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

Table 9.2. Feature Types at Thomas/Luckey and Broome Tech.
Thomas/Luckey Broome Tech
n % n %
Hearths 9 12.5 14 77.8
Grave 1 1.4 0 0
Smudge Pit 1 1.4 0 0
Large Storage Pits 25 34.7 1 5.6
Small Storage Pits 28 38.9 3 16.7
Earth Oven 8 11.1 0 0
Total 72 100 18 100
likely represent subadult remains that were placed at
the base of large pits originally constructed for storage.
The interment of six individuals at Thomas/Luckey
stands in stark contrast to Broome Tech, where no
human remains were recovered. Several explanations
might account for the differences in the number of
interments. One obvious explanation is that the
Broome Tech dead may have been buried in a separate
cemetery outside of the excavated area. Another possibility
is that the human bones were not preserved in
the Broome Tech soils. This is a distinct possibility
given that only calcined animal bone was recovered
from Broome Tech, although the same is largely true
for the animal bone recovered from Thomas/Luckey.
The absence of interments at Broome Tech might also
be explained if the site was only seasonally occupied.
The number of seasonal deaths would only be a fraction
of those of a given year and individuals who died
during the seasonal occupation of Broome Tech may
even have been returned to a more permanent village
site for interment.
One smudge pit was tentatively identified at
Thomas/Luckey, while this feature type was absent
from Broome Tech. Smudge pits were designed to produce
large amounts of smoke for either hide preparation
or for smudging the interiors of ceramic vessels
(Binford 1967; Munson 1969). The single smudge pit at
Thomas/Luckey was located away from Structure 1,
likely in an attempt to distance this smoky feature. The
absence of Broome Tech smudge pits may relate to the
limited amount of excavation away from the central
area of the Late Prehistoric occupation.
At Thomas/Luckey, eight earth ovens were documented,
while none were encountered at Broome Tech.
The lack of earth ovens suggests that this form of baking
activity was not part of the cooking repertoire practiced
at Broome Tech, while it clearly constituted an
important activity at Thomas/Luckey.
Feature Frequency. In addition to differences in the
variety of activities implied by the presence of twice as
many feature types at Thomas/Luckey, the relative
proportions of the shared feature types also show
marked variation between the two sites. Nearly threequarters
(74 percent) of the Thomas/Luckey features
functioned as storage containers, which contrasts
sharply with Broome Tech, where only 22 percent of
the features involved in-ground storage. Clearly, residents
of Thomas/Luckey invested much more labor in
the construction of subterranean storage facilities.
Possible reasons for the greater emphasis on storage
features at Thomas/Luckey are numerous, some of
which are: (1) pit excavation may have been easier at
Thomas/Luckey, although this is unlikely given the
easily worked silt deposits that dominate each site; (2)
the use of above-ground storage at Broome Tech; (3)
the size of the resident population at each site; and/or
(4) a perceived difference in the anticipated need for
stored products. It is the last two that I find most compelling.
If Thomas/Luckey represents a year-round village,
there would have been a need to store large
amounts of food to feed a large population during lean
seasons. At a seasonally occupied site like Broome
Tech, there may have been fewer occupants targeting a
seasonally abundant resource. Storage may have been
a lesser concern at temporary seasonal camps.
The precise distinctions in storage behavior are
brought into sharper focus by breaking down the specific
types of storage pits present at each site. Small
storage pits, which may have served as personal
caches, are more than twice as common at
Thomas/Luckey, where 39 percent of the features
were so classified, compared with only 17 percent of
the features at Broome Tech. Although the precise
function of this class of small features is equivocal,
their small size (