Northeast Subsistence-Settlement Change: A.D. 700 –1300

Interstate Highway 81. Before historic modification,
the Chenango River was split by a number of islands at
the location of Broome Tech. The largest of these, Nash
Island, diverted a portion of the stream flow to the west
along a meander that brings the river near Broome
Tech. The site topography is quite varied, with the site
beginning on an outwash terrace, extending across a
long escarpment, and continuing onto an abandoned
river channel.
A rather extensive early Late Prehistoric midden distinguishes
the most recent occupation. The soil matrix is
a dark black silt with a high density of carbon and calcined
bone and is marked by an artifact concentration
greater than any other area of the site. This feature lies
on the gradually sloping surface of the escarpment connecting
the glacial outwash terrace and the floodplain
adjacent to the abandoned channel. The Late Prehistoric
midden and associated features cover only a small portion
of the site, measuring at least 21 m long and at least
16 m wide, conservatively covering an area of 201 m 2 .
Three types of features were identified at Broome
Tech: hearths, large storage pits, and small storage pits.
The most common feature type associated with the
early Late Prehistoric occupation is a series of thin, firereddened
stains that appear toward the base of the
midden. These features tend to have concentrations of
charcoal and calcined bone throughout and appear to
be hearths that functioned for heating and/or cooking.
The most unique feature associated with the midden is
a large storage pit measuring approximately 1.5 m in
diameter and 70 cm deep. This feature, which begins
toward the base of the midden, exhibits rather complex
stratigraphy, suggesting reuse.
Three radiocarbon samples date the midden and its
associated features to the Late Prehistoric period (Table
9.1). The earliest of these is a standard assay of carbonized
wood and nutshell that may suffer from the
“old-wood” problem. The overlap in the calibrated 2
sigma range suggests that this component likely dates
to the thirteenth century A.D. Although the ceramic
analysis is still in progress, the ceramic types appear to
be consistent with this age. Importantly, no Late
Prehistoric collared ceramics were recovered, suggesting
that Broome Tech predates Thomas/Luckey, where
collared ceramics represent 34.7 percent of the ceramic
assemblage from features.
SITE COMPARISONS
Having broadly set the context of these two Late
Prehistoric occupations, I now turn to a more detailed
examination of subsistence-settlement variability by
exploring variation in features, botanical remains, and
site organization.
Features
Features, permanent or semipermanent facilities
that require variable degrees of planning and labor
investment, may highlight significant functional
and/or social differences between these two Late
Prehistoric sites. At a basic level, feature type provides
functional data on the intensity and kinds of
activities practiced at a site. Because feature preparation
may involve significant labor inputs, the types of
features a group constructs may shed light on a site’s
role in a larger settlement system. A site’s features
embody the degree of mobility practiced by a group.
Sedentary villages occupied year-round will have different
features than short-term single-use or seasonal
sites where occupants plan for periodic returns to a
favored spot. In addition to functional questions, the
types and frequencies of features present at a site may
shed light on social dynamics. Feature data can
address control of resources, ceremonial activity, sharing
ethos, and the relative importance of communal/corporate
versus individual activity.
Feature Types. The number of distinct feature types
provides a useful axis for intersite comparisons.
Thomas/Luckey has double the number of feature
types found at Broome Tech (Table 9.2). Six distinct feature
types have been defined for Thomas/Luckey,
compared with only three feature types at Broome
Tech. Thomas/Luckey features include graves,
smudge pits, hearths, earth ovens, large storage pits,
and small storage pits. At Broome Tech the only feature
types identified are large storage pits, hearths, and
small storage pits. The presence of twice as many feature
types at Thomas/Luckey suggests that a greater
diversity of activities occurred at the site relative to
those at Broome Tech. Particularly noteworthy is the
absence of graves, smudge pits, and earth ovens from
Broome Tech.
At Thomas/Luckey, six human burials, representing
8 percent of the total features, were recovered in and
around the longhouse identified as Structure 1 2 . Only
one of these burials was identified as a feature that had
as its original and sole purpose the interment of human
remains. This feature is a relatively shallow pit containing
the remains of an adult female interred in a
flexed position atop a layer of charred wood. The
remaining five burials were highly fragmentary, but
174 Knapp