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

fauna diminished (as did the species themselves). Thus, strong evidence for hilltop lookout
campsites is not present in the Early Archaic period (Thomas et al., 1981).
Well-known sites in New Hampshire associated with the Early Archaic period are Weirs Beach
on Lake Winnepesaukee and the Neville site at Amoskeag Falls. 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
very 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.
In the southeast, early Archaic sites had been primarily identified in stratified alluvial contexts;
often sites had been deeply buried through active floodplain sedimentation (Jennings, 1989). As
early as 1994, Thomas (1994:50) concluded that archaeological projects in New England had
also begun to show the existence of deeply buried Early and Middle Archaic period sites on
riverine terraces. Manifestations of the early Archaic period on upland ridges and deflated hill
tops are now deemed as peripheral to the main occupations on riverine terraces (Chapman,
1980). Thomas (1994:53) also argued that we have a “poor understanding of the factors which
may affect [Early Archaic] site discovery . . . and the complex natural environment to which
people had adapted.” Because of this, Early Archaic cultural adaptations are difficult to
reconstruct. However, evidence from sites outside the Northeast suggests a broadening of the
subsistence base to a more diffuse subsistence adaptation (Thomas, 1994). This coincides with
the collapse of the focal subsistence adaptation of the Paleo-Indians. It also appears that seasonal
movements were more complex with the broader range of resources utilized during the Early
Archaic period. Little is known about Early Archaic cultural preferences for site locations and
the association of those sites with past local and regional environments.
In contrast to Paleo-Indian sites, most of the lithic materials recovered from Early Archaic
contexts appear to derive from local sources of chert, quartzite, or quartz. Flaked stone tools
seem less common in New Hampshire during the Early Archaic as seen at the Weirs Beach site
which contained an unusual assemblage of quartz debitage, cores, steep-bitted quartz scrapers,
and elongated stone rods made of schist (Bolian, 1980; Maymon and Bolian, 1992). Expedient
tools, however, are a frequent component of Early, Middle, and even Late Archaic sites in both
states. Extensive manufacture and use of expedient tools using local materials during the Archic
period cautions that archaeologists need to take more care not to prematurely discard materials,
such as phyllite, typically not associated with flaked or ground tools (c.f., Klink, 1992; Stone,
1994; Brigham et al., 2001). Lithic projectile points made during the early Archaic period often
have characteristic bifurcate bases and occasionally serrated edges (Snow, 1980). Preservation
of faunal and floral remains associated with Early Archaic archaeological sites is rare, but a
mixed diet of different resources is suggested (Thomas, 1994).
Northern Border Activities H-9 July 2012