Bulletin of the Massachusetts Archaeological Society, Vol. 41, No. 1 ...

VOLUME 41
CONTENTS
THE GREEN HlLL PAPERS; PART ONE
NUMBER 1
INTRODUCTION Page
John Rosser.•....•..................•.................... 1
THE GEOLOGICAL SETTING OF THE GREEN HILL SITE
David C. Roy............................................. 5
PETROGRAPHY, X-RAY DIFFRACTOMETER ANALYSIS AND QUARRY SITES
Douglas DeNatale...•.•...••.••.............•............ 11
THE PALEOETHNOBOTANY OF GREEN HILL
Lawrence Kaplan...•.•...•.......•.•...•................. 15
RECENT WILD FAUNA
BULlETIN OF TH E
MASSACHUSETTS ARCHAEOLOGICAL
SOCIETY
Robert Stanhope..•....•..........•...................... 20
REFERENCES CITED (Parts 1 and 2) .•.•............•.....•...... 21
PUBLISHED BY
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MASSACHUSETTS ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY
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Editor
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Trustees
Kathryn M. Fairbanks, Elaine Kimball, Thomas E. Lux .
William B. Taylor Expire October 1980
Lillian Harding, John J. Hartwell, Elizabeth Little .
Paul R. Ryll................•.. : Expire October 1981
Editorial Board
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MASSACHUSETTS ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN
Published in two numbers of one volume each year, commencing
in April.
Note: Address all requests concerning membership to the Secretary;
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BRONSON MUSEUM
Tel. 222-5470
This, the Society Museum, is located on the 5th Floor of
the Attleboro Trust Co. building, at 8 North Main Street,
Attleboro, Massachusetts. Museum Hours are from 9.30 a.m. to
4.00 p.m daily, Monday through Friday. Although this schedule
is usually adhered to, it is wise to call the Museum before
coming if you come from some distance. The Museum is also open
by appointment at other times. Call the Museum Director,
Maurice Robbins.
The Museum has extensive exhibits of stone implements,
obtained for the most part from the Massachusetts area. They
are arranged in culture periods identified in the Northeast,
and cover a time extension of some 10,000 years.

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5
VOLUME 41, NUMBER 1
present in being the third oldest dated site in Massachusetts, after Bull Brook and the
Saugus Quarry site. Roberts (Vol. 41 (2)) has made some important initial comparisons
between Middle Archaic projectile points from Neville and Green Hill, and presumably more
such comparisons could be made once Green Hill's Middle Archaic component is better
defined.
There are limitations to any publication, and this has chiefly three. First, there
were not sufficient "quality controls" over excavation and laboratory procedures from
1966-1976. There were some excellent excavators and recorders at Green Hill, but also
some mediocre, even poor ones. Laboratory analysis was minimal, except for selected
feature samples, but even these procedures needed more rigor (Kaplan, this issue). From
1976-1978 the chapter dealt with a backlog of stone tool analysis, the necessity of
which Roberts makes clear in his report (Vol. 41 (2)). In general, the commitment of
a few professional prehistorians to chapter work, and the effect of relatively recent
state and federal archaeological legislation, have had a salutary effect. Old mistakes
have been rectified.
A second limitation is my own training in historical archaeology. There are now in
the South Shore chapter qualified professional prehistorians, familiar with and committed
to chapter work at Green Hill, who could assume forthcoming publication responsibilities.
Such was not the case in 1975 when I took responsibility for the present report.
Essentially, I obtained more qualified personnel to do what I was not trained to do.
In fact much of my work was very basic organizational spadework, e.g. the creation of
a grid map for the 1972-76 excavations, the installation of permanent datum points in
1976 (done by Paul Ryll and Ronald Haskell), the compilation of basic feature information
(e.g. Table 5 Vol. 41 (2)), the collection of materials which various contributors
needed and, finally, synthesis of the results.
I did undertake a study of Green Hill's cultural stratigraphy. The results are mostly
descriptive, and limited by the dearth of any comprehensive classification of artifacts
and features for prehistoric southern New England. However difficult is the morphological
classification of stone tools, surely a morphological classification of prehistoric
features in southern New England could be attempted. This limitation is discussed in
some detail later in this report (Vol. 41 (2)).
Its limitations aside, the report contributes usefully to our knowledge of the Blue
Hills locale, and it will be of general interest to those studying the prehistory of
southern New England. Moreover, and this is very important, it provides a reasonable
foundation of environmental and archaeological studies upon which further investigation
and interpretation at Green Hill can proceed.
Boston College
December 1979
**********
THE GEOLOGICAL SETTING OF THE GREEN HILL SITE
David C. Roy
The artifacts at the Green Hill site have been recovered from soil horizons that
developed on sand and gravel deposits associated with the last glacial retreat (Figs. 1, 4).
It is the purpose of this short note to describe aspects of the geological context of
the site relevant to the archaeological interpretations. Since much of our understanding
of the geological history of the vicinity rests on evidence developed elsewhere, it
will be necessary on occasion to discuss events on a regional scale.
The major features of the region around the site are well understood. There are,
however, many stubborn local and regional problems, particularly in the bedrock geology,

This journal and its contents may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, re-distribution,
re-selling,loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. ©2011 Massachusetts Archaeological Society.
VOLUME 41, NUMBER 1
THE PALEOETHNOBOTANY OF GREEN HILL
Lawrence Kaplan
PRESENT VEGETATION
The present vegetation of Green Hill is best described as a secondary, mixed deciduousconiferous
woodland. The largest trees are white pine of about 22 inches (55.9 em)
in diameter at 4.5 feet(1.37 m) above ground surface. The pines have large lower branches
indicating that the woods 100 years ago were more open than they are now. An aunt of
the present owner and life-long resident of the area, now in her eighties, recalls,
in conversation with Dr. Rosser, that the hill was never cultivated or grazed in her
lifetime. It was an open area known as "strawberry hill" for the wild fruit that was
gathered there.
The south eastern slope is dominated by a mixture of white pine (Pinus strobus L.),
white oak, (Quercus alba L.), black oak (Q. velutina Lam.), choke cherry (Prunus virginiana
L.), red maple (AceI' Rubrum L.), tamarack (Latrix laricina (du Roi) K. Koch) with
occas.ional hickory (Carya sp.) and red cedar (Juniperus virginiana L.). The red cedars
are in poor condition, no doubt as a result of competition and shading which has increased
since the period when the vegetation of the hill was more open. Seedlings
encountered are primarily oak and cherry. The northwest slope is vegetated similarly
to the preceding but with a higher proportion of white pine in the mixture. Pine
seedlings are not encountered. The eighteenth and hineteenth century management of
surrounding lands, particularly the meadow below and to the north, resulted in fire
which, combined with wood cutting, denuded the ridge of. its original mixed forest growth.
The present vegetation is probably more like that of the hilltop forest of Archaic
periods than was the open, primarily herbaceous, growth of the nineteenth century.
According to Dr. Rosser's informant, the meadow, with its probable long history of
mowing and recent use as a plowed vegetable garden has had a vegetation history very
different from that of the ridge.
PLANT REMAINS
Seven separate samples of excavated features were processed to extract plant remains
by a combination of flotation, frothing, and water sieving. The plant remains recovered
and identified are presented in Table 4. The quantities of carbonized materials are
small and some unidentified materials are not reported.
A major problem in the interpretation of archaeological plant remains lies in the
difficulty with which culturally related materials and naturally occurring contaminants
are distinguished. Ideally, archaeologically sterile soils that replicate the geological
stratigraphy should be excavaged adjacent to occupied sites. Such offsite soils should
be extracted for plant remains identically with onsite soils in order to provide adequate
controls. Attention should be given to sampling technique to ensure that the volume of
control soil excavated and the number of pits and their dispersion is adequate. The
offsite excavation represents an additional expense and effort, but the recognition
that large numbers of seeds of putative early cultigens such as Chenopodium spp.,
Amaranthus retroflexus L. (pig weed) and Mollugo verticellata L. (carpet weed) occur
in some archaeologically sterile soils makes the application of these control procedures
imperative. The enormous investment of time required for the analysis of plant remains
may well be time lost if controls are not employed.
The seed population of nonarchaeological soils is highest in the plow zone (Paatela
and Leila-Riita 1971) where levels reach as much as 220,000/ cubic meter. Up to 50,000
of these are likely to be Chenopodium album L. seeds. At Green Hill extractions of
15

