Appendix H - Historical Archaeological and ... - CBP.gov

In general, early archaeological sites are assigned time periods based on seriation of projectile
point or ceramic styles, and radiocarbon dating. Due to the impacts of long-term and extensive
agricultural plowing during the historic period, a majority of archaeological sites in not only
Vermont and New Hampshire, but the Northeast in general, are shallow, often lack intact
features, and are typically dated using temporally diagnostic projectile points, tools, or pottery
alone. Radiocarbon dating of sites in this region is therefore relatively rare. Cultural affiliation is
easier to document from the Woodland period forward because greater numbers of artifacts have
survived for archaeologists to examine.
Archaic Period
In Vermont, later Woodland sites appear to be more common than Middle Archaic sites, which
are poorly represented (Thomas, 1994). The Paleo-Indian period appears to have ended when
the focal adaptation the Paleo-Indians relied on collapsed, forcing a rapid readjustment of their
culture (Spiess and Wilson, 1987). This is evidenced by a “clear archaeological discontinuity,
for the artifact styles and overall adjustments of Indians during the Early Archaic are
indisputably different from those of the preceding Paleo-Indian period” (Snow, 1980:157).
Study of the Archaic period can provide an understanding of the social, cultural, and
technological changes that occurred when the climate transitioned from the end of the Ice Age
and to milder environmental conditions. The beginning of the Archaic period corresponds with
the establishment of a closed forest environment across the Northeast sometime between 10,000
B.P. and 9,000 B.P., depending on the particular region (Spiess and Wilson, 1987; Robinson et
al., 1992). With the transition to a closed forest environment, reliance on big-game terrestrial
fauna diminished (as did the species themselves), with the result that strong evidence for hilltop
lookout campsites is not present in the Early Archaic period (Thomas et al., 1981).
Well-known sites in Vermont associated with the Early Archaic period are the John’s Bridge site
in Swanton, Vermont, the Ewing and Auclair sites on Shelburne Pond, and Weirs Beach on Lake
Winnepesaukee. The John’s Bridge site (VT-FR-69) contains the best known and dated
assemblage of Early Archaic tools in Vermont. The John’s Bridge site is a small singlecomponent
site situated on a bedrock-defended terrace overlooking the Missisquoi River. The
triangular to ovate, corner-notched projectile points recovered from John’s Bridge were named
Swanton Corner-Notched, after several similar projectile points were recovered from the
Champlain Basin (identified at 13 other sites in Vermont), and as far northeast as Maine
(Thomas, 1994:50). Evidence of surface hearths and deep pits, along with a wide range of tool
types, nutshell remains, and faunal remains representing mammals and fish, were also recovered
(Thomas, 1994:51, 53). Preservation of faunal and floral remains associated with Early Archaic
sites is rare, but a mixed diet of different resources is suggested. At one time, continuity of
human occupation in the Northeast after the Paleo-Indian period remained a subject of
considerable doubt (Sanger, 1979). Site preservation factors related to environmental change
have provided keys for interpretation of the Early Archaic archaeological record in the northeast
and elsewhere. Thomas (1994) and other archaeologists working in the Northeast believed that
Early Archaic sites would continue to be difficult to locate, because in addition to shallow
contexts, they were believed to have survived in deep alluvial deposits along major rivers, in
areas currently submerged by lakes such as Lake Champlain, or in environments that were not
usually surveyed.
Northern Border Activities H-13 July 2012