Recognizing Indigenous Persistence by Dating Extensive Low-Density Indigenous Occupations across the AD 1480-1630 Radiocarbon Plateau in Wellfleet, Massachusetts
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2096737 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Christa M Beranek (0009-0006-7273-2739, University of Massachusetts Boston, corresponding author), Mrozowski (0000-0002-0197-2392, University of Massachusetts Boston), Stephen A Mrozowski, Dennis Piechota (University of Massachusetts Boston), Dennis V Piechota, Jill M Steinberg (0000-0002-4222-1544, University of Massachusetts Boston) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 90 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 307-327 |
| Publication date | 2025-04-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Antiquity (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0002-7316 • E-ISSN: 2325-5064 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/aaq.2024.80 |
| OpenAlex | W4409401153 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 42 |
Archaeologists have relied on the presence of European material on Indigenous New England sites as the main indicator that a site was occupied during the sixteenth or early seventeenth centuries-a span often characterized as the Contact period. The AD 1480-1630 span is particularly difficult to sequence because it lies on a radiocarbon calibration plateau. Here we report on a program of AMS dating from an Indigenous site on Great Island on Cape Cod in Massachusetts that highlights evidence of widespread activity during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries-absent European material culture. Furthermore, the archaeological evidence indicates that a previously excavated colonial tavern in the same area on Great Island was the last in a long-term occupation in which 'European contact' was not a defining event. Instead, the evidence points to a continuous Indigenous presence extending from the Middle Woodland period. Later colonial period activities, including those associated with European material, were mapped onto a long-standing Indigenous task-scape
Archaeology · Biology · Geography · Geotechnical engineering · Indigenous · Persistence (discontinuity) · Plateau (mathematics) · Radiocarbon dating · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Archaeology and Natural History · Ecology · Geology · Historical and Cultural Archaeology Studies · History · Mathematics
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| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |