Archaeology at Mashantucket The Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center is situated in southeastern Connecticut on land that has been continuously occupied by Native people for over 10,000 years. In the early seventeenth century, the Pequots occupied a 250-square-mile territory bordering Long Island Sound. Approximately 3,000 acres of land were granted to the tribe by the Connecticut colony in 1666 following the Pequot War. By 1856, however, the State of Connecticut had sold off tribal reservation land except for 213 acres. After achieving federal recognition in 1983, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation began purchasing portions of its original land, and simultaneously launched a program of intensive archaeological research on the reservation. Led by Dr. Kevin McBride, the team of archaeologists has identified over 250 sites dating from 11,000 years ago to modern times: Paleo-Indian (11,000-9,000 years ago), Archaic (9,000-2,700 years ago), Woodland (2,700-400 years ago), Contact (1610-1666) and Reservation (1666-present day). A rich body of evidence has been uncovered from these sites, and excavation and study are continuing, both on and off the reservation. The most significant findings are within the original 1666 reservation. Three projects, a Late Paleoindian hunting camp called Hidden Creek, an Early Archaic base camp called Sandy Hill, and a Pequot fort (circa 1675), have yielded valuable evidence that is reshaping our understanding of Native life at Mashantucket. The Hidden Creek site is a small Late Paleoindian hunting camp occupied for just a week or so sometime between 9,000 and 10,000 years ago.  The site's occupants left behind a number of broken and discarded tools and an abundance of debitage, the small flakes of stone created during the manufacture of tools.  While fragments of lanceolate spear points suggest that large game animals such as deer or moose were an important part of the diet, a small number of plant remains such as cattail root fragments and hazelnut shells were recovered as well. At Sandy Hill, the analysis of dark soil strata revealed evidence of 9,000 - 8,500 year-old pit houses. Archaeologists learned that the structures were probably made with wooden beams, possibly covered with hide, sod, or cattail mats. They were probably designed to provide warmth during extended occupations during the winter months.  An variety and abundance of plant remains indicate that tubers and hazelnuts were central to the diet. The findings illuminate how Native peoples lived, confirm that the land was occupied at that time, and support the theory that Mashantucket has one of the longest histories of continual occupation in North America. In 1992, a routine site inspection led to the discovery of a seventeenth-century Pequot fort, located just 600 feet away from the new Museum and Research Center. It is one of only a half-dozen Native forts identified in New England. Initially thought to be an 18th-century farmstead, archaeologists became puzzled after finding evidence of a long history of habitation, including early Pequot pottery and a mysterious long, black stain in the ground. After following the line of dark soil, archaeologists unearthed a large, square outline and realized that they had found a fort. The fort site study reveals how the Pequots adopted many practices of the European settlers, with whom they were allied at the time of King Philip’s War (1675). The dark stains in the earth contain the remains of decayed wooden bastions -- a European convention -- and the square shape is of classic European design. A forge found at the site shows that the Peqquots were manufacturing gun flints and lead bullets according to European methods. Findings at the site also illustrate how the traditional way of life continued for the Mashantucket Pequots. Analysis of two garbage dumps indicated that the Pequots did not follow European diets but continued to hunt, fish, and plant corn, beans, and squash as their ancestors had done. Finished and unfinished beads show that wampum was still being made and used. A computer interactive program, "Explore the Fort Site," and artifact displays are part of an exhibit at the Museum on reservation life. The realistic computer re-creation of the fort allows visitors to "navigate" through the site and explore it in depth. Text panels show how the fort was found and excavated. Mashantucket, Conn., is a National Historic Archaeological Landmark.