EXCAVATION UNIT SEEDS FRUIT or NUT "SHELL" WOOD OTHER
Section B, 0 +70 Chenopodium (album? ) Several fragments*? Several nodules*
Lower field 7-l0 seeds
1 Vitis sp*
Section B, 0 +80 Chenopodium (album) Several fragments* Nodules
Lower field
Section Y, L -24
Ridge top at
Nodules
junction with CONTROL SAMPLE about two litres from bank 100 yards
glacial till from present entrance to site. Sterile sUbsoii, fine
19 3/3" - 25" grey-yellow soil. Contains intrusive recent roots and
Section A, B -4
recent, uncharred grass seed. No wood "shell" or
I
other seed. Flotated and sieved. Intrusive roots
Feature 4
Ground midden.
Gravel
Insect parts*
Nodules*
Section A. A +3/A +4 Chenopodium (album?) Wood, ring-porous* Nodules*
Feature 20 Several about 20 gm Intrusive
Base of ridge, 1 Mollugo fibro'.ls roots
adjacent dirt road verticellata
Section A,
Feature 24, no grid
location.
Flotated and sieved
2.0 mm Diffuse porous* Nodules
(Birch or maple)
and ring porous* (oak? ) 4.2 gm. Oak twig*, cut and burned in
spring of 3rd year growth.
* Carbonized.
Table 4. Green Hill Plant Remains.

VOLUME 41, NUMBER! 19
The Ponkapoag analysis does, hDwever, confirm the expected. That is that the Middle
Archaic in southeastern Massachusetts was a period of mixed pine-deciduous forest. The
forest predominated over open herbaceous-grassland to a far greater extent than exists
at the present time. The Bartlett analysis shows that the contemporary ratio of nonarboreal
"(herbaceous) to arboreal pollen is 45:55% as compared to 6.6:93.4% at the level
of sample 9 (estimated to be 7500 years before present). As Bartlett points out, the
present (surface) nonarboreal:arboreal pollen ratio is the highest in the entire postglacial
period. During the greater part of the postglacial period from 9000 years ago
to colonial times, forest has predominated over nonforest vegetation, oaks have been
abundant and hickories have been present. There is no indication of any striking
vegetation change, say of the magnitude of the arboreal:nonarboreal ratio, that would
suggest an alteration in forest resources that could be used to explain any detectable
transition in human settlement pattern or population size. If the pollen profile is
to be interpreted as indicative of a compensating vegetation structure in which declining
oak is replaced by expanding hickory and in which this pattern is reversible, then a
subsistence shift from one mast species to another within the forest environment is
probably more likely than is a substantial movement out from the forest environment.
In the presence of pine which is an abundant pollen producer, hickory is probably
underrepresented in the pollen diagram with respect to its occurrence as a vegetation
component. However, were coefficients available to correct the pollen data it is
doubtful that the figure for hickory in the vegetation would be raised perceptibly above
the 6% maximum appearing in Bartless's study. This representation should be compared
with the 19.6% in the lower Illinois River Valley upland forest (Zawacki and Hausfater
1969) where the importance in human subsistence of hickory (and walnut) is well
documented in the Archaic (Asch et al. 1972).
CONCLUSIONS
The Green Hill site is located in a region that has supported a mixed deciduous-coniferous
forest from early Archaic times to the present. The hickory component of this
forest has probably varied somewhat, but has probably never exceeded more than 6 - 10%
of the total number of forest tree individuals. Although hickory nuts and other forest
mast have been assumed to have constituted a major proportion of the subsistence of
Archaic cultures in southern New England, there is little direct pa1eoethnobotanica1
evidence to support this view. Green Hill plant remains include no hickory or acorn.
The absence of such remains at Green Hill, despite the presence of hickory and oak in
the vegetation, may mean that this was a seasonal site occupied when other foods were
being sought, or that these species were not so heavily exploited for food as has been
suggested. If the exploitation of hickory, in particular, were not heavy, then a decline
in hickory at the close of the Archaic, even if convincingly demonstrated, could not be
held as a major cause for the population redistribution that took place at this time.
Chenopodium album seeds and the seeds of related species have been much used as a food
resource by food gatherers and agriculturists. The C. album seed remains found at Green
Hill are probably historic contaminants since they were found only in features located
in the meadow where chenopod weeds would have been abundant in recent years. The hillside
features located where there has been little disturbance for at least the last
80 years produced no chenopod remains.
Charred wood is all derived from broad1eaf deciduous trees such as oak and birch.
Some unidentified materials are present, but these do not represent any species known
to be important in subsistence.
Department of Biology
University of Massachusetts/Boston

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BULLETIN OF THE MASSACHUSETTS ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY
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VOLUME 41, NUMBER 1
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VOLUME 41, NUMBER 1
LIST OF TABLES
Page
Table 1. Grainsize Subdivisions of Topsoil, Subsoil, and Kame Deposits at the Green
Hill Site. Samples were Split using a lO-mesh sieve (2mm) 9
Table 2. Rock Description on the RR Collection....................................... 13
Table 3. Petrography of the RR Collection............................................ 14
Table 4 Green Hill Plant Remains................. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 18
**********
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