Staff archaeologists from the MPMRC and contracted field technicians continue to excavate tribal sites located within a proposed housing development on the Mashantucket Pequot Reservation. Excavations for this project began in the spring of 2003 and have continued throughout the winter months. Eleven new sites have been identified, in addition to the twelve known in the area. These range from a small number of prehistoric camps dating back as early as 8,000 years ago to an early nineteenth century Pequot home excavated this summer by the University of Connecticut Archaeology Field School.
Most attention has been paid to two of the new excavations. The first is an extensive two-acre mid-eighteenth century site consisting of numerous scattered findspots. The area appears to represent the location of a Pequot farming community and has been avoided by the new construction. It likely consisted of a dozen or so wigwams or small simple framed structures with associated gardens and agricultural fields.
The second area of interest is located at a high point along Kate Swamp Road, the old “highway” connecting Preston City to Mystic. This small Pequot farmstead has produced an abundance of uncommon ceramic types dating from approximately 1750 to 1775, as well as buttons, cufflinks, iron cutlery and drinking glass fragments. The site also has evidence of much earlier use, including 4,000-year-old projectile points and a number of 1,000 to 2,000-year-old Native pottery fragments.
One of the most exciting finds of the season was a circa 2,000-year-old “platform pipe” of Hopewellian tradition (see photo). Such pipes are very uncommon in the region. Incised patterns on the soapstone pipe provide rare information about aesthetic and perhaps symbolic ornamentation from the period and are of great interest to researchers.
