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The sandy Hill site is a large Early Archaic base camp dating between 9,000 and 8,500 years ago. The site appears to represent a place used primarily for extended winter encampments. Site stratigraphy indicates that the Early Archaic peoples who established this site built semi-subterranean lodges into this south-facing sandy hillside. At least a dozen such residential structures were likely built here.
Artifacts from the site consist of an abundance of quartz debitage (chipping debris), a large number of small quartz cores or scrapers, and a few ground stone tools. The stone tool assemblage compares well with a tradition called the "Gulf of Maine Archaic" known from other early sites in the region. Sandy Hill is, however, the largest residential site from this time period known in New England.
The site has also provided an abundance of information pertaining to the diet of early Holocene Native peoples. Plant food remains are particularly abundant. These include charred fragments of cattail root, bullrush, water plantain, nutsedge and hazelnuts among others. Animal food remains are less common and appear to represent primarily small game animals. Based on information from sites of similar age in the Northeast, it is likely that beaver, muskrat and turtle were important elements of the diet.
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