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(1974:100-101). Since additional excavations have taken place, 18 more rings have
been recovered for a new total of 37.
Ganondagan
Also known as Boughton Hill, this was an eastern principal village occupied
from 1670-1687 (Jordan 2010:91). It is generally believed that this is the village the
Seneca burned and abandoned in response to Denonville’s invasion. A sizable amount
of Christian-themed artifacts have been found at this site. Some secondary sources
(Bihler 1954; Schoff 1949) have placed Ganondagan as the home of the St. Jacques
mission. Vandrei (1987:11) suggests Ganondagan ranged from 1200-2000 people.
Wood’s ring tally shows approximately 32 rings found at the site, with the majority
falling under the LHS and the L-heart variety (Wood 1974:100-101). In the site report,
Houghton speaks of one burial as “containing a Christian” but does not elaborate. One
may wonder if he was referring to burial 11, which contained an individual with “five
brass rings on his fingers,” and “crucifix and rosary in hands” (Houghton 1912:437).
Later excavations at the site revealed even more quantities and varieties of
rings. Totaling both his and Wood’s numbers, Robert Dean counted approximately 47
rings. Again, the IHS and L-Heart motifs are most prevalent but his site report shows a
range of Pieta, friendship and Calvary rings, along with various “abstract” designs
(Dean 1984:44). Even though Wood touches on the abstract designs in her catalog, no
effort has ever been made to understand or classify the abstract ring designs by
themselves. The total amount of rings found at Ganondagan now comes to 91.
Other devotional objects have also been found:a single wooden crucifix, one
badly corroded medal, and a silver apostle spoon with corroded figure. Apostle spoons
70