This research project employs techniques of material source characterization to examine the geographic context for steatite vessel exchange in a discrete study area, the Long Island Sound Watershed. Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) was performed with a Bruker Tracer III-V hand-held/portable X-Ray Fluorescence (HHpXRF) unit on steatite artifacts from Long Island archaeological sites, in conjunction with samples collected from prehistoric steatite quarries, historic mines, and geological source areas. From these preliminary data, long-held assumptions about the structure of steatite utilization in Northeastern prehistory can begin to be addressed. Ultimately, this research attempts to establish what geological outcrops were the source(s) for the vessels found on Long Island, and what watershed corridors were the physical conduits for prehistoric trade. EDXRF data suggests that steatite vessels and smoking pipes transported to Eastern Long Island, New York came primarily from two source areas in Rhode Island: the Oaklawn and Ochee Springs quarries. iii I dedicate this research project to my Mother, Donna Stephenson Tweedie. You are truly missed. iv Table of Contents Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..………………….iii Dedication Page...………………………………………………………………………………………………..………………….iv List of Figures/Tables/Illustrations……………………………………………………………...…………….…………………….vi Acknowledgements….…………………………………………………………..………….…………………….……………….viii Chapter 1 Introduction………..…….………………….…………………………………..……………………………....1 Chapter 2 Background...………………………………..….………………………………………...…………………….4 2.1 Regional Perspectives.…..…………………………………………………………...………………………....9 2.2 Study Area, Context, and Chronology……….………………………………………………………………..18 2.3 Geographic Context of Sampled Quarries and Quarrying Methodology……..………………………………38 Chapter 3 Methods and Materials……………….…..……………………………………………………………………46 3.1 Steatite Source Areas by State…………………………………………………………………………….......60 3.2 Problems with Sampling: Historic Mining and Prehistoric Resource Depletion..............................…………72 3.3 Sampled Long Island Archaeological Sites with Steatite Vessels………………………….............................76 Chapter 4 EDXRF Results..…………………………………………………………………………….…………….…..85 Chapter 5 Analysis..…………………………………………………...…………………………………….…………....86 Chapter 6 Discussion and Conclusion..….…………………………….…………………………………………………92 Figures......….……………………………………………………………………………………………..……………………….103 Tables.......….……………………………………………………………………………………………..……………………….140 References….……………………………………………………………………………………………..……………………….147 Appendices (A-C)…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………170 v List of Figures Figure 1.1 Decorated Steatite Vessel from the Latham Collection (Oysterponds Historical Society), Orient #2 Burial Complex………………………………………………………………...…………………103 Figure 2.1 Eastern North America, archaeological sites and locations mentioned in text....……………………………104 Figure 2.2 Holmes’ reduction sequence of a steatite bowl blank (after Meltzer and Dunnel 1992: Plate LXXVII)........105 Figure 2.3 Inter-regional variation of vessel morphology in New England (after Swigart 1974: 19-20)……………….106 Figure 2.4 Study Area Core, archaeological sites and locations mentioned in text……………………………………..107 Figure 2.5 Steatite Quarry End Picks/Chisels................................. ......................……………………………………...108 Figure 2.6 Middle-Eastern Steatite Vessel Morphology (after Harrell et al. 2008:60).....................................................109 Figure 2.7 Quarry extraction pattern observed at the Bakerville-Nepaug Quarry (after Neshko 1970: 2)….…………..110 Figure 3.1 Schematic model of X-Ray Fluorescence of atoms (after Palmer n.d.)……………………………………...111 Figure 3.2 Synchrotron XRF (S-XRF) spectra generated for Nepaug-Bakerville and Ochee Springs Quarries....……..112 Figure 3.3 Microflourescence Mapping, Nepaug Bakerville……………….................………………………………...113 Figure 3.4 Microflourescence Mapping, Ochee Springs …………………....…………………………………………..114 Figure 3.5 Bruker Tracer III-V with steatite vessel fragment from MPM Farm Site ......………………………………115 Figure 3.6 Uncalibrated EDXRF spectra generated by S1PXRF with the Bruker Tracer III-V unit, Skunk Lane Site....................………………………………………………………………………………...116 Figure 3.7 Prehistoric and historic steatite quarries of Southern New England sampled for EDXRF source characterization, only the Wissahickon Valley, PA source area is not shown (after Sterner 1995)…............117 Figure 3.8 Harwinton Quarry (bottom left), Cotton Hill System (center left), and Beckwith Brook Quarry (top right), shown in geological context with associated bedrock units labeled. (after Generalized Bedrock Geologic Map of Connecticut 1996, Torrington Quadrangle)…………………118 Figure 3.9 Harwinton Quarry (after Martin 1970, Geological Map, Torrington Quadrangle)……………………….....119 Figure 3.10 Steatite Bowl fragments from Beckwith Brook Quarry …………………….................................................120 Figure 3.11 Beckwith Brook Quarry (Stanley 1964), Geological Map, Collinsville Quadrangle………….……………121 Figure 3.12 Serpentinite deposit (shown in dark green) from Staten Island, NY (after USGS-MROSD).....…….……...122 Figure 3.13 Steatite sample collected by the author from Wissahickon Creek Source Area ………………………….…123 Figure 3.14 In-situ, unfinished bowls (e.g., bosses) and craters from the Ochee Springs Quarry ………….……………124 Figure 3.15 Skunk Lane Site excavations ….……………………….................................................................................125 Figure 3.16 Steatite vessel rim (left) and body (right) fragments from the Skunk Lane Site ……………….…………...126 Figure 3.17 Grit and Shell-Tempered Ceramics (top row) and Steatite Vessel Fragment (bottom row) from Locus A at the MPM Farm Site 2006)…………………………………………………………………….....127 Figure 3.18 Flat-Bottomed Steatite Vessel from the Latham Collection (Oysterponds Historical Society), Orient #1/2 Burial Complex ………………………………………………………………………................128 vi List of Figures (continued) Figure 3.19 Rim Fragment of Steatite Vessel from the Latham Collection (Oysterponds Historical Society), Orient #1/2 Burial Complex ………………………………………………………………………................129 Figure 3.20 Steatite Smoking Pipes, Latham Collection, Oysterponds Historical Society ………………………………130 Figure 5.1 Log10 EDXRF biplot for Cr/Ni………………………………………………………………………….......131 Figure 5.2 Log10 EDXRF biplot for As/Cr……………………………………………………………………………..132 Figure 5.3 Log10 EDXRF biplot for Co/As……………………………………...……………………………………...133 Figure 5.4 Log10 EDXRF biplot for Ca/Co...……………………………………………………………………….......134 Figure 5.5 Log10 EDXRF biplot for Cu/Zn...…………………………………………………………………………...135 Figure 5.6 Log10 EDXRF biplot for Cr/Zn……………………………………………………………………………..136 Figure 5.7 Log10 EDXRF biplot for Co/Ni……………………………………………………………………………..137 Figure 6.1 Three prepared quartz turtleback cores from N12/W21, Skunk Lane Site......………………………………138 Figure 6.2 Proposed Model for Steatite Vessel Exchange from two high ranking watersheds (Table 6.1), Connecticut River (Rank 1) and Narragansett Bay (Rank 2)..……………………………………...……….139 Tables Table 2.1 Prehistoric Chronology for Long Island Sound Watershed (after Bernstein 2006, Bernstein et al. 2009, Merwin 2010)…………………………………………….…..140 Table 4.1 Average Net Intensity (ppm) for Steatite Artifacts from Long Island, New York…………………………..141 Table 4.2 Average Net Intensity (ppm) for Steatite Source Areas by State Connecticut………………………………142